In the past, I’ve chanced my arm at a rundown of all of the 42 rikishi in the top division and their performance in the preceding tournament. The problem with doing these kinds of posts is that there are an awful of lot of guys whose performance doesn’t really bear writing about. If you’re a rikishi that was swirling around the Darwin Funnel™ going into the final weekend, then there are good chances I’m talking about you.
So instead, this time, I’m going to give my thoughts on who won and didn’t win in this basho. It will be controversial and some people will be angry! I can’t wait. We’ll save the best for last, and start with the…
Losers
Sumo – But for some final day drama, this was a forgettable makuuchi tournament. It will not be referenced among the all time greats. Sumo is the loser when its top rankers do not challenge. The way the sport is set up requires big performances from big names or other guys dethroning big names. The title race changed hands twice in 15 days. Yikes.
Takakeisho – As Andy remarked, he went from rope run to kadoban in a matter of days. There’s no way to spin that positively.
Daieisho – He will move up to Sekiwake and posted a very strong basho, but he lost the yusho in horrific fashion: two virtually identical losses on the final day to the same opponent, having only needed to win one. Then, in the second defeat, he was given the hope of redemption by a monoii, only for that hope to be cruelly dashed upon confirmation of the final result. Woof.
Takayasu – His confident, assured, 6-0 start raised the idea that this might finally be his basho, but an awful fade took the dream away. Again. A couple of extremely convincing wins towards the end signalled what could have been. 10-5 is in no way a bad result, but finishing 4-5 in yet another basho that was his for the taking was extremely disappointing. When people reference Takayasu being the bridesmaid, they often reference his mighty collection of Jun-Yusho scorelines – but there are just as many of these tournaments that don’t show up in any Sumo Reference box score and where Takayasu had it all to lose and then did just that. As fans, we cannot alter fate, so the best we can do is just cheer him on whole-heartedly and hope that one day it will change.
Hoshoryu – You might think I’m crazy putting a couple ten-win guys and a twelve-win guy in the loser category. To be fair, you could put 41 guys in the loser category and you’d have a case for all of them. That’s how sports works. This is another case of “what could have been?” I firmly agreed with Herouth’s tweet early in the basho that Hoshoryu needs to shelve his niramiai until he’s got a couple Emperor’s Cups in the bag. Staring down a former Ozeki in Takayasu as if he’s the top dog, only to get embarrassingly dropped on the chief shimpan – and a cocky approach to a Nishikigi match that ended in defeat – showed a rikishi who’s simply not ready for the top two ranks.
He could have won this yusho outright with a more professional approach to his sumo. It may seem like we’re being hard on a rikishi who once again displayed some fabulous sumo, but whatever, if anything, is between his ears continues to let him down. The best thing he can take from this basho is that he’ll probably be S1E and he’s potentially just put down the first basho of an ozeki run. But I’ll come right out and say it: he’s frittered away losses in the last two tournaments which would have had him at the rank already. While he’s still young, more top prospects are coming and he will not want to look back on this period as the golden opportunity that he missed.
Hokutofuji – He’s been the master of come-from-behind kachikoshi in the past, and looked to be well on his way with 7 straight wins after digging himself an 0-4 hole. Alas, he couldn’t find the one win in his last four days to get the job done, and continues a slide that will leave him outside the joi for an entire calendar year.
Wakatakakage – I left a stat in the comments here this week that since his sekiwake promotion, he’s been 15-20 over days 1-5 of tournaments, and 31-11 over days 6-11 (before the final, most difficult matches for a sekiwake). If he could start better when his schedule was lightest, he’d have already been an Ozeki. When you consistently start so poorly, the issue is either preparation or mental or both. This tournament proved to be one escape act too far, with an 0-5 hole proving too much to overcome. His 7-1 rescue attempt over days 6 to 13 looked to have him on solid ground until the injury that led to a late kyujo. One early win and this all would have been a non issue with kachikoshi in hand, but instead he’ll have to completely rebuild from komusubi next basho – if indeed he’s able to return (reports are that he may not).
Mitakeumi – His body hasn’t looked right since the injuries that zapped his chance at an Ozeki career upon his promotion to the rank. This tournament was ghastly to watch, a 4-11 that left me wondering at the end where the 4 wins could ever have come from.
