is a Mongolian professional sumo wrestler. He made his debut in March 2015 representing Michinoku stable under the name , and reached the top division in January 2020. He wrestles for Otowayama stable, where he moved to in April 2024 following the closure of Michinoku stable. His highest rank has been , a rank he had lost in July 2024 but reclaimed in March 2026. He has won the championship three times along with two runner-up performances and nine special prizes in his career to date.
Upon his first promotion to in May 2023, Kirishima changed his ring name from Kiribayama, adopting the ring name of his then-stablemaster Michinoku (former Kirishima).
Early life Lkhagvasuren was born into a nomadic community in Dornod Province, near the border between China and Russia. His name is a reference to his grandfather, Yatamsuren, who was a renowned wrestler. His father was in charge of a vast herd of sheep, and from a young age, Lkhagvasuren rode horses to help his father at work, which strengthened his legs and waist – an advantage for sumo. He eventually moved to Ulaanbaatar and began practicing judo and in a club, where he was joined later by future Hōshōryū. In 2014, he was invited by an acquaintance along with four other Mongolians to Japan to try out sumo at Michinoku stable with no previous experience of the sport. At that time, he was over tall, but weighed less than . Michinoku stablemaster, former Kirishima, thought Lkhagvasuren was the best of the five, but was reluctant at first to take on a foreign recruit. The stable had not had a foreigner since Hakuba was forced to retire over match-fixing allegations in 2011. He eventually relented after Lkhagvasuren committed to staying in Japan, and let him take the new recruits examination in February 2015. As he entered his stable, his slight stature drew a comment from a in his stable, who commented that he would be too thin to hold his own in sumo.
Lkhagvasuren received the shikona, or ring name, to evoke his master, with the kanji 霧 derived from his former wrestling name, , his nomadic past with the kanji 馬, for 'horse', and finally the kanji 山 to evoke Futabayama, a great wrestler who belonged to the same , or clan, as his stable.
Sumo beginnings He officially began his career in May 2015. At the time, he was in the same class as Homarenishiki, the first Canadian sumo wrestler () in 30 years. During the first years of his stable life, he had difficulty adapting, mastering very little of the language and mentioning his lack of sleep when his stablemates snored too loudly in the stable dormitory. During his debut in , he faced Chiyonoumi (then called Hamamachi), a former vice-captain of Nippon Sport Science University sumo club, with whom he shared the same debut promotion. Hamamachi handed him his only defeat in four matches to determine his future position in the division. In his first match in this division, he lost again to Hamamachi, who won the tournament that year, but finished with a score of , securing promotion to the next division. In , he was among the wrestlers competing for the championship (), but was nevertheless beaten by Sakae, who then lost in the playoff to Hamamachi, during the last day of competition. However, his score allowed him to enter sumo's third division, , for the November 2015 tournament. There, he won the tournament with a perfect score of . Logically promoted to the makushita division for the January 2016 tournament, he nevertheless suffered the first negative record (make-koshi) of his career and was demoted back to the sandanme division. He was promoted back to makushita for the Nagoya tournament, but suffered a left knee ligament injury during a practice session and had to withdraw from the tournament (kyūjō), and was demoted back to the lower division. Following this injury, Kiribayama gradually changed his fighting style, moving from an overuse of throwing techniques and back-dropping techniques to a style based more on forward momentum. At the time of his injury, he was also suffering from severe homesickness, but thanks to his master's efforts he hung on, motivated in particular by the prospect of returning to his homeland for a visit in the event of promotion to jūryō. In November 2017, he was competing for the makushita division championship but failed after being defeated by former jūryō wrestler on the final day. However, he bounced back the following year by winning the championship at the May tournament, despite injuring his elbow during a training session.
Jūryō promotion In March 2019, Kiribayama was finally promoted to the jūryō division after a record at Makushita 1. It took him four years in total to reach the sekitori ranks from his professional debut. He was the first new sekitori Michinoku stable had produced since Kirinowaka in January 2008. He shared his promotion with another future san'yaku wrestler, Wakamotoharu. During promotional interviews he spoke of his desire to fight with a black shimekomi, in order to evoke Harumafuji. As part of his promotion, he also received a partnership with a jewellery brand that had already supported his master when he was active. The brand offered him a keshō-mawashi representing a black parrot. Kirishima moved through the jūryō division in just five tournaments. His fellow Mongolian, Yokozuna Kakuryū, became his stablemate in October 2019 when Izutsu stable closed. Kiribayama mentions this transfer as having been particularly beneficial for him because, although he was initially anxious at the idea of training with the yokozuna, he benefited from a great deal of advice from Kakuryū. He also expressed his desire to be tsuyuharai at Kakuryū's ring-entering ceremony if he managed to be promoted to makuuchi. In November of the same year, he took part in a four-way playoff for the jūryō championship along Ikioi, Kaisei and Azumaryū. Although he lost to Kaisei, his record secured his promotion to sumo's top division, making him the first to be promoted to the rank of maegashira in his stable since Hakuba in May 2008.
