Okinoumi Ayumi
Okinoumi in 2009
Personal information
Born	Ayumi Fukuoka (1985-07-29)29 July 1985 (age 39) Okinoshima, Shimane, Japan
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	158 kg (348 lb; 24.9 st)
Career
Stable	Hakkaku
Record	674-675-33
Debut	January, 2005
Highest rank	Sekiwake (Mar, 2015)
Retired	14 January 2023
Elder name	Kimigahama
Championships	1 (Makushita)
Special Prizes	Fighting Spirit (4) Outstanding Performance (1)
Gold Stars	4 Harumafuji (3) Kakuryū (1)
* Up to date as of 14 January 2023.

Okinoumi Ayumi (Japanese:隠岐の海 歩,Hepburn:Okinoumi Ayumi, born 29 July 1985 asAyumi Fukuoka (福岡 歩,Fukuoka Ayumi)) is a former Japanese professionalsumo wrestler fromOkinoshima, Shimane. He joined professional sumo in 2005, reaching the top division in 2010. He was runner-up inmakuuchi three times in the January 2011, March 2013, and November 2017 tournaments, all with an 11–4 record. His highest rank wassekiwake, which he held for one tournament in March 2015 and then held again in November 2016. He has won four Fighting Spiritprizes, one prize for Outstanding Performance, and fourgold stars for defeatingyokozuna. He wrestled forHakkaku stable. Upon his retirement, Okinoumi became a sumo coach under the name of Kimigahama.

At school he attended local sumo clubs and took part in national competitions, but had no desire to take up sumo as a profession, instead wanting to go to sea and taking examinations to become alicensed mariner. However, he ended up dropping out of high school and was introduced by an acquaintance toHakkaku-oyakata, the 61styokozunaHokutoumi, who persuaded him to join hisHakkaku stable.

Okinoumi is known for his good looks.^[1] His stablemaster joked at a press conference after Okinoumi's promotion tojūryō that this made him envious.^[2]

He began his professional career in January 2005, fighting under his family name of Fukuoka. He was promoted to the second highestjūryō division after taking theyūshō or tournament championship in themakushita division in January 2009 with a perfect 7–0 record. He changed hisshikona to Okinoumi, a reference to his birthplace of Okinoshima (a tiny and remote island in Western Japan) which had been suggested by his father.^[2] He became the firstsekitori from theOki Islands since 1960. Troubled by a shoulder injury, he was demoted fromjūryō after two losing records, but after reverting to the name Fukuoka he won immediate promotion back tojūryō in July 2009. Fighting as Okinoumi once again, in January 2010 he won promotion to the topmakuuchi division, becoming the first wrestler from Shimane Prefecture to do so in 88 years. He came through with akachi-koshi or winning record in his debutmakuuchi tournament in March, winning his last three bouts to score 8–7. This saw him promoted tomaegashira 10 for May.

He was suspended from the July 2010 tournament, along with several other wrestlers, after admitting involvement in illegal gambling on baseball. As a result, he dropped back tojūryō for September. Ranked atjūryō 8, a 10–5 record was enough to return him to the top division for the November tournament, where he secured his majority of wins on the final day. His best performance to date came in the January 2011 tournament where he finished runner-up toyokozunaHakuhō and received his firstsanshō award, for Fighting Spirit. This saw him promoted to a new highest rank ofmaegashira 4 for the May 2011 "technical examination tournament." There he fought all the top-ranked men for the first time and defeated threeōzeki:Kaiō,Harumafuji andKotoōshū. He lost his last two bouts, tokomusubiKakuryū andToyonoshima, to fall to amake-koshi 7–8 but remained at the same rank for the next tournament. Securing his majority of wins on the final day of the July tournament, he reached a new highest rank ofmaegashira 1 in September. He achieved his firstgold star win againstHarumafuji in November 2012, and his second Fighting Spirit award and second runner-up performance atmaegashira 7 in March 2013. He managed two non-consecutivekomusubi appearances in 2013, but he slid down the rankings after four consecutive losing tournaments in 2014.

