Photo by Michihiro Taguchi.
Kirishima is a Mongolian-born sumo wrestler who has won three top-division championships, lost ozeki and won the rank back. He competed under the ring name Kiribayama before taking the name Kirishima on his first promotion. He regained the rank for May 2026 by winning the March tournament from sekiwake, and has since won 12 bouts in three tournaments running — a title and two playoffs lost. Michihiro Taguchi, who follows him closely, says that is still not a case for the rope. This guide explains how he rose from a judo background, lost the rank, won it back, and where the promotion argument stands.
Key facts about Kirishima
- He came to sumo from judo with no prior sumo experience, joining Mutsu stable as the second wrestler to carry the Kirishima name.
- He reached the top makuuchi division in January 2020 and won the Fighting Spirit Prize on debut with an 11-4 record at age 23.
- He earned ozeki promotion in 2023 and won his first championship that March from the rank of sekiwake.
- He later lost the ozeki rank, then won it back by taking the March 2026 tournament.
- He has won three top-division championships: March 2023, November 2023 and March 2026.
Where he stands now
Kirishima is 30, stands 186 cm and weighs 150 kg, and fights for Otowayama stable. He was East ozeki at Nagoya 2026 and went 12–3. At the September 2026 tournament he was East ozeki and went 8–7. His career record is 488 wins, 316 losses and 25 days out over 68 tournaments; in the top division, 349–239 with 12 days out over 40.
He has now won three top-division championships, and the third one is what brought the rank back.
| Tournament | Rank | Record |
|---|---|---|
| November 2025 | East maegashira 2 | 11–4, Fighting Spirit Prize |
| January 2026 | East sekiwake | 11–4, Fighting Spirit Prize |
| March 2026 | East sekiwake | 12–3, championship, Outstanding Performance Prize |
| May 2026 | East ozeki (rank regained) | 12–3, lost the playoff |
| July 2026 | East ozeki | 12–3, lost the three-way playoff |
| September 2026 | East ozeki | 8–7 |
Michihiro Taguchi put the ozeki return plainly when it was confirmed: 34 wins across three tournaments, nothing to argue with. He is less sure about everything that has been said since.
Three 12-win tournaments in a row, and Taguchi still says no
On July 30, 2026 Taguchi went looking for precedent. Three consecutive tournaments of 12 wins or more, by a man whose highest rank is ozeki, turns out to be rare: Kaio, with five championships, never managed it. The nearest comparison he found was Yutakayama, who went 12, 12 and 13 from maegashira 2 and two tournaments at sekiwake. Then he took the shine off it himself: Kirishima’s three read championship, tied for the title, tied for the title — two playoffs and two defeats in them.
Calling three straight 12-win tournaments the foundation of a yokozuna promotion is premature. Yokozuna are not something you make casually. And 12 wins is not enough.
Michihiro Taguchi, Dohyo no Mokugekisha, July 30, 2026
He had already written the same thing before Nagoya began. NHK’s headline on the June ranking announcement called Kirishima a man aiming for the rope; Taguchi’s piece of June 27, 2026 said the tournament was not a promotion run at all. His standard is the first clause of the Yokozuna Deliberation Council’s own rule — dignity and ability beyond question — plus the line the Council’s first chairman, Sakai Tadamasa, drew: two consecutive championships won with 13 or more. On 12-win titles he is flat. They do not lead to the rope, and a weak or unconvincing yokozuna is of no use to anyone. He wants five tournaments of steadiness looked at, not three months of form. Reviewing Nagoya on July 28 he repeated it: Kirishima has done well, but he is a long way from being unshakeable.
It is worth knowing that this is a reversal in Kirishima’s favour, not against him. Taguchi wrote him off in 2023, on the tenth day of the autumn tournament, after Nishikigi simply out-muscled him: a man who loses that easily cannot become a yokozuna. The verdict now is that he is good enough to argue about. What has not moved is the bar. For the rules themselves, see how a yokozuna promotion is decided.
Background and early career
Kirishima was born in Mongolia and joined Mutsu stable (Mutsu-beya), whose stablemaster was the former wrestler Kirishima. That made this Kiribayama the second-generation Kirishima. The Mutsu stablemaster brought five Mongolians in for a trial entry and chose Kiribayama, who had no prior sumo experience and came from a judo background.
He climbed steadily through jonokuchi, jonidan, sandanme and makushita, winning a sandanme championship in November 2015 and later a makushita championship. Injuries slowed his rise in the lower divisions, including a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament of his left knee and surgery near the little finger of his left hand. It took him 22 tournaments from jonokuchi to reach juryo, and he then passed through juryo in five tournaments, earning promotion to new juryo in March 2019.
Style and physique
Around his makuuchi debut Kirishima was listed at 184 cm and 129 kg, relatively light by modern sumo standards. His preferred style is a left-hand-inside (hidari-yotsu) grappling game built on force-outs and throws. That grip-fighting approach, rather than sheer size, carried him up the banzuke.
Rise to the top division
He reached the top makuuchi division in January 2020, the 26th Mongolian-born wrestler to do so, and won the Fighting Spirit Prize in his debut top-division tournament with an 11-4 record at age 23. In July 2020, his first tournament ranked in the joi at the top of the division, he beat ozeki Takakeisho for his first win over an ozeki but finished 6-9.
