Enho Yuya

Enho Yuya - 炎鵬友哉 (born October 18, 1994) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kanazawa, Ishikawa. He made his debut in March 2017 and currently wrestles for Isegahama stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 2019 and has 1 special prize. His highest rank as of 2025 is maegashira 4.

Early Life[]

Nakamura is from Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture and his father supported the family by working at a newspaper company. Nakamura first started practicing sumo at the age of five, due to the influence of his older brother.^[1] He also was on the water polo team as a goal keeper at Kanazawa Daitoku Elementary School from the 2nd year to the 6th year.^[2]

EnhoYoung — Enho (left) during his fifth year of elementary school

He attended Kanazawa City Southwest Junior High School and was in their sumo club with the future Kagayaki. In his 3rd year, the team that he and future Kagayaki were members of took the team championship in the middle school prefectural tournament.^[3]

Nakamura went on to Kanazawa Gakuin, a high school in his city. In his third year there he took the gold medal in the 2012 World Junior Sumo Championships in the lightweight division. He continued to Kanazawa Gakuin University and majored in sports medicine. In his first year, he was the champion of the West Japan New Student Athlete Sumo Tournament, and in his second and third years he won the World Amateur Sumo Championship two years in a row. In all, he acquired ten titles. Seriously interested in joining pro sumo, Nakamura was interviewed at a number of stables before graduating, and upon finishing university, he joined Miyagino Stable.^[2]

Career[]

Early Career[]

Nakamura became an attendant and apprentice to yokozuna Hakuho. Hakuho chose the shikona Enho for him, with "en" meaning fiery and "ho" meaning the Chinese mythological bird Peng, which is also the ho in the Yokozuna's own name.^[4] He participated in maezumo in the March 2017 tournament alongside future Wakatakakage.^[5]

Screen Shot 2020-11-27 at 1.35.55 PM — Enho after winning a match in the unsalaried ranks (c. 2017)

In the ceremony to debut new recruits on day 5, he wore the ceremonial apron, or kesho-mawashi, that his mentor Hakuho was to start using from that day. However, Hakuho ended up taking injury leave from the tournament on that same day.^[6]

Enho's first pro tournament was the following May, starting at the bottom in the jonokuchi division. He was undefeated at 7–0 and took the championship. After this tournament he changed his second name in his full shikona title from his real name Yuya, to the name Akira. The name Akira honored his mentor at his dojo, named Akira, who died in a motorcycle accident nine years previously.^[7]

In the following July tournament, he again had a perfect 7–0 record, and after a playoff took the championship. In the playoff, he beat former makuuchi wrestler Masunoyama who was in his first full tournament back in sumo, after a series of injury leaves. The win against Masunoyama was shitatenage (underarm throw) which would become Enho's signature move. For the following September tournament, Enho was promoted to the sandanme division and once again took a perfect 7–0, this time winning a playoff versus Matsuda.^[5]

D 10931946 — Enho wins a match in makushita (c. 2017)

For the November tournament he was promoted to the makushita division. In this tournament Enho was approaching an all time record for consecutive wins from entry into sumo. However, in his first bout he lost to former komusubi Jokoryu who himself holds the record for most consecutive wins upon entering sumo. Enho ended the tournament with a 5–2 record. In the following January tournament, he was ranked at makushita 6 and achieved a 4–3 winning tournament. In most cases, at his rank with this record he would not have been promoted to the next division, the salaried ranks of juryo. However, several juryo wrestlers had records bad enough to be demoted from the division, and Enho was promoted to fill one of the many open slots there. Not including makushita tsukedashi wrestlers, who are allowed to debut at a higher rank, this promotion meant Enho tied the record for the fastest ever wrestler promoted to sekitori at six tournaments from his professional debut.^[8]

Juryo Career[]

DX HvUiVoAIdOB8 — Enho during the juryo dohyo-iri in his first tournament as a sekitori (c. 2018)