Following the January tournament in 2015 he was promoted tosekiwake from the relatively low rank ofmaegashira 6, benefiting from the failure of most of those ranked directly above him to get winning records. He was the firstsekiwake fromShimane Prefecture in 121 years.^[3] He was injured in hissekiwake debut and had to withdraw from the tournament. Nine wins in May and eleven in July 2015 saw him promoted to thesan'yaku ranks for the fourth time (three atkomusubi, and one atsekiwake). He was unable to hold the rank, scoring 6–9, and he also had a losing record in his fourth attempt atkomusubi in May 2016. He picked up akinboshi frommaegashira 2 in July 2016, and had a very successful start to the September tournament, defeatingōzekiKisenosato on opening day, Kakuryū on Day 2 and Harumafuji on Day 3. By the sixth day he had defeated twoyokozuna and threeozeki and was the undefeated tournament co-leader.^[4] However he began losing in the second week of the tournament and finished on 9–6. He was rewarded for this efforts with his first Outstanding Performance Prize,^[5] and promotion back tosekiwake.

The November 2016 tournament did not go well for Okinoumi who had a lingering injury that had caused him to miss the autumn tour. He ended the tournament with only a 5–10 record and fell back to themaegashira ranks. In the November 2017 tournament Okinoumi was a runner-up toHakuhō with an 11–4 record, and was awarded his third Fighting Spirit prize, shared withAminishiki.^[6] In September 2019 Okinoumi won his first eight matches to lead the tournament outright.^[7] He finished on 11–4 and received his fourth (and final) Fighting Spirit Award.^[8] In July 2020 Okinoumi returned to thekomusubi rank for the first time since 2016, and secured his first winning record insan'yaku with a 9–6 score.

Okinoumi withdrew from the January 2023 tournament after he was defeated in his first five matches.^[9] On the day of his withdrawal theSanin Chūō Shimpō newspaper reported that Okinoumi had decided to retire.^[10] His retirement was confirmed by the Japan Sumo Association the next day, on 14 January 2023.^[11][12] At the time of his retirement he was the second-oldest active wrestler in thetop two divisions behindTamawashi.^[13] At his retirement press conference, Okinoumi said that for several years he had to rely on mental strength to overcome his inability to perform his style of sumo and that it had recently become too exhausting.^[3]

Okinoumi finished his career with a total of 75 tournaments ranked in the top division, eight of them insan'yaku.^[3] He had acquiredtoshiyori kabu, or elder stock, in the Sumo Association prior to his retirement. He is now a coach under the name of Kimigahama-oyakata.^[3] He opened his ownTwitter account on the day of his retirement, as he was no longer subject to the Sumo Association'sSNS ban.

On 30 September 2023 Okinoumi'sdanpatsu-shiki (retirement ceremony) was held at theRyōgoku Kokugikan. About 300 people took turns in the ceremonial snipping of Okinoumi'sōichōmage before the final cut was made by his stablemaster and Sumo Association chairmanHakkaku.^[14] During the ceremony, Okinoumi's final match was held against hissandanme-ranked stablemate Okinofuji, who is also from Okinoumi's home town ofOkinoshima. The matches were held in a traditional sumo style unique to Okinoshima calledokikoten-zumō, which involved ringside spectators throwing generous amounts of salt toward the competitors as a method of encouragement.^[15]

Okinoumi was ayotsu-sumo fighter, preferring grappling techniques to pushing or thrusting. His most common winningkimarite wasyori-kiri or force out, and he favoured amigi-yotsu grip on themawashi, with his left hand outside and right hand inside his opponent's arms. He also regularly useduwatenage, or overarm throw.

• List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
• List of active gold star earners
• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of active sumo wrestlers
• List of sekiwake
• Active special prize winners

• Okinoumi Ayumi's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage

• 1985 births
• Living people
• Japanese sumo wrestlers
• Sumo people from Shimane Prefecture
• Sekiwake

• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from October 2018
• Articles containing Japanese-language text