Sleepless Nights, Back-to-Back Victories—New Ōzeki Aoishōkin Eyes Record-Breaking Yokozuna

When approached just before the conference

――Did you sleep well last night?

“Yes, I slept well.”

When a FRIDAY reporter spoke to him, Ōzeki Aonishiki (21) from Ukraine replied in clear Japanese. This was just before the morning-after press conference held the morning following his victory on the final day of the January tournament (January 25).

Aonishiki achieved the remarkable feat of winning two consecutive tournaments as a newly promoted Sekiwake and then Ōzeki—the first time in 89 years since the great Shōwa-era Yokozuna Futabayama—but he admitted that he felt immense pressure during the tournament.

“He confided to his master, stablemaster Ajigawa (former Sekiwake Aminishiki), that he sometimes felt like running away from the hanamichi on his way to the ring. In the final stretch when the championship was on the line, he reportedly had several sleepless nights. On the eve of the final day, he said he found it hard to eat, so his master gave him a nutritional drink and encouraged him, saying, ‘If you wrestle as usual, you’ll be fine,’” said a source from the Japan Sumo Association.

With the encouragement of his respected stablemaster, Aonishiki overcame the pressure that kept him awake at night and achieved back-to-back championships. If he achieves either a tournament victory or an equivalent strong result in the upcoming Spring Tournament (starting March 8 in Osaka), he will become the fastest promotion in history (from debut, excluding makushita tsukedashi) & the first European Yokozuna in just 16 tournaments. His own ambition is strong; in the January 23 issue interview, he said:

“My goal is, above all, to reach the ‘next level’ Yokozuna.”

Returning to the opening scene: when a reporter said, “Do your best aiming for Yokozuna,” Aonishiki replied firmly, “Yes, I’ll do my best.” In just one tournament as Ōzeki, he has already put himself within striking distance of the top rank on the banzuke.

From the February 13, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY”