Takanohana Kenshi

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Takanohana Kenshi
貴ノ花 健士
Personal information
BornMitsuru Hanada
(1950-02-19)February 19, 1950
Muroran, Japan
DiedMay 30, 2005(2005-05-30) (aged 55)
Height1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Weight115 kg (254 lb; 18.1 st)
Career
Kitanofuji
)
* Up to date as of June 2020.

Takanohana Kenshi 貴ノ花 健士 (born Hanada Mitsuru; February 19, 1950 – May 30, 2005) was a

Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan. His highest rank was ōzeki, 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. He was the father of Wakanohana Masaru and Takanohana Kōji, and as head of the Futagoyama stable coached both of them to the yokozuna rank.[1]

Career

He had been a champion

swimmer while at school, but did not think he could make a living out of it. He was determined to join professional sumo, in spite of some opposition from his family,[2] who had wanted him to continue swimming (he was considered a possibility to make the team for the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City
).

He began his career in the spring of 1965, joining

special prizes
, including four prestigious ginō-shō, or Technique Awards.

After finishing as runner-up in consecutive tournaments in May and July 1972 he reached sumo's second highest rank of ōzeki in November 1972. He was promoted at the same time as his friend and rival

Chiyotaikai. He was a bigger crowd attraction than some yokozuna.[2]

By the early 1980s he was finding it harder to hold onto his rank, and had been overtaken by his stablemate

Takamiyama, who was nearly twice his weight and like Takanohana, extremely popular with the Japanese public. Takanohana looked to have won the match with an underarm throw, only for the judges to reverse the referee's decision and rule that the tip of Takanohana's topknot or ōichōmage had brushed the surface of the dohyō ahead of his opponent.[2]

After losing to the rising star

Chiyonofuji twice in a row in September and November 1980, he decided the time was right to retire. The two were often compared, and Takanohana had been something of a mentor to Chiyonofuji, advising him to give up smoking to help increase his weight, something that Takanohana himself had never been able to manage.[2]

After retirement

After retiring from sumo in January 1981, he took the name Fujishima and established the Fujishima stable in 1982, which grew to be one of the most powerful in terms of top

san'yaku
ranks. During this time it was undoubtedly the most powerful stable the sumo world has seen in the postwar period. He oversaw the promotion of both of his sons to yokozuna, the first time ever that two siblings have held sumo's highest rank.

He was married in 1970 to a former actress and

beauty queen, Fujita Noriko, who was once "Miss Ōita Prefecture".[2]
They were divorced in 2001.

His health began to decline in 2003, and he withdrew from his duties in the Sumo Association. He passed on control of Futagoyama stable to his son Takanohana in January 2004, and made his last public appearance in January 2005 at the retirement ceremony of one of his former wrestlers,

Takanonami.[4]

Death

Suginami, Tokyo
.

In February 2005, his son publicly announced that his father was struggling with

Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo.[1] The Sumo Association also held a public funeral in the Ryōgoku Kokugikan on June 13. This was the first time in nine years that a former wrestler had been afforded this honour.[1]

Fighting style

Takanohana's favoured techniques were hidari-yotsu (a right hand outside, left hand inside grip on his opponent's mawashi), tsuridashi (lift out) and uwatenage (overarm throw). He was also noted for his ability to spin at the edge of the ring and turn the tables on his opponent with the utchari throw.[6]

Career record

Takanohana Kenshi[7]
Year January
Hatsu basho, Tokyo		 March
Haru basho, Osaka		 May
Natsu basho, Tokyo		 July
Nagoya basho, Nagoya		 September
Aki basho, Tokyo		 November
Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
1965 x x (Maezumo) West Jonokuchi #15
6–1–PPP
Champion
 		 West Jonidan #85
6–1
 		 West Jonidan #13
5–2
 
1966 East Sandanme #74
5–2
 		 East Sandanme #47
4–3
 		 East Sandanme #37
4–3
 		 West Sandanme #17
6–1
 		 West Makushita #73
5–2
 		 West Makushita #52
5–2
 
1967 East Makushita #38
4–3
 		 East Makushita #31
4–3
 		 West Makushita #30
4–3
 		 East Makushita #22
5–2
 		 West Makushita #13
6–1
 		 East Makushita #4
4–3
 
