Asasekiryū Tarō
朝赤龍 太郎
Tarō in 2008
Personal information
Born	Badarchiin Dashnyam (1981-08-07)August 7, 1981 (age 43) Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Height	1.84 m (6 ft1⁄2 in)
Weight	148 kg (326 lb; 23.3 st)
Career
Stable	Wakamatsu →Takasago
Record	687-679-36
Debut	January, 2000
Highest rank	Sekiwake (September, 2007)
Retired	May, 2017
Elder name	Takasago
Championships	1 (Jūryō) 1 (Jonidan)
Special Prizes	Outstanding Performance (1) Fighting Spirit (1) Technique (2)
* Up to date as of May 12, 2017.

Asasekiryū Tarō (born August 7, 1981, asBadarchiin Dashnyam (Mongolian:Бадарчийн Дашням)) is a formersumo wrestler. He made his debut in January 2000, reaching the topmakuuchi division in March 2003. He won fourspecial prizes, and spent a total of five tournaments in the titledsan'yaku ranks. The highest rank wassekiwake. He was a runner-up in two tournaments in 2004 and 2007. After 2013 he was mainly ranked in the lowerjūryō andmakushita divisions. He acquiredJapanese citizenship in April 2017 and retired from active competition the following month. He became a coach atTakasago stable under theelder name Nishikijima Oyakata. In November 2020 he became head coach of Takasago stable.

Dashnyam was the second son of a successfulMongolian wrestler who achieved a level roughly equivalent to sumo'skomusubi. From the ages of six to twelve he attended theNaadam festival, where he was also schooled in horse training. He did not continue his training, however, and in 1997 chose to accompany his friend, futureyokozunaAsashōryū who was moving to Japan to attend high school. It was understood it was largely to keep his friend from becoming homesick. They were accepted by Meitoku Gijuku high school, known for its strong sumo program. They were seniors to later starsKotoshōgiku andTochiōzan.

After high school he followed his friendAsashōryū to Wakamatsu stable (nowTakasago stable) and fought his first professional sumo bout in January 2000. In later years Asasekiryū would often serve as atachimochi or sword bearer during Asashōryū'syokozunadohyō-iri or ring entering ceremony. Hisshikona or fighting name literally meansmorning red dragon, very similar to Asashoryu'smorning blue dragon (in both cases, theAsa character is taken from his stablemaster's fighting name ofAsashio, who was a classmate atKinki University of Asashōryū and Asasekiryū's high school sumo coach).

Asasekiryū won the tournament championship oryūshō in thejonidan division in May 2000 with a perfect 7-0 record. He earned promotion to thejūryō (second division) in July 2002, and to the topmakuuchi division in March 2003, following his 11-4 score which won thejūryō championship.

He made little impact in the top division until March 2004, when he won his first twelve bouts, including a defeat ofōzekiKaiō. He finished as tournament runner-up with a 13-2 record and earned twospecial prizes for Technique and Outstanding Performance. In May 2006 he scored ten wins atmaegashira 2 and won the Fighting Spirit prize. He was promoted tokomusubi for the July 2006 tournament, but was forced to withdraw partway through this tournament due to injury and had some mixed results after that.

In May 2007, fighting from the midmaegashira ranks, he produced an outstanding 12-3 record. This gave him runner-up honours once again, and his second Technique prize. In July 2007 Asasekiryū had his first chance to fight ayokozuna and earn agold star when he met newyokozunaHakuhō, as sumo rules prevented him from being matched against his stablemate Asashōryū. He lost, but the eight wins he managed in this tournament atmaegashira 1 were enough to earn him promotion tosekiwake for September, which was to be his highest career rank. He had a winning record in that tournament, but after a disappointing 3-12 score in November 2007, he was demoted back to themaegashira ranks for the January 2008 tournament.