Makuuchi Promotion and early career In preparation for his tournament, he showed encouraging signs in training, having defeated 4-year makuuchi-veteran Shōdai, and revealed that he would indeed serve as an assistant to Kakuryū's ring-entering ceremony. Before the tournament, he also received a keshō-mawashi from Nestlé Japan as part of a partnership with his stable. In his debut top makuuchi division tournament in January 2020, he began the tournament with mixed results, having won his first match against Kaisei, but failed against Kotonowaka, who was still in jūryō, on the following day. From Day 8 onwards, he won against Kotoekō and went on to win his 7 last matches in a row; finishing the tournament with 11 wins to 4 losses and being awarded the Fighting Spirit special prize for his performance. In March, he stood at only four wins against six losses after Day 10, but won his last five matches to secure a record and promotion to a new highest rank of Maegashira 3 for the next tournament, which was originally scheduled for May but actually took place in July. He withdrew on Day 10 of the September 2020 tournament with a shoulder injury, but returned from Day 13 to secure a winning record of . In September of the following year, Kiribayama set a personal record by scoring 4 consecutive victories for the first time in makuuchi, beating Komusubi Ichinojō in an unusually long match.
Kiribayama was promoted to komusubi for the November 2021 tournament, the first Mongolian to debut in san'yaku since Tamawashi and Terunofuji in March 2015. He managed only six wins against nine losses in this tournament, and returned to the maegashira ranks. He was promoted to komusubi again following the July 2022 tournament, and maintained his rank for the next three tournaments. In January 2023 he was runner-up with an record and was awarded his first Technique Prize. He would be promoted to sekiwake for the next tournament in March.
In March 2022, Kiribayama had a good tournament, beating the newly promoted Ōzeki Mitakeumi on the fifth day, inflicting his first defeat since his promotion. In July of the same year, former yokozuna Kitanofuji published a letter to the editor in Chunichi Sports in which he congratulated Wakatakakage and Kiribayama on their match, which took place on Day 6. Although Wakatakakage won the match by yoritaoshi, Kitanofuji praised their stamina and power, even comparing the match to the legendary clashes between Yokozuna Tochinishiki and Wakanohana I.
In March 2023, he entered the final day of the tournament one win behind the leader and his next opponent, Komusubi Daieishō. Kiribayama was also competing on one day's rest after his Day 14 opponent, Wakatakakage, defaulted due to injury. In their scheduled contest, Kiribayama was able to repel Daieishō's charge and score the win by tsukitaoshi ('thrust down'). With their records equalized at , the two had to face off again to determine the makuuchi champion. In the playoff, Kiribayama used the same thrust down technique to defeat Daieishō. Kiribayama's first top-division championship was confirmed after the ringside judges agreed in a mono-ii that Daieishō touched the ground before Kiribayama stepped out of the dohyō. After receiving the Emperor's Cup, Kiribayama said that he didn't understand anything that was going on when he entered sumo in 2015, but "somehow, eight years later, I've made it this far." He was awarded his second Technique prize for his efforts. The following day Kiribayama, who became the ninth top-division champion from Mongolia, said that winning the yūshō was the best feeling, but that he would start focusing on the next tournament. Having won 23 contests in his last two tournaments, Kiribayama would likely be considered for promotion to sumo's second-highest rank of ōzeki by winning at least 10 matches in the May 2023 tournament.
Ōzeki promotion and name change In the May 2023 tournament, Kiribayama secured the required tenth win with a victory over then-current ōzeki Takakeishō. He stayed in the makuuchi championship race until suffering his third loss against yokozuna Terunofuji on Day 14, finishing the tournament with 11 wins and his third straight Technique prize.
On 31 May 2023, Kiribayama's promotion to ōzeki was unanimously approved by the Sumo Association, and he made his formal acceptance speech when informed of the news at Michinoku stable. His parents from Mongolia flew in to Japan for the ceremony. With the promotion, Kiribayama became the sixth Mongolian ōzeki.
Following the promotion ceremony, it was announced that Kiribayama had changed his shikona (ring name) to Kirishima, inheriting the shikona used by his stablemaster Michinoku (former ōzeki Kirishima Kazuhiro). The stablemaster revealed that on Day 14 of the May 2023 tournament, with promotion appearing to be certain, he asked Kiribayama to adopt his old ring name. The former Kirishima told reporters that he wanted the new Kirishima to climb higher with his new name, and surpass him to reach the rank of yokozuna. Kirishima Tetsuo said that he would work harder than ever to live up to the rank of ōzeki.