The long summer sumo drought ends in just over 48 hours, as this Sunday (US time) the Aki banzuke will be published by the Sumo Kyokai. Our resident prognosticator, IKSumo, has prepared an excellent forecast of the banzuke for readers who want to see what the ranking sheet will likely describe.

Also this weekend (in Tokyo), the KITTE exhibition is taking place at the JP tower in Marunouchi. This is a short form tournament that takes place in what is more or less a shopping mall, but it is typically heavily attended by the public and will be a solid gauge of fan enthusiasm. It will also be an indicator of the relative health of Kisenosato and Kakuryu. If they appear and compete, it’s likely they will compete at Aki, if they do not compete, their status for Aki is in doubt.

As always the Tachiai team are eagerly standing by for the banzuke’s release, and we will bring you analysis and commentary late on Sunday (US time), hopefully to include our next banzuke podcast.