Takanohana Koji
Encyclopedia
is a former sumo
wrestler from Suginami, Tokyo
, Japan
. He was the 65th man in history to reach sumo's highest rank of yokozuna, and he won 22 tournament championships between 1992 and 2001, the fifth highest total ever. The son of a popular ōzeki ranked wrestler from the 1970s, Takanohana's rise through the ranks alongside his elder brother Wakanohana
and his rivalry with the foreign born yokozuna Akebono
saw interest in sumo and attendance at tournaments soar during the early 1990s.
Takanohana was the youngest ever to reach the top division at just 17, and he set a number of other age-related records. He had a solid but aggressive style, looking to get a right hand grip on his opponents' mawashi
and move them quickly out of the ring. He won over half his bouts by a straightforward yori-kiri
, or force out. In his later career he suffered increasingly from injuries, and he retired in January 2003 at the age of 30. He is now the head coach of Takanohana stable
and a senior member of the Japan Sumo Association
.
was a yokozuna from 1958 to 1962, and his father Takanohana Kenshi
had held the second highest rank of ōzeki for a then record 50 tournaments from 1972 to 1981. Upon his retirement his father established the training stable (heya
) Fujishima stable. The young Kōji Hanada had been practising sumo since elementary school and won the equivalent of a yokozuna title at junior high school. Upon his graduation in 1988 he formally joined his father's stable. His elder brother Masaru had been planning to complete high school but dropped out so as not to lag behind his brother.
also beginning his career in the same month. The two brothers had to move from the family quarters in the stable and join the communal room with all the other new recruits. They were also instructed not to refer to their parents as "father" and "mother" any more but as "oyakata" and "okamisan" (coach and coach's wife). Kōji initially wrestled under the name Takahanada, and it was understood that he would only be allowed to adopt his father's shikona
of Takanohana (meaning noble flower) when he reached the champion ōzeki rank.
Their early career attracted much publicity, with each divisional promotion regarded by the media as part of an inevitable rise to the top ranks. Takahanada's progress was rapid and he set numerous age-related records, including the youngest ever makushita division tournament champion (16 years 9 months), youngest ever promoted to the second highest jūryō division (17 years 3 months), and the youngest ever promoted to the top makuuchi
division (17 years 8 months).
In March 1991, in his fourth top division tournament, Takahanada was runner-up with twelve wins, and became the youngest ever sanshō
or special prize winner, receiving awards for Fighting Spirit and Technique. In the following tournament in May 1991 he defeated veteran yokozuna Chiyonofuji
in a match watched by 44 percent of the Japanese population on TV, and became the youngest ever to defeat
a yokozuna. Chiyonofuji retired two days afterwards. In January 1992, he became the youngest ever top division tournament champion (19 years 5 months). He was too young to drink the celebratory sake at the after tournament party, and had to make do with oolong tea instead. After his second championship in September 1992, followed by two good scores of 10-5 and 11-4 in the next two tournaments, he was promoted to ōzeki in January 1993, the same tournament in which Akebono was elevated to yokozuna.
During this period the two brothers created a so-called "Waka-Taka boom" and were credited with restoring sumo's popularity, particularly amongst younger audiences. Interest in sumo rose to its highest level since the era of Futabayama
in the 1930s, with official tournaments (honbasho
) selling out of tickets for every day. Both Takahanada and his brother became sex symbols.
, who won in July with a perfect 15-0 record. After taking the September 1994 championship, Takanohana now had six top division titles, but none had been won consecutively. No previous wrestler had ever accumulated so many titles before reaching sumo's highest rank. The Sumo Association nominated him for yokozuna after the September tournament, but the Yokozuna Deliberation Council failed to endorse it by the required two-thirds majority, the first time this had happened in twenty five years. They insisted that two consecutive championships were required, having demanded the same of Akebono before his promotion. In November 1994, Takanohana at last managed to win two tournaments in a row, with his second consecutive unbeaten 15-0 score, and his promotion was confirmed. He had been at the ōzeki rank for 11 tournaments, or nearly two years. However, at 22 years and 3 months, he was still the third youngest yokozuna ever at the time.
. Sumo rules prevent wrestlers from the same heya
meeting in regular tournament bouts (playoffs excepted) which meant Takanohana avoided not only his brother and Takanonami but also sekiwake Akinoshima
and Takatoriki
. The merger of his father's Fujishima stable with his uncle's Futagoyama stable in 1993 had added even more top division wrestlers to this list, giving him an advantage over Akebono, who had to face them all. By September 1996 Takanohana had won 15 tournament championships, and was still only 24 years old. However, after sitting out the first tournament of his career in November 1996 due to a back injury suffered on a regional tour, he put on more weight and began to be more susceptible to injury and illness.
disorder in the first half of 1998, which caused him withdraw from the January 1998 tournament and miss the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics
in Nagano (his place was taken by Akebono). He pulled out of the March 1998 tournament as well and was still below his best in May. Shunning the traditional treatment methods available from his stable, he turned instead to a physical therapist called Tashiro Tomita, who had a considerable influence over him. He became increasingly isolated from his father and brother, with his father claiming Takanohana had been "brainwashed" by Tomita. Despite his brother's promotion to yokozuna that year, creating the first ever sibling grand champions, the two were barely on speaking terms. Takanohana recovered to win the July and September 1998 tournaments, and was runner-up that November. In 1999, however, he was even more badly affected by injuries, including a dislocated shoulder, and managed only one score in double figures all year.
