Year: 2019

Wrapping Up the Hatsu Storylines

lksumo Hatsu Basho 2019
Image courtesy of Nippon Sports

The Yusho Race

Congratulations to Sekiwake Tamawashi on his first career yusho! With a 13-2 championship following a 9-6 record at M2 in Kyushu, will the long-time sumo veteran be considered for an Ozeki promotion in March, and if so, what is his target number of wins? After today’s non-promotion decision (see below), who knows!

Kadoban Watch

After slow starts, Takayasu and Goeido rebounded with creditable 9-6 final records, and will once again be ranked O1e and O1w in Osaka. Injured Tochinoshin (0-5-10) will be kadoban at Haru, needing 8 wins to retain his Ozeki rank. The good news? He should finally be “promoted” from O2w to O2e after Kisenosato’s retirement removed the need to balance the banuke.

Takakeisho’s Ozeki Run

Today we learned that 33 wins in three basho while ranked in sanyaku isn’t always enough. There have been 38 prior instances of such performances in the six-basho era (since 1958), and 35 of them led to Ozeki promotion. Of the three exceptions, two overlapping ones involved Miyabiyama in 2006, and he is a special case, as he was trying to get re-promoted to Ozeki after being demoted from the rank 5 years earlier. The other instance was Baruto in 2009-2010, who was denied promotion after going K1e 12-3, S1e 9-6, S1e 12-3 with a jun-yusho. He responded by ensuring that he wouldn’t be overlooked again with a 14-1 jun-yusho in the March tournament. Can Takakeisho similarly force the issue in Osaka? By the way, Kisenosato’s retirement now means that there will be one fewer named rank on the next banzuke. Because the total number of Makuuchi rikishi is fixed at 42, there has to be one more maegashira slot, so 17e will reappear.

The Sanyaku

The two Sekiwake will retain their ranks at Haru. The only question is whether they will switch sides. As is often the case, the banzuke committee decisions make for confusing precedents. They used to regularly reshuffle the Sekiwake ranks based on their records in the most recent basho, just as they still do with the Yokozuna and Ozeki. But then the practice appeared to stop. For instance, after the 2017 March tournament, 8-7 S1e Tamawashi stayed on the East side, despite S1w Takayasu finishing 12-3. However, after winning the 2018 Nagoya basho, S1w Mitakeumi (13-2) was moved ahead of S1e Ichinojo (8-7). What made the difference? The extra victory, the yusho, or something else? If it was the yusho, we could see Takakeisho move down to S1w instead of up to the anticipated O2w.

The ripple effects of Takakeisho’s non-promotion include Mitakeumi moving over to East Komusubi, rather than up to West Sekiwake, and only one Komusubi slot opening up. Conveniently, there is only one strong promotion candidate: M2 Hokutofuji (9-6), who was the only rikishi of the ten ranked between M1 and M5 to finish with more wins than losses, and who will finally make his sanyaku debut after missing out despite going 11-4 at M3 in Kyushu in 2017.

Without a second open sanyaku slot, Kaisei will have to content himself with being the top maegashira. After that, the upper maegashira ranks are a mess. The next 10 spots on the banzuke will have to be filled with a mix of rikishi from the upper ranks who won’t be demoted far despite posting losing records, and those from down the banzuke who’ll receive overly generous promotions. The former group includes K1e Myogiryu (5-10), M1e Tochiozan (6-9), M1w Ichinojo (6-9), M2e Nishikigi (7-8), M3e Shodai (7-8), and M4w Okinoumi (7-8). The latter consists of M7w Daieisho (9-6), M9w Endo (10-5), M6e Chiyotairyu (8-7), and M6w Onosho (8-7). I’ll do my best to sort out their order in my upcoming regular banzuke prediction post.

The 7-7 Club

Half of this group succeeded in picking up their kachi-koshi, while the others lost to drop to make-koshi. Winning on the final day were M12 Meisei and M8 Asanoyama, while M15 Kotoeko and M5 Aoiyama ended the tournament on a down note.

Makuuchi Turnover

The five clear open slots—vacated by Daishomaru, Daiamami, and Kotoyuki’s demotions and Kisenosato and Takanoiwa’s retirements—are spoken for by Tomokaze and Daishoho, who clinched promotion with final-day victories, and Terutsuyoshi, Ishiura, and Toyonoshima, who dropped their final matches, but had already done just enough (in fact, Terutsuyoshi lost on four straight days after securing his kachi-koshi, while Ishiura closed the tournament with three straight losses). It will be exciting to see at least three Makuuchi debuts—the most since there were four in May of 2013.

