--- description: It took 73 tournaments for wrestler Kisenosato to become the first Japanese-born yokozuna in 19 years title: Japan Has a Homegrown Sumo Champion After Nearly 2 Decades image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ef4c16b2dce8a4d/6988b724e20a8738c4a93e07/rtswx17.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Japan Finally Has a Homegrown Sumo Champion After Nearly Two Decades by [Kevin Lui](/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 25, 2017 9:08 AM CUT  New Year Grand Sumo Tournament winner Kisenosato Yutaka at his Tagonoura stable in Tokyo on Jan. 23, 2017. New Year Grand Sumo Tournament winner Kisenosato Yutaka at his Tagonoura stable in Tokyo on Jan. 23, 2017.Kyodo/Reuters by [Kevin Lui](/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 25, 2017 9:08 AM CUT Japan has [officially named](http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170125/p2g/00m/0sp/046000c "undefined") its first homegrown sumo champion in 19 years, ending a long dry spell in one of the country’s ancient national sports. Kisenosato, 30, was promoted to the highest rank of yokozuna on Wednesday, reports the Japanese Kyodo News Agency. He’s the 72nd sumo wrestler to have gained the prestigious title, and the first Japan-born wrestler to ascend to sumo’s top rank since Wakanohana in 1998\. Kisenosato achieved the title after winning the Emperor’s Cup on Sunday following a 15-day tournament. For Kisenosato, winning the title was the culmination of a lengthy journey — 73 tournaments to be exact, the longest for any sumo wrestler who became yokozuna since 1926. “I accept with all humility,” he told reporters. “I will devote myself to the role and try not to disgrace the title of yokozuna.” **Read More:** [_The Changing Face of Sumo Wrestling_](http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2009867,00.html "undefined") Sumo is a sport that has been central to[ Japanese tradition](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2010200,00.html "undefined") dating back around 1,500-years, but in modern times it has been beset by a series of scandals and has long been grappling with falling numbers and a lack of local champion fighters. Beginning with a raft of top wrestlers from the Pacific Islands and Hawaii in the 1990s, overseas contenders have come to dominate the sport. Fighters from Mongolia, which has a deep wrestling tradition of its own, have recently reigned supreme in the Japanese sport, with all three of the current yokozunas hailing from the country. \[[Kyodo](http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170125/p2g/00m/0sp/046000c "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4646441/japan-sumo-kisenosato-yokozuna/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4646441/japan-sumo-kisenosato-yokozuna/"},"headline":"Japan Finally Has a Homegrown Sumo Champion After Nearly Two Decades","datePublished":"2017-01-25T09:08:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:55:35.705Z","description":"It took 73 tournaments for Kisenosato to be named a sumo champion","url":"https://time.com/4646441/japan-sumo-kisenosato-yokozuna/","keywords":["Japan","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ef4c16b2dce8a4d/6988b724e20a8738c4a93e07/rtswx17.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin Lui","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ef4c16b2dce8a4d/6988b724e20a8738c4a93e07/rtswx17.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"New Year Grand Sumo Tournament winner ozeki Kisenosato stretches his legs during a press conference at his Tagonoura stable in Tokyo","caption":"New Year Grand Sumo Tournament winner ozeki Kisenosato stretches his legs during a press conference at his Tagonoura stable in Tokyo","creditText":"Kyodo/Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4646441/japan-sumo-kisenosato-yokozuna/","name":"Japan Finally Has a Homegrown Sumo Champion After Nearly Two Decades"}}]}] ```