The refreshments flowed freely at the banzuke committee meeting
The September banzuke has been posted, and the Crystal Ball utterly failed to foresee what the Shimpan department cooked up on this occasion. Well, maybe not utterly—my forecast did get the san’yaku ranks exactly right, including the extra Sekiwake 2 East slot for Daieisho, who makes his debut at the rank.
But of the 33 rank-and-filers, I only placed 8 at the correct rank and side, plus 6 more at the correct rank but on the wrong side. Sure, most of the misses were by half-a-rank, and the worst ones were by a rank and a half (there were several of those), but usually the forecast gets a lot closer to the real thing.
What accounted for this performance? Well, I thought I was aggressively promoting the yusho winner, Terunofuji (13-2) from M17e all the way up to M2e; the committee moved him up even higher, to M1e. Puzzlingly, Kagayaki is ranked ahead of Ryuden, despite having two fewer wins from only two ranks higher. Onosho only dropped 7 ranks, from M2w to M9w, despite an abysmal 2-13 record, while Ikioi fell all the way from M9w to Juryo after going 3-12, to be replaced by Ichinojo, who lost what was clearly meant to be a final-day exchange bout with Shohozan. Apparently, the official punishment for Abi wasn’t harsh enough, as he was pushed all the way down to M14w, below Juryo promotees Meisei (J1e, 10-5 Y) and, more surprisingly, first-timer Tobizaru (J2e, 9-6). I could go on, but these and other head-scratchers and their ripple effects on nearby positions led to the worst Crystal Ball forecast to date.
I, for one, am excited to see Ichinojo back in Makuuchi after a three-tournament absence, even if the numbers and precedent said his promotion case wasn’t strong enough to push down Ikioi. It’s also exciting to see Hoshoryu make his long-awaited top-division debut and Kyokutaisei get another shot in the big leagues. And, last but not least, Tachiai favorite Ura did just barely make it into the Makushita top 10 promotion zone, getting the last Ms5w slot above the “invisible line.” This means that he should land in the sekitori ranks with a 6-1 record, and has a chance with a 5-2, while a lower rank would have required him to go 7-0.
The inspiration to writing this post came from a story which appeared on the Takasago beya web site, and made its way to the sports press. It’s a story about a stolen mawashi. But to appreciate the story in full, you need to know a few things about mawashi.
Mawashi is the one thing that’s absolutely necessary to do sumo. Yes, a dohyo is a good idea, but I’ve seen rikishi practice in public parks, where they merely marked a circle or agreed between themselves where the “dohyo” edges are. But although I’ve seen people trying to demonstrate sumo moves on people wearing jeans and a T-shirt, it’s not really sumo without a mawashi.
Mawashi originate in fundoshi, but has evolved into something that holds one’s belly in and allows solid handholds over time. What is a fundoshi, you ask? It’s a Japanese-style loincloth, like Hakuho is wearing in this video:
Rikishi have two styles of mawashi – for practice and for competition. In Makushita and below, as well as amateur sumo, they use the same mawashi for both. Let’s take a look at practice style.
From the left, we have female amateur wrestler, male amateur wrestler, a rikishi in the lower divisions (Makushita or below), and a sekitori. What are the differences?
In amateur sumo it’s generally allowed to wear something below the mawashi. Women wear a leotard or something similar. Men may wear shorts. The color of the mawashi is generally white, but there are amateur or school wrestlers who wear black, and sometimes school colors, like this guy from Saitama Sakae High:
Whatever the color, those are cotton drill or canvas mawashi.
The lower division rikishi wear black cotton mawashi. Sekitori wear white for practice. So how do you tell a sekitori from an amateur? One thing is the hairdo, of course, but the main status symbol of a sekitori’s practice mawashi is the way the front end is folded. Amateurs and lower division rikishi fold the front end of their mawashi and tuck it into the belt from below, so it creates a kind of triangle. A sekitori, however, rolls the front of the mawashi and tucks it into the top of his belt, creating what I like to call “toilet-paper roll style”.
The only ones who are supposed to wear it like that are sekitori and former sekitori, including oyakata. So if you see somebody wearing a short hairdo and a TP-style white mawashi, he is likely an oyakata.
Grand sumo rikishi, in all divisions, wear nothing under the mawashi. Not shorts, not a G-string, not anything. The only exception is bandaging and taping for injuries.
The white mawashi sekitori wear usually have their shikona written on them in large, clear kanji, courtesy of the heya’s gyoji, if there is one. You can see that on Mitakeumi’s’s mawashi in this photo. I’ve seen Hakuho at times put his tegata (hand mark) on the front of the mawashi instead. Lower ranking rikishi can generally recognize their own mawashi on sight, as no two mawashi wear down quite the same way.
