Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Kinbozan, a 27-year-old sumo wrestler from Almaty, Kazakhstan, has narrowly missed out on becoming the first Muslim to win one of sumo’s prestigious Grand Sumo Tournaments.

At the New Year Sumo Tournament in Tokyo, Kinbozan, whose real name is Yersin Baltagul, led the competition until the final day with a 12-2 record. He lost to Japanese wrestler Ohho in his final regular match and was then defeated in a 3-way playoff, with Mongolian-born wrestler Hoshoryu emerging as the tournament champion.

The Yukan Fuji newspaper reported that although Kinbozan missed out on becoming the first Muslim to win a Grand Sumo Tournament, he received his second Fighting Spirit Award for his strong showing. He also won a lower Juryo Division title at the end of last year.

A graduate of Japan’s Nihon University, Kinbozan made his debut in sumo’s sandanme (third division) at the Kyushu tournament in November 2021. He stands 195 cm in height and weighs 178 kilograms.

His professional name comes from the name of a mountain in Kumamoto, the home prefecture of his stablemaster Kise.

“The legendary master swordsman MIYAMOTO Musashi is said to have gone there to write ‘The Book of Five Rings’, and it’s an important mountain for me,” Kise said. “[Kinbozan] accords respect to his seniors and in some ways his behavior is more Japanese than the Japanese.”

Due to religious prohibitions, Kinbozan does not drink alcohol or eat pork, so the chanko-nabe (traditional wrestlers’ stew) consumed at the stable is prepared separately for him.

While professional sumo is open to athletes of all nationalities and religions, its rituals, and traditions – such as when wrestlers stamp their feet and clap their hands before matches and scatter salt in the ring – are closely linked to Japan’s native Shinto religion.

The first Muslim to reach sumo’s top division was Egyptian Abdelrahman Alaa el-Din Mohamed Ahmed Shalan, who competed under the name Osunaarashi between 2012 and 2018.