After making peace with his family, Takanohana regained some of his consistency in 2000, although he was temporarily sidelined by an elbow injury suffered in the July tournament. His brother had retired in March, and several other members of his stable were now past their best. With Akebono dominant once more his best results that year were two runner-up performances.
in a playoff on the final day. He won his final championship in May 2001, again in a playoff against Musashimaru, but it came at a great cost. He had suffered serious knee ligament damage in a loss to Musōyama
on the 14th day but he insisted on fighting on to the end of the tournament. As a result, he then missed an unprecedented seven tournaments in a row, undergoing surgery in Paris
in July 2001 and having a lengthy recuperation after that.
Takanohana finally returned to the ring in September 2002, after the Sumo Association declared he must compete or retire. He finished behind Musashimaru on 12-3, the 16th time he had been a tournament runner-up. Considering how long he had been away, it was seen as an impressive comeback. However, he sat out the next tournament with a recurrence of the knee injury. He made another comeback in January 2003, making a late decision to compete. A shoulder injury caused him to miss two days, and after suffering successive losses to Dejima
and Aminishiki
he announced his retirement. He said he had no regrets and was thankful to have achieved so much in sumo. His father spoke of his relief at the decision, after seeing his son battle through so many injuries. Takanohana's record of 22 tournament championships was the fourth best in sumo history, behind only Taihō
, Chiyonofuji
and Kitanoumi
at the time. Junichiro Koizumi
, the Prime Minister
, was among those paying tribute. His retirement left no Japanese born wrestlers at the yokozuna rank and was widely regarded as being the end of an era.
Takanohana's danpatsu-shiki, or official retirement ceremony, was held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan
on June 1, 2003. The ceremony, and the party held afterwards at the Imperial Hotel
, were both broadcast live on Fuji TV.
or belt. His preferred grip was migi-yotsu (right hand inside, left hand outside his opponent). His most common winning kimarite
by far was yori-kiri, a simple force out, which accounted for 52 percent of his victories. He also regularly employed uwatenage, or overarm throw, and this was the technique he used to defeat Asashōryū
in the second of their two meetings, in September 2002.
(or member) of the Japan Sumo Association
. Because of his great achievements in sumo he was given a bonus of 130 million yen and was also made a "one generation" elder without having to purchase a share in the Association. This enabled him to keep his fighting name
and he is now known as Takanohana Oyakata. With his father's health failing, he took over the operation of his training stable in January 2004, renaming it Takanohana stable
. Its last sekitori
, Takanonami
retired shortly afterwards and no one from the stable has reached the top two divisions since. During 2008, he added four new recruits to his stable, the first for several years, bringing the total number of wrestlers in his charge up to ten. These include his first foreign recruit, a Mongolian with amateur sumo experience, and two twins.
Takanohana became a shimpan
or judge of tournament bouts in February 2004, only a year after his retirement, a role for which elders normally have to wait at least four years. After the election of the Association's Board of Directors in February 2008, the Association appointed Takanohana as , replacing former yokozuna Chiyonofuji
(Kokonoe-oyakata) who was elected to serve the Board as a director. For an organization that tends to follow seniority over achievement in its organization appointment, it was highly unusual for them to place a 35-year-old to such an influential position. However both former yokozuna Kitanoumi
and Chiyonofuji whom Takanohana is often compared to served a stint as Associate Manager of Judging prior to their becoming the Board director. In February 2009 he was moved from the judging department to the jungyo (regional tour) department, a less high-profile position.
Takanohana mentioned in October 2009 that he was interested in running for a spot on the Board of Directors in the February 2010 elections, and confirmed in January that he would stand, despite the fact that this would mean opposing the two officially sanctioned candidates of the Nishonoseki ichimon or group of stables. As a result, Takanohana and six of his supporters, Ōtake (the former Takatoriki), Futagoyama (the former Dairyu), Otowayama (the former Takanonami), Tokiwayama (the former Takamisugi, Ōnomatsu (the former Masurao Hiroo
) and Magaki (the former Wakanohana II
) left the Nishonoseki ichimon. Takanohana told a press conference, "I will leave the faction. I bid farewell to everyone in my greetings at the meeting. I have stepped into the race as a candidate." The first contested elections since 2002, they took place by secret ballot on February 1, and Takanohana was elected to the board, replacing Ōshima. Seen as a reformer, he favours revamping the current ticket sales system and improving support for ex-rikishi, as well as encouraging sumo in primary schools, raising the pay of gyoji
, yobidashi
and tokoyama
, and making public the Sumo Association's accounts and assets. His victory was praised by the Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
, who said Takanohana had let in "a new wind of change."
