Wakanoyama Hiroshi

Wakanoyama Hiroshi - 和歌乃山洋 (born May 12, 1972) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Gobo, Wakayama. He made his debut in March 1988 and wrestled for Musashigawa stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 1992 and has 1 special prize. His highest rank was komusubi and he retired in September 2005.

Early Life[]

Nishizaki started sumo wrestling from an early age and he attended the same sumo dojo as Daikiko. In junior high school he belonged in the sumo club and played an active role in national competitions. After graduating junior high school he joined Musashigawa stable.

Career[]

Early Career[]

He made his professional debut in March 1988. Joining at the same time as him were future yokozuna Akebono, Takanohana and Wakanohana, and ozeki Kaio. He began wrestling under his own surname, Nishizaki, but from November 1989 onwards adopted the shikona of Wakanoyama, the name adapted from his home prefecture. He was promoted to sandanme in September 1989 and won all seven matches, but he missed out on the yusho after losing to Kotonowaka in a playoff. Nevertheless, he was promoted to makushita in the following November tournament. In May 1991 he won the makushita yusho with a 7-0 record at the rank of makushita 8 and was guaranteed a promotion to juryo.

Juryo Career[]

At the time of his juryo promotion, Wakanoyama just turned 19. Even though he produced a losing record in his first tournament, he bounced back with four consecutive winning records and was promoted to makuuchi in May 1992.

Makuuchi Career[]

However, he lasted only four tournaments in makuuchi before being demoted back to juryo. Although he reappeared in makuuchi once in September 1994, he could not stay there. In July 1996 he fell back to the unsalaried makushita division where he languished for thirteen tournaments, before winning promotion back to juryo in November 1998 and makuuchi in July 1999.

Wakanoyama had been absent from the top division for 28 tournaments. No other wrestler had ever managed to return to makuuchi after so long away. His remarkable comeback may have been helped by the fact that during this period his stable, Musashigawa, had become one of the strongest in sumo, with a yokozuna (Musashimaru), and three soon to reach ozeki (Musoyama, Dejima and Miyabiyama). Wakanoyama was certainly not short of strong training partners.

Wakanoyama was able to hold his own in the top division this time, rising slowly up the rankings. In March 2000, ranked at maegashira 1, he faced yokozuna Wakanohana on the opening day. The last time the two had fought was eight years previously in May 1992. This is the longest ever gap between meetings in the top division. Wakanoyama lost the match and fell short with a 6-9 record, but in January 2001 he scored 9-6 at maegashira 3 and won his first ever special prize. In the following tournament he was promoted to komusubi, the highest rank he was to achieve. He was the first non-foreign and non-college wrestler from his stable to reach a sanyaku rank. He fought his last tournament in the top division in March 2004, and retired in September 2005 at the age of thirty three.

Retirement from Sumo[]

Wakanoyama remained in the sumo world as an elder, or oyakata, affiliated to Musashigawa stable where he worked as a coach under the name Yamawake-oyataka. In June 2007, it was reported that he smacked a sumo wrestler with a broom stick repeatedly. He was not given a punishment, which was met with criticism due to the recent Tokitsukaze stable hazing scandal. He left the Sumo Association in September 2010.

He currently owns a restaurant in Arakawa, Tokyo, called "Waka Bon" (和歌ボン).

Personal Life[]

Wakanoyama is married and his wedding was held on June 1999. The couple shares a son and two daughters.
Wakanoyama was friends with kickboxer Andy Hug. When he died, Wakanoyama and Musashimaru both attended his funeral.

Fighting Style[]

Wakanoyama was a pusher-thruster, preferring tsuki/oshi techniques to fighting on the mawashi. His most common winning kimarite was a straightforward oshidashi, or push out.

Record[]

Division Results[]

Total: 629-618-40/1245 (106 basho)
Makuuchi: 204-254-22/457 (32 basho)
Juryo: 278-276-1/553 (37 basho)
Makushita: 103-62-17/165 (26 basho)
Sandanme: 11-3/14 (2 basho)
Jonidan: 29-20/49 (7 basho)
Jonokuchi: 4-3/7 (1 basho)

Championships[]

2 Juryo Championships
- 1st (November 1995)
- 2nd (January 2004)
3 Makushita Championships
- 1st (May 1991)
- 2nd (January 1994)
- 3rd (September 1995)