Kinbōzan Haruki

Yersin originally practiced judo and Kazakh wrestling until the age of 18 when, at the suggestion of former yokozuna Asashōryū, he transferred to a high school in Japan to participate in amateur sumo wrestling.^[2] He then entered Nihon University and joined their sumo club.^[3] In 2019, he finished as the runner-up in the All-Japan Championships, and placed in the top 16 at that same tournament the following year.^[2]

Upon graduating from university, Yersin was urged to enter professional sumo, where he would be eligible to skip the lower two divisions and start at the rank of sandanme because of a dispensation given to amateur wrestlers who have finished in the top 8 in tournaments such as the All-Japan Championships. He joined Kise stable under the shikona of Kinbōzan, which is derived from Mount Kinbō in Kumamoto, the hometown of his stablemaster (former maegashira Higonoumi) but also to be inspired by the martial spirit of Miyamoto Musashi, who wrote parts of his Book of Five Rings while staying on the mountain.^[4]

Kinbōzan's first tournament was the November 2021 basho in Kyushu, where he won all seven of his matches and took the sandanme championship, resulting in his promotion to makushita.^[5] At the March 2022 tournament in Osaka, he won the makushita championship with a 7–0 sweep at the rank of makushita 34.^[6] He would work his way up the makushita rankings and eventually earn promotion to the second-highest professional division, jūryō, in September 2022. Following winning performances in three tournaments (including double digit wins in two of them), he was promoted to the top makuuchi division in March 2023, becoming the first wrestler from Kazakhstan to do so.^[7] At a press conference following his top division promotion, Kinbōzan said that he wanted to wrestle his own style of sumo, adding he was motivated to become stronger following a recent visit to Kazakhstan to visit his mother, who was unwell.^[7] In his top-division debut he secured 11 wins and was awarded with the kantō-shō (Fighting Spirit prize), which is one of the special prizes awarded at the end of every tournament.^[8]

During the sōken of May 2023, Kinbōzan admitted that he was prone to breathing problems when put under stress or too much effort after he appeared to be genuinely uncomfortable after a butsukari session with more senior wrestlers.^[9] In the following tournament, Kinbōzan notably won his match against ōzeki Takakeishō, handing him his fourth defeat on Day 10.^[10] This victory marked the first time in seven years that a maegashira ranked wrestler without a fully grown ōichōmage inflicted a defeat on an ōzeki. The most recent previous occurrence of such a victory had been in July 2016 when Mitakeumi earned a victory over then-ōzeki Terunofuji.^[11] Kinbōzan nevertheless finished the tournament with a score of 4–11. After two successive tournaments, in which he recorded a negative score (make-koshi), Kinbōzan also withdrew from the jungyō of August, reporting a sprained cervical vertebra requiring 30 days of rest, an injury which he had already contracted at the May tournament and which really limited his capabilities.^[12]

Kinbōzan remained in the makuuchi division throughout 2023, however, and started 2024 at the rank of maegashira 6 east. During the twelfth day of the tournament, he suffered a knee injury in his match against Tsurugishō and had to limp back up the hanamichi, telling the press afterwards that he felt severe pain even with painkillers.^[13] On the fourth day of the March 2024 tournament, Kinbōzan fell hard outside the ring in his loss to Tamawashi. He withdrew the following day, with the medical certificate stating he would need seven days of rest due to a cervical vertebra sprain.^[14] After three days of rest, he returned to competition.^[15] In the next two tournaments, Kinbōzan conceded 22 defeats, subsequently resulting in his demotion from the top division to jūryō.^[16] At the November tournament, however, he won his third professional title, taking the jūryō championship with 13 wins. The November performance put him back at the top division in January 2025 as West Maegashira #14.^[17]

At the January 2025 tournament, Kinbōzan stood out, winning nine consecutive matches from the first day of the tournament to set a personal record, also establishing himself as the only wrestler in the tournament to remain unbeaten halfway point of the competition.^[18][19] On Day 10, however, he suffered his first defeat at the hands of komusubi Abi, reducing to one victory the two-victory gap he had spared against the trio of wrestlers still in positions to challenge him for the title (Ōhō, Takerufuji and Chiyoshōma).^[20] He however maintained an outright one-win lead after 13 days, having defeated two ōzeki opponents in Ōnosato and Kotozakura.^[21][22] On Day 12, he lost his match to ōzeki Hōshōryū, the nephew of Asashōryū, the man who introduced him to sumo, allowing the ōzeki to make a stronger bid for the title.^[23] Before the match, the former Asashōryū, who closely follows Kinbōzan's performance, allegedly called stablemaster Kise (the former Higonoumi) to encourage the wrestler, going so far as to say that Kinbōzan shouldn't lose to "this jerk" (あのヤロウ, anoyarō), referring to Hōshōryū.^[24] On the final day, Kinbōzan faced Ōhō, the latter (along with Hōshōryū) being one of two wrestlers only one defeat behind the tournament leader. Kinbōzan lost the match, forcing at the very least a playoff between the two wrestlers. Later, Hōshōryū also qualified for the title after defeating Kotozakura, with the playoff becoming a three-way fight. Kinbōzan lost the title to Hōshōryū, who previously defeated Ōhō.^[25][26] For leading the competition, Kinbōzan nonetheless received his second sanshō for Fighting Spirit, however missing out on the award for Outstanding Performance after losing to Ōhō in regulation.^[27]

Kinbōzan primarily uses pushing and thrusting techniques, with most of his wins by way of oshidashi (frontal push out), yorikiri (frontal force out) and tsukidashi (frontal thrust out).

Kinbōzan is a Muslim and therefore abstains from pork and alcohol. He is the second Muslim sumo wrestler since Ōsunaarashi from Egypt.^[28]

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of non-Japanese sumo wrestlers
• List of active sumo wrestlers
• List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
• Active special prize winners