Aonishiki Arata

Aonishiki Arata - 安青錦新大 (born March 23, 2004) is a Ukrainian professional sumo wrestler from Vinnytsia, Vinnytsia Oblast. He made his debut in September 2023 and currently wrestles for Ajigawa stable. His highest rank as of 2025 is maegashira 9.

Early Life[]

Yavhusishyn started sumo at the age of 7^[1], and placed third at the 2019 World Junior Sumo Championships.^[2] He also has a freestyle wrestling and judo background. He continued practicing sumo and won three gold medals at the Ukrainian national championships at the age of 17, with an unbeaten record.^[3] At the same age, he finished ninth at the 2021 World Cadets Wrestling Championships in the Men's 110.0 kg category.^[4]

Danylo2022 — Yavhusishyn trains with the Kansai University sumo club (c. 2022)

Yavhusishyn was accepted by a Ukrainian national university, but because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he decided to leave his country, first seeking refuge in Germany before coming in Japan in April of the same year, using the friendship he had forged with Arata Yamanaka, Kansai University sumo club captain, an older amateur sumo wrestler with whom Yavhusishyn met at the 2019 World Junior Championships.^[5] In Japan, he was hosted at Yamanaka's apartment in Kobe (Hyogo Prefecture), where his host family spent their own money so that he could stay in Japan in the best possible conditions, helping him to cope with homesickness and loneliness, with Yavhusishyn calling them his "Japanese family".^[6]

Yavhusishyn trained with the sumo clubs of Kansai University and Hotoku Gakuen High School (Yamanaka's alma mater), despite not having student status.^[7] During this period, it was noticed that Yavhusishyn was already at a much higher level than his university counterparts, notably winning several matches against future Miyagino stable's wrestler Seihakuho, while the latter was competing at Doshisha University after immigrating to Japan. Yavhusishyn maintains a friendship with the club, to which he is nicknamed "Danya".^[6]

Through Kansai University sumo clubs, Yavhusishyn was introduced to Ajigawa (the former Aminishiki).^[6] In December 2022, Yavhusishyn was formally accepted as one of Ajigawa stable's first recruit.^[5] Initially, Ajigawa was reluctant to recruit Yavhusishyn, initially not wishing to recruit foreign wrestlers (subject to recruitment restrictions) and concerned about the cultural and language barrier, but gave in to the young wrestler's determination.^[1]

Career[]

Early Career[]

AonishikiMaezumo1 — Aonishiki during his time in maezumo (c. 2023)

Yavhusishyn officially joined Ajigawa stable's training camp before the July 2023 tournament, and took the new apprentice examination. After obtaining a work visa, he made his debut in the September tournament of the same year. He was given the shikona "Aonishiki Arata" (安青錦新大), a ring name created by merging the kanji for the color blue (青), referring to the Ukrainian flag, and the kanji meaning calm (安) and brocade (錦), from his master's own ring name (安美錦).^[8] He himself chose to bear the first name Arata (新大), as it is that of Arata Yamanaka (山中新大), the former captain and now coach of the Kansai University sumo club that helped him find refuge in Japan. Asked about this choice, Aonishiki replied "now I feel like we're fighting together".^[9]

During his first professional tournament, Aonishiki won the jonokuchi division. At that point, he brought only the second championship to his stable after his stablemate Anosho also won this division in July 2023. In January 2024, he claimed his second championship with the jonidan division, after a playoff against Kokonoe stable's Chiyotaiko. In March 2024 tournament he was promoted to sandanme, but after six consecutive wins, he lost to Kise stable's Nagamura in his last match for the tournament, ending his 20 bouts winning streak since his debut. For the May tournament he was promoted to makushita and Aonishiki finished it with a 6–1 record. During the September tournament of the same year, Aonishiki rose to the top of the makushita division, and after the tournament it was reported that his score of 6–1 would normally be enough for promotion to the juryo division. His promotion for the November tournament was confirmed after the post-tournament ranking meeting.^[10]

Juryo Career[]

