Kinbozan Haruki

Kinbozan Haruki - 金峰山晴樹 (born June 24, 1997) is a Kazakhstani professional sumo wrestler from Almaty City. He made his debut in September 2021 and currently wrestles for Kise stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 2023 and has 2 special prizes. His highest rank as of 2025 is maegashira 3.

Early Life[]

Baltagul Yersin was born in the Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan. Prior to coming to Japan, Yersin practiced judo, but was scouted for sumo by former Yokozuna Asashoryu. He subsequently transferred to Meguro Nihon University High School where he began sumo wrestling.^[1] After graduating, he enrolled at Nihon University's Department of Sport Science and was also a member of the sumo club.^[2]

KinbozanCollege — Yersin celebrates after winning the East Japan Student Championship (c. 2020)

He did not produce any strong results during his college career until his third year where he finished as the runner-up at the All Japan Sumo Championship.^[1] In his fourth year, he placed third in the Student Championships and also qualified for the for the All Japan Sumo Championship. He also won the East Japan Student Championships, which was the first major amateur tournament that he won.^[1]

Upon graduating, he was advised from Nihon University to try out for professional sumo. Yersin was recruited by Kise stable as Kise Oyakata (former maegashira Higonoumi) was a fellow alumnus of Nihon University. Coincidentally, Kise stable's foreign-born wrestler Gagamaru had just retired which meant that the stable's one foreigner slot could be used for Yersin. He officially joined the stable in September 2021, making him the second Kazakhstani professional sumo wrestler, after Kazafuzan, who wrestled from 2003 to 2014.^[1]

Career[]

Early Career[]

He was given the shikona, or ring name, "Kinbozan" (金峰山) which is derived from Mount Kinbo in Kumamoto, the hometown of his stablemaster (former maegashira Higonoumi) but also to be inspired by the martial spirit of Miyamoto Musashi, who wrote parts of his Book of Five Rings while staying on the mountain.^[3] Due to his amateur accomplishments, Kinbozan was granted sandanme tsukedashi status which allowed him to make his debut at the bottom of sandanme. In his first official tournament in November 2021, Kinbozan won the sandanme yusho with a perfect 7-0 record and was promoted directly to makushita in January 2022.^[4]

Kinbozan2021 — KInbozan during his first professional tournament (c. 2021)

In his makushita debut, Kinbozan finished with a solid 5-2 record. In the following March 2022 tournament, Kinbozan won the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record. Due to his strong performance, Kinbozan was promoted to the rank of makushita 4 which put him well into the "juryo-promotion range." In the March 2022 tournament, Kinbozan posted a 5-2 record, but since he lost on exchange match on the final day to juryo-ranked Kitanowaka, he was denied promotion to juryo. Nevertheless, he was promoted to the top of makushita in July 2022 where he finished with a strong 6-1 record.^[4]

Juryo Career[]

After a strong showing in July, Kinbozan was promoted to juryo 12 in September 2022, making him the first Kazakhstani sekitori. In his juryo debut, Kinbozan finished with a strong 10-5 record. He followed with two more winning records and was promoted to the top makuuchi division in March 2023, becoming the first wrestler from Kazakhstan to do so.^[5] At a press conference following his top division promotion, Kinbozan said that he wanted to wrestle his own style of sumo, adding he was motivated to become stronger following a recent visit to Kazakhstan to visit his mother, who was unwell.^[5]

Makuuchi Career[]

In his top-division debut he secured 11 wins and was awarded with the Kanto-sho (Fighting Spirit prize), which is one of the special prizes awarded at the end of every tournament.^[4]

During the open makuuchi training practice (soken) of May 2023, Kinbozan admitted that he was prone to breathing problems when put under stress or too much effort after he appeared to be genuinely uncomfortable after a butsukari session with more senior wrestlers.^[6] In the following tournament Kinbozan notably won his match against Ozeki Takakeisho, handing him his fourth defeat on Day 10. This victory is the first time a maegashira ranked wrestler has inflicted a defeat on an ozeki without having a fully grown oichomage. The last occurrence of such a victory was in July 2016 when Mitakeumi earned a victory over then ozeki Terunofuji.^[7] Kinbozan nevertheless finished the tournament with a score of 4–11. After two successive tournaments, in which he recorded a negative score (make-koshi), Kinbozan also withdrew from the jungyo of August, reporting a sprained cervical vertebrae requiring 30 days of rest, an injury which he had already contracted at the May tournament and which really limited his capabilities.^[8]

KinbozanChiyoshoma — Kinbozan lifts out Chiyoshoma (c. 2023)

Kinbozan remained in the makuuchi division throughout 2023, however, and started 2024 at the rank of maegashira 6 east. During the twelfth day of the tournament, he suffered a knee injury in his match against Tsurugisho and had to limp back up the hanamichi, telling the press afterwards that he felt severe pain even with painkillers.^[9] On the fourth day of the March 2024 tournament, Kinbozan fell hard outside the ring in his loss to Tamawashi. He withdrew the following day, with the medical certificate stating he would need seven days of rest due to a cervical vertebrae sprain.^[10] After three days of rest he returned to competition. In the next two tournaments Kinbozan conceded 22 defeats, subsequently resulting in his demotion from the top division to juryo. At the November tournament, however, he won his third professional title, taking the juryo championship with 13 wins. The November performance put him back at the top division in January 2025 as west maegashira 14.^[4]

At the January 2025 tournament Kinbozan stood out, winning nine consecutive matches from the first day of the tournament to set a personal record, also establishing himself as the only wrestler in the tournament to remain unbeaten halfway point of the competition.^[11] On Day 10, however, he suffered his first defeat at the hands of komusubi Abi, reducing to one victory the two-victory gap he had spared against the trio of wrestlers still in positions to challenge him for the title (Oho, Takerufuji and Chiyoshoma). He however maintained an outright one-win lead after 13 days, having defeated two ozeki opponents in Onosato and Kotozakura. On Day 12, he lost his match to ozeki Hoshoryu, the nephew of Asashoryu, the man who introduced him to sumo, allowing the ozeki to make a stronger bid for the title.^[12] Before the match, the former Asashoryu, who closely follows Kinbozan's performance, allegedly called stablemaster Kise (the former Higonoumi) to encourage the wrestler, going so far as to say that Kinbozan shouldn't lose to "this jerk" (あのヤロウ, anoyaro), referring to Hoshoryu.^[13] On the final day, Kinbozan faced Oho, the latter (along with Hoshoryu) being one of two wrestlers only one defeat behind the tournament leader. Kinbozan lost the match, forcing at the very least a playoff between the two wrestlers. Later, Hoshoryu also qualified for the title after defeating Kotozakura, with the playoff becoming a three-way fight. Kinbozan lost the title to Hoshoryu, who previously defeated Oho. For leading the competition, Kinbozan nonetheless received his second sansho for Fighting Spirit, however missing out on the award for Outstanding Performance after losing to Oho in regulation.^[14]

Personal Life[]

Kinbozan is a muslim and therefore abstains from pork and alcohol. He is the second muslim sumo wrestler since Osunaarashi from Egypt.^[15]
Kinbozan's hobbies are walking and watching movies, his favorite food is sushi, especially salmon, and his favorite movies are Fast and Furious and The Avengers.^[16]

Fighting Style[]

Kinbozan primarily uses pushing and thrusting techniques, with most of his wins by way of oshidashi (frontal push out), yorikiri (frontal force out) and tsukidashi (frontal thrust out).^[17]