As you can see, the main difference between practice style and competition style for amateurs is that they have tags attached to the front, identifying their team or school etc.
Lower division rikishi wear their practice mawashi, but they also insert a sagari. Sagari is a stiff strip of fabric into which an uneven number of colorful strings are sewn, evenly spaced, such that the strip is tucked into the folds of the mawashi, and only the strings hang down.
In fact, the folds of the mawashi may contain other things than the front tip and the sagari’s top. Many rikishi tuck lucky charms into their competition mawashi to protect against injury or defeat.
Shimekomi
Sekitori, on the other hand, wear a whole different mawashi. Here is another status symbol. The competition mawashi, known as “shimekomi”, is made out of satin silk. There is also matching sagari, which is made from the same silk material, where the weaver leaves long loose strands. The strands are braided into thick tufts, and stiffened with glue. That’s why you see them sticking like a bunch of skewers when the sekitori crouches down for the tachiai. To see how this is done, I refer you to an older post of mine: How are sagari stiffened?
The official rules allow shimekomi to be purple or dark blue. But rikishi have been defying this rule ever since color TV has been introduced. The NSK is looking the other way. One color, though, is taboo – white.
A shimekomi is 80cm wide, and weighs about 4.5kg. Women are not allowed to touch a shimekomi or a kesho-mawashi (though unlike mounting dohyo, you can find violations of this rule here and there).
On occasion, you may see a sekitori wearing his shimekomi for practice. This is generally done to “break it in” – to let the body adjust to it and let its creases adjust to the body. On those occasions, it’s tied TP-roll style.
As a matter of fact, a sekitori has a third type of mawashi – the kesho-mawashi. That’s the one with the heavy decorated apron, which he wears during dohyo-iri. And that’s the only type of mawashi which is not worn directly on the body. Rikishi are allowed to wear a fundoshi (see above) under the kesho-mawashi. This is especially important for the two rikishi who accompany a Yokozuna during his dohyo-iri. The Yokozuna kesho-mawashi come in sets of three, and as the attendants may vary, the same mawashi may be worn by different rikishi over time.
So what? You may be saying. It’s not as if they don’t wash the kesho-mawashi between uses…
Ah, no, they don’t.
Mawashi are never washed.
None of the mawashi I mentioned so far is ever washed. That’s a long standing tradition. Not washed. Not rinsed. Not dry-cleaned.
Those of you who watched the movie “A Normal Life” may raise their hands in objection. “But I saw Kyokutaisei in that movie washing mawashi”. No, as a matter of fact you haven’t. Go watch it again. He is only using the dryers, never the washers. Now let’s give a thought to the anonymous person who had to put his freshly washed laundry into that dryer after him. You’re welcome.
As a matter of fact, there are two occasions on which a mawashi may be washed. One is prior to the first use. The other is when the shisho – the stablemaster – dies.
So how are they cleaned? If a kesho-mawashi or a shimekomi is stained, stain-removers and/or damp cloth are used to remove the stains. Practice mawashi, which are made of coarse material, may gather a lot of mud. In that case, the rikishi may lay them flat and apply a deck brush to remove the caked mud. But that’s about it. If the stench becomes unbearable, since a mawashi is not very expensive, they may dispose of it and get a new one. You see sekitori do that more often than low-division rikishi.
Where do mawashi come from?
Rikishi can buy mawashi from the NSK. Yes, you read right. They buy them from their employer. The NSK keeps 100m rolls of mawashi cloth, which is 46cm wide, ready to dispense. A black low-division mawashi costs ¥800, and a white sekitori mawashi costs ¥950.
A shimekomi is a different story. Its price is in the range of ¥1,000,000. The money usually comes from supporters, same as kesho-mawashi. Most shimekomi are made by the same artisan, Mr. Nakagawa from Nagahama city, Shiga prefecture.
Yes, it’s a manual loom. Two men take turns at the loom in order to complete it in about 10 days. The busiest time is when new Juryo promotees are announced. They have to have the shimekomi ready in about a month, so basically his shop can’t handle more than three new promotees on the same banzuke.
If you ever wondered about the gold stripes that show up on some shimekomi, it’s his artisan’s mark. It’s not always visible.
How does one wear a mawashi?
Before you can wear it, it has to be properly folded. While a shimekomi is relatively soft silk, a practice mawashi is very similar to the fabric fire hoses are made of. First, you fold it in half, leaving 1cm at one edge, to allow for the width of the next fold. Then you create the crease, using the Sumo world’s equivalent of the Swiss Army knife – beer bottles.