Kagayaki defeated Yutakayama to become the last man in the top division to reach safety. That leaves the 6-9 M14 duo of Yutakayama and Chiyoshoma on the bubble. In the Juryo bout matching two promotion contenders, yusho winner Shimanoumi prevailed over Chiyomaru, likely eliminating the latter from consideration. Will Shimanoumi’s 13-2 record from all the way down at J11 be good enough to ensure a Makuuchi debut and force down Chiyoshoma? I’d say yes, but it’ll be a close call—after the last two basho, rikishi with 6-9 records at M14w just hung on to the final rung of the top-division ladder. They could also drop Yutakayama in favor of Chiyomaru, but this seems less likely.

Ura update

Herouth Hatsu Basho 2019, injury
Ura leaving the dohoyo leaning on a sewanin after re-injuring his knee

Although the world of sumo usually keeps silent about injuries and the decisions behind them, leaving us fans to speculate, in Ura’s case, the fans are lucky, as there is an oyakata who keeps us relatively informed on the tragic ex-actrobat wrestler.

Inagawa oyakata is a member of Ura’s heya, and he tweets updates about him from time to time. The first tweet appeared on January 23rd:

Good morning. This will become known anyway, so I decided to just come out and tell.

The result of Ura’s medical examination this time is the same as his previous injury – a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Once he settles down, I will talk to him and try to inform you if there is anything to report


This was rather ominous. But today, during the various heya’s senshuraku parties, Inagawa oyakata came up with a new tweet:

Thank goodness… As it is something only the man himself can decide through his worries, all I can do is support him. But when we met, he immediately said “I’m having surgery, and work on my comeback once again”. I’m very happy. Everybody, we’ll be grateful for your continued support!

And I’m very grateful to Inagawa oyakata for these tweets. So the bottom line is: No intai at the moment, but also do not expect to see Ura in the upper divisions any time soon. Better luck this time!

Hatsu Day 15 Highlights

Bruce H Aoiyama, Daiamami (大奄美), Gōeidō (豪栄道), Hokutōfuji (北勝富士), Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Kagayaki (輝), Meisei, Shōdai (正代直也), Takakeishō (貴景勝), Yoshikaze (嘉風), Yutakayama, Ōnoshō (阿武咲)

That’s it folks! The rest of the team have done an excellent job of reporting the results, but there were a couple of interesting matches that took place on the final day. I will state that in many ways, that this basho was “odd”. In that we saw rikishi with multi-day hot and cold streaks, and many capable men significantly underperform their multi-tournament trends. I suspect that the influenza virus that is ravaging Japan has some part in this oddity, and that Osaka might be a better bellwether of the state of sumo. But the chaos virus (or whatever it was) certainly made for an interesting run.

As a reminder to all of you sumo fans, there is no jungyo between Hatsu and the the March tournament in Osaka, so news from the world of sumo may be a bit thin, yet again. I know things were very quiet over Christmas too, so I encourage everyone to pace themselves. Perhaps weekend binges of Kintamayama and Jason’s excellent coverage from this basho, and highlights of great tournaments of the past.

Lastly thanks to all of you readers for giving us quite the month (more on that in a few days), Tachiai’s oyakata, Andy, and everyone at Team Tachiai for making this Hatsu one to remember.

Highlight Matches

Kagayaki defeats Yutakayama – After a horrific start, Kagayaki found his sumo around day 10, and has been fighting with purpose ever sense. Today he gave Yutakayama a trip to the clay with a rather potent okurinage. Yutakayama’s meteoric rise was arrested following a disasters Aki, which saw him go kyujo for 3 days, and return to a series of daily defeats.

Meisei defeats Onosho – Very happy that Onosho was able to get his 8th win this tournament. Going in, it was stated that he was still recovering from knee surgery, and that being at Maegashira 6 was a good rank for him. With the extended break leading to Osaka, we hope he has time to further heal and strengthen his lower body. I predict with him in the joi-jin for March, he’s going to start taking a bite out of the upper ranks. Thought I really like Takakeisho’s sumo, Onosho is the stronger, more capable rikishi, and I am rooting for him to regain his health and show us what he is capable of.

