Washūyama Yoshikazu

Washūyama remained in the sumo world as a coach at his old stable, under the name Sakaigawa. In 1996 he assumed the Dewanoumi name and took charge of the stable while the previous head, Sadanoyama, became Sakaigawa and concentrated on his role as the Japan Sumo Association chairman. Washūyama was also on the Sumo Association's board as a director. He reached the mandatory retirement age for an oyakata of 65 in April 2014 and handed over control of the stable to former maegashira Oginohana. In March 2018 he was appointed as a hyōgiin or outside voter in the Sumo Association, although he has no oyakata status.

In 1982 Washūyama dropped to the jūryō division once more, although he kept on fighting until November 1985 when he finally announced his retirement at the age of 36.

His shikona or sumo name was derived from the Washuzan mountain in his native Okayama prefecture. (He was to become so popular that people would refer to the mountain as Washūyama.) He made his professional debut in March 1967, reaching the second highest jūryō division in July 1972. He was promoted to the makuuchi division in May 1973 and made an immediate impression, finishing as the tournament runner-up with 11 wins and earning the Fighting Spirit prize. However, injury problems over the next couple of years prevented him from progressing much further and he was demoted back to the jūryō division on two occasions. His fortunes turned around towards the end of 1975 when he won his second Fighting Spirit prize, and in January 1976 he was once again tournament runner-up. This earned him promotion to the titled san'yaku ranks for the first time in March 1976 at the rank of komusubi. Another strong showing earned him immediate promotion to sekiwake, which was to be his highest rank.

Washūyama Yoshikazu (born 2 April 1949 as Yoshikazu Sukui) is a former sumo wrestler from Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan. He joined sumo in 1967 and reached the top makuuchi division in 1973. His highest rank was sekiwake. After his retirement in 1985 he became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association and was the head coach of Dewanoumi stable from 1996 until 2014.