Ryuden – I think this was just a basho too far on the meteoric comeback trail for one of sumo’s latest bad boys. It’s a credit to him that he mostly looked very genki en route to his 13 loss campaign. Every rikishi fights hurt, some more than others, but Ryuden’s performances were vastly superior to the results that he got (the eye test would credit him with a 6-9 or 5-10 at worst). But nevertheless, he will take a massive demotion after this basho. You have to call that what it is.
Winners
Sumo – Sumo can be the loser and also be the winner. You can have grey areas in life, deal with it! With makuuchi being the equivalent of pulling a green turban out of your fishing net when you were expecting a sea urchin, Juryo emerged as a thrilling division. We also can’t overlook the top division’s final day drama, a new yusho winner whose rank and profile is good for sumo, and the fact that much of lower san’yaku managed to hang around the title race in its final days.
Kiribayama – He’s now one of the most technically proficient top rankers. Some could be forgiven for looking at an 8-11-12 Ozeki promotion after this basho as reasonable given the current state of the sport (and some Tachiai commenters have already posed it as an idea), but with two fusen-sho in there he’s always going to need another strong tournament. You’d think 9 next time could be enough to make things interesting, but 10 should bank it.
Small guys doing crazy stuff – Ura, Midorifuji, and Enho all had highly entertaining tournaments, even if it did fizzle a bit from Midorifuji after his first loss. Credit to these guys and their weird sumo for giving us box office entertainment.
Juryo – it was always going to be a good tournament with 4 former makuuchi yusho winners in the division plus a catalogue of top prospects, but strong performances from big names made this one of the marquee collections of second division talent in ages.
Ichinojo – Everyone expected another Asanoyama yusho, but the big man blasted his way to a 14-1, making his Juryo return brief.
Ura – He was king of the dohyo in his native Osaka, and highly entertaining and mostly successful in the ring. He received rapturous applause and a thunderous reception in the EDION arena. His comeback has firmly sealed his place as successor to Ikioi as Osaka’s hometown hero.
Nishonoseki-beya/Kisenosato – The mid-basho announcement of the recruitment of generational talent Nakamura stole all the headlines (more on that later), but his squad also grabbed the makushita yusho through journeyman Ryuo, had a handful of other good prospect results (Kayo, Takahashi, Miyagi) and a successful return to sekitori level for Tomokaze.
Kakuryu-oyakata – Much has been made of the close attentions the former Yokozuna has paid Kiribayama since his retirement, having taken his compatriot under his wing after moving from Izutsu to Michinoku beya. Kiribayama’s rise has corresponded with this tutelage, and it bodes well for Kakuryu’s future as shisho – be that in his own heya someday or a Michinoku-beya (including Kiribayama) that he could yet inherit upon the incumbent’s retirement.
Miyagino-beya/Hakuho – the top 8 rankers in the stable all scored winning records, with Enho starting to close in on a comeback to the top division and Ochiai putting out a very solid and entertaining sekitori debut. Hokuseiho’s 9 wins on his top flight debut were overshadowed by Kinbozan’s debut, and it’s clear that his ponderous sumo may lead him to struggle for consistency as he approaches the joi for the first time. I’d probably revise his ceiling to be a more technical version of Ichinojo. But for now, all good.
Isegahama-beya – Midorifuji took the headlines, but Nishikifuji put up another very solid basho. Meanwhile, an initially hopeless looking Takarafuji found his patented defend-and-extend technique late on to clinch a kachi-koshi when the conversation on nakabi was about whether he could really be demoted to Juryo. Plus, the heya boasted winning records for top prospects Hayatefuji and Takerufuji. As for the Yokozuna? Even he’s a bit of a winner in absentia, as Takakeisho’s rope-run collapsing amid the removal of Wakatakakage from the Ozeki conversation (for the time being) means that Terunofuji’s seat isn’t especially hot in spite of his lengthy absence.
