Churanoumi Yoshihisa

Churanoumi Yoshihisa - 美ノ海義久 (born May 6, 1993) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Uruma, Okinawa. He made his debut in March 2016 and currently wrestles for Kise stable. He reached the makuuchi division in November 2023. His highest rank as of 2025 is maegashira 4.

Early Life[]

Shinji Kizaki, the third of five siblings, was born in Okinawa, Japan. His eldest brother, Daisuke, was a member of the Tottori Johoku High School sumo club and went on to do university sumo at Nihon University. He is currently the co-captain of the Kyushu Electric Power Sumo Club. His second brother sadly passed away at the age of six due to an illness.^[1]

Kizaki started sumo wrestling in his first year at Misato Elementary School. In his fifth year at elementary school, he was awarded by the Okinawa City Board of Education for contributing to the development of the city's cultural promotion through sports.^[2]

Screen Shot 2020-09-02 at 4.30.19 PM — Kizaki (5 years old )

He later attended Uruma Municipal Gushikawa Junior High School and made Top 16 at the National Junior High School Sumo Championship during his second year. At the same time, he was also training at Chubu Norin High School where his uncle was the sumo coach. Kizaki planned on attending Chubu Norin, however, after a training camp at Tottori Johoku High School, he switched his mind and decided to go there instead. As a result, in his third year of junior high school he transferred to Tottori City Nishi Junior High School, so after he could attend Tottori Johoku High School.^[3]

He was teammates with the future Ichinojo and Terunofuji in high school.^[4] During his third year of high school, he won the group competition at the Kokutai Tournament and the individual competition after defeating the future Ichinojo in the final round. After graduating high school, he enrolled at Nihon University's Department of Economics and was also a member of the school's sumo club. He served as captain in his final year at Nihon University and in total won four individual championships during his time at Nihon University.^[5] Kizaki announced his intention to go professional and joined Kise stable, because the stablemaster, former maegashira Higonoumi, was also a Nihon University graduate. However he could not qualify for makushita tsukedashi, because he did not meet the requirements.^[3]

Career[]

Early Career[]

Kizaki made his debut on March 2016 and produced a 6-1 record in his jonokuchi debut. The following tournaments, Kizaki took both jonidan and sandanme championships which earned him a direct promotion to makushita for the November 2016 tournament.^[6]

In his makushita debut, he finished with a 4-3 record. The following two tournaments he produced four consecutive kachi-koshi which earned him a promotion to the rank of makushita 3 for the September 2017 tournament. He defeated juryo wrestler Kitaharima on the 7th day, but finished with a 3-4 record; his first make-koshi of his career. After some mixed results, Kizaki posted a 4-3 record at the rank of makushita 4 in May 2018 and was promoted to juryo for the following July 2018 tournament.^[6]

Juryo Career[]

ChuranoumiDaishomaru — Churanoumi pushes out Daishomaru (c. 2021)

Upon promotion to juryo, he was given the shikona to "Churanoumi" (美ノ海). His first juryo run was short-lived as he finished with a 5-10 record and was demoted back down to makushita in September 2018. He suffered another two losing records, but in the March 2019 tournament, he posted a perfect 7-0 record and took the makushita yusho. This earned him a re-promotion to juryo for the following May 2019 tournament.^[6]

However, his second juryo run was equivalent to his first run as he finished with a 5-10 record; he was relegated back to makushita for the July 2019 tournament. After three tournaments in the unsalaried makushita division he was promoted back to juryo in January 2020. In his first tournament back he finished with an 8-7 record. This earned him a promotion to a then career-high rank of juryo 7 for the March 2020 tournament. In the January 2021 tournament he was ranked at juryo 3 and was performing consistently, but suffered a concussion on the 13th day in a match against Takagenji and pulled out of the tournament to finish with a 7-7-1 record.^[7] In May 2021, he posted a disastrous 3-12 record and was demoted back down to makushita in July 2021. He managed to return to juryo in September 2021.^[6]

Makuuchi Career[]

After a strong 10-5 record at the rank of juryo 5 in September 2023, Churanoumi was promoted to the top division for the November 2023 tournament, becoming the first Okinawan to do so since Ryuho in 2006. In his top division debut Churanoumi finished with a 9-6 kachi-koshi record and is the first Okinawan to achieve this in his top division debut since Wakanojo 26 years prior.^[8]

Personal Life[]

Churanoumi's younger brother, Kizakiumi, was also a professional sumo wrestler. He also wrestled at Nihon University and joined him at Kise stable. His highest rank was juryo 3 and he retired from sumo in 2020 due to chronic neck pains.^[9]
Churanoumi's hobbies include fishing, watching movies, going on walks, and drinking liquor.^[2]^[10]

Fighting Style[]

Churanoumi uses pushing and thrusting techniques, with his top kimarite being oshidashi (frontal push out) and yorikiri (frontal force out).^[11] He most commonly uses a hidari-yotsu grip, where his left hand is inside his opponent's right arm.^[12]