Ryuko Kawakami

Ryuko Kawakami - 竜虎 川上 (born June 23, 1998) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Uto, Kumamoto. He made his debut in January 2017 and wrestled for Onoe stable. He reached the juryo division in July 2019. His highest rank was juryo 12 and he retired in September 2021.

## **Early Life**

Kawakami began doing sumo at the age of 5 after attending a sumo dojo. He also participated in soccer and swimming throughout elementary school, but would solely focus on sumo starting from junior high school.

Since elementary school he would train with high schoolers at Buntoku Gakuen Gymnasium. He later attended Kakujyo Junior High School and was a member of their sumo club. In his 3rd year he won both the prefectural tournament and the national junior high school tournament. He became the fourth middle school to achieve this feat. In 2014, Kawakami also participated at yokozuna Hakuho's Hakuho Cup and won the overall event.

After graduating junior high school, Kawakami attended Buntoku Gakuen Gymnasium and was a member of their sumo club. He won multiple tournaments during his high school career, however, in his third year he broke his left-ankle and could not participate in any more tournaments. After graduation he entered into his uncle's Onoe stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Kawakami made his debut in January 2017 alongside Ichiyamamoto. One tournament later he changed his shikona to "Ryuko" which was his given name. He rose up the ranks quickly and only spent 4 tournaments in the bottom three divisions. He earned promotion to the makushita divison for the November 2017 tournament.

In his makushita debut, Ryuko scored an impressive 5-2 and became a upper-makushita regular less than a year later. In January 2019, Ryuko was ranked at makushita 2 and defeated juryo-ranked wrestler Kyokushuho. He finished with a 4-3 record and was promoted to makushita 1 for the following tournament. In this tournament he lost his first four matches and finished with a 3-4 record. As a result he was demoted to makushita 4 for the May 2019 tournament. In this tournament he produced a strong 6-1 record and earned promotion to the juryo division for the July 2019 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Ryuko was 21 years old at the time of his juryo debut and was the youngest sekitori. On the second day he defeated veteran wrestler Aminishiki, who was 20 years his senior, by yoritaoshi, or frontal crush out. However, he injured Aminishiki's knee in the process. Aminishiki would later pull out of the tournament and retire which meant that Ryuko was Aminishiki's last opponent. He was 4-2 by the sixth day and was tied for the lead, but he ended up losing the next nine matches and finished with a poor 4-11 record. As a result he was demoted back down to makushita.

In his first tournament back, Ryuko pulled out of the tournament due to an injury from his right ankle. He would later return and gradually worked his way back up the makushita rankings. In November 2020, Ryuko won the makushita yusho and since he was ranked at makushita 15, a promotion back to juryo was guaranteed. In his return to juryo, he produced a 6-9 record and was demoted back down to makushita. He sat out of the March 2021 tournament as there was a COVID-19 outbreak in his stable prior to the tournament. He continued to sit out of the May and July tournament due to a right ankle injury.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

On September 25, 2021, Ryuko submitted his retirement papers to the Japan Sumo Association and it was ultimately accepted. He cited that his ankle injury as the main reason for his retirement and he is currently undergoing treatment in his hometown of Kumamoto.

## **Personal Life**

* Ryuko comes from a sumo family. His grandfather was the chairman of the Kyushu Sumo Federation. His uncle is ex-komusubi Hamanoshima and current Onoe Oyakata, which means that he is also Ryuko's stablemaster. His cousin and Onoe Oyakata's eldest son is also a wrestler at Onoe stable under the shikona of Hamasu and his highest rank, as of 2020, is jonidan 26. His two younger brothers also belonged to sumo clubs throughout junior high and high school.
* On the second day of the July 2019 tournament, Ryuko defeated veteran wrestler Aminishiki, who was 20 years his senior, by yoritaoshi, or frontal crush out. However, he injured Aminishiki's knee in the process. Aminishiki would later pull out of the tournament and retire which meant that Ryuko was Aminishiki's last opponent.
* His shikona and real name was derived from former komusubi, Ryuko Seiho.

## **Fighting Style**

Ryuko's favored kimarite or techniques are migi-yotsu (a left hand outside, right hand inside grip on his opponent's mawashi), yorikiri (force out) and oshidashi (push out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 104-66-35/170 (28 basho)
* **Juryo:** 10-20/30 (2 basho)
* **Makushita:** 71-41-28/112 (20 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 11-3-7/14 (3 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (November 2020)

## **Shikona History**

* Kawakami Ryuko (2017.01 - 2017.01)
* Ryuko Kawakami (2017.03 - 2021.09)

## **Gallery**

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

Ryuko Kawakami - 2019 (Retrieved from the JSA)Ryuko Kawakami - 2019 (Retrieved from the JSA)Ryuko's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Ryuko gets measured upon joining professional sumo (c. 2017)Ryuko prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2019)Ryuko defeats Seiro to ensure promotion to Juryo (c. 2019)Ryuko after promotion to Juryo (c. 2019)Ryuko prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2019)Ryuko retires former Sekiwake Aminishiki (c. 2019)Ryuko defeats Ito to win the Makushita Yusho (c. 2020)Ryuko ensures re-promotion to Juryo after over a year (c. 2020)Ryuko wins his first Makushita Yusho (c. 2020)Ryuko defeats Tohakuryu in his Juryo return (c. 2021)Ryuko prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2019)Ryuko's retirement announced (c. 2021)
## **Sources**

* Ryuko Kawakami Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Ryuko Kawakami Rikishi Information