Ganyu Kenji

Ganyu Kenji - 巌雄謙治 (born August 6, 1970) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Himeji, Hyogo. He made his debut in March 1986 and wrestled for Kitanoumi stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 1996. His highest rank was maegashira 1 and he retired in May 2000.

Early Life[]

Kenji Hirano played basketball and shot put in junior high school. He also participated in sumo for three years. He was recruited by the 55th yokozuna Kitanoumi who had recently retired and opened up his own stable. Ganyu was the first wrestler recruited into Kitanoumi stable and he made his debut in March 1986 wrestling under the shikona Ganyu.

Career[]

Early Career[]

Ganyu was promoted to sandanme in September 1987 and makushita in July 1988. He was beginning to establish himself in makushita before an injury sent him flying down to the jonidan division. He won the jonidan yusho in his return and immediately returned to makushita. In September 1991, he won the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record at the rank of makushita 18 which boosted him up to the rank of makushita 1. At this rank he secured a winning record of 4-3 and was promoted to juryo in January 1992.

Juryo Career[]

Ganyu could only manage three wins in his debut and was demoted back down to makushita. He remained in makushita for over three years before winning the makushita yusho in May 1995 which earned him a re-promotion to juryo in the following July tournament. In his return to juryo, Ganyu posted four consecutive winning records and was promoted to makuuchi in March 1996.

Makuuchi Career[]

Ganyu became a makuuchi regular and was ranked in the division for 23 straight tournaments. He could not establish himself in the upper ranks and he never managed to reach san'yaku, nor defeat a yokozuna or ozeki. In September 1997 he was promoted to a career-best maegashira 1, but he only managed three wins in that tournament. In May 1999 he continued fighting in the tournament despite having ligament damage in his ankle, in search of the eighth win that would give him a winning record. He was also restricted by persistent knee problems which caused him to fall down to juryo in January 2000.

Retirement from Sumo[]

YamahibikiOyakata — Yamahibiki Oyakata (c. 2015)

He retired in May 2000, having been demoted to makushita, and became an elder in the Japan Sumo Association under the name Yamahibiki. He took over the running over the Kitanoumi stable in November 2015 after the death of Kitanoumi. The stable was renamed Yamahibiki stable, as Kitanoumi had a special one-generation elder status and the name could not be passed on. He oversaw the promotion of Kitaharima to Makuuchi and, after falling back to the salaried ranks, the veteran's re-promotions to Juryo in 2017, 2020 and 2024.

Yamahibiki served as a councilor of the Japan Sumo Association alongside Minatogawa-oyakata and Otake-oyakata for two years from 2014. He was elected to the Sumo Association's board of directors in 2016, and served as director of the sumo training school, replacing Tomozuna. He was re-elected in 2018, but stood down in 2020.

Personal Life[]

Prior to the 1998 Winter Olympics held in Nagano, Japan, Ganyu publicly announced that he is a third-generation Korean-Japanese. He volunteered to lead South Korea during the opening ceremonies of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.
His Korean surname is "Lee" (이).

Fighting Style[]

Ganyu's favored techniques are listed at the Sumo Association as migi-yotsu (a left hand outside, right hand inside grip on the opponent's mawashi) and yori (forcing). He won majority of his matches by yorikiri, or force out.