Asashiyu Ryoga

Asashiyu Ryoga - 朝志雄亮賀 (born August 8, 1994) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Shima, Mie. He made his debut in March 2017 and currently wrestles for Takasago stable. He reached the juryo division in September 2021. His highest rank as of 2025 is juryo 13.

Early Life[]

Ryo Murata was born in the town of Isobe (currently absorbed into Shima city) in Mie prefecture. Murata began sumo wrestling during his first year at Shima Shiritsu Isobe Elementary School.^[1]

579552b2bd713 — Murata battles his opponent during his time in college (c. 2016)

After graduating from Shima Shiritsu Isobe Junior High School, he went on to attend Kanazawa Municipal Technical High School and was a member of the sumo club, however, during his first year he tore the anterior cruciate ligament on his left knee and was sidelined for majority of the year. He returned to sumo in his second year, but in his third year he re-injured his left knee. For this reason he decided to forego joining professional sumo and opted for collegiate sumo.^[2] He enrolled at Toyo University's Faculty of Law^[3] and was teammates with the future Wakatakakage. In his fourth year he served as captain of the sumo club and left a strong track record which includes winning the group championship and achieving third place in the individual competition at the National Student Sumo Championship.^[4] In addition, he won three different titles in college.^[1]

Career[]

Early Career[]

F 09873888 — Murata (second from right) is recruited into professional sumo alongside Wakatakakage (c. 2017)

After graduating from university, he was recruited into Takasago stable by Wakamatsu oyakata (former maegashira Asanowaka). Due to his amateur accomplishments he qualified for sandanme tsukedashi and made his professional debut in March 2017 ranked at the bottom of sandanme.^[5]

In his debut, he posted a strong 6-1 record including a win over fellow debutant and college teammate Wakatakakage. In the following tournament, Murata finished with a perfect 7-0 record, but missed out on the yusho after losing to Wakatakakage in the playoff. Nevertheless, he was promoted to makushita in the following July 2017 tournament. After one year in makushita, he rose to the top of makushita by July 2018, but he tore the medial collateral ligament in his right knee on the 5th day of the July 2018 tournament and had to withdraw from the tournament.^[6]

EE36diGUEAAL 1F — Murata wins the jonokuchi yusho (c. 2019)

He sat out of four consecutive tournaments and was demoted down to the jonidan division (which he never wrestled at because he started at the bottom of sandanme). He returned in March 2019, ranked at jonidan 33, but aggravated his right knee injury on the 4th day and subsequently withdrew from the tournament. He fell down to jonokuchi by July 2019 and continued to sit out until the 13th day where he returned to face Hattorizakura in order to avoid falling completely off the banzuke.^[5]

Murata wrestled his first full tournament in September 2019 and claimed the jonokuchi yusho with a perfect 7-0 record. He followed with another 7-0 record, but missed out on the yusho after losing to Mongolian Hokutenkai. Nevertheless, he followed with seven more consecutive winning records and was promoted back to the top of makushita by May 2021. In July 2021, Murata finished with a strong 6-1 record at the rank of makushita 5 and was promoted to juryo for the following September 2021 tournament.^[5]

Juryo Career[]

Upon promotion to juryo, he changed his shikona to "Asashiyu" (朝志雄). Each Kanji in his shikona has its own significance; the Asa (朝) is a common pre-fix used by members of Takasago stable, the Shi (志) refers to his hometown of Shima, and Yu (雄) means masculine.^[7] He finished with a disastrous 1-14 record in his first tournament as sekitori and was demoted back down to makushita in November 2021. In January 2022, Asashiyu tore a ligament in his right knee and sat out of the following four tournaments.^[8] He returned to action in November 2022 and subsequently won the jonidan yusho. Asashiyu returned to makushita in July 2023.^[5]

Fighting Style[]

Asashiyu is a tsuki/oshi specialist, who prefers pushing and thrusting at his opponents rather than fighting on the mawashi or belt. His most common winning kimarite or technique is oshidashi or a straightforward push out.^[9]