It’s official. Balance has been restored to the banzuke. Kiribayama will debut as Shin-Ozeki in Nagoya.
*Update* He will also appear on the July banzuke with a new shikona: Kirishima, taken from his oyakata who was a former Ozeki.
The Japanese sumo press has been full of pictures of the new Ozeki as a young boy, and a young man, growing up in Mongolia. Nicola has several pictures of Kiribayama, the sumo wrestler, as he was coming up as a young sekitori and even a few from Makushita. Here, he had just defeated Akiseyama. He only faced Akiseyama four times, winning all of them. Nicola must have been a bit of a good luck charm because she has pictures of him defeating Ichiyamamoto in Makushita, the only time he was able to beat Ichiyamamoto on the dohyo.
I bring this up because with Terunofuji as Yokozuna, he sure needs a lucky charm. Kiribayama is so far winless against the Kaiju. This reminds me of the long, dominant streaks Hakuho had over Kotoshogiku. And if Kiribayama aspires to further promotion, he must figure out a way to defeat Terunofuji. Kotoshogiku had a distinguished career as Ozeki but it was Kisenosato who inspired much more discussion of Yokozuna, partly because he presented a challenge to the Great Hakuho. Maybe Kirishima will have better luck!
There are three newcomers to the sekitori ranks (pictured above): Ms1w Kawazoe (5-2) from Miyagino beya, who now gets a new shikona of Kiho, the Ukranian Ms2w Shishi (6-1), and Ms5e Yuma (5-2). Two rikishi are returning to salaried status: former Juryo regular Ms3w Chiyonoumi (4-3), who’s been toiling in the third division for two years, and hard-luck Ms1e Shiden (4-3), who’d missed out on promotion by a hair on several occasions, including last basho, and who missed his only basho ranked in Juryo due to his peripheral involvement in the Hidenoumi gambling mini-scandal.
Where are the 5 slots coming from? J5e Tochinoshin has retired, creating one opening in the second division. A second is opened by Ichinojo’s retirement, which created an extra opening in the top division, with a cascading effect on Juryo. One obvious demotion is that of winless veteran J9w Chiyonokuni (0-10-5), who may be next on the intai watch. The two we were less certain about are Juryo debutant J14e Tokihayate (6-9), although it was hard to imagine him staying with that rank and record, and injured fan favorite J3w Enho (0-10-5). We can infer from the five promotions that both will fall to Makushita. We’ll see if Enho has a comeback in him, or if he follows the trajectory of his similarly size-challenged Miyagino heya-mate, Ishiura.
The bouts are over, all the hardware has been handed out, so it’s time to take a preliminary look at what the May results mean for the future of sumo (and specifically, for the July banzuke).
Ozeki Watch
Kadoban Ozeki Takakeisho (8-7) did not look great, but he got the 8 wins he needed to save his rank. Sekiwake Kiribayama (11-4) exceeded the promotion target of 10 wins he was set before the basho; the procedures to elevate him to sumo’s second-highest rank have been set in motion and should reach their culmination on Wednesday. The NSK has also confirmed that the other three Sekiwake will be on Ozeki runs in July. Going by the guideline of 33 wins over 3 basho, S2e Daieisho (10-5) will need 11 wins, while S2w Wakamotoharu (10-5) and S1w Hoshoryu (11-4) will need 12 apiece.
San’yaku
The Sekiwake rank will be filled by the three incumbents, but there will be some turnover at Komusubi. K1e Kotonowaka (8-7) secured his rank with a final-day win, but absent K1w Wakatakakage is guaranteed to fall deep into the rank and file, and K2e Shodai (6-9) could not manage a winning record. This leaves the K1w slot empty, and it will be filled by M1e Abi (8-7), who won his Darwin bout against M4e Ura (7-8). We will go from 1 Y, 1 O, 4 S, 3 K to 1 Y, 2 O, 3 S, 2K, shrinking the number of San’yaku ranks by one and reviving the M17w rank for the first time in exactly a year.
