Wakanohana Masaru

Wakanohana Masaru
若乃花 勝
Wakanohana, January 2020
Personal information
BornMasaru Hanada
(1971-01-20) January 20, 1971 (age 53)
Suginami, Tokyo, Japan
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight134 kg (295 lb; 21.1 st)
Career
StableFutagoyama
Record573-286-133
DebutMarch, 1988
Highest rankYokozuna (May, 1998)
RetiredMarch, 2000
Elder nameSee after sumo
Championships5 (Makuuchi)
1 (Jūryō)
1 (Sandanme)
1 (Jonokuchi)
Special PrizesOutstanding Performance (3)
Technique (6)
Gold Stars2 (Asahifuji)
* Up to date as of June 2020.

Masaru Hanada (Japanese: 花田 虎上, previously 花田 勝, born January 20, 1971) is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler. As an active wrestler he was known as Wakanohana Masaru (若乃花 勝), and his rise through the ranks alongside his younger brother Takanohana Kōji saw a boom in sumo's popularity in the early 1990s. He is the elder son of the former ōzeki Takanohana Kenshi, who was also his stablemaster, and the nephew of Wakanohana Kanji I, a famous yokozuna of the 1950s. Wakanohana was a long serving ōzeki who won five tournament championships, and eventually joined his brother at yokozuna rank in 1998, creating the first ever sibling grand champions. After a brief and injury plagued yokozuna career he retired in 2000, becoming a television personality and restaurant owner. The death of his father in 2005 saw a very public falling out with his brother.