In July 2010, in the wake of a scandal involving several wrestlers admitting to illegal gambling, he denied he had connections with members of the yakuza
underworld after media reports that he was seen with a mobster during a visit to Ehime prefecture
to recruit new apprentices.
Following the election of Hanaregoma
as the new head of the Sumo Association in August 2010, Takanohana returned to the judging department as director of judging. The following month he and his wife were awarded ¥8.47 million in damages by the Tokyo High Court over 13 articles published by the Shukan Gendai
and Gekkan Gendai in 2004 and 2005 concerning match-fixing allegations and the controversy over his father's inheritance.
Having reached a peak weight of 160 kg (352.7 lb) as an active wrestler, he has lost a great deal of weight since his retirement (more than retired wrestlers typically do) and is now around 90 kg (198.4 lb). In 2009 he published a book detailing his weight loss methods.
, but the role went to Wakanohana as the elder brother, as is traditional.
However, with their father reported to have left no will, it was suggested that the feud revolved around control of his estate.
Takanohana also condemned his mother for her extramarital affair, which led to her divorce from Futagoyama and exit from the stable in July 2001, and had only been rumoured up to that point. She has now reverted to her old name of Noriko Fujita and published a book and appeared on TV, revealing details of life as a stablemaster's wife that are seldom heard outside the sumo world. Takanohana has rarely spoken to her since. In June 2008 he spoke of his distress at the news that she had been named as a defence witness in a civil lawsuit brought by the Sumo Association against the tabloid magazine Shukan Gendai
over allegations that his father benefited from a thrown match for the championship in 1975, saying, "she will essentially be fighting against me." He said he would take responsibility by resigning from the Sumo Association if she took the stand. In a radio interview Fujita said she would not testify, saying, "I will not drag my child down".
, news which sparked a similar amount of coverage to the royal wedding held that year. However the engagement was broken off the following year, reportedly because Miyazawa was seen by Takanohana's parents and the Sumo Association as being unwilling to sacrifice her career to become a regular stable wife. The role of the wife of a head coach in looking after the stable's recruits and liasing with supporter's groups is regarded as a full-time job.
In May 1995 Takanohana married television announcer Keiko Kono, eight years older than him. The couple have a son and two daughters.
Sumo
is a competitive full-contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally...
wrestler from Suginami, Tokyo
Suginami, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. In English, it calls itself Suginami City.As of April 1, 2011, the ward has an estimated population of 538,703, with 301,277 households, and a density of 15,834.39 persons per km². The total area is 34.02 km².-Geography:Suginami occupies the...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. He was the 65th man in history to reach sumo's highest rank of yokozuna, and he won 22 tournament championships between 1992 and 2001, the fifth highest total ever. The son of a popular ōzeki ranked wrestler from the 1970s, Takanohana's rise through the ranks alongside his elder brother Wakanohana
Wakanohana Masaru
is a former sumo wrestler from Tokyo, Japan. As an active wrestler he was known as Wakanohana III Masaru , and his rise through the ranks alongside his younger brother Takanohana Koji saw a boom in sumo's popularity in the early 1990s...
and his rivalry with the foreign born yokozuna Akebono
Akebono Taro
is a retired American born-Japanese sumo wrestler from Waimānalo, Hawaii. Joining the professional sport in Japan in 1988, he was trained by pioneering Hawaiian sumo wrestler Takamiyama and rose swiftly up the rankings, reaching the top division in 1990...
saw interest in sumo and attendance at tournaments soar during the early 1990s.
Takanohana was the youngest ever to reach the top division at just 17, and he set a number of other age-related records. He had a solid but aggressive style, looking to get a right hand grip on his opponents' mawashi
Mawashi
In sumo, a mawashi is the belt that the rikishi wears during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a keshō-mawashi as part of the ring entry ceremony or dohyo-iri.-Mawashi:...
and move them quickly out of the ring. He won over half his bouts by a straightforward yori-kiri
Kimarite
Kimarite are winning techniques in a sumo bout. For each bout in a Grand Sumo tournament , a sumo referee, or gyoji, will decide and announce the type of kimarite used by the winner...
, or force out. In his later career he suffered increasingly from injuries, and he retired in January 2003 at the age of 30. He is now the head coach of Takanohana stable
Takanohana stable
is a stable of sumo wrestlers, formerly one of the Nishonoseki group of stables. It was known as Futagoyama stable until 2004.-History:Futagoyama stable was established in 1962 by former Yokozuna Wakanohana Kanji I, who branched off from Hanakago stable and converted his home near the Minami...
and a senior member of the Japan Sumo Association
Japan Sumo Association
The is the body that operates and controls professional sumo wrestling in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Rikishi , gyōji , tokoyama , and yobidashi , are all on the Association's payroll, but the organisation is run...
.