For this March 2018 tournament, Enho was ranked at the bottom rung, at juryo 14. As is often the case for a first timer in the salaried ranks, the wall was too high and he only managed a losing tournament record of 4–11 and was demoted back to makushita. After two strong performances of 5–2 in the upper ranks of makushita, Enho was re-promoted to juryo for the September tournament. In this tournament and the next two, he recorded three straight 9-6 records. In the following March tournament, he made the news after he came back from a near loss to Tokushoryu on day 9. Enho's haunches came within 10 centimeters of the dohyo, before he bounced back, grabbing his opponent's legs with both hands and toppling him.^[9] This move called ashitori would also become one of his regular techniques. He ended this tournament with an 8–7.^[5]

Makuuchi Career[]

This record was enough for Enho to be promoted to the makuuchi top division for the May 2019 tournament, the first tournament of the Reiwa era. He was the only wrestler on the banzuke listed as being under 100 kilograms (220 lb).^[1] He won his first top division bout on the opening day, and earned his first kenshokin or cash prize provided by a sponsor of the match. As it was Mother's Day, Enho gave the prize money to his mother.^[10] He again garnered attention when on day 4, he took down Daishoho, who was almost twice his size, with his now well-known shitatenage. However, after reaching the cusp of a winning tournament on his top division debut on day 9 with a 7–2 record, he then lost six bouts in a row and ended up with a losing tournament. His losing streak was exacerbated by a thigh injury he suffered on Day 13.^[11] However, Enho's record was enough to leave him ranked in makuuchi for the following July tournament. In this tournament, he again had a similar situation of having seven wins this time on day 10. He lost three bouts in a row after this, but finally managed his first top division winning tournament with a win versus veteran Myogiryu on day 14. He would end the tournament with a 9–6 record and was also awarded the technique prize. After another 9–6 record in September, he reached maegashira 6 in the November 2019 tournament. It was during this period, however, that Enho contracted a neck injury, causing him a great deal of pain and affecting his performance.^[12]

Screen Shot 2021-07-18 at 6.09.32 PM — Enho throws Onosho (c. 2020)

In the January 2020 tournament, fighting at a career-high rank of maegashira 5, he defeated ozeki Goeido on Day 9. Since accurate records began in 1975, he is believed to be only the third wrestler under 100 kilos to defeat an ozeki, after Chiyonofuji (against Asahikuni in May 1978) and Mainoumi (against Takanohana in July 1994 and Takanonami in July 1995).^[13] He finished with an 8–7 record, failing to win the match on the final day that would have given him the Technique Prize.^[14]

The rest of 2020 proved to be challenging for Enho, however, as he posted four consecutive make-koshi, closing out the year with a 3-12 score in the Kyushu basho, resulting in his demotion to juryo for the January 2021 tournament. He spoke of his disappointment at how 2020 had gone, saying he had been troubled by neck and wrist injuries and had not been able to do his own sumo.^[15] He said he was hoping to return to makuuchi in a single tournament, but after his stablemate Hakuho tested positive for COVID-19, the whole of the Miyagino stable was forced to miss the January basho.^[16]

20210323s00005000094000p view — Enho lifts and slams the 164 kg (362 lb) Akua (c. 2021)

Enho said in February that his fitness was "more or less back to where it was."^[17] He returned to competition in March 2021, and on Day 8 faced Ura, another popular wrestler known for his unusual techniques, for the first time since they competed in school. Ura won the match after a judges conference.^[18] Enho finished the tournament with a 9–6 score, his first winning record since January 2020, but it was not enough to earn promotion back to makuuchi. In May, ranked at Juryo 1 East, he produced a disappointing 5–10 record. In July he suffered a suspected concussion in his Day 2 match with Takagenji and was prevented by the judges from taking part in the rematch. He was forced to forfeit and was taken away in a wheelchair, in accordance with recently introduced protocols.^[19]

Later Career[]

Enho was withdrawn from the September 2021 tournament along with the rest of his stable after two wrestlers tested positive for COVID-19. It is the second time this year that the stable has had to withdraw from a basho because of a coronavirus outbreak.^[20]

EnhoPrepares2023 — Enho prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2023)

