He joined the Tatsunami stable in March 1957 and reached the top makuuchi division in May 1963. He was small, at just 178 cm and 103 kg, but he was very popular with sumo fans. In July 1964 he reached his highest rank of komusubi, which he was to hold on three occasions with a combined record of only 10 wins against 35 losses. He was runner-up to Kashiwado in the July 1967 tournament. In March 1968, ranked as a maegashira, he won the championship in the top division with a 13–2 record, finishing ahead of ōzekiYutakayama and Tamanoshima. YokozunaTaihō was out through injury and Sadanoyamaannounced his retirement, and Wakanami did not have to face anyone ranked higher than sekiwake during the tournament. It was not a popular victory, as the public had wanted the well-liked Yutakayama to finally win his first yūshō, and it led to demands that low ranking maegashira challenging for the yūshō be matched against all the other contenders in the crucial final days of the tournament, now a standard practice. He was promoted to komusubi for the following tournament but could manage only two wins there. He fought in the makuuchi division for 52 tournaments in total. He won four special prizes, two for Fighting Spirit and two for Technique. He earned three kinboshi or gold stars for defeating yokozuna. He fell briefly to the jūryō division in 1969 and won the second division championship, becoming the first wrestler to do this after winning the top division championship. He retired in March 1972.
Fighting style
Although small by sumo standards, Wakanami was very strong in his arms and back, and liked to try tsuri even on very heavy opponents like Takamiyama. He was also known for his agility, and his ability to spin on the edge of the dohyō. During his tournament victory he won five of his matches by utchari. One of his chief rivals was sekiwakeMyōbudani with whom he had several spirited matches.
Retirement from sumo
He stayed in the sumo world after retirement as a coach at his stable, and was known as Onaruto and then Tamagaki Oyakata. Wakanami left the Sumo Association upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65 in March 2006, although he had been hospitalized since December 2004 after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. His nephew was also a sumo wrestler in the Tatsunami stable, and reached a highest rank of makushita 2 before retiring in March 2010. He was known as Wakainami for most of his career, but was told he could drop the "i" and use his uncle's shikona if he reached the jūryō division. He never did, but after visiting his uncle in hospital in September 2005, was given permission to use the Wakanami shikona before his uncle retired. Wakanami died in a Tokyo hospital following complications from pneumonia on 17 April 2007.
