NAGOYA (Kyodo) -- Ascendant star Onosato will be under an intense spotlight as he makes his yokozuna debut at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament starting Sunday, joining Mongolian-born Hoshoryu at the highest rank.

The 25-year-old powerhouse will step onto the dohyo at the newly opened IG Arena as the sport's first Japanese-born grand champion since his stablemaster, the former Kisenosato, hung up his "mawashi" belt in January 2019.

Onosato also aims to emulate Kisenosato by becoming one of the small handful of yokozuna to lift an Emperor's Cup in their first tournament at the highest rank.

Having earned promotion to ozeki and subsequently yokozuna at a record pace, Onosato has raised expectations for further groundbreaking performances.

He can expect enthusiastic support at his "home" tournament by fans from his native Ishikawa Prefecture, part of the Chubu region in central Japan that includes Nagoya.

After two tournaments as the sole grand champion, Hoshoryu will be out to spoil the party for the yokozuna debutant and win his first title since being promoted to the top rank after the January basho.

The nephew of Mongolian former yokozuna Asashoryu has performed strongly head-to-head against Onosato and denied him a perfect 15-0 championship on the final day of the May competition.

The technically gifted and fiercely competitive Hoshoryu will also be determined to close the gap in the number of Emperor's Cups with Onosato, who leads that race 4-2 despite being a year younger and entering the top division more recently.

Kotozakura starts the tournament as the sole holder of the second-highest rank of ozeki in the wake of Onosato's promotion. The Chiba Prefecture native is out to end a string of underwhelming performances since winning his sole top-division championship in November.

The trio of sekiwake -- Daieisho, Kirishima and Wakatakakage -- can bolster their cases for ozeki promotion by posting big win totals at the 15-day tournament.

Mongolian wrestler Oshoma makes his debut in the three "sanyaku" ranks below yokozuna as a komusubi, alongside veteran Takayasu, who avoided demotion from the rank despite going 6-9 in May.

Exciting young Ukrainian grappler Aonishiki will compete as a No. 1 maegashira and can seal his first promotion to sanyaku with a winning record. The 21-year-old, who began pursuing a sumo career after fleeing his war-torn country, has risen meteorically since his November 2023 debut in the sixth-tier jonokuchi division.