Asanowaka Takehiko

Asanowaka Takehiko - 朝乃若武彦 (born December 11, 1969) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ichinomiya, Aichi. He made his debut in March 1992 and wrestled for Takasago stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 1994. His highest rank was maegashira 1 and he retired in May 2005.

Early Life[]

Adachi was a member of the swimming team in his junior high school and he served as the captain. At the time he only participated in sumo for fun, but at the recommendation of his junior high school teacher, he joined the sumo club at his high school. He competed his amateur sumo career at Kinki University, but he never managed to win any major titles. He was recruited by ex-ozeki Asashio (himself a former collegiate competitor) and joined Wakamatsu stable (later Takasago stable) in March 1992.

Career[]

Early Career[]

He began as a makushita tsukedashi, meaning he could make his debut at the bottom of the third makushita division. In his third professional tournament he won the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record and was promoted to juryo two tournaments later in January 1993.

Juryo Career[]

Upon promotion to juryo he changed his shikona to "Asanowaka" (朝乃若). He posted a strong 10-5 record in his sekitori debut, but followed with a poor 4-11 record. He won the juryo yusho in November 1993 after producing an 11-4 record and defeating Kototsubaki in a playoff. Following a 9-6 in January 1994 he was promoted to the top makuuchi division in March of that year.

Makuuchi Career[]

Asanowaka2005 — Asanowaka in his later career with his black mawashi (c. 2005)

Asanowaka never managed to reach the titled san'yaku ranks or win a special prize. He was also unable to defeat any yokozuna and had only one win against an ozeki (Takanonami in May 1997). Nevertheless, he fought in the top division off and on for ten years and his record of 346 wins there is the best amongst maegashira only wrestlers. He was also very popular with tournament crowds. At the peak of his career he wore an outlandish bright yellow mawashi and would enliven the preliminaries by throwing the purifying salt in a manner that resembled an American football player scoring a touchdown. He would also crouch extremely low to the ground when doing the warm up or shikiri. Eventually he was instructed by the Japan Sumo Association to tone these antics down and in his later years on the dohyo wore a black mawashi and was much more subdued.

Retirement from Sumo[]

By 2004 Asanowaka was no longer able to hold his own in the top division, and after a disastrous 1-14 score in the juryo division in March 2005, he announced his retirement the following month. He had not missed a single bout in his career. He has remained in the sumo world as an elder, affiliated to the Takasago stable, and is now known as Wakamatsu Oyakata. He became a deputy director of the Sumo Association in 2020. He was reportedly in the running to take over Takasago stable following the retirement of his former stablemaster, the ex-Asashio Taro, in December 2020, but lost out to the former Asasekiryu, another coach at the stable. In September 2021 Takasago stable's Terasawa was promoted to juryo and, with the coach's approval, changed his shikona to Asanowaka, because Asanowaka's record of going all out and never missing a bout stood in contrast to Terasawa's own injury record.

Personal Life[]

Asanowaka married in February 2000 and his wife gave birth to a baby girl in September of that year. The couple's wedding reception was held in January 2001.
Asanowaka's hobby is watching movies.

Fighting Style[]

Asanowaka was of a short build for a sumo wrestler and had limited technique, relying heavily on slap-downs and henka. He sidestepped so regularly at the tachi-ai that he was criticized by sumo elders. He was a pusher-thruster, rarely fighting on the mawashi or belt. His most common winning kimarite was oshidashi (push out), followed by hikiotoshi (pull down) and hatakikomi (slap down). He won only six career bouts by yorikiri (force out) and was only credited once with a belt throw (an uwatenage in 2001). He was known for his powerful legs developed through relentless training, and he had no serious injuries in his career.