It is then folded once more, creating 4 layers. Most of the length of the mawashi will remain 4-layered. However, the part that covers the family jewels is opened up, so it’s only two layers, and the part that goes between the buttocks is folded again into 8 layers. The 4-layered mawashi is rolled like a hose, flattened, and bound tightly with strings. Then a heavy item is placed on top, and you wait a night. You then need to crease the nether part and the part used for the tie on the back, and you are good to go.
Edit: here is a wonderful video from the NSK’s official YouTube channel, showing how a sekitori’s practice mawashi is prepared for its first use.
Times:
Boiling: 30 minutes each side. It can be up to 3 hours total, depending on how soft the sekitori likes his mawashi.
Compressing: 3 days.
So how do you wear it? You need assistance. And assistance with muscles, at that. Here is a beginner who found assistance in the form of Shikihide oyakata.
The difference between that and the sekitori way is that sekitori leave a longer part at the front, and where Shikihide tucked it sideways under the final layer, they leave it dangling, roll it up and tuck it in. This part is not in any danger of coming loose, being threaded through the layers like that, but the back side is entirely dependent on the strength of the tie. If it comes loose in mid-bout, you better hope your gyoji has the strength to fix it properly.
As a rule, professional rikishi take care to do their number 2 and wash the corresponding output port before they wear their mawashi. Then it’s time for practice. And then they take a bath and hang their mawashi out to dry, as you can see in the photo at the top of this article.
So what’s the story of the stolen mawashi?
So now that you know more or less all I know about mawashi, perhaps you’ll be as amazed as I was when I read this story.
A few weeks ago a worried passer-by knocked on the door at Takasago beya. He has witnessed a theft. Somebody has stolen one of the mawashi hanging out to dry on the heya’s outer fence.
The rikishi went out to investigate, and indeed, one mawashi was missing – Terasawa’s. Terasawa is one of Asanoyama’s tsukebito.
As it turns out, Takasago beya has surveillance cameras. The okamisan allowed the rikishi to check the footage, and indeed, the heist was recorded. A few minutes before 2PM, someone came in in a minivan, popped out, grabbed the mawashi, popped back into his minivan and disappeared.
The police was informed, but they could not find the lost mawashi. This was in the middle of honbasho, and Terasawa had to go and buy a new mawashi. The okamisan was generous enough to cover the expense.
Terasawa said he’ll miss the mawashi, which he has used ever since he joined the heya in 2018. But as it turns out, the mawashi itself was not the greatest loss. This being in the middle of honbasho, he had a lucky charm tucked into it. That lucky charm contained the cremated remains of a pet rabbit named Raruki, which he had when he was a kid. He used to have Raruki with him in his competitions since middle school.
Why would anyone stage a heist to steal a used mawashi? Not one belonging to anybody famous. Not an expensive shimekomi. Not a passer-by playing a prank to relieve boredom. Someone coming in a minivan to grab a piece of dirty, smelly, two-years-in-use coarse cotton which costs ¥800 new. That’s $7.50. Why?
Its Aki banzuke weekend, and the excitement is ramping up at Tachiai! So many interesting topics came out of July’s tournament in Tokyo, and frankly I can’t wait for Sunday afternoon US time for the new ranks to be announced. Tachiai will be following it all, and yes dear followers, this time there will be podcasts to discuss.
Sum is back, and it looks like so am I! If you want top flight forecasting on how the ranks will turn out, our very own lksumo has you covered with the top division, and Juryo ranks.
So put a bottle of fine sake in the fridge, stock up on the rice crackers and buckle up as we count the days to the start of Aki.
The beauty of a blog is that we can dive headlong into subjectivity. I will do that now for two sumo-related topics. Feel free to not read this one if you don’t want to.
Rikishi Health
Today we got a 1-2 double punch of bad news. Both, coincidentally, occur during the period of rikishi physical exams. Maeta Masaru passed at the untimely age of 38 years young – while coaching sumo. He won the Makushita yusho in 2010 and peaked the next tournament in the Makushita joi at Ms3 West. He retired in 2018.
Maeta Masaru, a former rikishi, retired in 2018, who may be known to those of you who follow lower divisions, died suddenly of a heart attack at age 38. He was coaching kids in sumo when it happened. https://t.co/Yruqrr9VTn
Next up, the retirement announcement of Kizakiumi, the brother of Churanoumi. Kizakiumi’s career started just about as Maeta’s was beginning. He was granted the privilege of starting in Sandanme based on his college success. We see him here as he welcomed Hoshoryu to a big-time Juryo bout. Hat-tip to Herouth for finding the video.