Wakamotoharu – His 11 win basho will see him overtake his brother as heyagashira. He has grown gradually into the top division and looked at points to have an outside shot at the Haru yusho. It will be curious to now see whether he or Wakatakakage can mount an ozeki run soonest – if he’s able to get the yusho in May, one would think Wakamotoharu could even grab it in his next basho.
Kinbozan – In a tournament that boasted three fairly high(ish) profile debutants in the top division, some props should be due to Kinbozan for his excellent performance. While it’s not unusual to see talents who have blown through Juryo come up and grab double digits in their first top division tournament, Kinbozan did it with a minimum of fuss and some excellent sumo. He (and Juryo’s Gonoyama) still looks like a rikishi that has a lot of physical development until he finds his final competitive physique, and it will be interesting to see how he takes on higher challenges in the division. With Hokuseiho impressing but also lumbering at times to victory, and Bushozan being mostly overmatched, we should put some credit on Kise-beya’s Kazakhstani special prize winner.
Who are we forgetting? Who are you angry about me calling a loser? Let’s hear it in the comments!
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Great stuff as always, Josh! I’d put Daieisho in both categories. In the “winner” column, he’s been confirmed as being on an Ozeki run by Hakkaku, so that’s a big step forward in his career. With regard to Kiribayama, as far as I can tell, double-digits in the third tournament of a successful run is as close to an absolute requirement as these things get in ozumo, and Hakkaku threw out 10 as the target. I would not have counted Bushozan’s debut as even medium profile, and his immediate return to Juryo with double-digit losses is exactly what I expected, but that’s quibbling.
Re: Daieisho – probably fair. I think he’s going to have a lot of sleepless nights though after this, this was his and he let it slip away.
Re: Bushozan – I didn’t expect much either, but his debut was absolutely very notable in so much as being the first sekitori and now makuuchi product of a very prominent shisho. It wasn’t so much about what he could do as much as who he is and where he comes from. But in any case I agree his score was totally what I expected and I think he will eventually yo-yo.
Ah, okay, you pay more attention to heya than I do.
I was going to argue the contrarian view that sumo was the big winner in this tournament but you did it for me.
I’m confused: Wakamotoharu was handed the arrows after his final bout/defeat of Kotonowaka. That means the technique prize, right? But then he didn’t get the dumb ribbony trophies that Daiesho, Kiri, and Kinbozan got at the official awards ceremony. Did Waka M get the award too? If not, what were those arrows?
The Arrows, Bow String, and Bow are each given to the winners of the last three regular bouts on the final day. I forget which order they are in but the bow is last. It is a traditional thing dating back to the Edo period. They have nothing to do with the special prizes which are a relatively new thing.
Thanks Leroy
I think he should have got a special/crazy technique prize, though, for last insane move on Kotonowaka.
The prizes are voted on before the final day’s bouts take place https://tachiai.org/2022/03/27/haru-special-prizes-2/
Kagayaki II managed to go 9-6 in his makuuchi debut, but he didn’t impress me much. He needs to improve his footwork and lateral movement, and he needs to add more bulk to his thighs. Long legged and top-heavy rikishi need to have Akebono tsuppari skills or Tochinoshin thighs to succeed and Hokuseiho has neither. He also needs to be coached to avoid fighting stiff and upright like Kagayaki. Otherwise he’ll be another Enho – once the novelty wears off and the other rikishi learn his weaknesses he’ll be back in Juryo very quickly.
Kinbozan made benefit most glorious nation of Kazakhstan and looked impressive this basho. His Fighting Spirit prize was well deserved. He needs to learn how to fight more agile if he wants to get to the top, but I like what I’ve seen and I think he’ll be in Makuuchi for a long time barring major injury or misconduct.
And what’s up with Oho? He has the pedigree, but he seems to have stalled at lower maegashira and often looks sluggish and uninspired in the dohyo. Perhaps his oyakata needs to sit him down and remind him that pedigree will only get him so far in life and that if he wants to get to Sanyaku and beyond he’ll have to work harder and train harder.
Ichinojo looked awesome at Haru. Granted, he fought against lesser calibre competition than he usually does, but he looks fit and motivated. He often had a fierce look on his face that I haven’t seen before. He looked ready to pounce, like the other Ichinojo (my Newfoundland) when he sees the neighbour’s cat running through my yard. I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes a yusho run at Natsu.
