Wakanohana Kanji II
| Wakanohana Kanji II | |
|---|---|
| 若乃花 幹士 | |
Wakanohana's handprint displayed on a monument in Ryōgoku, Tokyo
|
|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Katsunori Shimoyama April 3, 1953 Aomori, Japan |
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 129 kg (284 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Futagoyama |
| Record | 656-323-85 |
| Debut | July, 1968 |
| Highest rank | Yokozuna (May, 1978) |
| Retired | January, 1983 |
| Championships | 4 (Makuuchi) |
| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (2) Technique (4) |
| Gold Stars | 3 (Kitanoumi) |
| * Up to date as of August 2007. | |
Wakanohana Kanji II (若乃花 幹士, born April 3, 1953) is a former sumo wrestler from Ōwani, Aomori, Japan. He was the sport's 56th yokozuna. After retirement he became head coach of Magaki stable. Due to poor health he left the Japan Sumo Association in December 2013.
Born as Katsunori Shimoyama, he began his sumo career as a 15-year-old in July 1968. He joined Futagoyama stable at the same time as another future yokozuna, Takanosato, who came from the same area of Japan. Initially fighting under his own surname of Shimoyama, he changed to the sumo name of Wakamisugi in 1973. It took him five years to reach the status of a salaried sekitori wrestler, when he broke into the jūryō division in May 1973. He was promoted to the top makuuchi division in November 1973. From September 1974 to January 1975 he won three consecutive technique prizes and was promoted to sekiwake. Over the next two years he had some up and down results, but from September 1976 to January 1977 at sekiwake rank he put together three 11-4 marks, won three more special prizes and was promoted to ōzeki. In May 1977 he won his first yūshō, or tournament championship, with a 13-2 record.
In 1978 Wakamisugi emerged as the chief rival to Yokozuna Kitanoumi, as the other grand champion at the time, Wajima, was producing inconsistent results. Wakamisugi finished runner-up to Kitanoumi in January 1978 and then fought two playoffs with him for the yūshō in March and May. Although he was not able to win either, his record of 40 wins out of a possible 45 over the last three tournaments was enough for promotion to yokozuna. Indeed, it was the best postwar total for any yokozuna candidate. Wakamisugi changed his name to Wakanohana, which was the shikona of his stablemaster at Futagoyama, the former Wakanohana Kanji I.
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