Takanonami Sadahiro
貴ノ浪 貞博
Personal information
Born	Sadahiro Namioka (1971-10-27)October 27, 1971 Aomori, Japan
Died	June 20, 2015(2015-06-20) (aged 43)
Height	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight	160 kg (353 lb)
Career
Stable	Futagoyama
Record	777–559–13
Debut	March, 1987
Highest rank	Ōzeki (March 1994)
Retired	May, 2004
Elder name	Otowayama
Championships	2 (Makuuchi)
Special Prizes	Fighting Spirit (3)
Gold Stars	2 (Musashimaru)
* Up to date as of June 25, 2020.

Takanonami Sadahiro (bornSadahiro Namioka October 27, 1971 – June 20, 2015) was a Japanesesumo wrestler and coach fromAomori. He held sumo's second highest rank ofōzeki from 1994 until 2000. He won two tournament championships, and was a runner-up in eight others. He was a sumo coach from his retirement in 2004 until his death in 2015 at the age of 43.^[1]

Born inMisawa, Aomori, the young Namioka did sumo at elementary school, but did not initially consider it as a profession, intending to follow his father and work in local government.^[2] However, he was introduced to Fujishima Oyakata (the formerTakanohana Kenshi) who was in Misawa to give a speech, and was persuaded to join Fujishima Stable.^[2]

Takanonami made his professional debut in 1987. He became an elitesekitori ranked wrestler in March 1991 when he was promoted to the second highestjūryō division, and he reached the topmakuuchi division in November 1991. He led the race for the championship in the first week of the tournament, the first debutant to do so, and defeatedKotonishiki, the winner of the previous tournament.^[2] However he started losing in the second week and finished with a score of 8–7. He earned his firstspecial prize in his first tournament atkomusubi rank in May 1993. After a 13–2 runner-up performance fromsekiwake rank in January 1994, he earned promotion toōzeki simultaneously withMusashimaru. His two tournament victories in January 1996 and November 1997 both came after playoff wins against stablemateTakanohana. He normally avoided having to meet Takanohana, as well as other top division stars such asWakanohana,Takatōriki andAkinoshima, as they were all members ofFutagoyama stable, a large and dominantheya which had merged with Fujishima in 1993. At his peak he consistently scored 11 or 12 wins in a tournament and was runner-up three times in 1996. He was ranked as anōzeki for 37 tournaments in total. He lost the rank at the end of 1999 after twomake-koshi or losing scores, but was promoted back after scoring ten wins as asekiwake in January 2000: the first wrestler to achieve this sinceMienoumi in 1976. However, after two more losing scores in March and May 2000 he was demoted once again, and was never able to return.

Takanonami had a well-known rivalry with fellowōzeki and lateryokozuna,Musashimaru. They met a total of 58 times in the top division, which at the time of his retirement was the most between any two wrestlers in the history of sumo.^[3] In all, Musashimaru had the upper hand, winning 37 bouts to Takanonami's 21, although Takanonami did manage to beat him seven times in a row from November 1996 to January 1998, and also won their last three matches, after he had fallen from theōzeki rank. Two of those wins provided Takanonami with his onlykinboshi.

Takanonami had an unusual defensive style, often being driven back to the edge of thedohyō before using his long reach to lean over and grab his opponent's arms and launch a counter-offensive.^[3] This style was given as the reason why he was not awarded a special prize in November 1993 despite a 12–3 record atsekiwake rank.^[4]He regularly won bykimedashi (arm barring force out), a sumo technique seldom seen today. He was also a frequent employer ofkotenage, the armbar throw, with 65 victories using this technique from 1990, more than any of his contemporaries.^[5] In his later years his various injuries (particularly those to his ankles) meant his defensive style was less effective, and his results suffered. He largely remained in themaegashira ranks and had six consecutive losing scores in 2003.

By May 2004 Takanonami was the only top division wrestler left from the once dominant Futagoyama stable, which had been renamed Takanohana stable a few months earlier. He had slipped tomaegashira 13 in the rankings and after losing his first two bouts, he announced his retirement.^[6] He worked as a coach in his old stable under the nameOtowayama.^[7] Along with five otheroyakata (Magaki,Onomatsu,Ōtake,Tokiwayama andFutagoyama), he left the Nishonosekiichimon or group of stables in January 2010 after declaring his support for his former stablemate Takanohana's unsanctioned bid to be elected to the board of directors of theSumo Association.^[8] He was appointed as ajudge of tournament bouts in February 2015.^[9] As anoyakata he was known as one of the more bright personalities in his stable, and he appeared on a number of variety programs on Japanese TV largely due to his accessible personality.

Takanonami was reportedly a big fan ofAmerican football and appeared as a commentator on sports programs in Japan.

Takanonami was first diagnosed as having a possible heart condition, specificallyatrial fibrillation, in 1998. He spent some time in hospital whilst still an active wrestler, but in February 2006 he was admitted to hospital once again withsepsis,pneumonia and other complications. He fell intocardiac arrest and had to undergo emergency surgery, which saved his life. On June 20, 2015, he died of acute heart failure.^[1]

• List of sumo tournament top division champions
• List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of ōzeki

• Takanonami Sadahiro's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage

• 1971 births
• 2015 deaths
• People from Misawa, Aomori
• Japanese sumo wrestlers
• Sumo people from Aomori Prefecture
• Ōzeki