Futagodake Takeshi

Takeshi Yamanaka was born on 15 November 1943 in Kanagi, in Aomori Prefecture's Kitatsugaru District, a town later absorbed into Goshogawara. He joined his middle-school sumo club and, after graduating, was recruited when a former teacher who had been asked by yokozuna Wakanohana I to find apprentices invited him to Tokyo. He made his professional debut at the January 1961 tournament from Hanakago stable under his real name.

When Wakanohana retired and established Futagoyama stable, Yamanaka moved with him. He first appeared in juryo in November 1964 as Futagoyama's first sekitori, then fell back after a fracture before returning to the salaried ranks in 1966. That year he adopted the shikona Futagodake, the name under which he would spend the rest of his ring career.

Futagodake reached the top division in January 1967. Weighing around 106 to 113 kilograms at a height of about 1.78 metres, he specialised in left-hand grips, underarm throws and the inside and outside musso twists. Coaches allowed his distinctive bag of tricks to develop rather than forcing him into a single basic style, and he became associated with popularising techniques that had once been treated as rarities.

He reached komusubi three times (November 1967, March 1968 and May 1968), won the Technique prize with a 10-5 record in November 1968, and defeated yokozuna Taiho for a kinboshi in November 1969. On day 11 of the September 1974 tournament, his bout with Mienoumi was ruled a draw after multiple water breaks and a rematch failed to produce a winner, the last such draw in makuuchi. He retired after the September 1976 tournament with a career record near .500 over 94 tournaments and 57 top-division appearances.

After retirement he remained in the Japan Sumo Association as an elder, holding the elder names Shiratama and then Araiso. In May 1993 he left Futagoyama to found Araiso stable in Kunitachi, Tokyo. The stable never produced a sekitori under his leadership and closed when he reached mandatory retirement age in November 2008. Two disciples retired with the stable; one transferred to Hanakago; Futagodake finished his association service attached to Matsugane stable through 14 November 2008.

His former wrestler Arawashi later reached juryo and makuuchi. Futagodake cut hair at Arawashi's retirement ceremony in 2021 and received news of Arawashi's first daughter's birth in 2022, signs of a lasting bond with his old stable. Contemporaries remembered him as mild-mannered; Takanohana reportedly said Futagodake's gentle character may have limited how far he climbed as a rikishi.

Futagodake Takeshi died on 10 September 2026 of hepatocellular carcinoma. He was 82. The Japan Sumo Association announced the death on 13 September 2026. Japanese wire and sports outlets including Jiji Press and Nikkan Sports carried the Association's statement and summarised his career as a komusubi, Technique-prize winner and founder of Araiso stable. Funeral arrangements were reported as a private family service.

Futagodake is remembered as Futagoyama stable's first sekitori, a technically inventive komusubi of the late 1960s, and the last man involved in a declared draw in modern makuuchi. His Technique prize, kinboshi over Taiho, and role in normalising musso-style twists keep his name in sumo reference lists and in the memories of fans who followed the Wakanohana-Futagoyama line. As Araiso oyakata he ran a small Tokyo stable for fifteen years and remained a presence for his former wrestlers long after the Association's retirement age closed that chapter.