Sadanoyama, who had small Twice role, dies at 79

Sadanoyama as Bond’s sumo contact in You Only Live Twice.

Sadanoyama, whose real name was Shinmatsu Ichikawa and played James Bond’s sumo contact in You Only Live Twice, died last month at 79, according to an obituary in The Japan Times.

The cause of death was pneumonia, according to the obituary. He had previously suffered a stroke, the newspaper said.

You Only Live Twice was a fantasy, involving a volanco headquarters for SPECTRE and a rocket ship that captured other spacecraft.

However, an early sequence in the film establishes a modicum of reality as Bond (Sean Connery) walks the streets of Tokyo in the early stages of his mission.

Sadanoyama provides Bond with his tickets to watch a sumo match. There, the British agent meets up with Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi), a Japanese operative who gives him instructions for the next stage of the mission.

For Western audiences in 1967, particularly those who hadn’t ventured to the island nation, the sequence helped establish what the “new” Japan was like. It’s like a little oasis, a chance for the audience to catch its breath before the spectacle that would later unfold.

According to the documentary Inside You Only Live Twice, the sumo match that Bond and Aki watch was real because sumo wrestlers don’t fake anything.

Here’s a brief excerpt from the obituary about Sadanoyama:

A native of Nagasaki Prefecture, he began his sumo career in 1956. After making it to the top makuuchi division five years later, he claimed the crown in his third tournament as a rank-and-file grappler and won a total of six championships.

After retiring as a wrestler, Sadanoyama succeeded the Dewanoumi name and took over the Dewanoumi stable. He served as chief of the JSA for three terms from 1992 to 1998.

Thanks to reader Steve Oxenrider for the heads up and the link