After falling to a 6-9 record at Juryo 10 in the January 2022 tournament, Enho told reporters that he felt a sense of crisis and would have to restart his training from scratch.^[21] Following several strong performances in March and November 2022 as well as March 2023, Enho maintained his sekitori rank and occupied the top of the juryo ranking between the March and May 2023 tournaments. Despite stating his ambition to return to makuuchi for the summer tournament^[22], Enho suffered several injuries during the year. In January, he continued to compete despite an orbital blowout fracture, forcing him to appear at Hakuho's retirement ceremony with a blindfold.^[23] In April, he also revealed that he suffered from cervical disc herniation and cervical spinal canal stenosis, which required three weeks of treatment and forced him to abandon the spring jungyo.^[22] He later attributed his willingness to compete despite injury to his desire to protect his sekitori status despite the risk of worsening his physical condition.^[12]

Enho pulled out of the May 2023 tournament from Day 10 as he was diagnosed, after a checkup at a Tokyo hospital on 23 May, with a herniated disc in his neck, which will require approximately three months of treatment. This was his first career withdrawal through injury, as his two previous tournaments missed were due to COVID-19 protocols.^[24] On the first day of the July tournament, he announced his intention to make himself kyujo for the tournament in order to heal this same injury.^[25] Enho resumed his training in August after being hospitalized for two weeks, a period during which he mentioned he cold not get up or wash himself.^[12] For the September tournament of the same year, he however announced shortly after the release of the rankings his decision to sit out this tournament too. Faced with concerns about his condition following his injury, he nevertheless mentioned his intention to return to the ring, albeit on condition that he was fully fit.^[26]

EnhoJonokuchi — Enho in jonokuchi (c. 2024)

Enho mentioned his intention to return to competition for the March tournament, preparing his comeback by returning to Yuya as the given name in his shikona, which he had last used in 2017.^[27] Later in the month, however, it was announced that Enho would not be able to return to competition on the advice of his doctor, having to sit out his fifth consecutive tournament.^[28] At the end of March 2024 it was confirmed that Enho, and all the wrestlers and coaches from Miyagino stable, would be transferred to Isegahama stable for an indefinite period of time following the abuse case and the retirement of then-Miyagino's top ranker, Hokuseiho.^[29]

Enho withdrew again before the May 2024 competition, marking his sixth straight absence from a full tournament. In June 2024 he made an appearance at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, performing the yumitori-shiki (bow-twirling ceremony) for the retirement of Ishiura.^[30] He officially returned to competition at the July 2024 tournament, ranked in the lowest jonokuchi division, and finished the tournament with a 6-1 record.^[5]

Despite missing out on his chance to win the sandanme championship two tournaments in a row, with a sixth victory (on the final day of the January 2025 tournament) Enho is guaranteed a promotion to the makushita division. During this match, he had a notable clash with another featherweight, Yamato from Dewanoumi stable, a rare type of confrontation in sumo.^[5]

Personal Life[]

In elementary school, Enho loved to eat ice cream and would eat almost five bars per day.^[3]
At university, Enho was trying to find a job and did a job interview with Komatsu Matere which specializes in manufacturing fabric. The interviewer advised that Enho should stick to sumo because he would have a great career.^[3]
Before entering juryo, Enho would try to increase his weight by eating six meals a day.^[3]
Enho's favorite foods are oysters, sea urchins, eggs, and abalone. He doesn't like white rice, gummy candies, raisins and green peas. He does not like the smell of white rice and dislikes the texture of gummy candy. However, Enho likes to eat white rice when it is dunked into the chankonabe broth. He also does not mind rice cakes and rice crackers.^[3]
When asked which type of women he likes, he said that he is a fan of Jun Hasegawa, Anne Nakamura, Kyoka Suzuki, Nanako Matsushima and Ryoko Shinohara, who are all actresses and models.^[2]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he tried to cook new foods such as pancakes and pasta. He also reads a lot in his spare time.^[31]

Fighting Style[]

Enho is about 50 kilograms (110 lb) lighter, and 15 cm (6 in) shorter, than the average for the top makuuchi division. Due to his small size he relies on speed and technique to outwit his opponents. He is known for coming in very low at the tachi-ai or initial charge and attempting to grab his opponent's mawashi with an inside left hand grip (hidari-yotsu).^[32] His favorite winning kimarite is shitatenage or underarm throw.^[33]

In addition, more than a third of wins his come from either leg grabs or pulling underarm throw (shitatedashinage), when the average for a typical wrestler is just two percent. However his lack of weight means he can also easily be thrown, shoved, or picked up and placed out of the ring, making his matches unpredictable and popular with audiences.