Aminishiki Ryuji

安 美 錦 竜 児
Aminishiki Ryūji

Personal data
real name	Suginomori Ryūji
Born	3rd October 1978
place of birth	Aomori Prefecture, Japan
size	1.84 m
Weight	144 kg
Career
Heya	Isegahama
rank	Maegashira 3
Career record	762-751-16 641-678-16 (Makuuchi)
debut	January 1997
Highest rank	Sekiwake (September 2007)
Tournament victories	-
Status: Aki-Basho 2015.

Aminishiki Ryūji ( Japanese 安 美 錦 竜 児 ; born October 3, 1978 in Aomori Prefecture ), actually Suginomori Ryūji ( 杉 野 森 竜 児 ), is a sumo wrestler in the Japanese Makuuchi Division.

Sumo career

In 1997 Suginomori made his debut in professional sumo as a member of the Ajigawa-beya stable (which was renamed Isegahama-beya in 2007). He finished his first tournament with a perfect 7-0 record, but then lost the playoff for the tournament victory against his stable mate Aoba. A short time later he took the ring name Aminishiki. In his first year he won 29 fights (six defeats) and was allowed to compete in the third highest division Makushita in January 1998 because of this performance . There he fought for two years and achieved ten kachi-koshi in twelve tournaments . After graduating 4-3 five times in a row in 1999, he had made promotion to the Jūryō division. In Jūryō, Aminishiki continued his series of positive results and rose to the Makuuchi division after three tournaments .

On his makuuchi debut in July 2000, he scored 10-5 and received his first kantō-shō straight away . Four months later he had to return to the Jūryō division after a disastrous 1-14, but managed to get promoted again. In March 2002, Aminishiki defeated an Ōzeki ( Musōyama ) for the first time . In the end he once again achieved a 10-5 record. He was then awarded the Ginō-shō (price for the best technique) and also promoted to Maegashira 1 . In January 2003, he received his first Kinboshi for defeating Yokozuna Takanohana (who announced his retirement the next day). In his career, Aminishiki has so far collected seven Kinboshi (four of them for victories against yokozuna Asashōryū ) and has more than any other active rikishi .

In May 2003 he achieved his best result in the Makuuchi Division with an 11-4. So he shared the Jun-Yusho (second place) with Ōzeki Kaiō behind the tournament winner Asashōryū and also received the Ginō-shō for the second time. In September 2006 the events repeated themselves. Aminishiki received his second Jun-Yusho and his third technician award after an 11-4 (as Maegashira 3 ). In this tournament he was also able to defeat three Ōzeki in a row ( Kotoōshū , Kaiō and Hakuhō ). During the subsequent Basho Aminishiki belonged as komusubi for the first time in his career to the San'yaku - Rikishi . In September 2007 he finally made his debut with the rank of Sekiwake and as such remained undefeated for the first eight days. In the further course of the tournament, however, followed five defeats (10-5). From the 2007 Nagoya Basho to the 2008 Hatsu Basho, he held four tournaments in a row in the San'yaku ranks, which is his longest run in this regard.

In March 2008 he suffered an injury to his right knee while fighting yokozuna Asashōryū. Since then he has been wearing a bandage at this point. He had to end the Hatsu Basho in 2009 prematurely due to the repeated knee injury. In July 2010, for the same reason, Aminishiki was forced to abandon the tournament after just twelve days. From 2006 to 2010 he was awarded at least one Sanshō every year. He won his eleventh and so far last Sanshō in September 2014 at the age of 35. At the 2015 Haru Basho, he reached his kachi-koshi on the ninth day, but had to give up after ten days due to excessive knee problems. After two 6-9 results in a row, he achieved another positive result at the last tournament.

Aminishiki has been fighting non-stop in the Makuuchi Division for over ten years.

