(born , June7, 2000) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler and the 75th . After a successful amateur career at university level, where he was called "the most eagerly awaited prospect to come out of collegiate sumo in decades", he joined the Nishonoseki stable under the tutelage of the former Kisenosato and began his professional career at the rank of 10 via the system. He reached the top division in January 2024 after competing in just four tournaments, and in May of the same year won his first top-division championship in a record seven tournaments.
Ōnosato became professional sumo's 75th in May 2025 after winning back-to-back championships at the rank of .
Early life and sumo background
Daiki Nakamura was born in Tsubata, Ishikawa. He began wrestling in a sumo club at his elementary school in first grade. As a child he was fascinated by professional sumo and has stated that one of his favourite publications was the magazine published by Baseball Magazine. Nakamura attended Itoigawa City Nō Junior High School and . During his years at Itoigawa, he won the 2016 Junior High School competition at the Hakuhō Cup. At Niigata's Kaiyo High School, he took part in several training camps organised by Arashio stable, training with future -ranked Wakamotoharu.
In 2019, he entered Nippon Sport Science University, a university famous for its strong sumo club. During his first year, he first won the individual competition in the adult division of the National Athletic Meet, hence becoming the second best individual champion in the history of the competition and allowing him to become professional at the rank of 15. He then took part in the National Student Sumo Tournament in Sakai as a freshman and won the individual tournament. This victory, over Kindai University's Koshiro Tanioka, marked the first time in 29 years that a freshman won the tournament, since Luis Gō Ikemori (who later became a professional wrestler under the of Ryūkō) won in 1990. In December 2021, he participated to the 70th All Japan Sumo Championships at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan and became amateur- after defeating Kindai University's Kanzaki Taiga in the final, again qualifying for the system. During that same tournament, he defeated Tottori Jōhoku High School's Tetsuya Ochiai during the team competition. During his university years, he also notably faced Mikiya Ishioka, facing him a total of four times and winning two of these matches, thus creating a rivalry between the two wrestlers.
In January 2022, Nakamura took part in the World Games sumo competition held that year in Birmingham, Alabama. Competing in the Openweight and Over 115 kg categories, he won the former and finished runner-up in the latter, failing against Hidetora Hanada. In October of the same year, he participated in the National Athletic Meet in Ōtawara and won the amateur- title for the second consecutive time in this tournament. With his victory at the 70th All Japan Sumo Championships, Nakamura became the fourth person since the introduction of this system in 2000 to be eligible to join professional sumo at the rank of 10. This victory was also the fifth time that Nakamura had won the championship title in a tournament counting towards status. Overall, during his time as an amateur wrestler at university level, Nakamura won no less than 13 titles, placing him ex aequo for the greatest number of amateur titles won by a wrestler. His dominance of amateur sumo in Japan was such that sumo columnist John Gunning declared that he saw in Nakamura's sumo a continuous display of "calm smooth style reminiscent of Hakuhō in his younger days".
In March 2023, Nakamura made the decision to become a professional wrestler () by joining Nishonoseki stable under the guidance of former Kisenosato. At the time of his recruitment, he expressed his intention to achieve status as quickly as possible. Moreover, his entry into the professional world a few months after the record-breaking promotion of Hakuōhō (then known as Ochiai) did not fail to raise the interest of commentators as to the hypothesis of a rivalry between these two dominant wrestlers of the amateur world. On the subject of choosing to join this particular stable, Nakamura expressed his interest in being trained by a former and that the stable, located in Ami, Ibaraki, offered him a healthy working environment "to eliminate any temptations and be able to concentrate on sumo". Since he turned professional in May 2023, Ōnosato was the last wrestler to be promoted to 10 due to his amateur prowess, the system for promotion to the top of the division having been abolished in September 2023.
Early career Professional debut
In April 2023, it was announced that Nakamura would fight under the . This ring name is composed with the kanji for 'great' (), to accentuate his talent, while the '-nosato' part of his name (composed with the kana and kanji "") establish Nakamura's lineage from Takanosato () and Kisenosato (). This name, chosen to represent his master's expectations, was chosen in particular because this had been proposed to Kisenosato when he was still an active wrestler when his promotion to the rank of had been certain. The had previously been borne by the early 20th-century , Ōnosato Mansuke. Nakamura's father declared, "I am deeply moved by the honor of my son being named after a former with such a long history". Before bestowing Nakamura his , Kisenosato, with his former stablemate Wakanosato as intermediary, obtained permission for its use from Ōnosato Mansuke's family, who still reside in Aomori Prefecture.
