Photo/Illutration Yokozuna Terunofuji performs a ring entrance ceremony at the Kumano Hongu Taisha shrine in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, on Feb. 24. (Hideki Ito)

TANABE, Wakayama Prefecture--Yokozuna Terunofuji performed a ring entrance ceremony at the Kumano Hongu Taisha shrine here, praying for the recovery of the Noto Peninsula from a powerful earthquake on New Year’s Day.

“Many things occurred, but I put my determination not to let them happen again (into my performance),” the 32-year-old Mongolian grand champion said Feb. 24 after dedicating the leg stomping ritual to the shrine before an audience of around 600 people.

The Kumano region has been known as “the land of resurrection” from ancient times.

Shrine officials asked Terunofuji, who made a miraculous comeback on the dohyo, to dedicate the performance as a sumo wrestler that “embodies” the region’s spirit.

Terunofuji rose to the second-highest rank of ozeki in 2015 but tumbled to as low as the second-lowest division of jonidan due to injuries.

He again climbed through the ranks to return to ozeki in 2021 and was promoted to yokozuna the same year.

The stamping of a sumo wrestler is said to have originated in a shrine ritual to remove negative energy and subdue the earth.

Terunofuji captured his ninth career title at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in January after staying away from the dohyo for roughly half a year due to injuries.

He said he wants to produce good results in the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament, which opens on March 10.

Kumano Hongu Taisha forms part of the famed Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes, which were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004.

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