Background
Takanohana comes from a family with a great sumo history, sometimes called the "Hanada Dynasty." His uncle Wakanohana Kanji IWakanohana Kanji I
was a sumo wrestler, the sport's 45th Yokozuna .Wakanohana's younger brother was the late former ozeki Takanohana Kenshi and he was the uncle of Takanohana Koji and Wakanohana Masaru...
was a yokozuna from 1958 to 1962, and his father Takanohana Kenshi
Takanohana Kenshi
Takanohana Kenshi 貴ノ花健士 was a sumo wrestler from Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. His highest rank was ozeki, which he held for fifty tournaments. As an active rikishi he was extremely popular and was nicknamed the "prince of sumo" due to his good looks and relatively slim build...
had held the second highest rank of ōzeki for a then record 50 tournaments from 1972 to 1981. Upon his retirement his father established the training stable (heya
Heya
In sumo wrestling, a heya , usually translated into English as stable, is an organization of sumo wrestlers where they train and live. All wrestlers in professional sumo must belong to one. There are currently 49 heya , all but four of which belong to one of five ichimon...
) Fujishima stable. The young Kōji Hanada had been practising sumo since elementary school and won the equivalent of a yokozuna title at junior high school. Upon his graduation in 1988 he formally joined his father's stable. His elder brother Masaru had been planning to complete high school but dropped out so as not to lag behind his brother.
Early career
Takanohana and his brother made their professional debuts together in March 1988, with future rival AkebonoAkebono Taro
is a retired American born-Japanese sumo wrestler from Waimānalo, Hawaii. Joining the professional sport in Japan in 1988, he was trained by pioneering Hawaiian sumo wrestler Takamiyama and rose swiftly up the rankings, reaching the top division in 1990...
also beginning his career in the same month. The two brothers had to move from the family quarters in the stable and join the communal room with all the other new recruits. They were also instructed not to refer to their parents as "father" and "mother" any more but as "oyakata" and "okamisan" (coach and coach's wife). Kōji initially wrestled under the name Takahanada, and it was understood that he would only be allowed to adopt his father's shikona
Shikona
A shikona is a sumo wrestler's ring name.As with standard Japanese names, a shikona consists of a 'surname' and a 'given' name, and the full name is written surname first. However, the given name is rarely used outside formal or ceremonial occasions. Thus, the former yokozuna Asashōryū Akinori is...
of Takanohana (meaning noble flower) when he reached the champion ōzeki rank.
Their early career attracted much publicity, with each divisional promotion regarded by the media as part of an inevitable rise to the top ranks. Takahanada's progress was rapid and he set numerous age-related records, including the youngest ever makushita division tournament champion (16 years 9 months), youngest ever promoted to the second highest jūryō division (17 years 3 months), and the youngest ever promoted to the top makuuchi
Makuuchi
or is the top division of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers , ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments....
division (17 years 8 months).
In March 1991, in his fourth top division tournament, Takahanada was runner-up with twelve wins, and became the youngest ever sanshō
Sansho (Sumo)
Sanshō are the three special prizes awarded to top division sumo wrestlers for exceptional performance during a sumo honbasho or tournament. The prizes were first awarded in November 1947.-Criteria:...
or special prize winner, receiving awards for Fighting Spirit and Technique. In the following tournament in May 1991 he defeated veteran yokozuna Chiyonofuji
Chiyonofuji Mitsugu
, born June 1, 1955, as in Hokkaidō, Japan, is a former champion sumo wrestler and the 58th yokozuna of the sport. He is now the head coach of Kokonoe stable....
in a match watched by 44 percent of the Japanese population on TV, and became the youngest ever to defeat
Kinboshi
Kinboshi is a notation used in professional sumo wrestling to record a lower-ranked wrestler's victory over a yokozuna....
a yokozuna. Chiyonofuji retired two days afterwards. In January 1992, he became the youngest ever top division tournament champion (19 years 5 months). He was too young to drink the celebratory sake at the after tournament party, and had to make do with oolong tea instead. After his second championship in September 1992, followed by two good scores of 10-5 and 11-4 in the next two tournaments, he was promoted to ōzeki in January 1993, the same tournament in which Akebono was elevated to yokozuna.
During this period the two brothers created a so-called "Waka-Taka boom" and were credited with restoring sumo's popularity, particularly amongst younger audiences. Interest in sumo rose to its highest level since the era of Futabayama
Futabayama Sadaji
Futabayama Sadaji , born as Akiyoshi Sadaji in Oita Prefecture, Japan, was the 35th Yokozuna in sumo wrestling, from 1937 until 1945. He won twelve top division championships and had a winning streak of 69 consecutive bouts, an all-time record. Despite his dominance he was extremely popular with...
in the 1930s, with official tournaments (honbasho
Honbasho
A is an official professional sumo tournament. There are six held each year, a system established in 1958. Only honbasho results matter in determining promotion and relegation for rikishi ....
) selling out of tickets for every day. Both Takahanada and his brother became sex symbols.
