We are out of Ishikawa prefecture, and off to Toyama prefecture. And when you say “Toyama”, you say “Asanoyama”, as he is the prefecture’s representative in the salaried ranks of Grand Sumo. You can see the mini-nobori above. Most of them say “Asanoyama-zeki” (except one, red with embarrassment at its own obsolescence, carrying the name “Yoshikaze”).
I have to update you on another kyujo. It turns out Daiamami has also been kyujo since day 1. He was supposed to participate, and his name was on the torikumi list for day 1, but Tobizaru did his bout, and he has been absent from the list ever since.
Also, as of day 3, Gagamaru is also off the torikumi. I’m not sure whether he is still on the jungyo, I’ll keep you posted if I find out.
So let’s move on to the happier part of the report.
🌐 Location: Tonami, Toyama prefecture.
Although Asanoyama is actually from Toyama city, the people of Tonami accept him as their own, and he has a busy schedule. First, he needs to eradicate the Yakuza, armed with…
… printed matter in clear plastic bags! That’ll show them gangsters!
Let’s go inside the venue and see what is going on around the walls and around the dohyo. We have Tamawashi, Ishiura and Hokutofuji putting their heads together learning some new trick:
Only, I’m not sure this is sumo… It looks more like they are discussing a new Dance-Dance-Revolution move?
Tamawashi is having grumpy day. Too much fansa! At some point he tells the fans: “Come no closer! From this line on it’s the zoo grounds!”. That doesn’t seem to have much of an effect so he breaks down and weeps into the chest of his tsukebito:
Moving on, he encounters more fans! “Tamawashi!” one of them calls.
“No, I’m Arawashi!” he replies and slips away.
(That may have worked better if he was Chiyoshoma. And if Arawashi was still a sekitori).
More of Tamawashi’s shenanigans ahead. But for now, we take a look at Kakuryu, who is back to his funny exercise routine (sorry for the blurry video):
It looks like Kasugano the Jungyo Master also doesn’t quite understand what Kakuryu is doing there.
Wait, who goes there? Somebody is trying to go incognito. Kaisei makes a face like “Who is this guy?”
Sweet Ricardo, this particular guy forgot to hide his most prominent identifying feature. That is, his belly. Of course it’s Chiyomaru!
Maybe he just didn’t have a towel big enough.
Down the hana-michi, Goeido works out, when suddenly he has an itch near one of his shoulder blades. Now, a mere mortal would try reaching it, or fish around for some rolled newspaper or folded fan – this being Japan – to scratch with. But Goeido is not a mere mortal.
He is an Ozeki. You see, that’s what tsukebito are for, and he has at least four or five of those, so he is pretty well covered.
Back near the wall, Shodai is asked to sign a… an inflatable Daikon?
Daikon is a Japanese radish. And it is a well-known symbol of the Tokyo University of Agriculture. If you haven’t seen their Daikon Dance, go take a look. Asanoyama, who has finished his war on organized crime, looks on, and despite this being a back angle, you can see his wide smile. He must be thinking “How lucky I chose Kinki University”.
Near the dohyo, we have Endo practicing that fine shiko of his.
With Onosho in the foreground doing squats, and Chiyotairyu and Myogiryu in the background enjoying life.
Also, Tochinoshin stretching those pains… I mean those legs:
So let’s see some on-dohyo action.
In the Juryo practice, we have Hidenoumi vs. Kyokutaisei, Daishomaru vs. Irodori, and Daishomaru vs. Ichiyamamoto:
Makuuchi practice includes Nishikigi vs. Shohozan, Abi vs. Nishikigi, and Abi vs. Onosho.
And of course, our local boy Asanoyama has bouts with Ryuden and Tsurugisho:
Practice over, and it’s on to the entertainment part. Lately the shokkiri teams (there is more than one) have started to involve the gyoji more deeply in the routine.
Nice to see a gyoji with some comic abilities.
We sail through Asanoyama’s demonstration of the tying of an oicho-mage, and straight on to the Makuuchi dohyo-iri, where we run into Tamawashi’s goofs again:
Asanoyama is not off the hook yet. Now he receives a bale of rice from the event sponsors, a local agricultural conglomerate:
That’s what a tawara looked like originally, by the way. They became thin over time. I am guessing the original ones made stepping outside the dohyo rather impossible.
In the meantime, the other wrestlers are getting bored.
Yeah, the usual suspects, Nishikigi and Terutsuyoshi. Shohozan goes “ouch-ouch-ouch…” Sure, that hurt terribly.
Of the bouts of the day, I have this still image showing us that Enho is… not winning today:
But from where his knee is located, I’d advise Okinoumi to finish it off quickly.
I do have the video for Asanoyama’s bout with Endo. If that seems like déjà vu, it’s because you have seen Asanoyama vs. Endo yesterday. Only, this time Asanoyama is the local boy.
Surprise, surprise! The local boy wins!
Here is a summary video for this event:
Asanoyama says he wants to keep getting good results in Kyushu as well.
So here is your pin-up for the day: Yago! Over and out.
Hidenoumi was getting swarmed after that moshi-ai. Wow. Aggressive. Like the mosquitoes in the back yard.
I can only assume these anti-Yakuza activities are 100% about projecting an image to the general public, rather than providing any serious deterrent.
BESTEST PINUP EVER!!!!! THANKS HEROUTH – U MADE MY DAY!