Tenryū Saburō


Tenryū Saburō, born Saburō Wakuta in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, was a professional sumo wrestler with the Dewanoumi stable. As the ringleader of the "Shunjūen Incident", in which many wrestlers went on strike, he left the Japan Sumo Association in 1932. With the other striking wrestlers, he created the "Rishiki group for a Great Japan", wishing to reform the system he described as "feudal" and to increase his earnings. Because of financial difficulties, the group dissolved in 1937.
In 1939, he invited teachers of Japanese martial arts to Manchuria. He discovered the Aiki-Budo of Morihei Ueshiba and became his student the same day.
In 1957, the reforms Saburō had supported were implemented, and he was invited to talk as a witness.

Career record