1968 East Makushita #2
5–2
 		 East Jūryō #12
8–7
 		 East Jūryō #10
7–8
 		 East Jūryō #12
8–7
 		 West Jūryō #8
11–4
Champion
 		 East Maegashira #13
8–7
 
1969 West Maegashira #11
7–8
 		 East Maegashira #12
0–8–7
 		 East Jūryō #11
9–6
 		 West Jūryō #5
9–6
 		 West Jūryō #1
7–8
 		 West Jūryō #2
11–4
Champion
 
1970 West Maegashira #9
10–5
 		 East Maegashira #2
3–12
 		 West Maegashira #11
8–7
 		 East Maegashira #7
11–4
 		 West Komusubi #1
9–6
O		 West Sekiwake #1
7–8
 
1971 East Komusubi #1
2–4–9
 		 East Maegashira #5
9–6
T		 West Komusubi #1
8–7
O		 East Komusubi #1
8–7
O		 West Sekiwake #1
9–6
T		 East Sekiwake #1
8–7
 
1972 West Sekiwake #1
6–9
 		 West Maegashira #1
10–5
★		 East Komusubi #1
11–4
T		 West Sekiwake #1
12–3
TF		 East Sekiwake #1
10–5
F		 West Ōzeki #1
9–6
 
1973 West Ōzeki #3
8–7
 		 East Ōzeki #2
0–3–12
 		 West Ōzeki #2
8–7
 		 West Ōzeki #2
8–7
 		 East Ōzeki #2
9–6
 		 West Ōzeki #1
9–6
 
1974 East Ōzeki #1
9–6
 		 West Ōzeki #1
10–5
 		 West Ōzeki #1
2–4–9
 		 West Ōzeki #2
10–5
 		 East Ōzeki #1
8–7
 		 East Ōzeki #1
11–4
 
1975 East Ōzeki #1
10–5
 		 East Ōzeki #1
13–2–P
 		 East Ōzeki #1
9–6
 		 West Ōzeki #1
0–4–11
 		 West Ōzeki #1
12–3–P
 		 East Ōzeki #1
8–7
 
1976 West Ōzeki #1
9–6
 		 East Ōzeki #1
9–6
 		 West Ōzeki #1
10–5
 		 East Ōzeki #1
9–6
 		 East Ōzeki #1
10–5
 		 East Ōzeki #1
9–6
 
1977 West Ōzeki #1
12–3
 		 East Ōzeki #1
13–2
 		 East Ōzeki #1
10–5
 		 West Ōzeki #1
8–7
 		 East Ōzeki #2
10–5
 		 East Ōzeki #2
10–5
 
1978 West Ōzeki #1
0–5–10
 		 West Ōzeki #2
8–7
 		 West Ōzeki #2
8–7
 		 West Ōzeki #2
8–7
 		 West Ōzeki #2
8–7
 		 West Ōzeki #1
10–5
 
1979 West Ōzeki #1
9–6
 		 West Ōzeki #1
9–6
 		 West Ōzeki #1
9–6
 		 West Ōzeki #1
9–6
 		 East Ōzeki #1
10–5
 		 East Ōzeki #1
9–6
 
1980 East Ōzeki #1
7–8
 		 West Ōzeki #1
10–5
 		 East Ōzeki #1
8–7
 		 East Ōzeki #1
9–6
 		 East Ōzeki #1
9–6
 		 East Ōzeki #1
8–7
 
1981 East Ōzeki #1
Retired
2–5		 x x x x x
Record given as wins–losses–absencies    Top division champion Top division runner-up Retired Lower divisions Non-participation

Playoff
(s)
Divisions:
Jonokuchi

Makuuchi ranks: 
Maegashira

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Death of Futagoyama Oyakata: the Prince of Sumo leaves us!". Le Monde de Sumo. June 2005. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-8348-0283-X
    .
  3. ^ Brasor, Philip (19 June 2005). "Takanohana vs. Wakanohana: The final faceoff". Japan Times. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Futagoyama Oyakata Dies". Sumo Talk. 2005-05-30. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  5. ^ "Sumo elder Futagoyama dies". The Japan Times. 2005-05-31. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
  6. ^ Halloran, Richard (6 January 1974). "Notes of a Sumo Wrestling Fan". New York Times. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  7. ^ "Takanohana Kenshi Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2012-07-30.

External links

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