Another news round up, as we are now one week away from the start of the Nagoya basho. Everyone who is going to participate is practicing now, and we are in the midst of inter-stable / ichimon cross training sessions and practice matches. In many cases, this is where people can start sizing up who is genki and who is not.
Sumo Kyokai
There are zero new recruits joining the sumo kyokai in Nagoya. This is a somewhat unusual situation, but in and of itself it’s not a cause for any alarm or assumptions that the Japanese public have given up their love for sumo. Today marked the dedication dohyo-iri at the Atsuta shrine. The party attending included shin-Ozeki Tochinoshin, marking the first time he has been of rank to participate.
Tagonoura Heya
First and foremost is Kisenosato. He looks like he is not even close to being ready. He lacks power, he lacks poise, he struggles against mid-tier Makuuchi rikishi. As someone who loves sumo and deeply respects Kisenosato’s commitment to the sport, this is painful to watch. But we can more or less assume that he won’t be competing. Takayasu, however, seems to have put his upper body injuries behind him, and has been fighting with gusto. We can expect him to enter and to strongly compete for the yusho.
Isegahama Heya
Our beloved kaiju, Terunofuji, once again went into surgery in a desperate attempt to repair his knees. It’s obvious that he is going to drop as far as he drops in a last ditch attempt to regain some kind of fighting form, and barring that some kind of mobility to use for the remainder of his life. Don’t look for his at Nagoya or Aki, I would say. Meanwhile, Harumafuji’s retirement is set for the end of September at the Kokugikan. Some elements of Team Tachiai may be in attendance…
Miyagino Heya
Dai-Yokozuna Hakuho took 38 practice bouts against rikishi of all levels down to Jonidan. He won 22 of them. He also called on Asashoryu’s nephew, Hoshoryu for 3 bouts. Speaking afterwards, Hoshoryu said, “”Glad to face the Yokozuna”. Hakuho stated, “It’ll be nice to hand over the baton to him”.
I thought Harumafuji retired a year ago? Or is there a lot of paperwork and red tape that I wasn’t aware of? o.o
Harumafuji retired at the end of November 2017, after the big scandal broke out. However, he still hasn’t had his retirement ceremony, as high-profile retirements are a major event with many dignitaries being invited to participate, and include ticket sales. It usually takes several months to arrange, and it takes place after a Tokyo honbasho, because it requires a proper dohyo where bouts can take place.
A full retirement ceremony for a Yokozuna includes his last dohyo-iri, sumo jinku, shokkiri, exhibition bouts, speeches and of course, the haircut itself.
Will there be a way those of us outside of Japan can see it?
I don’t believe it will be broadcast live on any channel, even within Japan. Perhaps there will be good souls in the audience who will put up parts of it on Youtube.
Yes. Announced retirement (under pressure). This is the ceremony. I am glad he will he receiving the honor.
22 of 38 doesn’t sound so good for The Yokozuna.
No, it sure doesn’t, but perhaps we can take comfort in the immortal words of Allen Iverson: “We’re talking about practice. We’re talking about practice. We ain’t talking about the game. We’re talking about practice, man.”
I believe there has been a mistake here. The article I tweeted said that Hoshoryu was the guy who took 38 bouts from Jonidan to Makuuchi and won 22. For a guy in Sandanme that’s a good result. There was no mention of the Yokozuna’s practice bouts other than the three he had with Hoshoryu after those 38, which he easily won.
Probably my mistake – apologies.
Surely if Kisenosato withdraws then thats him out of chances and it’s time for him to book a haircut
He has been told the next time he shows up to have results expected of his rank. He has also been told to take as long as needed to heal. So if he does not show up, then I do not expect a retirement. Rather I expect he will retire if he shows up, because there is no way he is preforming up to his rank in his state.
The question in my mind, is how many Basho will they let him sit out. I feel that November is his last chance. He must enter and win like a Yokozuna by then, or he will be asked to retire by January.