Now Confirmed…
News out this morning (Japan time) that Yoshikaze has decided to retire. Due to an injury to his right knee, which has not recovered to the point where he can compete, he will miss his second consecutive tournament. The outcome would have been a demotion outside of the salaried ranks into the hell-storm that is Makushita.
Fear not for Yoshikaze, he owns Sumo Association elder stock, and will re-appear as Nakamura oyakata shortly, and he is going to be a most excellent sumo elder. Sadly, we thought this was quite possible for September.
I wish you the best of luck, sir. Thank you for all of the fantastic sumo over the years. It has been a distinct pleasure to watch the one man I knew could put anyone on the clay on a given day do his stuff.
He closes out his competitive career after: 79 basho, 1 Jun-Yusho, 4 Gino-Sho, 2 Shukun-Sho, 4 Kanto-Sho, 8 Kinboshi. Wow.