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 t ...

wrestler from

Yame, Fukuoka is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on April 1, 1954. As of 2003, the city had an estimated population of 39,372 and a population density of 1,000.81 persons per km². The total area was 39.34 km². On Octo ...

, Japan. His highest rank was

komusubi , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

. He earned four gold stars for defeating

yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

. After his retirement from active competition in 1961 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 ...

of the

Japan Sumo Association The is the body that operates and controls professional sumo wrestling (called ''Ōzumō'', 大相撲) in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). '' Rikishi'' (active ...

under the name Shikoroyama.

Career

He was born in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, China, and was separated from his parents while still a child. He attempted to locate his parents who he believed may have returned to Japan by joining a sumo touring party. Upon joining professional sumo he took the Japanese surname of Iwahira. He was recruited by the active ''yokozuna'' Futabayama and joined his Futabayama stable (later

Tokitsukaze stable The is a stable of sumo wrestlers in Japan, one of the Tokitsukaze group of stables. It was founded in 1769 and was dominant during the Taishō period. In its modern form it dates from 1941 when it was established by Futabayama, who was still ...

) in January 1942. He used Iwahira as his fighting name until one tournament after he was promoted to the top ''

makuuchi , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

'' division, when he adopted the ''

shikona A is a sumo wrestler's ring name. The tradition of ring names in sumo dates back to the Edo period, where they were used as a means to attract customers and hide the identities of the '' rikishi''. Like standard Japanese names, a ''shikona'' ...

'' of Wakabayama, taking two characters from his head coach Futabayama. His birthplace was recorded on the

banzuke A , officially called is a document listing the rankings of professional sumo wrestlers published before each official tournament (''honbasho''). The term can also refer to the rankings themselves. The document is normally released about two w ...

, although he later changed his surname to Aoyama (his wife's) and his birthplace to Omiya, Saitama. His promotion followed his '' yusho'' or tournament championship in the '' juryo'' division in November 1946, the only tournament held that year. Following his strong performance in the May 1951 tournament, where he defeated two ''yokozuna'' and won the Outstanding Performance Prize, he was promoted to ''

'' in September 1951, which was to be his highest rank. He fought in the top division for 49 tournaments with a win/loss record of 326/383. He was demoted from ''makuuchi'' in November 1959 after recording only one win against 14 losses. He competed in the ''juryo'' division until announcing his retirement after the January 1961 tournament.

Retirement from sumo

Following his retirement Wakabayama remained with the

as an

under the name Shikoroyama Oyakata, and worked as a coach at Tokitsukaze stable until reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65 in November 1987.

Death

He died of a

cerebral thrombosis A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of cr ...

on January 17, 2001 in Fukushima. He was 78.

Family

His son-in-law Masashi Onami was a sumo wrestler in the Tatsutagawa stable, fighting as Wakashinobu and reaching a highest rank of makushita 51. Three of his grandsons also became sumo wrestlers, all fighting out of the

Arashio stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Tokitsukaze '' ichimon'' or group of stables. It was set up in June 2002 by former ''komusubi'' Ōyutaka, who branched off from Tokitsukaze stable. At the end of 2009 the stable produced its first ''s ...

. The first was Onami (now Wakatakamoto) in 2009, followed by Goshi (now

Wakamotoharu is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Fukushima (city), Fukushima. He wrestles for the Arashio stable, where he is a heya (sumo), stable mate of his brothers Wakatakakage Atsushi, Wakatakakage and Wakatakamoto. His highest rank to date ha ...

) in 2011. Wakatakakage, an amateur champion at

Toyo University is a university with several branches in Japan, including Hakusan, Asaka, Kawagoe, Itakura, and Akabane. Overview The predecessor to Toyo University was , which was founded at Rinsho-in Temple by Enryo Inoue in 1887. Inoue felt that the ...

, joined as a '' sandanme tsukedashi'' entrant in March 2017, reached the ''makuuchi'' division in November 2019 and won the 2022 Osaka tournament.https://www.sumo.or.jp/webroot/EnSumoDataRikishi/profile/3761/index.php/

Fighting style

Wakabayama was small for a sumo wrestler at and , but he was a noted technician. His favourite techniques included ''ashitori'' (leg grab) and ''shitatehineri'' (twisting underarm throw).

Pre-modern top division record

*''The New Year tournament began and the Spring tournament returned to Osaka in 1953.'' 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Modern top division tournament record

*''Since the addition of the Kyushu tournament in 1957 and the Nagoya tournament in 1958, the yearly schedule has remained unchanged.'' 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakabayama, Sadao 1922 births 2001 deaths Japanese sumo wrestlers Komusubi People from Yame, Fukuoka Sumo people from Fukuoka Prefecture