Wakanoumi Masateru II (born Akio Matsuda; October 25, 1945 – March 31, 1995) was a

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

wrestler from Ōhasama, Iwate,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Career

He made his professional debut in May 1961 and was given ex-'' komusubi'' Wakanoumi's old '' shikona'' when he was promoted to ''

jūryō Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. For ...

''. However, he had an inauspicious jūryō debut, winning only two of his fifteen matches. After briefly returning to his family name of Matsuda he earned four consecutive winning record in the '' makushita'' division to return to ''jūryō'' in November 1971. He won the ''jūryō'' division '' yūshō'' or championship in May 1972 with a 12–3 record. He reached the top '' makuuchi'' division in July 1972, after 11 years and two months in sumo and 67 tournaments after his professional debut. His highest rank was '' maegashira'' 2. He never managed double-digit wins in a top division tournament, and did not earn any special prizes or gold stars. However, he did defeat '' ōzeki'' Takanohana in March 1974. After suffering a dislocated ankle in the summer tour of 1977 he missed the September 1977 tournament and was demoted back to ''jūryō''.

Retirement from sumo

Upon retirement from active competition in January 1978 he became an

elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and tr ...

in the Japan Sumo Association under the name Ōtake and worked at Taihō stable (the Ōtake name was owned by Taihō). He left the Sumo Association in May 1992, when the Ōtake elder stock was needed by the retiring Ōzutsu. After leaving sumo he ran a

chankonabe is a Japanese stew (a type of nabemono or one-pot dish) commonly eaten in vast quantity by sumo wrestlers as part of a weight-gain diet. Ingredients and consumption The dish contains a ''dashi'' or chicken broth soup base with sake or ''mir ...

restaurant in Tokyo's

Kōtō is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward located in Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Kōtō City in English. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 488,632, and a population density of 12,170 pers ...

ward and in 1993 appeared semi-regularly as a sumo trainer in the ''Hirari'' daytime drama series featured on NHK's '' Asadora.'' He died of heart failure in a

Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

hospital on March 31, 1995 at the age of 49. He is buried in a temple in

Hanamaki, Iwate is a city in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 94,691, and a population density of 100 persons per km², in 37,773 households. The total area of the city is . Hanamaki is famous as the birthplace of Kenji Miyazaw ...

Family

Two of his sons were sumo wrestlers - former ''makushita'' Kachimori (born 1977) of

Isenoumi stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Tokitsukaze ''ichimon'' or group of stables. Its current head coach is former ''maegashira'' Kitakachidoki. As of January 2022 it had 12 wrestlers. History The name of Isenoumi stable relates to one of ...

and former '' jonidan'' Wakashoho (born 1980) of the Taiho stable. Kachimori now runs a chanko bowl restaurant.

Fighting style

He was a ''yotsu-sumo'' wrestler, and his most common winning

techniques Technique or techniques may refer to: Music * The Techniques, a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group of the 1960s *Technique (band), a British female synth pop band in the 1990s * ''Technique'' (album), by New Order, 1989 * ''Techniques'' (album), by M ...

were ''yori-kiri'' (force out), ''uwatenage'' (overarm throw) and ''tsuri-dashi'' (lift out). He preferred a ''hidari-yotsu'' (right hand outside, left hand inside) grip on his opponent's mawashi.

Career record

References