Promotion to Yokozuna
Now known as Takanohana, he was also the youngest ever to be promoted to ōzeki at 20 years 5 months. With the foreign born Akebono as sumo's only yokozuna, there was a great weight of expectation on Takanohana to make the next step up. However, his lack of consistency, and Akebono's dominance, delayed his promotion to yokozuna. He won his third championship in May 1993, but lost a playoff to Akebono in the following tournament in July, and even produced a make-koshi or losing score of 7-8 in November. In 1994, a year in which Akebono suffered several injury problems, Takanohana won the January and May tournaments, but was then outshone by MusashimaruMusashimaru Kōyō
, is a former sumo wrestler. He was the second foreign-born wrestler in history to reach the rank of yokozuna. He won over 700 top division bouts and took twelve top division tournament championships during his career. Musashimaru's sheer bulk combined with of height made him a formidable...
, who won in July with a perfect 15-0 record. After taking the September 1994 championship, Takanohana now had six top division titles, but none had been won consecutively. No previous wrestler had ever accumulated so many titles before reaching sumo's highest rank. The Sumo Association nominated him for yokozuna after the September tournament, but the Yokozuna Deliberation Council failed to endorse it by the required two-thirds majority, the first time this had happened in twenty five years. They insisted that two consecutive championships were required, having demanded the same of Akebono before his promotion. In November 1994, Takanohana at last managed to win two tournaments in a row, with his second consecutive unbeaten 15-0 score, and his promotion was confirmed. He had been at the ōzeki rank for 11 tournaments, or nearly two years. However, at 22 years and 3 months, he was still the third youngest yokozuna ever at the time.
1995-1997
Takanohana's total of seven tournament championships by the start of 1995 was the same as the total won by Akebono, who had reached the yokozuna rank two years before him. However, Takanohana now pulled ahead of his rival. He was at his peak as a yokozuna between 1995 and 1997, during which time he won 11 of the 17 tournaments he entered, finishing runner-up in the other six. He produced two more perfect scores of 15-0, in September 1995 and September 1996. Overall he won 80 out of 90 bouts he fought in 1995, 70 out of 75 in 1996, and 78 out 90 in 1997, far ahead of any other wrestler. In three of the tournaments Takanohana did not win during this period, he was defeated by stablemates in playoffs: once to Wakanohana and twice to ōzeki TakanonamiTakanonami Sadahiro
Takanonami Sadahiro is a former sumo wrestler from Aomori, Japan. He held sumo's second highest rank of ōzeki from 1994 until 2000 and won two tournament titles...
. Sumo rules prevent wrestlers from the same heya
Heya
In sumo wrestling, a heya , usually translated into English as stable, is an organization of sumo wrestlers where they train and live. All wrestlers in professional sumo must belong to one. There are currently 49 heya , all but four of which belong to one of five ichimon...
meeting in regular tournament bouts (playoffs excepted) which meant Takanohana avoided not only his brother and Takanonami but also sekiwake Akinoshima
Akinoshima Katsumi
Akinoshima Katsumi is a former sumo wrestler from Akitsu, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. He made his professional debut in 1982, and after reaching the top division in 1988 he remained there for 15 years...
and Takatoriki
Takatoriki Tadashige
Takatōriki Tadashige is a former sumo wrestler from Kobe, Japan. He made his professional debut in 1983, reaching the top division in 1990...
. The merger of his father's Fujishima stable with his uncle's Futagoyama stable in 1993 had added even more top division wrestlers to this list, giving him an advantage over Akebono, who had to face them all. By September 1996 Takanohana had won 15 tournament championships, and was still only 24 years old. However, after sitting out the first tournament of his career in November 1996 due to a back injury suffered on a regional tour, he put on more weight and began to be more susceptible to injury and illness.
1998-2000
Takanohana was affected by a liverLiver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
disorder in the first half of 1998, which caused him withdraw from the January 1998 tournament and miss the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics
1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...
in Nagano (his place was taken by Akebono). He pulled out of the March 1998 tournament as well and was still below his best in May. Shunning the traditional treatment methods available from his stable, he turned instead to a physical therapist called Tashiro Tomita, who had a considerable influence over him. He became increasingly isolated from his father and brother, with his father claiming Takanohana had been "brainwashed" by Tomita. Despite his brother's promotion to yokozuna that year, creating the first ever sibling grand champions, the two were barely on speaking terms. Takanohana recovered to win the July and September 1998 tournaments, and was runner-up that November. In 1999, however, he was even more badly affected by injuries, including a dislocated shoulder, and managed only one score in double figures all year.
After making peace with his family, Takanohana regained some of his consistency in 2000, although he was temporarily sidelined by an elbow injury suffered in the July tournament. His brother had retired in March, and several other members of his stable were now past their best. With Akebono dominant once more his best results that year were two runner-up performances.
