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Yohji Lam

Ukrainian sumo star Aonishiki Arata is eyeing the grand title of yokozuna after winning his second-straight Japanese championship on January 25.
The wrestler fled Ukraine for Japan in 2022, narrowly avoiding the military draft. He has since risen rapidly through the ranks in sumo wrestling, adopting the name Aonishiki, which means “blue brocade” in honour of Ukraine.


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Japan

Ukrainian refugee and sumo star eyes top championship title in Japan

Ukrainian sumo star Aonishiki Arata. Photo: Handout

Japan set to revive WWII military titles in controversial shift

A Japanese soldier watches the suburbs of Shanghai ablaze in this undated colourised photograph. Photo: Getty Images

Members of Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force take part in an exercise in Okinawa prefecture last summer. Photo: AFP

A Japanese soldier watches the suburbs of Shanghai ablaze during World War II in this undated colourised photograph. Photo: Getty Images

Japanese soldiers enter a city in Northeast China during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-45). Photo: Universal History Archive/Getty Images

Why more Japanese than ever support strengthening the Self-Defence Forces

A launch ceremony for the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force’s newly built submarine Sogei at a Kawasaki Heavy Industries shipyard in Kobe, western Japan, on October 14, 2025. Photo: Kyodo

Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi attends a new year military drill by the Ground Self-Defence Force’s 1st Airborne Brigade at the Narashino training ground in Funabashi, east of Tokyo, on January 11. Photo: Reuters

Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi visits Ground Self-Defence Force units on the southwestern islands of Ishigaki and Yonaguni on November 23, 2025. Photo: Handout

Why Russian spies find Japan such an easy target: ‘people are so polite’

People visit an observation tower in a suburb of Tokyo on Monday. Japan is pushing to strengthen its laws against spying. Photo: AFP

Japanese 10,000 yen banknotes. The employee reportedly received about 700,000 yen in cash from a spy. Photo: EPA

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government has been pushing for new anti-espionage legislation. Photo: Kyodo

Japan’s industrial technologies have long made the country a prime target for foreign agents. Photo: Shutterstock

News

Asia

East Asia

Aonishiki Arata, who fled the Ukraine war in 2022, has won 2 Japanese grand tournament titles back-to-back


Aonishiki Arata, who fled the Ukraine war in 2022, has won 2 Japanese grand tournament titles back-to-back.


Ukraine

.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Video | Ukrainian refugee and sumo star eyes top championship title in Japan

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Aonishiki Arata, who fled the Ukraine war in 2022, has won 2 Japanese grand tournament titles back-to-back

Video | Ukrainian refugee and sumo star eyes top championship title in Japan

Aonishiki Arata, who fled the Ukraine war in 2022, has won 2 Japanese grand tournament titles back-to-back