Aonishiki is the first wrestler raised by former Aminishiki to reach sekitori status since the founding of his stable. He is also the second wrestler from Ukraine (after Shishi) to reach this rank, and the fifth fastest promotion since the introduction of the six-tournament system in 1958 after his debut (excluding tsukedashi system).^[7]

AonishikiNabatame — Aonishiki pushes out Nabatame (c. 2024)

At the press conference for juryo promotions, he admitted to being inspired by his country's results at the 2024 Summer Olympics, adding that he absolutely wanted to avoid showing an embarrassing level of sportsmanship.^[11] He also commented that, "My master was promoted to juryo at the age of 21.^[12] I wanted to make sure I didn't lose to him". During his first juryo tournament, Aonishiki recorded a double digit record. Even though he is not a graduate from Kansai University, he was presented with a kesho-mawashi by the university, because he trained there before his professional debut.^[13]

During the 2025 January tournament, Aonishiki established himself as one of the leaders of the competition, rivaled also by Shishi, the only other Ukrainian wrestler in professional sumo. On Day 12, the two wrestlers faced off in the first match with two Ukrainian wrestlers in the history of the sport, with Shishi emerging victorious from the clash and taking sole leadership of the competition. Although Aonishiki failed to win the championship, he solidified his chances of being promoted to makuuchi, sumo's top division, for the March tournament. After the tournament, Aonishiki was perceived by the press as the only European wrestler capable of reaching the top of the sport's hierarchy, despite the performances of his elder Shishi.^[14]

Makuuchi Career[]

Aonishiki was officially promoted to the top division for the 2025 March tournament. This tied him with both Takerufuji and the former Jokoryu as the fastest to be promoted from debut to the top division, doing so in nine tournaments. Coinciding with his promotion, his compatriot Shishi's return to the top division also makes their country, Ukraine, the seventh foreign country to have two makuuchi-ranked wrestlers in the history of professional sumo.^[15]

Aonishiki downplayed the significance of this achievement, telling reporters: "I've just been following my stablemaster's instructions." He added that he wanted to give a strong performance, and would aim for double-digit wins and a special prize in his makuuchi debut.^[16]

He achieved Kachi-koshi on the eleventh day of the tournament, securing his place in the makuuchi division,and finished with an 11-4 record and the Kanto-sho (Fighting Spirit Prize).

Personal Life[]

Aonishiki's parents also have refugee status and now live in Germany.^[17] His mother works there as a cleaner. When it came to deciding to move to Japan, Aonishiki was able to count on the support of his parents, who encouraged him to obtain a visa.^[6]
Aonishiki speaks Ukrainian as his main native language, and Russian as a foreign language.^[7] He also speaks English.^[18] At the time of his recruitment into the professional world, it was already noted that Aonishiki spoke perfect Japanese, although he did not understand it when he arrived in Japan.^[7]
Aonishiki's hobby is visiting saunas, his favorite food is meat, especially beef tongue.^[19]

Fighting Style[]

Aonishiki's most common kimarite, or winning technique, is oshidashi (frontal push out), and he prefers a migi-yotsu, or left hand outside, right hand inside grip on his opponent's mawashi.^[19]

Aonishiki does not have a large stature, but he makes up for it with his technical mastery of arm positions, something that sets him apart from other wrestlers of European origin who relied heavily on their size and physical strength.^[14] He is also known for his aptitude for fast, head-on attacks. It was also noted that he possesses excellent stability technique, allowing him to stay low and gain advantage over his opponents by raising their center of gravity.^[20] Since his amateur days, Aonishiki cites that he has been studying the style of wrestlers with the same build as himself, such as his master (the former Aminishiki), and such as former yokozuna Wakanohana Masaru. Aonishiki is also inspired by Wakatakakage, the latter helping him train in June 2024.^[1]

Thanks to his technical skills, Aonishiki is often seen winning his fights with rare techniques, like the ones he used for the 2025 January tournament: kirikaeshi (twisting backward knee trip), okurinage (rear throw down) or uchimuso (inner thigh propping twist down).^[21] Aonishiki also puts great efforts when trying to gain weight, and also works on his strength training, lifting weights of 200 kg (440 lb) in the bench press.^[18]