Sumo: Yokozuna Onosato seeking new heights with 4-plus titles in 2026 January 2, 2026 (Mainichi Japan) Yokozuna Onosato poses for a photo at Nishonoseki stable in Ibaraki Prefecture on Dec. 26, 2025. (Kyodo) TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Becoming yokozuna and winning half of the six grand sumo tournaments in 2025 for the most successful year of his young career, Onosato is raring to work further to achieve the "one-of-a-kind" status he pledged at his promotion ceremony in May. "I'm aiming big in 2026 and will go for four or more titles, as well as 80 wins or more over the course of the year ブランドバッグコピー " Onosato said in a recent interview with Kyodo News. "I want to become a rikishi who gets remembered down the generations." The year 2025 did not begin on a bright note after he settled for a 10-5 record at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in what was his second meet at the second-highest rank of ozeki. "The year began with an opening-day defeat. It's true a part of me was happy with the status quo after becoming ozeki," he said. "Then a new yokozuna was born after the meet." Mongolian Hoshoryu, a year older than Onosato, rose to the top rank to quickly fill the void left by retired Terunofuji. It galvanized his future rival Onosato. "My stablemaster (Nishonoseki ブランド服コピー  former yokozuna Kisenosato) told me after the tournament that 'you can't save on your training time anymore,' and that flipped a switch inside me," he said. "I was also back at my old boarding house in Kaiyo High School during some time off and saw news about Hoshoryu day and night on TV. I wondered what I was doing by taking a break in Niigata and got fired up." Back-to-back championships with 12-3 and 14-1 records in the next two tournaments secured Onosato a yokozuna promotion of his own in late May, at a record pace after competing in just 13 professional tournaments. But he endured a forgettable debut at the rank in July's Nagoya meet with an 11-4 record コピーブランド服  suffering four "kimboshi" upset losses to rank-and-filers in a single tournament. "I had no clue which way to go," he said. "I was crying before others' eyes in the car going back to the stable lodgings after losing to (eventual champion) Kotoshoho on the 13th day," he said. "It came out naturally because of the frustration and misery. I was surprised myself." The backing of his family was crucial to overcoming the onus of being a yokozuna, where the expectation is to be a perennial winner, helping him bounce back to win his Emperor's Cup as a grand champion at the Autumn meet in September. "I didn't want to show my weak side to my parents, but whined on a message app. I wrote, 'I'd thought a yokozuna is filled with hopes but it's not what I'd imagined. It's hard,'" he recalled. "My father said, 'What are you talking about? This is just the start for a great yokozuna.' Those words made me happy ブランドコピーN級品  they were huge." Having let the title slip through his fingers at the Kyushu meet in November, following a left shoulder injury that forced him to miss the final day, Onosato is ready to lead the sport again and energize his native Ishikawa Prefecture hit by a magnitude-7.6 quake on New Year's Day in 2024. "My home region is still in a severe situation. But I'm sure there are people affected who are looking forward to watching me wrestle at the grand tournament every two months ブランド靴コピー " said Onosato, who went 71-19 in 2025. "I'll aim to excite them even more than last year, battling while carrying my feelings for Ishikawa where I was born and raised. Ishikawa will always be in my heart. It's one thing that will never change." Font Size SML Print Go to The Mainichi Home Page Related Articles Sumo yokozuna Onosato, Hoshoryu tour London, delighting locals