is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler. As an active wrestler he was known as , 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. Sumo career Early career He entered sumo in March 1988, at the same time as his younger brother Takanohana, and joined his father's training stable, then known as Fujishima stable. The two brothers moved out of the family quarters and joined all the other new recruits in the communal area, and were instructed to refer to their father as oyakata (coach) only. Future rivals Akebono and Kaiō made their professional debuts in the same month. In the early part of his career he wrestled under the name , being given his uncle's fighting name a few tournaments prior to his promotion to ōzeki. Wakanohana means young flower in Japanese. He entered the top division for the first time in September 1990, alongside Akebono and Takatōriki. He first reached a san'yaku rank in November 1991 when he was promoted to komusubi. In January 1992 he defeated Asahifuji in what was to be the yokozunas last ever bout, to earn the second of his two kinboshi or gold stars. Lacking his brother's weight and strength, he took longer to rise up the ranks, still being a maegashira wrestler as late as January 1993, the tournament that Takanohana earned promotion to ōzeki. However in the following tournament Wakanohana won his first top division championship or yūshō with a 14–1 record. After a 10–5 in May 1993 and runner-up honours in July, he joined his brother at ōzeki, the first time that two brothers had held the rank simultaneously. His second tournament title came in November 1995, when he defeated Takanohana (by then a yokozuna) in a playoff. This was to be the only