Asanowaka Takehiko
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Asanowaka Takehiko (born 11 December 1969 as Takehiko Adachi) is a former
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 th ...
wrestler from
Ichinomiya is a Japanese language, Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a Provinces of Japan, province. Shrines of lower rank were designated , , , and so forth.''Encyclopedia of Shinto'' ''Ichi no miya'' retr ...
,
Aichi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. His highest rank was '' maegashira'' 1. He is now a sumo coach.


Career

He was an amateur sumo competitor at Kinki University, although he never won any titles. He was recruited by ex-'' ōzeki'' Asashio (himself a former collegiate competitor) and joined Wakamatsu stable (later Takasago stable) in March 1992. He began as a ''
makushita tsukedashi The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H ...
,'' meaning he could make his debut at the bottom of the third '' makushita'' division. He was promoted to the second ''
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. Fo ...
'' division in January 1993 and captured the tournament championship in that division in November 1993 with a score of 11-4. Following a 9-6 in January 1994 he was promoted to the top ''
makuuchi , or , is the top division of Professional sumo divisions, 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 ...
'' division in March of that year. Asanowaka never managed to reach the titled ''
san'yaku The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H ...
'' ranks or win a special prize. He was also unable to defeat any ''
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 o ...
'' and had only one win against an ''ōzeki'' ( Takanonami in May 1997). Nevertheless, he fought in the top division off and on for ten years and his record of 346 wins there is the best amongst ''maegashira'' only wrestlers. He was also very popular with tournament crowds. At the peak of his career he wore an outlandish bright yellow '' mawashi'' and would enliven the preliminaries by throwing the purifying salt in a manner that resembled an
American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
player scoring a
touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...
. He would also crouch extremely low to the ground when doing the warm up or '' shikiri''. Eventually he was instructed by the
Japan Sumo Association The , officially the ; sometimes abbreviated JSA or NSK, and more usually called Sumo Kyōkai, is the governing body that operates and controls Professional sports, professional sumo wrestling, called , in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Min ...
to tone these antics down and in his later years on the ''
dohyō A ''dohyō'' (, ) is the space in which a sumo wrestling bout occurs. A typical ''dohyō'' is a circle made of partially buried rice- straw bales 4.55 meters in diameter. In official professional tournaments ('' honbasho''), it is mounted on a sq ...
'' wore a black ''mawashi'' and was much more subdued.


Retirement from sumo

By 2004 Asanowaka was no longer able to hold his own in the top division, and after a disastrous 1-14 score in the ''jūryō'' division in March 2005, he announced his retirement the following month. He had not missed a single bout in his career. He has remained in the sumo world as an elder, affiliated to the Takasago stable, and is now known as Wakamatsu Oyakata. He became a deputy director of the Sumo Association in 2020. He was reportedly in the running to take over Takasago stable following the retirement of his former stablemaster, the ex- Asashio Tarō IV, in December 2020, but lost out to the former Asasekiryū, another coach at the stable. In September 2021 Takasago stable's was promoted to ''jūryō'' and, with the coach's approval, changed his ''shikona'' to Asanowaka, because Asanowaka's record of going all out and never missing a bout stood in contrast to Terusawa's own injury record.


Fighting style

Asanowaka was of a short build for a sumo wrestler and had limited technique, relying heavily on slap-downs and ''
henka The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H ...
.'' He sidestepped so regularly at the '' tachi-ai'' that he was criticized by sumo elders. He was a pusher-thruster, rarely fighting on the '' mawashi'' or belt. His most common winning '' kimarite'' was ''oshidashi'' (push out), followed by ''hiki-otoshi'' (pull down) and ''hataki-komi'' (slap down). He won only six career bouts by ''yori-kiri'' (force out) and was only credited once with a belt throw (an ''uwatenage'' in 2001). He was known for his powerful legs developed through relentless training, and he had no serious injuries in his career.


Personal life

Asanowaka married in February 2000 and his wife gave birth to a baby girl in September of that year. The couple's wedding reception was held in January 2001.


Career record


See also

*
Glossary of sumo terms The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H ...
* List of sumo tournament second division champions *
List of past sumo wrestlers This is a list of prominent past wrestlers (either retired or deceased) in the sport of professional sumo. They are listed in order of the year and tournament month that they made their professional debuts. The information listed below was gleaned ...
*
List of sumo elders This is a list of toshiyori, elders of the Japan Sumo Association (JSA). More accurately called "elder stock" or ''toshiyori kabu,'' these names are a finite number of licenses that can be passed on, and are strictly controlled by the JSA. They all ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asanowaka, Takehiko 1969 births Living people Japanese sumo wrestlers Sportspeople from Ichinomiya, Aichi Sumo people from Aichi Prefecture