Sanshō 三賞, literally “three prizes” are the three special prizes awarded to top (Makuuchi) division sumo wrestlers for exceptional performance during a sumo honbasho or tournament. The prizes were first awarded in November 1947. The three prizes are:
Wikipedia
Shukun-shō (殊勲賞), Outstanding Performance prize
Kantō-shō (敢闘賞), Fighting Spirit prize
Ginō-shō (技能賞), Technique prize
Who will get the trophies and the ¥2 million that comes with each one? The prizes are voted on before the final day’s bouts take place, but some are conditional on a rikishi winning his last bout or on more exotic outcomes, such as winning the yusho.
The November prizes have just been announced:
Kanto-sho (Fighting Spirit Prize)
| West Maegashira #2 Takanosho conditionally (10-4) |
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Kanto-sho (Fighting Spirit Prize)
| West Maegashira #15 Abi (12-2) |
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Gino-sho (Technique Prize)
| East Maegashira #7 Ura (10-4) |
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If Takanosho doesn’t win his last bout, who gets the prize?
No one.
I was a little surprised that Abi didn’t get an outstanding performance but then I figured he should be fighting in sanyaku or in the joi, anyway, and the low rank is the reason for the great performance.
My understanding is that the OP prize usually goes to a wrestler who gets a kinboshi or beats the winner of the basho, When there’s only one yokozuna and he is 14-0 going into the last day the prize is less likely to be awarded.
I don’t want to summon by inner Grinch but I would not have given the T prize to Ura. If there was a prize for entertainment value I would give it to him without hesitation. I just think that a lot of his winning moves don’t owe much to what I might call “classic” sumo technique. It’s like giving a chess technique prize to a player who wins a match with an h4 opening.
I beg to differ: 4 katasukashi, 2 ashitori, 2 tottari, it would have been robbery not to give it to him
They list 82 official kimarite after all. I don’t see why “classic” has to mean the same few all the time. Maybe many people feel “chest to chest” is the real sumo, but I think awarding a technique prize to someone who can successfully execute a wide variety from the official repertoire is highly fitting.
Among recent gino-sho winners, Enho and Midorifuji (both 9-6 from M14) fit very much into this category.
He didn’t win the yusho, get a kinboshi, or beat the yusho winner