Danylo Yavhusishyn arrived in Japan in April 2022 as a teenage refugee from the war in Ukraine, speaking no Japanese and unsure of how long he would be away from his family. This weekend, the 20-year-old will make his debut in the top division of sumo wrestling, having quickly ascended through the ranks. “I’m more excited than nervous,” he shared with reporters and fans during a public appearance before a major tournament in Osaka. Overflowing with confidence, he stated, “I’m eager to compete against tough opponents. I aim to win more than 10 matches and earn one of the three awards for outstanding performances.”
Now known by his Japanese ring name Aonishiki Arata, the Ukrainian wrestler recently achieved promotion to sumo’s highest level after finishing the New Year’s tournament in Tokyo with 12 wins and only three losses. He accomplished this in just nine tournaments, tying him with two other wrestlers for the fastest rise through all six divisions since 1958, when sumo adopted its current format of six grand tournaments, or basho, each year.
On Sunday, he will begin 15 days of matches at the Osaka basho as the No. 15 maegashira, the lowest rank in the elite makuuchi division, but some sumo enthusiasts believe he could be on the path to becoming the first European yokozuna grand champion.
Aonishiki, who stands 182 cm tall and weighs a modest 136 kg, discovered sumo as a child, practicing judo and freestyle wrestling before meeting sumo athletes from Japan who visited his gym in Ukraine. The Japanese style of grappling quickly became his passion. In 2019, he placed third at the junior world sumo championships in Osaka, a tournament that would later provide him an escape from the conflict in Ukraine and shape his future as a professional wrestler. There, he met Arata Yamanaka, the captain of the sumo team at Kansai University, and they maintained contact through social media.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Aonishiki, who had recently fled to Germany with his parents, reached out to Yamanaka, whose family welcomed the Ukrainian teenager into their home. He was allowed to train at the university despite not being a student. “I had only met [Yamanaka] once in person, and he welcomed me, even though I couldn’t speak a word of Japanese,” Aonishiki recounted. “I was surprised when he said yes. If it had been the other way around, I would have refused.”
Aonishiki, who adopted the first name Arata in honor of his Japanese friend and mentor, expressed gratitude: “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.” Eight months after arriving in Japan, Aonishiki joined the Ajigawa stable in eastern Tokyo to train under former wrestler Aminishiki.