He earned his first winning record in the joi in September 2021, beating ozeki Shodai and Takakeisho to go 9-6, which earned promotion to komusubi. He posted his first double-digit win total in the joi with 10 wins in May 2022.
Promotion to ozeki and first championship
In January 2023 he went 11-4, beating champion ozeki Takakeisho, and won the Technique Prize — the start of his ozeki run. At his next tournament in March 2023, ranked sekiwake, he won his first championship by defeating Daieisho in a playoff after a come-from-behind finish, and took the Technique Prize again. He clinched ozeki promotion with 11 wins in May 2023 and debuted as an ozeki in July 2023 at age 27.
On reaching ozeki he took his stablemaster’s active ring name, changing his shikona from Kiribayama to Kirishima. His ozeki debut in July 2023 was rough — a default loss on day one, two days off, and a 6-9 losing record — but he survived his first kadoban tournament at 9-6. An ozeki who posts a losing record becomes kadoban and is demoted if he fails to get a winning record in the following tournament. In November 2023 he won his second championship with a personal-best 13-2 record.
Stable move and loss of rank
In March 2024, when the Mutsu stablemaster reached mandatory retirement age, Kirishima transferred to Otowayama stable, run by former yokozuna Kakuryu. He held the ozeki rank for six tournaments in his first stint, with a combined record of 45 wins, 35 losses and 10 absences, before losing the rank.
After demotion he spent 11 tournaments ranked at sekiwake and below, and at one point dropped as low as maegashira 2. He kept winning through that span, taking Fighting Spirit and Technique prizes and averaging about 9.5 wins per tournament, a record of 104 wins and 61 losses over that stretch.
Return to ozeki
Kirishima returned to ozeki after winning the March 2026 tournament, capping a comeback run of 11-4, 11-4 and 12-3, with the last of those a championship. Under the current ranking system he is only the third wrestler to return to ozeki after losing the rank, the most recent prior case being Terunofuji. His March 2026 title was his third top-division championship, following his March 2023 and November 2023 wins. He was 29 at the time of his championship-sealed return and turned 30 around that comeback.
Career timeline
| Tournament | Milestone |
|---|---|
| November 2015 | Sandanme championship |
| March 2019 | Promoted to new juryo |
| January 2020 | Top-division debut, 11-4, Fighting Spirit Prize |
| September 2021 | First winning record in the joi (9-6), promoted to komusubi |
| March 2023 | First championship from sekiwake, Technique Prize |
| July 2023 | Ozeki debut, name change to Kirishima |
| November 2023 | Second championship, 13-2 (personal best) |
| March 2024 | Transfer to Otowayama stable |
| March 2026 | Third championship (12-3), return to ozeki |
The rule that took the rank away from him, and the ten-win provision that lets a demoted ozeki take it straight back, are set out in our guide to kadoban.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Kirishima from?
Kirishima is a Mongolian-born sumo wrestler. He came to the sport from a judo background and joined Mutsu stable with no prior sumo experience.
Why did Kiribayama change his name to Kirishima?
On his promotion to ozeki he took his stablemaster’s active ring name. His stablemaster was the former wrestler Kirishima, so the new ozeki became the second-generation Kirishima, changing his shikona from Kiribayama to Kirishima.
How many championships has Kirishima won?
He has won three top-division championships: in March 2023 from the rank of sekiwake, in November 2023 with a personal-best 13-2 record, and in March 2026 on his return to ozeki.
Did Kirishima lose and regain the ozeki rank?
Yes. He held ozeki for six tournaments in his first stint before being demoted. He then spent 11 tournaments ranked at sekiwake and below, dropping as low as maegashira 2, before winning the March 2026 tournament to return to ozeki.
Has any other wrestler returned to ozeki the way Kirishima did?
Under the current ranking system, Kirishima is only the third wrestler to return to ozeki after losing the rank. The most recent prior case was Terunofuji.
What is Kirishima’s wrestling style?
He favors a left-hand-inside (hidari-yotsu) grappling game built on force-outs and throws. Listed at 184 cm and 129 kg around his top-division debut, he was relatively light by modern sumo standards and relied on grip-fighting rather than size.
Reporting note: this article draws on Michihiro Taguchi’s tournament reporting and original statistical work published in Dohyo no Mokugekisha — his review of the March 2026 tournament and the ozeki return (March 24, 2026), his argument that Nagoya was not a promotion run (June 27, 2026), his review of the Nagoya 2026 tournament (July 28, 2026) and his study of three consecutive 12-win tournaments (July 30, 2026). Rank, age, measurements, stable, career totals and per-tournament results were rechecked against the Japan Sumo Association’s wrestler profiles and tournament sheets on August 6, 2026. Age, measurements, career totals and the September 2026 results were checked again against the Association’s wrestler profile on October 15, 2026. Figures described as our count are arithmetic on those published sheets, not the Association’s own totals.
Updated August 6, 2026.
Read next: how a yokozuna promotion is decided · the ozeki rank explained · Atamifuji · the Nagoya 2026 tournament