On the announcement of Ōnosato's debut as a professional wrestler, his former coach at Niigata Kaiyo High, Tetsuya Tōmi, declared his satisfaction, compared him to "a Shohei Ohtani of sumo", and said that Nakamura had the potential to become the . On the occasion of his passage to the new apprentice examination, Ōnosato, obliged to comply with professional wrestlers dress rules, received an belt that his master had used.
Having received the Japan Sumo Association approval to compete, Ōnosato began his career at the rank of 10. His first professional match was against Takasago stable wrestler Ishizaki, a senior of Ōnosato during their time at NSS University. Ishizaki however defeated Ōnosato by in what Ishizaki later describes as a "fluke match". Nonetheless, Ōnosato finished the tournament with a score of , missing out, however, on promotion directly to the division, which some observers had been expecting.
During the July tournament, Ōnosato competed again in the division, this time ranked as 3. He won his first two matches, but suffered his first defeat in his third match against Tokihayate. On the seventh day of the tournament, Ōnosato faced amateur scene rival and upper-division wrestler, Kihō. During their amateur bouts, Kihō never defeated Ōnosato, who had won the college title from him at the 2022 championships. Kihō dealt Ōnosato his second consecutive defeat, with a . At the time, this defeat was thought to delay even further Ōnosato's promotion to . Ōnosato ultimately achieved a of 4 wins in his last match by defeating Hidenoumi. Ōnosato said that his losses were unexpected and that it left him so disgusted with himself that he could not eat. Of his last match, he said that he came into it with "a bit of confidence", but that it was tough bout.
promotion When the rankings for the September tournament were announced, however, it was confirmed that Ōnosato's score was sufficient to promote him to , professional sumo's second-highest division. This promotion, acquired at the same time as stablemate and NSSU senior classmate Takahashi, allowed Nishonoseki stable to simultaneously receive two new , and the first two raised by Kisenosato alone since he had become master in 2019. Furthermore, this double promotion marks the first time since July 2012 that two stablemates have gained status at the same time. After his promotion, Ōnosato went to his hometown of Tsubata, Ishikawa to officially announce his promotion to his local fans. After a conference attended by around 600 people, he was presented with a stock of of rice. During the August , he took part in public training series and competed against his peers. He was also honored to be trained later by former Takakeishō and Takayasu, the latter having been stablemate of Ōnosato's master, and was praised for his attitude toward training.
During his first tournament, Ōnosato first recorded seven consecutive wins in seven matches with a victory over Kihō, placing him at the top of this competition. On Day 8, Ōnosato maintained his lead with an eighth consecutive victory, making him the seventh wrestler in the history of the sport to win eight in a row from day one of the competition and the first to achieve this since Takakeishō (then known as Satō) at the May 2016 tournament. Since he also followed this up with a ninth victory in a row, Ōnosato became the wrestler to win the most victories since the first day of a competition ex aequo with at the January 1953 tournament and Shōtenrō at the November 2008 tournament. Ōnosato's winning streak ended at 9 consecutive victories, however, after he was defeated by Ichiyamamoto on the tenth day of the competition. Ōnosato managed to keep himself in the title race with Ichiyamamoto, with the championship set to be decided on the final day. Ōnosato nevertheless lost his final match to Rōga and finished just one defeat behind Ichiyamamoto, who won that month's tournament.
During the November 2023 tournament, he won his first match against a wrestler who had been ranked in the ranks by defeating former Aoiyama on the eighth day of the competition. Ōnosato was then able to maintain his lead throughout the tournament, recording eleven wins on day fourteen, tied with Kotoshōhō, with the championship to be decided on the final day. Although Ōnosato won his final match against Mitoryū, Kotoshōhō also kept himself in the title race by also claiming a twelfth victory. The championship was thus decided in a playoff, which Kotoshōhō won by beating Ōnosato by , causing Ōnosato to miss out on the championship for the second consecutive tournament.
Up-and-comer
After competing in just four tournaments, Ōnosato's promotion to the top division was announced for the January 2024 tournament. The promotion made him the first recruited by the former Kisenosato to be elevated to the top division. He is also the third-fastest to reach the top division since 1989 (after Endō and Hakuōhō), doing so in four tournaments under the old system. Ōnosato told reporters after his promotion that he was happy to see his name in big letters at the top of the , while his stablemaster asked him to win 10 matches and the Fighting Spirit special prize in January as a reward for his arrival in the top division.