2001-2003
Takanohana won his first tournament for over two years in January 2001, winning his first fourteen bouts and then defeating fellow yokozuna MusashimaruMusashimaru Kōyō
, is a former sumo wrestler. He was the second foreign-born wrestler in history to reach the rank of yokozuna. He won over 700 top division bouts and took twelve top division tournament championships during his career. Musashimaru's sheer bulk combined with of height made him a formidable...
in a playoff on the final day. He won his final championship in May 2001, again in a playoff against Musashimaru, but it came at a great cost. He had suffered serious knee ligament damage in a loss to Musōyama
Musoyama Masashi
Musōyama Masashi is a former sumo wrestler from Mito, Ibaraki, Japan. A former amateur champion, he turned professional in January 1993, and he won promotion to the top makuuchi division in just four tournaments...
on the 14th day but he insisted on fighting on to the end of the tournament. As a result, he then missed an unprecedented seven tournaments in a row, undergoing surgery in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in July 2001 and having a lengthy recuperation after that.
Takanohana finally returned to the ring in September 2002, after the Sumo Association declared he must compete or retire. He finished behind Musashimaru on 12-3, the 16th time he had been a tournament runner-up. Considering how long he had been away, it was seen as an impressive comeback. However, he sat out the next tournament with a recurrence of the knee injury. He made another comeback in January 2003, making a late decision to compete. A shoulder injury caused him to miss two days, and after suffering successive losses to Dejima
Dejima Takeharu
Dejima Takeharu is a former sumo wrestler from Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan. A former amateur champion, he made his professional debut in 1996, reaching the top makuuchi division the following year...
and Aminishiki
Aminishiki Ryuji
Aminishiki Ryūji is a Japanese sumo wrestler. He made his professional debut in 1997 and has been ranked in the top division since 2000. He has earned ten special prizes and won seven gold stars for defeating yokozuna during his career. He has twice been runner-up in a tournament. The highest rank...
he announced his retirement. He said he had no regrets and was thankful to have achieved so much in sumo. His father spoke of his relief at the decision, after seeing his son battle through so many injuries. Takanohana's record of 22 tournament championships was the fourth best in sumo history, behind only Taihō
Taiho Koki
Taihō Kōki is the 48th Yokozuna in the Japanese sport of sumo wrestling. He is generally regarded as the greatest sumo wrestler of the post-war period. He became a yokozuna in 1961 at the age of 21, the youngest ever at the time, and he won a record 32 tournaments between 1960 and 1971...
, Chiyonofuji
Chiyonofuji Mitsugu
, born June 1, 1955, as in Hokkaidō, Japan, is a former champion sumo wrestler and the 58th yokozuna of the sport. He is now the head coach of Kokonoe stable....
and Kitanoumi
Kitanoumi Toshimitsu
Kitanoumi Toshimitsu is a former sumo wrestler and former Chairman of the Japan Sumo Association. He was the dominant yokozuna in sumo during the 1970s. Toshimitsu was promoted to yokozuna at age 21, becoming the youngest ever to achieve sumo's top rank, and he remained a yokozuna for a record 63...
at the time. Junichiro Koizumi
Junichiro Koizumi
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics when his term in parliament ended.Widely seen as a maverick leader of the Liberal Democratic Party , he became known as an economic reformer, focusing on Japan's government debt and the...
, the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Japan
The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office...
, was among those paying tribute. His retirement left no Japanese born wrestlers at the yokozuna rank and was widely regarded as being the end of an era.
Takanohana's danpatsu-shiki, or official retirement ceremony, was held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan
Ryogoku Kokugikan
, also known as Sumo Hall, is an indoor sporting arena located in the Ryōgoku neighborhood of Sumida, one of the 23 wards of Tokyo in Japan, next to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It is the third building built in Tokyo associated with the name kokugikan. The current building was opened in 1985 and has a...
on June 1, 2003. The ceremony, and the party held afterwards at the Imperial Hotel
Imperial Hotel, Tokyo
The Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, Japan, was created in the late 1880s at the request of the Japanese aristocracy to cater to the increasing number of western visitors to Japan. The hotel site is located just south of the Imperial Palace grounds, next to the previous location of the Palace moat...
, were both broadcast live on Fuji TV.
Fighting style
Takanohana was largely a yotsu-sumo wrestler, favouring techniques which involved grabbing his opponent's mawashiMawashi
In sumo, a mawashi is the belt that the rikishi wears during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a keshō-mawashi as part of the ring entry ceremony or dohyo-iri.-Mawashi:...
or belt. His preferred grip was migi-yotsu (right hand inside, left hand outside his opponent). His most common winning kimarite
Kimarite
Kimarite are winning techniques in a sumo bout. For each bout in a Grand Sumo tournament , a sumo referee, or gyoji, will decide and announce the type of kimarite used by the winner...
by far was yori-kiri, a simple force out, which accounted for 52 percent of his victories. He also regularly employed uwatenage, or overarm throw, and this was the technique he used to defeat Asashōryū
Asashōryū Akinori
is a former sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He was the 68th yokozuna in the history of the sport in Japan and became the first Mongol to reach sumo's highest rank in January 2003. He was one of the most successful yokozuna ever. In 2005 he became the first man to win all six official...
in the second of their two meetings, in September 2002.
Retirement from sumo
After his retirement he became an elderToshiyori
A toshiyori is a sumo elder of the Japan Sumo Association. Also known as oyakata, former wrestlers who reached a sufficiently high rank are the only people eligible...
