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A Ukrainian who fled his homeland while being pursued RussiaFull Scale Attack quickly rose to stardom Japanis the ancient game of sumoRecently scored an important win against one of his highest ranked champions.
Danilo Yavushin, who left ukraine Three and a half years ago, Aonishiki now competes as Arata. The 21-year-old’s meteoric rise ended three months ago with a defeat to Mongolian-born Hoshoryu, one of Japan’s two grand champions (yokozuna).
At a press conference on Thursday, unlike some high-profile Ukrainians abroad, Ionishiki focused exclusively on his sporting journey.
He discusses his rigorous training, diet, learning Japanese and his early introduction to sumo at the age of six in his home city of Vinnytsia in west-central Ukraine, now fully immersed in the regulated world of the sport.
“My country is in a very difficult situation, however, I am a sumo wrestler so I would like to speak about sumo,” he said, speaking Japanese, a language he has learned quickly.
He added, “My family.” “They are in Germany now, so they are safe.”
He replied when asked again about the war and his high-profile position in Japan. “I hope that the people of Ukraine will be able to watch my sumo and that they will get some kind of encouragement from it.”
Non-Japanese sumo wrestlers have excelled in various periods in Japan. These include Mongolians, Hawaiians and now Ukrainians. A second Ukrainian, Shishi Masaru, is also a highly ranked wrestler in Japan.
Ukraine has a very strong tradition in Olympic wrestling. Its last gold medalist was Zhan Beleniuk in the Greco-Roman category. tokyo The Games, which were delayed to 2021 due to the pandemic.
,sumo Quite popular in Ukraine, although it’s quite rare for someone to only do sumo,” Aonishiki said. “They’ll often be doing wrestling and sumo, or judo and sumo.”
Aonishiki said he came to Japan in 2022 after befriending a Japanese wrestler at a tournament in 2019. He has not been back to Ukraine since arriving in Japan and said, of course, he would like to visit.
“This is where I was born, where I was raised,” he said. “This is my homeland and I know a lot of people there. So if I get the chance, I would like to go to Ukraine.”
He also talked about his future interest in obtaining a Japanese passport.
Questions were raised about his wrestling technique and strength. He can bench press 210 kilograms (460 lb).
Of course, there were questions about his weight and eating habits. He weighs only 125 kg (275 lb).
This is minor in sumo as many sumo weigh at least 150 kg (330 lb) and some even more.
“My weight is somewhat lighter or smaller than others,” he said. “If possible I would like to increase my weight by about 10 kilograms (22 pounds). However, it is not that easy to do. It is really hard to eat more than I am eating right now. It can be quite painful in a way.”