Not sure I’d call Hokuseiho “Kagayaki II” – they’re both tall, and Kagayaki isn’t the quickest, but I think the comparisons mostly end there. Their style of sumo is completely different. He is still young and learning his way against top level opponents. Enho suffers from a lack of physicality to the extent that once he was figured out, top division opponents could overwhelm him (plus he had a very significant injury). Hokuseiho showed plenty of new evidence – not only the style and manner of his wins and losses but also his endurance level in this basho that while he may not be the next Yokozuna, he could well be the next Ichinojo.
With regard to Oho, he has always had a lot of unhelpful background noise. His shisho is approaching retirement age, never reached makuuchi himself, only ever produced one top division rikishi previously (a foreign recruit who was an absolute physical and technical beast) and theirs is both a stable which has certainly had their share of controversy over the years. In my opinion, it seems unclear how many lessons the shisho might have to impart that will be meaningful for him to reach the next level.
I think Oho’s biggest issue is similar to what we’ve seen from other prospects who have flamed out a bit – Kaisho comes to mind, and certainly Mitoryu – which is that he simply doesn’t have anyone in the heya to train with day in and day out who will raise his level. Oho only has his brothers, who have middling results in makushita and sandanme respectively, and there’s no one else in the heya that can raise his level. Mitakeumi was a much more vaunted prospect in a similar situation, and visibly benefitted and progressed from training with Tochinoshin. We may need to wait a couple years until the heya is absorbed into another heya for Oho to find a regular partner who can raise his level. One would think his heya might most obviously be merged into Takadagawa (if it can support all of the rikishi anyway), which would certainly check that box.
You are probably right about Oho. He has his moments like this basho when he dropped Asanoyama, but there are way too many bouts where he looks sluggish or loses by some ill advised pull attempt.
The talent and ability is there, he just needs the repetition to pull it out
I work in music and sometimes you will see it with a great band. There’s a band that has great potential that’s played 50 shows and you see them and go “wow, this is exciting, i know what they are trying to do and i believe in them that they will get there” – that’s where Oho is. Then you have a band that has become great having played 500 shows.
For Oho to move up a level he clearly needs that repetition at a higher, more challenging level than what he gets from keiko at Otake.
Great comment, Janelle.
Especially your thoughts on Hokuseiho are spot on. He sometimes even seems to be disadvantaged by his incredibly high hips. Let’s hope (the former) Hakuho will be able to form a second Akebono, who really benefitted from his largeness.
As to Oho, I guess he‘ll hardly ever be a sanyaku mainstay. I expect a career comparable to … Kagayaki‘s. But as he is still young, maybe I‘m wrong and he‘ll take his sumo to another level?
You are spot on about Hoshoryu and for his attitude he is my least favourite Rikishi in the whole banzuke. He is arrogant, uphimself, he shows disagreement with decisions and behaves as if he had a Yusho and number of Kinboshi behind him.
I think you nailed it. Whether anyone remembers this basho will very much depend on how Kiribayama’s career develops, if it’s the first of many yusho. Otherwise, it didn’t tell us much that was particularly interesting. We already knew that Daieisho is powerful enough to push out any rikishi not smart enough to get out of the way. Takayasu did what Takayasu does, as did Hoshoryu. Midorifuji did what an M5 does when confronted with top opposition.
Shodai’s rebranding and Takarafuji’s epic kachi-koshi quest were interesting.
But I was surprised by just how good I felt after Takayasu took down Hoshoryu. That seemed like something the sumo deities had cooked up to reward us for our patience.
Much as it pains me as a big Hoshoryu fan Josh, your assessment is spot on. My guy needs to grow up, focus more on his in-ring sumo, and drop some of the ‘tude and associated nonsense. Stare-downs don’t win bouts, solid non-stupid sumo does. If he doesn’t hunker down and grow up right now, new talent will pass him by and he’ll go from “could be” to “never will be” by this time next year.