(or member) of the Japan Sumo Association
Japan Sumo Association
The is the body that operates and controls professional sumo wrestling in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Rikishi , gyōji , tokoyama , and yobidashi , are all on the Association's payroll, but the organisation is run...
. Because of his great achievements in sumo he was given a bonus of 130 million yen and was also made a "one generation" elder without having to purchase a share in the Association. This enabled him to keep his fighting name
Shikona
A shikona is a sumo wrestler's ring name.As with standard Japanese names, a shikona consists of a 'surname' and a 'given' name, and the full name is written surname first. However, the given name is rarely used outside formal or ceremonial occasions. Thus, the former yokozuna Asashōryū Akinori is...
and he is now known as Takanohana Oyakata. With his father's health failing, he took over the operation of his training stable in January 2004, renaming it Takanohana stable
Takanohana stable
is a stable of sumo wrestlers, formerly one of the Nishonoseki group of stables. It was known as Futagoyama stable until 2004.-History:Futagoyama stable was established in 1962 by former Yokozuna Wakanohana Kanji I, who branched off from Hanakago stable and converted his home near the Minami...
. Its last sekitori
Sekitori
A sekitori is a sumo wrestler who is ranked in one of the top two professional divisions: makuuchi and juryo.Currently there are 70 rikishi in these divisions...
, Takanonami
Takanonami Sadahiro
Takanonami Sadahiro is a former sumo wrestler from Aomori, Japan. He held sumo's second highest rank of ōzeki from 1994 until 2000 and won two tournament titles...
retired shortly afterwards and no one from the stable has reached the top two divisions since. During 2008, he added four new recruits to his stable, the first for several years, bringing the total number of wrestlers in his charge up to ten. These include his first foreign recruit, a Mongolian with amateur sumo experience, and two twins.
Takanohana became a shimpan
Shimpan
are the judges of a professional sumo bout. In a sumo honbasho tournament five shimpan sit around the ring to observe which wrestler wins the matchup. When judging tournament bouts they wear formal Japanese dress of otokomono, haori with mon, and hakama...
or judge of tournament bouts in February 2004, only a year after his retirement, a role for which elders normally have to wait at least four years. After the election of the Association's Board of Directors in February 2008, the Association appointed Takanohana as , replacing former yokozuna Chiyonofuji
Chiyonofuji Mitsugu
, born June 1, 1955, as in Hokkaidō, Japan, is a former champion sumo wrestler and the 58th yokozuna of the sport. He is now the head coach of Kokonoe stable....
(Kokonoe-oyakata) who was elected to serve the Board as a director. For an organization that tends to follow seniority over achievement in its organization appointment, it was highly unusual for them to place a 35-year-old to such an influential position. However both former yokozuna Kitanoumi
Kitanoumi Toshimitsu
Kitanoumi Toshimitsu is a former sumo wrestler and former Chairman of the Japan Sumo Association. He was the dominant yokozuna in sumo during the 1970s. Toshimitsu was promoted to yokozuna at age 21, becoming the youngest ever to achieve sumo's top rank, and he remained a yokozuna for a record 63...
and Chiyonofuji whom Takanohana is often compared to served a stint as Associate Manager of Judging prior to their becoming the Board director. In February 2009 he was moved from the judging department to the jungyo (regional tour) department, a less high-profile position.
Takanohana mentioned in October 2009 that he was interested in running for a spot on the Board of Directors in the February 2010 elections, and confirmed in January that he would stand, despite the fact that this would mean opposing the two officially sanctioned candidates of the Nishonoseki ichimon or group of stables. As a result, Takanohana and six of his supporters, Ōtake (the former Takatoriki), Futagoyama (the former Dairyu), Otowayama (the former Takanonami), Tokiwayama (the former Takamisugi, Ōnomatsu (the former Masurao Hiroo
Masurao Hiroo
is a Japanese former sumo wrestler, born in Itoda, Fukuoka Prefecture. Making his professional debut in 1979, he reached the top division in 1985. His highest rank was sekiwake and he won five special prizes in his top division career. He was one of the lightest wrestlers in the top division, and...
) and Magaki (the former Wakanohana II
Wakanohana Kanji II
Wakanohana Kanji II is a former sumo wrestler from Ōwani, Aomori, Japan. He was the sport's 56th Yokozuna. He is now the head coach of Magaki stable.-Early career:...
) left the Nishonoseki ichimon. Takanohana told a press conference, "I will leave the faction. I bid farewell to everyone in my greetings at the meeting. I have stepped into the race as a candidate." The first contested elections since 2002, they took place by secret ballot on February 1, and Takanohana was elected to the board, replacing Ōshima. Seen as a reformer, he favours revamping the current ticket sales system and improving support for ex-rikishi, as well as encouraging sumo in primary schools, raising the pay of gyoji
Gyoji
A Gyōji is a referee in professional sumo wrestling in Japan.Gyōji usually enter the sumo world as teenagers and remain employees of the Sumo Association until they retire aged 65.-Responsibilities:...
