Back Wakanohana Masaru German واکانوهانا ماسارو Persian Wakanohana III Masaru Finnish Wakanohana Masaru Italian 花田虎上 Japanese Ваканохана Масару Russian Wakanohana Masaru Vietnamese 花田虎上 Chinese
| Wakanohana Masaru | |
|---|---|
| 若乃花 勝 | |
 Wakanohana, January 2020 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | Masaru Hanada January 20, 1971 Suginami, Tokyo, Japan |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Weight | 134 kg (295 lb; 21.1 st) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Futagoyama |
| Record | 573-286-133 |
| Debut | March, 1988 |
| Highest rank | Yokozuna (May, 1998) |
| Retired | March, 2000 |
| Elder name | See after sumo |
| Championships | 5 (Makuuchi) 1 (Jūryō) 1 (Sandanme) 1 (Jonokuchi) |
| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (3) Technique (6) |
| Gold Stars | 2 (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.