Lastly, I’m kind of enjoying the state of chaos in Sumo right now. After years and years of stability anchored by Asa/Hak this is an enjoyable transitional period. Can’t remember any period like it since I started attending/watching live in Tokyo as a kid with my family in 1971. Back then both Yokozuna (Tamanoumi, Taiho) were coming to their career ends and the new anchors were Kitanofuji (Y), Wajima (Y), Kotozakura (Y), Kitanoumi (Y), and Takanohana (O).
So many amazing memories including repeated back stage access due to my father’s business connections within Japan Air Lines (JAL). Oh to be 10 years old again and agog at meeting my Sumo heros in person.
WINNERS:
Gyoji robes: in the last matches
we were treated to golden butterflies on a brick-red background (the Waka M v Kotonowaka fight), and five-petalled lemon flowers on a blue field (Taka vs Hoshoryu; Kiri vs Daeisho).
Crowd shouting: back and full-throated, I believe, after Covid absence….as captured in this amazing, amateur video:
https://youtu.be/aHYLBADcplM
Seconded! I think we’ve agreed about the gyoji’s robes before. This was only my fifth basho so it was a real pleasure to hear a full throated crowd for the first time. I was reminded of how the audience can shout out throughout a kabuki performance. So different to my other favourite sport, tennis, where the crowd is silent at the serve, which is kind of equivalent to the sumo tachi-ai. That surprised me a little a bit!
I root for the affable Asanayama and Kiribayama, and the scowling tough guy antics can be tiresome, but the grumblings about Hoshoryu’s attitude being a negative are laughable. It’s the main for his sustained success. He’s a bad ass that routinely manhandles and mauls his larger adversaries in this combat sport. He will hear the whining, as Hakuho did, about propper etiquitte all the way to the top of the rankings. His more docile foes would do well to display his level of pugnacity and violence.
Going to have to respectfully disagree with the entire premise here, sorry. He hasn’t had any sustained success – he’s won literally nothing except two special prizes, he’s 0-8 against the Yokozuna and 2-7 against the Ozeki. 9 of his 16 top division basho have ended 7-8 or 8-7, and while Hakuho may have heard the whining over the years but that’s the point – he earned the right, he won the trophies. Asashoryu had an attitude, he earned the right and won the trophies.
As I said in the post, once Hoshoryu has won something then by all means bring back the attitude, but he stared down a much more accomplished rikishi than him on senshuraku and ended up exactly where he deserved: on the floor smelling the head shimpan’s tabi. Anyone who has watched him consistently will know that’s not the main for his success. His mentals are garbage as evidenced by the Nishikigi match but there’s a top top rikishi in there.
Hoshoryu may go on to be a very good Ozeki, or a great Yokozuna, or he may go on to be Tochiozan – an accomplished top division lifer living in the upper maegashira ranks who couldn’t get over the line once more successful rikishi passed him by for Ozeki promotion following a bright early start at Sekiwake and a couple of yusho challenges.
Daiesho also in win column, but loser column on last day for me. He looks like he’s back in top form and that is a win for all of us i’d say. Takayasu also a win purely on his results not on our outside expectations. ( it’s not his fault we just have to believe harder…? ) I was pleased with how he finished even though the mid basho was not great for him. Sumo is absolutely in the win column and i can’t wait to see how the next year pans out because there are all sorts of exciting rikishi coming up or who are up already and it’s great to see. Cheers!
I hear you – I think these are all great and valid points. Sometimes it’s hard to judge a body of work just on the end result, I’ve been a bit guilty of doing it there. With Takayasu you can look at the 15 days and say – the sumo was mostly excellent, it’s a strong 10 win performance and a successful basho that gets him back closer to where he deserves to be. On the flip side, I took the view that, from his position as undefeated co-leader after 6 days, the 4-5 finish was upsetting. If he even goes 6-3 from there, he’s in the playoff again. It seemed like the loss to Midorifuji really rattled him for a few days, before he came back and finished strong.
Normally I look at the banzuke and go “yeah, the top more or less represents who the best guys are in the sport right now.” But honestly, I think the last days especially showed us that Takayasu probably is a top 5 guy in the sport, he’s just not ranked anywhere near.