Yoshikaze defeats Daiamami – As a die-hard Yoshikaze fan, this tournament has been another that is tough to watch. I don’t know what is plaguing one of the great competitors of sumo, but it seems most of Japan wishes him well, and hopes he can get better. Today’s match against Daiamami, Yoshikaze mustered enough genki to win against the damaged and depleted Daiamami. At least that’s something.

Hokutofuji defeats Aoiyama – Hokutofuji managed to finish with 9 wins, and with the joi-jin rikishi reduced to flaming hulks, I am going to assume Hokutofuji will take a sanyaku spot for March. He has huge potential, but I would love to see him make his sumo more efficient. Many of his body moves during a match are larger than they should be, and that excess movement opens avenues for him to be defeated. Aoiyama, as is sometimes the case, shows up and fights with strength every day, but some days is just 5% less than his opponents.

Shodai defeats Ichinojo – If Shodai ends up at any rank above Maegashira 4, I am going to lose my mind.

Nishikigi defeats Mitakeumi – Nishikigi continues to be sumo’s Cinderella story. His make-koshi was 7-8, so he may not be pushed too far down the banzuke. But a word to all the other rikishi: this guy went from sucking wind at the bottom of the banzuke to a credible upper Maegashira rikishi. He is a sort of sumo “everyman”, so I am sure his success motivates many to believe they can work to higher performance.

Goeido defeats Takakeisho – I have to remark again just how impressive Goeido’s rally from an 0-4 start has been. Many worried that he was headed for kadoban again, and it certainly looked that way. But in spite of his injuries and physical problems, he took in 9 wins by the end of it all. His win over Takakeisho was pure Goeido. He’s a speed monster who throws everything into an offensive opening gambit. He either blows you away or he’s in trouble. Takakeisho could not set up any kind of offense, and in desperation tried for some kind of pull down. Meanwhile the Goeido locomotive was screaming down the tracks with Takakeisho affixed to the front – next destination zabuton city.

Tamawashi Wins Hatsu Basho Yusho

Josh K Hatsu Basho 2019, Takakeishō (貴景勝), Tamawashi (玉鷲), Yūshō (優勝)

Tamawashi Yusho Parade
Photo c/o @sumokyokai

With a final record of 13-2, Sekiwake Tamawashi of Kataonami-beya has won his first yusho in the 2019 Hatsu honbasho at the Kokugikan.

On Senshuraku, needing a win to clinch the cup (and the macaron, and the myriad other prizes) regardless of other results, Tamawashi saw off the challenge of Maegashira 9 Endo, winning by tsukiotoshi to seal the championship. Tamawashi is the fourth first-time winner in the past seven tournaments (following Tochinoshin, Mitakeumi and Takakeisho), and the second-oldest first time winner.

Remarkably, Tamawashi’s wife also gave birth to their second son on the day of his first Yusho, so we congratulate Tamawashi on an incredible day in his career and for his family!

The Hatsu basho championship originally looked to be heading the way of Dai-Yokozuna Hakuho, and despite some hairy moments, at 10-0 it seemed, as Bruce and I speculated on the latest Tachiai podcast, that a procession towards the legend’s 42nd yusho felt all but inevitable. However, in the second week, Hakuho’s injury problems told, and after successive losses, including Hakuho’s first ever loss to Tamawashi, the title race swung in favor of his fellow Mongolian.

Elsewhere, Inside Sport Japan have reported on their Instagram that despite racking up 33 wins over the past 3 basho, Jun-yusho grabbing Sekiwake Takakeisho will not be promoted to Ozeki. Apparently the nature of his final bout loss to Goeido meant that the NSK had not seen enough for him to be ready for sumo’s highest rank at this time.

Day 15’s results also mean that the sansho, or special prizes list has been confirmed as follows (following lksumo’s earlier post):

Shukun-sho – Outstanding Performance Prize
Tamawashi (first win)
Mitakeumi (fourth win)

Kanto-sho – Fighting Spirit Prize
Tamawashi (first win)

Gino-sho – Technique prize
Takakeisho (first win)

Congratulations again to Sekiwake Tamawashi! We now look ahead to a Haru-basho featuring two Ozeki runs, one kadoban Ozeki, and significant banzuke turnover, as spaces will need to be filled following the three intai that have occurred since the last banzuke was written.