Kizakiumi Shinnosuke

Kizakiumi Shinnosuke - 木崎海 伸之助 (born May 5, 1995) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Uruma, Okinawa. He made his debut in March 2018 and wrestled for Kise stable. He reached the juryo division in July 2019. His highest rank was juryo 3 and he retired in September 2020.

## **Early Life**

Kizaki was born in Okinawa Japan, the fourth son of five siblings. His eldest brother, Daisuke, was a member of the Tottori Johoku High School sumo club and went on to do university sumo at Nihon University. He is currently the co-captain of the Kyushu Electric Power Sumo Club. His second brother sadly passed away at the age of six due to an illness.

Kizaki attended Okinawa Shiritsu Misato Elementary School and in the National Sumo Tournament in his fifth year of elementary school. After elementary school graduation, Kizaki attended Tottorishi Ritsunishi Junior High School and was a member of the school's sumo club. After junior high school, Kizaki attended Tottori Johoku High School, a school known for its prestigious sumo club. He was the high school yokozuna in his third year of high school (2013). After graduating high school, Kizaki attended Nihon University's Department of Political Science with an intent to study law. In his 4th year of college, Kizaki won 3rd place in the All Japan Sumo Championship. This achievement qualified him for sandanme tsukedashi.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Kizaki joined Kise stable upon graduation from college, because his brother, Churanoumi, was already a member of the stable. Kizaki made his official debut on the bottom of sandanme (sandanme tsukedashi) in March 2018 under the shikona 'Kizakiumi'. The 'Kizaki' is derived from his family name and the 'umi' was taken from his stablemaster's shikona: Higonoumi.

Kizakiumi produced two 6-1 records in his first two tournaments in sandanme and was promoted to makushita for the July 2018 tournament. In his makushita debut, Kizakiumi produced his third consecutive 6-1 record and was promoted to makushita 24. However, he produced his first make-koshi, or losing record and was demoted down to makushita 34 for the following tournament. After his first make-koshi, Kizakiumi produced four straight 5-2 records and was promoted to juryo for the July 2019 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Kizakiumi made his juryo debut on July 2019 alongside his brother, Churanoumi, and they were the 21st pair of brothers to fight in the salaried divisions simultaneously. Kizakiumi was 7-5 by the 12th day, but lost his last 3 matches to finish with a 7-8 record. The following tournament, Kizakiumi won won the final day to barely clinch an 8-7 record. The following tournament, Kizakiumi was 9-1 by the tenth day and went on to finish with a career-best 10-5 record.

This promoted him to a career-best juryo 3. Kizakiumi struggled immensely in this tournament. On the sixth day, Kizakiumi wrestled his one and only makuuchi match against maegashira-ranked wrestler Ikioi. In the match, Ikioi pushed Kizakiumi and he accidentally fell over the dohyo and landed straight on his head, thus injuring his neck. Kizakiumi slayed on the floor for around a minute, before wakaimonogashira Tochinofuji came out to help him up. A wheelchair was also brought out, but it wasn't used.

After the scare, Kizakiumi continued to participate in the tournament and finished with a disastrous 3-12 record. The following two tournaments Kizakiumi produced two make-koshi records and was demoted to the bottom of juryo.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

On August 27, 2020, Kizakiumi suddenly announced his retirement from sumo. He cited his chronic neck pains were aggravated after the incident previously mentioned. His stablemaster stated that Kizakiumi was very "strong" when announcing his decision to retire. This came as a shock to the sumo world, because Kizakiumi was still ranked in juryo and he was in sumo for a little over two years. However, many sumo analysts supported Kizakiumi's proactive decision to not aggravate a potentially life threatening injury.

After retirement, Kizakiumi returned back to his hometown to treat his chronic neck pains. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kizakiumi never had a retirement ceremony date set and it was eventually cancelled all together. On February 29, 2021, he started a YouTube channel called "Shinnosuke" (しんのすけ). He is currently interested in video editing and film production.

## **Personal Life**

* Kizakiumi's older brother, Churanoumi, is also a sumo wrestler. They both attended the same university and were members of the same stable.
* Kizakiumi's hobbies include listening to music.

## **Fighting Style**

Kizakiumi is an oshi-zumo specialist, which means he prefers thrusting and pushing techniques rather than fighting on the mawashi. The most common kimarite that he employs is oshidashi (force-out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 82-64/146 (15 basho)
* **Juryo:** 41-49/90 (7 basho)
* **Makushita:** 29-13/42 (6 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 12-2/14 (2 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Kizakiumi Shinnosuke (2018.03 - 2020.09)

## **Gallery**

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

Kizakiumi Shinnosuke - 2020 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kizakiumi Shinnosuke - 2020 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kizakiumi Shinnosuke - 2019 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kizakiumi Shinnosuke - 2019 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kizakiumi's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Kizakiumi gets measured upon joining professional sumo (c. 2018)Kizakiumi defeats Kamiyutaka (c. 2018)Kizakiumi defeats Hoshoryu (c. 2019)Kizakiumi after promotion to Juryo (c. 2019)Kizakiumi with his brother Churanoumi (c. 2019)Kizakiumi pushes out and defeats Irodori (c. 2019)Kizakiumi during the Juryo dohyo-iri (c. 2020)Kizakiumi career ending neck injury (c. 2020)Kizakiumi prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2020)Kizakiumi's retirement is announced (c. 2020)
## **Sources**

* Kizakiumi Shinnosuke Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Kizakiumi Shinnosuke Rikishi Information