, yobidashi
Yobidashi
The yobidashi calls a professional sumo wrestler, or rikishi, to the dohyō immediately prior to his bout...
and tokoyama
Tokoyama
A tokoyama is a hairdresser employed by the Japan Sumo Association to cut and prepare sumo wrestlers' hair, which is done in a chonmage style...
, and making public the Sumo Association's accounts and assets. His victory was praised by the Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
Yukio Hatoyama
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan between 16 September 2009 and 2 June 2010, and was the first ever Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan....
, who said Takanohana had let in "a new wind of change."
In July 2010, in the wake of a scandal involving several wrestlers admitting to illegal gambling, he denied he had connections with members of the yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
underworld after media reports that he was seen with a mobster during a visit to Ehime prefecture
Ehime Prefecture
is a prefecture in northwestern Shikoku, Japan. The capital is Matsuyama.-History:Until the Meiji Restoration, Ehime prefecture was known as Iyo Province...
to recruit new apprentices.
Following the election of Hanaregoma
Kaiketsu Masateru
Kaiketsu Masateru is a former sumo wrestler, who reached the second highest rank of ōzeki on two separate occasions. He also won two top division tournament championships...
as the new head of the Sumo Association in August 2010, Takanohana returned to the judging department as director of judging. The following month he and his wife were awarded ¥8.47 million in damages by the Tokyo High Court over 13 articles published by the Shukan Gendai
Shukan Gendai
is a Japanese weekly magazine published since 1959 by Kodansha. Published simultaneously with Weekly Post , it includes articles about political scandals, sports and celebrities; nude photos; movie information; book reviews; and other articles of interest to middle-aged salarymen...
and Gekkan Gendai in 2004 and 2005 concerning match-fixing allegations and the controversy over his father's inheritance.
Having reached a peak weight of 160 kg (352.7 lb) as an active wrestler, he has lost a great deal of weight since his retirement (more than retired wrestlers typically do) and is now around 90 kg (198.4 lb). In 2009 he published a book detailing his weight loss methods.
Relationship with family
The Hanada family had generally received very positive press coverage while Takanohana and Wakanohana were active wrestlers, with the press holding them up as the ideal Japanese family and tending to ignore any splits between them. Their different attitudes towards both sumo philosophy and the outside world had been noted, with Takanohana being regarded as somewhat aloof and reserved and Wakanahona having a warmer personality. However, upon their father's death from cancer in May 2005, a bitter rift between the brothers was widely reported in the Japanese media. Takanohana felt he should be the chief mourner at the funeral as he had remained in the Sumo Association whilst his brother had left to become a TV celebrityTarento
is a Japanese rendering of the English word "talent" and is used as a catch-all term for mass media personalities who regularly appear on television. Detractors of the phenomenon have referred to it in an English sense as "famous just for being famous" because many that fall into this career line...
, but the role went to Wakanohana as the elder brother, as is traditional.
However, with their father reported to have left no will, it was suggested that the feud revolved around control of his estate.
Takanohana also condemned his mother for her extramarital affair, which led to her divorce from Futagoyama and exit from the stable in July 2001, and had only been rumoured up to that point. She has now reverted to her old name of Noriko Fujita and published a book and appeared on TV, revealing details of life as a stablemaster's wife that are seldom heard outside the sumo world. Takanohana has rarely spoken to her since. In June 2008 he spoke of his distress at the news that she had been named as a defence witness in a civil lawsuit brought by the Sumo Association against the tabloid magazine Shukan Gendai
Shukan Gendai
is a Japanese weekly magazine published since 1959 by Kodansha. Published simultaneously with Weekly Post , it includes articles about political scandals, sports and celebrities; nude photos; movie information; book reviews; and other articles of interest to middle-aged salarymen...
over allegations that his father benefited from a thrown match for the championship in 1975, saying, "she will essentially be fighting against me." He said he would take responsibility by resigning from the Sumo Association if she took the stand. In a radio interview Fujita said she would not testify, saying, "I will not drag my child down".
Marriage
In late 1992 Takanohana announced his engagement to actress Rie MiyazawaRie Miyazawa
is a Japanese actress and former model.- Life and career :Rie Miyazawa was born in Tokyo and raised by her mother. Since her debut at age 11 in an advertisement for Kit Kat, she has many films, television shows, commercials, stage appearances and photo books to her credit. She starred in the...
, news which sparked a similar amount of coverage to the royal wedding held that year. However the engagement was broken off the following year, reportedly because Miyazawa was seen by Takanohana's parents and the Sumo Association as being unwilling to sacrifice her career to become a regular stable wife. The role of the wife of a head coach in looking after the stable's recruits and liasing with supporter's groups is regarded as a full-time job.
In May 1995 Takanohana married television announcer Keiko Kono, eight years older than him. The couple have a son and two daughters.
Top division record
See also
- Glossary of sumo termsGlossary of sumo termsThe following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. azukari : Hold. A kind of draw. After a mono-ii, the gyōji or the shimpan "holds" the result if it was too close to call...
- List of past sumo wrestlers
- List of sumo tournament winners
- List of yokozuna