Asasekiryū produced two good performances in the first two tournaments of 2008. In January he scored ten wins and in March he defeated twoōzeki, and tournament runner-upBaruto to finish 8-7. This performance returned him to the titledsan'yaku ranks for the May 2008 tournament, atkomusubi. However he was unable to maintain his ranking, only scoring six wins against nine losses. He was again ranked atkomusubi in September 2008, but turned in a poor 4-11 record. He became his stable's toprikishi in February 2010, following the retirement of Asashōryū. Asasekiryū expressed his shock and sadness at the sudden retirement of a friend he had known since the age of 11. He continued to move up and down the division, reachingmaegashira 1 in July 2010 but falling back tomaegashira 9 by May 2011. In the May 2012 tournament, ranked atmaegashira 14, he stood at only 3–7 after ten days, and although he rallied somewhat to finish on 6–9, this was not enough to prevent demotion back tojūryō for the first time. He returned tomakuuchi in September after just one tournament away, but then was injured on just the second day of the November 2012 tournament and had to withdraw, resulting in another demotion tojūryō. He became somewhat of a second division regular, doing enough to maintainsekitori status while never achieving enough success for repromotion. A 10-5 record in July 2015 however, saw his promotion tomakuuchi after a near three-year hiatus. He maintained his position in the top division despite a 7-8 record in September 2015 but was relegated after recording only 3 wins in November. His run of 86 consecutive tournaments ranked as asekitori ended in November 2016 when he could score only 4-11 atjūryō 9. This result left the Takasago stable without any wrestlers in the top two divisions for the first time since it was founded in 1878, a situation for which Asasekiryū expressed his regret.

He acquiredJapanese citizenship in April 2017. This allowed him to stay in the sumo world after retirement as anelder of theJapan Sumo Association.^[1] He announced he was retiring on May 12, 2017. He became Nishikijima Oyakata, an elder name which had been thought to be owned by the active wrestlerToyonoshima, but Asasekiryū is listed in an owner's position rather than a borrower's at the Sumo Association. In his retirement press conference he said his most memorablehonbasho was his 13–2 runner-up performance in March 2004, the same tournament in which his stablemate Asashōryū won with a perfect 15–0 record. Hisdanpatsu-shiki (retirement ceremony) was held at theRyōgoku Kokugikan on February 4, 2018, with around 250 guests taking part in the hair-cutting ritual.^[2] His four-year-old son was scheduled to appear with him but began crying and was excused.

In November 2020 he took over as head coach of Takasago stable and the Takasagoichimon. He is the first foreign born coach to head anichimon.^[3]

Asasekiryū was handed a 20% salary cut for three months in June 2021 after then-ōzekiAsanoyama was issued a one-year suspension from sumo for violatingCOVID-19 protocols.^[4]

Asasekiryū has known his wife, a Mongolian national, since 2006 when he visited Mongolia after reaching asan'yaku rank. They began a relationship in 2012 and had a child together in 2013, but they delayed their wedding reception as Asasekiryū wanted to wait until he was promoted back to the topmakuuchi division, which did not happen until September 2015. Although he soon fell tojūryō again, the reception went ahead on February 14, 2016. They have a son and a daughter.^[5]

Asasekiryū graduated from theNational University of Mongolia in June 2010 after studying by correspondence for six years. His thesis was in the history and culture of sumo in Japan.

Asasekiryū was ayotsu-sumo (grappling) wrestler, preferring amigi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) grip on his opponent'smawashi or belt. His most common winningtechnique was a straightforwardyorikiri or force out. He was also fond of throws, most often employinguwatenage (outer arm throw) anduwatedashinage (pulling outer arm throw).^[6]

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
• List of sumo tournament second division champions
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of sumo elders
• List of non-Japanese sumo wrestlers
• List of sekiwake

• Asasekiryū Tarō's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage
• complete biography and basho results (Japanese)

• 1981 births
• Living people
• Sumo people from Ulaanbaatar
• Mongolian emigrants to Japan
• Naturalized citizens of Japan
• Mongolian sumo wrestlers
• Sekiwake

• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Mongolian-language text