Asashiyu Ryoga

Asashiyu Ryoga - 朝志雄 亮賀 (born August 8, 1994) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Shima, Mie. He made his debut in March 2017 and currently wrestles for Takasago stable. He reached the juryo division in September 2021. His highest rank as of 2023 is juryo 13.

## **Early Life**

He was born in the town of Isobe (currently absorbed into Shima city) in Mie prefecture. Murata began sumo wrestling during his first year at Shima Shiritsu Isobe Elementary School.

After graduating from Shima Shiritsu Isobe Junior High School, he went on to attend Kanazawa Municipal Technical High School and was a member of the sumo club, however, during his first year he tore the anterior cruciate ligament on his left knee and was sidelined for majority of the year. He returned to sumo in his second year, but in his third year he re-injured his left knee. For this reason he decided to forego joining professional sumo and opted for collegiate sumo. He enrolled at Toyo University's Faculty of Law and was teammates with the future Wakatakakage. In his fourth year he served as the sumo club's captain and left a strong track record including winning the group championship and achieving third place in the individual competition at the National Student Sumo Championship. Furthermore, he won three different titles in college.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

After graduating from university, he was recruited into Takasago stable by Wakamatsu oyakata (former maegashira Asanowaka). Due to his amateur accomplishments he qualified for sandanme tsukedashi and made his professional debut in March 2017 ranked at the bottom of sandanme.

In his debut, he posted a strong 6-1 record including a win over fellow debutant and college teammate Wakatakakage. In the following tournament, Murata finished with a perfect 7-0 record, but missed out on the yusho after losing to Wakatakakage in the playoff. Nevertheless, he was promoted to makushita in the following July 2017 tournament. After one year in makushita, he rose to the top of makushita by July 2018, but he tore the medial collateral ligament in his right knee on the 5th day of the July 2018 tournament and had to withdraw from the tournament.

He sat out of four consecutive tournaments and was demoted down to the jonidan division (which he never wrestled at because he started at the bottom of sandanme). He returned in March 2019, ranked at jonidan 33, but aggravated his right knee injury on the 4th day and subsequently withdrew from the tournament. He fell down to jonokuchi by July 2019 and continued to sit out until the 13th day where he returned to face Hattorizakura in order to avoid falling completely off the banzuke.

Murata wrestled his first full tournament in September 2019 and claimed the jonokuchi yusho with a perfect 7-0 record. He followed with another 7-0 record, but missed out on the yusho after losing to Mongolian Hokutenkai. Nevertheless, he followed with seven more consecutive winning records and was promoted back to the top of makushita by May 2021. In July 2021, Murata finished with a strong 6-1 record at the rank of makushita 5 and was promoted to juryo for the following September 2021 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon promotion to juryo, he changed his shikona to "Asashiyu" (朝志雄). Each Kanji in his shikona has its own significance; the Asa (朝) is a common pre-fix used by members of Takasago stable, the Shi (志) refers to his hometown of Shima, and Yu (雄) means masculine. He finished with a disastrous 1-14 record in his first tournament as sekitori and was demoted back down to makushita in November 2021. In January 2022, Asashiyu tore a ligament in his right knee and sat out of the following four tournaments. He returned to action in November 2022 and subsequently won the jonidan yusho. Asashiyu returned to makushita in July 2023.

## **Fighting Style**

Asashiyu is a tsuki/oshi specialist, who prefers pushing and thrusting at his opponents rather than fighting on the mawashi or belt. His most common winning kimarite or technique is oshidashi or a straightforward push out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 141-75-72/214 (40 basho)
* **Juryo:** 1-14/15 (1 basho)
* **Makushita:** 85-52-24/136 (23 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 26-6-31/32 (9 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 21-3-11/23 (5 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 8-0-6/8 (2 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Jonidan** Championship (November 2022)
* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (September 2019)

## **Shikona History**

* Murata Ryo (2017.03 - 2021.07)
* Asashiyu Ryoga (2021.09 -)

## **Gallery**

### **JSA Profile Pictures and Tegata**

Asashiyu Ryoga - 2021 (Retrieved from the JSA)Asashiyu Ryoga - 2021 (Retrieved from the JSA)Asashiyu's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Murata gets recruited into Takasago stable (c. 2017)Murata gets measured upon joining professional sumo (c. 2017)Murata ensures Juryo promotion by defeating Yago (c. 2021)Murata reveals his new shikona, Asashiyu (c. 2021)Asashiyu after promotion to Juryo (c. 2021)Asashiyu prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2021)Asashiyu defeats Kyokushuho for his only Juryo debut win (c. 2021)Asashiyu defeats Otani to win the Jonidan Yusho (c. 2022)Asashiyu defeats Takerufuji (c. 2023)
## **Sources**

* Asashiyu Ryoga Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Asashiyu Ryoga Rikishi Information