I think a Takayasu yusho would be the most exciting possibility for sure, and i truly hope he does it. When he is fighting well he looks like a Yokozuna should look, but first things first, i’m getting carried away. cheers
I originally supported Hoshoryu because of his entertaining, dynamic style. But his sourness sent me drifting off to never-a-henka Kiribayama, who has actually been the more well-rounded, unpredictable, exciting of the two for some months now.
I recently watched extended footage of Ura vs Chiyoshoma. No hate or scowling from Ura during the long stare-off build-up. In fact, he beamed a radiant, almost loving gaze towards his opponent, then tunneled his ass out of the dohyo. (Gyoji wore crisp apple green with floating golden lanterns).
Correction: it was a white field emblazoned with a twisting gold dragon, trimmed with red cherries and blue-green ivy!
Love this and fully agree – I think there’s always a place for a pantomime villain and a real bastard who goes out there and destroys all comers – but one of the reasons it’s so easy to get behind Ura is his impeccable sense of ring manners. Guys like Ura and Tobizaru – who themselves get joy from the happiness that their entertainment qualities provide to the fans – are a delight to cheer for.
Next tournament I am smelling a double Ozeki promotion if the no-kozuna & no-zeki situation will continue. Regarding Hosh…. wait a bit, he will be a new Kak or a new Ama, he will explode after his 25. From what I saw this tournament…. Ochiai and Kinbozan are Ozeki material, Asanoyama is more … mature, Ichinojo has some businesses to be solved. May will be amazing….. I hope the big boy to come back to teach everybody a lesson, if he is still able. Come on Terunofuji !
Hope so – totally agree that I think this was a table setting basho for Natsu. I do think Hoshoryu will put it together, and I think you’ve made a good point that it may take a couple more years for him to sort out the mentals, because the physicals are already there.
In 2 years though it’s possible that he’s being kept under the thumb by the likes of Nakamura (whatever his shikona becomes) and others, the way that the Tochiozans of the world were held back by Hakuho, Harumafuji, Kisenosato & co.
I think Harumafuji actually should be a realistic template for Hoshoryu. He was fast, physical and technical (not unlike Hoshoryu’s famous uncle) but also seemed to be a real thinking game planner of a Yokozuna. A lot of Hoshoryu’s outstanding wins come from behind – what Kakuryu did to be that kind of reactive Yokozuna is so hard to pull off and part of why Kakuryu lumbered in the division for as long as he did.
Kakuryu reactivity can be easy spotted in Kiribayama. His signature move won a tournament for the young fella, poor Daieishou.
On the other hand the ferocity of Asashoryu is hard to be matched by somebody. 20+ years ago there was a young fella that caught my interest :) Asa, he is the reason why I am following sumo. Last tournament won by Takanohana was my first ever sumo tournament.
Hoshoryu built a lot of bulk last 2 years he was in a constant change last 2 years that’s the reason he had those 8-7 results for a while. I am not seeing him being a failed one like Tochiouzan, he is a mongol and the mongols (80% of them) are quite smart rikishi. Tochiouzan was not at all a smart rikishi, I cannot forgot the decisive fight with Kyokutenho for title (won by Tenho). Hoshoryu, indeed, he is more Ama then anything else, he is doing nice HNH-es.
One mistake we are not aloud to do : do not compare the actual rikishi with monsters like Asashoryu, Hakuho, Takanohana, Chiyonofuji etc for a while we gonna be happy if we have yokozunas with 5-10 yushos won, that’s the reason there is the name of dai-yokozuna because is something special!
There’s even a tiny chance of three ozeki being promoted. I think the more likely (and thrilling) possibility would be the ultimate Darwin match – two sekiwake on the verge of promotion, and only the winner gets it.
we had something similar 4 years ago: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x74u83t
Hmm that was an interesting situation there. Sekiwake Takekeisho at 9 wins for the basho with 33 in his last 3, and Ozeki Tochinoshin at 7 wins having not gotten 8 in the prior tournament. So that Darwin match was an absolute certainty that the winner gets the rank and loser doesn’t. Shame that match didn’t live up to the situation.
For May we can only hope the sumo gods make a Darwin match like that (Takekeisho’s rank on the line) with one of the up and comers, and the other two sekiwake are close to 32-33 wins fighting for the basho.
