According to reports from Yahoo! Hokutofuji is kyujo. We all saw the matta filled bout with Ryuden. He clearly was not well. We hope he has a full recovery.
マジか・・・。 西前頭９枚目の北勝富士、休場を届け出（読売新聞） – Yahoo!ニュース https://t.co/VdnVkWxKu1 @YahooNewsTopics #sumo
— 相撲大好き (@ryogokulove) May 23, 2018
Thanks Andy, you beat me to it!
Thank goodness the right thing is (belatedly) being done!
Thank heavens. This is as it should be. May he gain a swift and COMPLETE recovery.
huge sigh of relief
I was really worried that he was going to mount the dohyo tomorrow. Take some time off and recover well, Hokutofuji- we all want you healthy again!
thank heavens for that, when he staggered down the hanamichi and collapsed in the tunnel i felt sick. looked like severely concussed if nothing else, but then when reports came out that he went totally numb and couldn’t walk but then felt better there was a further ‘uh-oh’ from me! so glad kyujo taken so they can investigate and get this delightful young man the help needed for a full and complete recovery!
Reading the comments here, I can understand why NHK World didn’t air anything of that bout =-\
Yeah, that surprised me too. Fortunately team Tachiai has access to most of the right feeds.
I’m very glad I was wrong about Hokutofuji’s oyakata and crew! Gladly retracting my Hakuho-force face slap! Get well, Hokutofuji!
A surprisingly sane decision!
He´s one of my dearest rikishi: big heart, very fine manners, quite a talent, poetic shikona.
Seeing him collapsing yesterday in front of the “dignified stance” of the shinpan made me upset.
Get better big boy!
Thank God! I hope that he will recover with no long-term damage and also that this incident will prompt enough outrage that they develop a sensible and humane protocol for such injuries in the future,
Unfortunately long term damage is very possible. It was simply ignorant to let Hokutofuji continue after he was hit so hard in the head.
Sumo must join the 21st century. Rikishi are precious; they are the future of sumo. With prompt and modern surgery Kisenosato might have been able to return. The idea that Rikishi can fight through serious injury is not brave or honourable. It’s just stupid.
Hokutofuji needs professional neurological help and he needs to wait until doctors tell him it’s time to return. Sumo should not punish him if he needs months to properly recover.
I can’t find anyone reporting on this. No news outlet, including NHK wants to touch it. This is huge news of a rikishi with a serious spine injury thanks to head-to-head contact trauma.
The gyoji should never have ordered the restart. It was clear to anyone with an IQ over 50 that Hokutofuji suffered a severe concussion during the first tachiai and was in no condition to fight. Ryuden should have been declared the winner by walkover. The Sumo Association needs to do what the American football NFL did – ban leading with the head during the tachiai, and develop a concussion protocol to protect the rikishi – if a rikishi is found to have a concussion he should be banned from fighting or practicing for at least 5 days and not allowed to resume until he’s been cleared by a doctor.