Wakanohana Masaru

As an active wrestler he was known as Wakanohana Masaru (若乃花 勝), and his rise through the ranks alongside his younger brother Takanohana Kōji saw a boom in sumo's popularity in the early 1990s.Wakanohana was a long serving ōzeki who won five tournament championships, and eventually joined his brother at yokozuna rank in 1998, creating the first ever sibling grand champions.The two brothers moved out of the family quarters and joined all the other new recruits in the communal area, and were instructed to refer to their father as oyakata (coach) only.Lacking his brother's weight and strength, he took longer to rise up the ranks, still being a maegashira wrestler as late as January 1993, the tournament that Takanohana earned promotion to ōzeki.However he was defeated by Chiyotaikai and, in the subsequent playoff between them for the championship, he lost a rematch after the first bout was deemed by the judges to be too close to call, despite many observers feeling Wakanohana had clearly won the match.He resolved to continue wrestling after consulting with his father, and was also supported by the head of the Japan Sumo Association, the former Yutakayama Katsuo, who said he saw no reason for retirement as his poor record was directly caused by injury.[11] On May 6, 2010, it was announced in the news that the "Chanko Dining Waka" chain was filing for bankruptcy, citing debts of over 147 million yen.[15] He stepped onto the dohyō at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan for the first time since his retirement in 2000 when he attended the 2018 Hakuhō Cup, an amateur sumo event for children.
Wakanohana III original Ozeki tegata (handprint & signature)
Wakanohana's handprint displayed on a monument in Ryōgoku , Tokyo
shikonaSuginamiStableFutagoyamaElder nameChampionshipsSpecial PrizesGold StarsAsahifujiJapaneseTakanohana KōjiTakanohana KenshiWakanohana Kanji IyokozunaTakanohanaFujishima stableAkebonoTakatōrikisan'yakukomusubikinboshimaegashirayūshōFutagoyama stableTakanonamiAkinoshimaRyōgokuChiyotaikaijudgesŌnokuniJapan Sumo AssociationYutakayama KatsuoYokozuna Deliberation CouncilTechnique prizemawashikimaritememberentertainerAmerican footballArizona Rattlerschanko nabedohyōRyōgoku KokugikanHakuhō CupNagoyaFukuokaSanshōMakuuchiJūryōMakushitaSandanmeJonidanJonokuchiSekiwakeList of yokozunaList of sumo tournament top division championsList of sumo tournament top division runners-upList of sumo tournament second division championsGlossary of sumo termsList of past sumo wrestlersInternational Herald TribuneHonolulu Star BulletinMainichi Daily NewsMusashimaru Kōyō