Very nice article, it brings out many things which are lingering in our mind.
Only thing I disagree is Sumo as a loser and a forgettable basho.
I can feel that many of us are enjoying the current scenario of sumo.
If there are a couple of dominating rikishis who always wins the Yusho, it becomes very monotonous.
But now it is like a roller coaster ride, you can feel the excitement and the suspense which grows tensed till sensharaku.
We will be anticipating the new developments, twists and turns everyday.
I like this sumo.
That’s a fair point, I think that’s part of why I put sumo in both categories. I think you’ve made a great point that the sport benefits from a diverse field of champions, but something is definitely missed – especially from the live experience, which I’ll cover later this week or next – from that lack of Yokozuna presence in the musubi-no-ichiban, no dohyo-iri etc. I think these things are a part of the fabric of the basho experience going back generations, and it’s been frankly weird this past few years to have so many basho where we haven’t experienced it regularly.
I tend to agree. For much – certainly not all, but for much of the Hakuho era there was excellent sumo at the top accompanied by a virtually guaranteed champion resulting in, to my taste, dull bashos. Post Hakuho there is definite drop in the quality of the sumo at the top but unpredictable outcomes leading to bashos that are interesting and entertaining to the last.
As always, the quality of the Tachiai writing and commentary is high, thus greatly enhancing the interest and entertainment of the basho. Thanks!
Great stuff again from Tachi-ai! Thanks for your thoughts. Also some very interesting and informative comments.
I was interested to read about the different heya in terms of winners and losers. I still need to get my head around which wrestlers are in the same heya etc. I know the Isegahama Makuuchi but haven’t got the others straight.
One question I had was why Wakamotoharu was in the car with Kiribayama. Would that have been Kiribayama’s choice? I was just thinking that I might have assumed you’d have to be in the same heya to join the yusho winner…
Also, I learnt a new word – heyagashira!
My highlight rikishi from this tournament were obviously Nishikifuji who (in contrast to Midorifuji) ended strongly after a worrying few days in the middle, and Ura! As mentioned in the article and the comments, Ura is just a pleasure to watch both while fighting and off the dohyo. He had some really exciting bouts and it was just fab to see him do well in his hometown receiving the love of the crowd who, as has been noted, were in full voice this basho!
I was wondering that myself. Turns out they belong to the same ichimon or grouping of stables. Plus the car shot was only posed in the entrance area of the arena. It was raining and the car drove out empty…much to my disappointment.
Heck, they couldn’t have someone hold an umbrella over him? Seems like some rain shouldn’t stop a victory ride! Unless there were no fans out either because of the rain…
There were fans out there. I was one of them 😀
That’s right – if there are no other top division rikishi in the same heya as the yusho winner, the flag bearer will be someone else from within the ichimon. I believe – someone can correct me if I’m wrong – that it will be the choice of the yusho winner and also that it cannot be someone who is kyujo. I think it’s also very unlikely for it to be someone who is/was senior to the yusho winner, although I’m not sure how often that is even an option.
So it’s not a huge surprise for him to pick Wakamotoharu, especially with Wakatakakage ineligible, Shodai unlikely, and the fact that Arashio beya has been hosting degeiko so often. Kiribayama possibly owes some of his improvement and success to work that he may have done with the Arashio guys, since he doesn’t have anyone of similar stature in his own heya.
I love Ura too. He’s bigger than “Sumo” in the sense of rikishi competing to win and eventually be Yokozuna. He embraces Sumo as a spiritual quest where the point isn’t to win the match or yusho, but to be so centred in oneself, unapologetically oneself, that no one else is a threat to be scowled at or destroyed, just a body to be upended, then smiled at.
To others this might look insane, but…
Enho once spoke of facing off against Ura, and marvelling at his (lotus?) aura.
Great article – thanks Josh K.
My only mild disagreement is with the claim that it was a forgettable tournament. But then maybe I am just easily pleased and undiscriminating – I loved this tournament just like I loved pretty much every previous tournament I have watched.
Unrelated request: is there any chance that Team Tachiai can prevail upon Herouth to give us some of her occasional write-ups of the Jungyo tours now that they have started back up again?