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was a sumo wrestler, the sport's 45th ''yokozuna'' (the highest-ranking position). Wakanohana's younger brother (by twenty-two years) was the late former ''ōzeki'' Takanohana Kenshi and he was the uncle of Takanohana Kōji and Wakanohana Masaru. He won ten top division ''yūshō'' or tournament championships during his career and at a fighting weight of around 100 kg was one of the lightest ''yokozuna'' ever. He had a long-standing rivalry with Tochinishiki and was one of the most popular wrestlers of the 1950s. After his retirement in 1962 he established Futagoyama stable and was also head of the Japan Sumo Association from 1988 until 1992. ==Career== He was born in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture and moved to Hokkaidō as a child. After working as a stevedore, he was scouted by the ''maegashira'' Onoumi, joining Nishonoseki stable in November 1946. He was trained harshly by Rikidōzan in Nishonoseki stable, but he reportedly bit Rikidōzan's leg in retaliation for his training. Onoumi became head coach of Shibatayama stable after his retirement in May 1952, and Wakanohana followed him to the new stable. It was renamed Hanakago stable in September 1953. He reached the top division in 1950. During his career he was nicknamed the ''Dohyō no Oni'', or Devil of the ''dohyō'' due to his great fighting spirit and endurance. In September 1955 he fought a bout against ''yokozuna'' Chiyonoyama that lasted for over 17 minutes before being declared a draw.〔 (Most sumo matches are over in a few seconds). He was promoted to ''ōzeki'' after that tournament. He won his first top division championship in May 1956. Shortly before the following tournament his four-year-old eldest son Katsuo was scalded to death when a boiling hot pot of chankonabe fell on him. Despite being devastated by the tragedy,〔 〕 Wakanohana chose to compete in the tournament but ended up dropping out with a fever.〔 He had to wait until January 1958 for promotion to ''yokozuna'', which was confirmed shortly after he took his second tournament championship. He was the first ''yokozuna'' produced by the Nishonoseki ''ichimon'' or group of stables in over 20 years and consequently he had to borrow the ''keshō-mawashi'' of the former Futabayama to perform his first ''dohyō-iri'' or ''yokozuna'' ring entering ceremony.〔 Wakanohana's great rival as ''yokozuna'' was Tochinishiki. They were very evenly matched, being of similar height and weight, and both ended up with ten top division titles each. In March 1960, they faced each other undefeated on the final day – the first time ever that two ''yokozuna'' had met like this.〔 Wakanohana won the match and Tochinishiki retired after the next tournament. Wakanohana kept going until the new era of ''yokozuna'' Taihō and Kashiwado, retiring in May 1962. Wakanohana was such a popular wrestler that he even starred in a feature film 若ノ花物語 土俵の鬼 ''Wakanohana monogatari dohyou no oni'' about his life, made by the Nikkatsu movie studio and released across Japan December 27, 1956.〔〔http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1956/cf005560.htm accessed 8 February 2009〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wakanohana Kanji I」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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