Unfortunately, his career has now ended due to chronic neck pain. He suffered a terrible fall earlier this year in a hatsubasho bout. I was particularly scandalized that he sat motionless for quite some time before coming to his senses and having to walk himself down the hanamichi. This is where I will get ranty. Any wrestlerAny athleteAnyone who suffers a potential neck, or back injury should be assumed to have suffered a spinal injury and should be immobilized on the spot and taken to a hospital for diagnosis and treatment. Now that he is in retirement, he will pursue proper treatment at a hospital? That is a scandal.
Here is where this blog post may take a bit of a political turn so if you want to stop reading, fine. If you choose to read on and participate in the comments, let’s just keep it respectful, please. Too often discussion gets polarized and even my own mind is certainly no monopole. We can keep this relevant to sumo and that may help us keep it from deteriorating. If it goes rogue, I may delete the post but I don’t think I’ll have to go that far. I think we can do this.
Anyway, my frustration is that this is the healthcare we see our gladiators receive and yet the system which treated me this year is often dismissed and denigrated as unfit for the developed world.
There are no doubt improvements that need to be made. That can be said of any system. All of us, sumo wrestlers included, need quality care, we don’t want to go broke when bad things happen, and we want to be able to make it worth their while for the laborers and innovators who help us through. I would have assumed the price of admission to Kokugikan would cover a plus-sized neck collar and backboard plus the services of ringside paramedics. If not, I’d love to see what that would cost so we can get it done. And I want to see it done before a tragedy happens on the dohyo. Kizakiumi came uncomfortably close to being one.
Race
While I’m talking about this, I’m going to address an issue that came up while I was in the hospital and is clearly on the minds of my fellow sumo fans — and keep it sumo related.
I gotta admit that with all that’s going on in my home country these days, I have little interest in Sumo and the upcoming basho. Maybe my feelings will change in the coming weeks, but sports seem so superficial at the moment. Be safe.
My last day in the hospital happened to be the day that former rikishi Wakaichiro was driving through the area on his way up to start his new career. The following tweet had me shook, especially since most of the people who helped me in the hospital were women of color. The nurse who discharged me and took the PICC line out was a black man. The last doctor who came by to check on my breathing and oxygenation — a black man. It would not have occurred to me that they would face the fear that a misunderstanding or a bad day may take their freedom, or worse, end their life.
4. I’m scared of this virus on airplanes but I’m scared of police in the south as well. I will be driving through TX, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia! I hope my Chanko skill will help to serve people of NY State! I’ll first need to survive this drive!
— 元 若一郎 Ichiro Young (Former Wakaichiro) (@IchiroYoung_) April 6, 2020
I had always thought the fear of police was just something that was for people who were up to something. Whenever I’d interacted with police (black or white) it had always been an enjoyable experience, usually laughing at my dumb butt for speeding. The first time I got caught, the officer was black. This was back when drivers’ licenses were basically laminated paper and I looked like a 12 year old, so he didn’t believe it and almost called my mom but let me off with a warning. From what I learned, that’s a far cry from Ichiro’s experience with an officer after an accident.
Anyway, this tweet made me realize that it is a bit bizarre how guys who look like me can carry an AR-15 and shout at people in a State Capitol building, or a young 17-year-old kid could open fire with a long rifle but not get a knee in the back of the neck, threatened, not get “choked out,” or shot. But men like my nurse’s son, her husband, or sumo’s first black rikishi, live with fear in their mind when they drive. Or when the gas meter reader is black and wearing a vest, he feels the need to call the police ahead of time, anticipating the 9-1-1 calls.
Racism is rough and it’s based in fears, misunderstanding, and ignorance. Even in the sumo world, I think some sumo fans are afraid they will not live to see another Japanese Yokozuna who can hold a candle to Hakuho or displace Mongolian dominance. It creates a lot of jingoism, negativity, and trolling. Bitterness may seem trivial but when we encounter each other with that baggage, it turns into something more. I’ve seen it first hand, and it’s ugly. Yes, the world is going through some challenging times but we’ll get through it. If a sport as staid and traditional as sumo could come as far as it has — instant replay, foreign yokozunas, whatever that BMI machine Kakuryu was sitting in — and yet preserve its root awesomeness, we will move forward, too.
That said, I do not think this is the end of times or this is a terrible place. It’s been an eye-opening year but we’ll get through it and be better for it, on the dohyo and off it.
