Ukrainian wrestler Danylo Yavhusyshyn breaks into Japan’s Sumo elite

A 21-year-old from Vinnytsia in Ukraine has achieved what few foreigners do by rising into the elite ranks of Japan’s centuries-old sport of sumo. 

Danylo Yavhusyshyn, who competes under the ring name of Aonshiki Arata (Blue Brocade), was promoted in September to komusubi, making him a part of the prestigious sanyaku group of top wrestlers, the Japan Sumo Association, said. 

The rank places him just three steps below the sport’s highest title of yokuzana, a position that only 75 men have ever held. 

His rise has been swift and historic. 

In July, Yavhusyshyn earned his first kinboshi (“gold star”) by defeating Yokozuna Hōshōryū, in only his 12th professional tournament, a record that was previously held by Mongolian legend Asashoryu, who reached the feat in 14. 

Born in 2004, Yavhusyshyn began practicing sumo at age seven. After Russia’s full-blown invasion forced him to leave Ukraine, he moved to Japan to pursue the sport full-time, adopting his Japanese name to symbolize “youthful talent and noble strength.”

“I was thrilled to see my name on the ranking list and watch it rise a bit,” Yavhushyshyn said.  “I want to perform better than in the last tournament. Now that I’m in the sanyaku ranks, I will aim for ozeki. I’ll work hard to achieve it.”

The fact that a Ukrainian reached this elite level in Japan’s national sport is unprecedented, marking Yavhushyshyn as both a cultural bridge and a rising international figure in sumo’s long tradition.