Fleeing the war in Ukraine, Danylo Yavhusishyn arrived in Japan as a teenage refugee in April 2022. This weekend, he made his debut in sumo wrestling’s top division.
The 20-year-old has made an astonishingly swift rise through the ranks, particularly given that he was initially unable to understand the language and uncertain about how long he would be separated from his loved ones.
Now competing under his Japanese sumo name, Aonishiki Arata, the Ukrainian wrestler secured a spot in the top division of the sport after finishing a New Year’s tournament in Tokyo with an impressive record of 12 victories and only three losses.
His meteoric rise saw him ascend through sumo’s six divisions in just nine tournaments. Only two other wrestlers can match the speed of his climb to the top since the sport adopted its current format of six grand tournaments per year in 1958, The Guardian reported.
On Sunday he began his 15-day run at the Osaka tournament as the No. 15 maegashira, the fifth of five ranks in sumo’s elite makuuchi division. However, some sumo analysts believe he has the potential to launch a campaign to become the first European Yokozuna (the highest rank in the top division) grand champion.
“I’m more excited than nervous,” he told reporters and fans ahead of the major tournament in Osaka.
“I’m looking forward to competing against tough opponents. I want to win more than 10 bouts and win one of the three awards [for exceptional performances].”
Standing at 182 cm (5 ft 11) and weighing a comparatively lean 136 kg (300 pounds), Yavhusishyn was first drawn to sumo while practicing judo and freestyle wrestling as a child. His passion for the Japanese sport ignited when visiting sumo athletes from Japan trained at his gym in Ukraine.
In 2019, he finished third in the Junior World Sumo Championships in Osaka, a competition that would later provide him with both an escape route from the war in Ukraine and a path to a professional wrestling career.
During the event, he crossed paths with Arata Yamanaka, then-captain of the sumo team at Kansai University. The two remained in contact through social media.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Yavhusishyn and his parents fled to Germany. Seeking a way forward, he reached out to Yamanaka, whose family graciously agreed to take him in. Despite not being an enrolled student, he was granted permission to train at Kansai University.
“I had only met [Yamanaka] once in person, and he welcomed me, even though I couldn’t speak a word of Japanese,” Yavhusishyn told Japanese news agency Kyodo last year.
“I was surprised when he said: ‘OK.’ If it had been the other way around, I would have refused.”
“Thanks to him, I was able to come to Japan and meet so many people. If I hadn’t met him, I wouldn’t be who I am today,” said Yavhusishyn.
Eight months after arriving in Japan, he joined the Ajigawa stable in eastern Tokyo, training under former sumo star Aminishiki Ryūji, The Guardian reported.
Despite grappling with culture shock and anxiety about his homeland, “Danya”—as his friends call him—proved to be a dominant force in university sumo. Using his strength and impeccable technique, he consistently overcame heavier opponents, according to those who trained alongside him.
“I have never beaten Danya formally in any of my 200 bouts against him,” Akihiro Sakamoto, 21, a former captain of the Kansai University sumo team, told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
“Danya will end up becoming a yokozuna [the highest rank]. He’s formidable,” Sakamoto told the paper.
Remarkably, Yavhusishyn is not the only Ukrainian competing in the top division. Shishi Masaru holds the rank of No. 13 in the fifth tier of sumo’s top division, currently two places ahead of his countryman.
The most successful European sumo wrestler to date is Kotoōshū Katsunori (Kaloyan Stefanov Mahlyanov), a Bulgarian.
He reached the rank of ōzeki (the second-highest rank in the top division) in 2005. Baruto Kaito from Estonia also reached the ōzeki rank.
Following Russia’s invasion, more than 2,700 Ukrainians sought refuge in Japan under a government initiative that provides them with working visas and long-term residency. Nearly 2,000 of them remain in the country today.
A survey last year by the Nippon Foundation, which has supported Ukrainian refugees with living expenses and other assistance, found that 39% wished to remain in Japan “for as long as possible,” while 34% hoped to return home once conditions improved.
Now competing under his Japanese sumo name, Aonishiki Arata, the Ukrainian wrestler secured a spot in the top division of the sport after finishing a New Year’s tournament in Tokyo with an impressive record of 12 victories and only three losses.
His meteoric rise saw him ascend through sumo’s six divisions in just nine tournaments. Only two other wrestlers can match the speed of his climb to the top since the sport adopted its current format of six grand tournaments per year in 1958, The Guardian reported.
On Sunday he began his 15-day run at the Osaka tournament as the No. 15 maegashira, the fifth of five ranks in sumo’s elite makuuchi division. However, some sumo analysts believe he has the potential to launch a campaign to become the first European Yokozuna (the highest rank in the top division) grand champion.
“I’m more excited than nervous,” he told reporters and fans ahead of the major tournament in Osaka.
“I’m looking forward to competing against tough opponents. I want to win more than 10 bouts and win one of the three awards [for exceptional performances].”
Skinny for sumo
Standing at 182 cm (5 ft 11) and weighing a comparatively lean 136 kg (300 pounds), Yavhusishyn was first drawn to sumo while practicing judo and freestyle wrestling as a child. His passion for the Japanese sport ignited when visiting sumo athletes from Japan trained at his gym in Ukraine.
In 2019, he finished third in the Junior World Sumo Championships in Osaka, a competition that would later provide him with both an escape route from the war in Ukraine and a path to a professional wrestling career.
During the event, he crossed paths with Arata Yamanaka, then-captain of the sumo team at Kansai University. The two remained in contact through social media.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Yavhusishyn and his parents fled to Germany. Seeking a way forward, he reached out to Yamanaka, whose family graciously agreed to take him in. Despite not being an enrolled student, he was granted permission to train at Kansai University.
“I had only met [Yamanaka] once in person, and he welcomed me, even though I couldn’t speak a word of Japanese,” Yavhusishyn told Japanese news agency Kyodo last year.
“I was surprised when he said: ‘OK.’ If it had been the other way around, I would have refused.”
“Thanks to him, I was able to come to Japan and meet so many people. If I hadn’t met him, I wouldn’t be who I am today,” said Yavhusishyn.
Eight months after arriving in Japan, he joined the Ajigawa stable in eastern Tokyo, training under former sumo star Aminishiki Ryūji, The Guardian reported.
Despite grappling with culture shock and anxiety about his homeland, “Danya”—as his friends call him—proved to be a dominant force in university sumo. Using his strength and impeccable technique, he consistently overcame heavier opponents, according to those who trained alongside him.
Destined for the top?
“I have never beaten Danya formally in any of my 200 bouts against him,” Akihiro Sakamoto, 21, a former captain of the Kansai University sumo team, told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
“Danya will end up becoming a yokozuna [the highest rank]. He’s formidable,” Sakamoto told the paper.
Europeans in sumo
Remarkably, Yavhusishyn is not the only Ukrainian competing in the top division. Shishi Masaru holds the rank of No. 13 in the fifth tier of sumo’s top division, currently two places ahead of his countryman.
The most successful European sumo wrestler to date is Kotoōshū Katsunori (Kaloyan Stefanov Mahlyanov), a Bulgarian.
He reached the rank of ōzeki (the second-highest rank in the top division) in 2005. Baruto Kaito from Estonia also reached the ōzeki rank.
Ukrainians in Japan
Following Russia’s invasion, more than 2,700 Ukrainians sought refuge in Japan under a government initiative that provides them with working visas and long-term residency. Nearly 2,000 of them remain in the country today.
A survey last year by the Nippon Foundation, which has supported Ukrainian refugees with living expenses and other assistance, found that 39% wished to remain in Japan “for as long as possible,” while 34% hoped to return home once conditions improved.
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