Combat Statistics

year	Hatsu (January)	Haru (March)	Natsu (May)	Nagoya (July)	Aki (September)	Kyushu (November)
1997	Maezumo	Jonokuchi 42 West 7-0 D	Jonidan 46 East 6-1	Sandanme 84 East 6-1	Sandanme 31 East 5-2	Sandanme 3 West 5-2
1998	Makushita 40 West 4-3	Makushita 29 East 6-1	Makushita 12 East 4-3	Makushita 9 West 2-5	Makushita 24 East 3-4	Makushita 32 East 5-2
1999	Makushita 17 West 5-2	Makushita 11 East 4-3	Makushita 8 West 4-3	Makushita 5 East 4-3	Makushita 2 West 4-3	Makushita 1 West 4-3
2000	Juryo 13 West 8-7	Juryo 8 East 9-6	Juryo 2 West 8-7	Maegashira 13 W 10-5	Maegashira 9 West 7-8	Maegashira 10 W 1-14
2001	Juryo 6 East 9-6	Maegashira 15 East 8-7	Maegashira 10 W 7-8	Maegashira 12 W 7-8	Maegashira 13 W 7-8	Maegashira 14 W 8-7
2002	Maegashira 10 East 9-6	Maegashira 6 East 10-5	Maegashira 1 East 5-10	Maegashira 5 East 6-9	Maegashira 7 West 7-8	Maegashira 8 West 9-6
2003	Maegashira 4 East 4-11	Maegashira 9 East 8-7	Maegashira 7 West 11-4 y	Maegashira 1 West 2-12-1	Maegashira 9 West 10-5	Maegashira 3 East 5-10
2004	Maegashira 8 East 9-6	Maegashira 4 East 3-12	Maegashira 11 East 8-7	Maegashira 9 East 4-8-3	Maegashira 16 East 6-9	Juryo 2 East 9-6
2005	Maegashira 16 W 7-8	Maegashira 17 W 9-6	Maegashira 11 East 8-7	Maegashira 9 West 9-6	Maegashira 5 West 7-8	Maegashira 6 East 7-8
2006	Maegashira 7 East 9-6	Maegashira 3 East 7-8	Maegashira 3 West 5-10	Maegashira 7 West 8-7	Maegashira 3 West 11-4 y	Komusubi 2 East 6-9
2007	Maegashira 2 West 4-11	Maegashira 9 East 9-6	Maegashira 4 East 9-6	Komusubi 1 West 8-7	Sekiwake 1 East 10-5	Sekiwake 1 East 8-7
2008	Sekiwake 1 East 5-10	Maegashira 2 East 6-9	Maegashira 4 West 10-5	Maegashira 1 East 6-9	Maegashira 4 East 8-7	Komusubi 1 West 8-7
2009	Sekiwake 1 West 3-6-6	Maegashira 5 West 9-6	Maegashira 1 West 5-10	Maegashira 5 East 11-4	Komusubi 1 West 7-8	Maegashira 1 West 5-10
2010	Maegashira 6 West 11-4	Komusubi 1 West 8-7	Sekiwake 1 West 5-10	Maegashira 2 West 6-7-2	Maegashira 4 West 8-7	Maegashira 2 East 8-7
2011	Maegashira 1 West 6-9	called off	Maegashira 3 West 7-8	Maegashira 3 West 2-13	Maegashira 12 East 10-5	Maegashira 6 East 9-6
2012	Maegashira 1 West 9-6	Sekiwake 1 West 7-8	Komusubi 1 West 7-8	Maegashira 1 West 6-9	Maegashira 4 East 10-5	Komusubi 1 East 7-8
2013	Maegashira 1 East 9-6	Komusubi 1 West 7-8	Maegashira 1 West 6-9	Maegashira 3 West 6-9	Maegashira 5 West 9-6	Maegashira 1 West 6-9
2014	Maegashira 4 East 6-9	Maegashira 6 East 8-7	Maegashira 3 East 10-5	Komusubi 1 East 3-12	Maegashira 6 East 10-5	Maegashira 1 West 6-9
2015	Maegashira 3 West 6-9	Maegashira 6 East 8-3-4	Maegashira 2 West 6-9	Maegashira 4 East 6-9	Maegashira 6 East 8-7

Oddities

Aminishiki received 11 sanshō in his career. No other active rikishi won again.

Aminishiki also received 7 Kinboshi, which is also a record among active wrestlers.

Aminishiki's brother Asofuji was also a sumo wrestler. His highest rank was maegashira 13 . He resigned in 2011.

Web links

• Info page of the Japanese Sumo Association
• Profile on Sumo Reference

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Aminishiki is the family name, Ryūji the first name.