The New Joi
These are the maegashira who fill out the top 16 round-robin along with the San’yaku ranks. Nominally, the joi will extend down to M4. These ranks should be occupied by the other two kachi-koshi survivors from the “zone of death”, M4w Nishikigi (9-6) and M3e Tobizaru (8-7), along with falling Shodai, M1w Midorifuji (6-9), and M4e Ura (7-8), rising M6 duo of Mitakeumi (9-6) and Meisei (8-7), and, last but not least, former Ozeki M14e Asanoyama (12-3), who should get a full tour of the named ranks next time.
Makuuchi/Juryo Exchanges
Three top-division slots are unquestionably open due to the retirement of M13w Ichinojo and the performances of Ms16e Mitoryu (5-10) and Ms15e Ichiyamamoto (4-11). M17e Kagayaki (7-8) is almost certain to go down, given the strength of the promotion cases in Juryo, although his past extremely lenient treatment by the banzuke committee makes the fans a bit nervous.
There should be little doubt about the first three promotions: Juryo yusho winner J1e Gonoyama (14-1), fellow J1 Shonannoumi (11-4), and regulation co-leader J8w Ochiai (14-1), who should make his Makuuchi debut in just his 4th basho (!!!), tying the record held by Endo. But we also have J8e Atamifuji (13-2) and J3e Bushozan (10-5), who’ve done more than enough to earn promotion, assuming there is room. Atamifuji has the better rank-record combination, since each extra win makes up for 2 ranks, but Bushozan’s much higher rank argues in his favor. Barring shenanigans, one of them should replace Kagayaki, but which one, and what to do with the other? M12e Aoiyama (5-10) won on the final day to be just safe by the numbers. M2w Endo (0-7-8) could technically be considered demotable, but this would be extremely unusual given his rank. It seems most likely that one of Atamifuji and Bushozan will have to try again from J1e.
Juryo/Makushita Exchanges
J5e Tochinoshin has retired. His intai and Ichinojo’s create two openings in the second division. Two more slots will be vacated by winless veteran J9w Chiyonokuni (0-10-5), who may be next on the intai watch, and Juryo debutant J14e Tokihayate (6-9). The first 3 open slots will go to Ms1e Shiden (4-3), Ms1w Kawazoe (5-2) and Ms2w Shishi (6-1); the 4th should be occupied by Ms3w Chiyonoumi (4-3).
After that, things are less clear. The remaining promotion cases belong to Ms4e Tochimusashi (4-3) and Ms5e Yuma (5-2). Yuma’s extra win probably makes up for the one-rank difference, but he did lose his “exchange bout” against Tsushimanada. The rikishi one of them would have to replace is J3w Enho (0-10-5). Because Juryo promotions are announced on Wednesday, we’ll know soon who is going up, and from their number we can infer whether Enho will fall to Makushita.
With everything but 2 Darwin matches decided, it was a nice step down in intensity from the prior 14 days of action. What a great tournament! An odd fact, the winning score for both Makuuchi and Juryo was 14-1, that’s some power! Speaking of the Juryo yusho, it features a playoff between Gonoyama and Ochiai that was a scorcher.
Even though he lost his day 15 match, we expect the formalities around Kiribayama’s promotion to Ozeki to start in the coming week. We encourage sumo fans to keep an eye on that process, as it has been a while since we minted an Ozeki (Mitakeumi was the last one, in January of 2022).
Congratulations to Yokozuna Terunofuji on your 8th yusho. Coming back from serious injury and corrective surgery, this was a big hill to climb, and you made it happen. Nothing but acres of respect for your dedication to the sport and your competitive spirit.
Highlight Matches
Mitoryu defeats Tohakuryu – Sort of a ridiculous match to me, Tohakuryu really could not do much of anything to Mitoryu, who chucked him aside to win by hatakikomi. Mitoryu gets a final win before boarding the barge for Juryo.
Asanoyama defeats Tsurugisho – I have read some fans on social media citing that Asanoyama, getting a final score of 12-3 and being in the yusho race did not get a special prize. I would say “get used to it”. He’s a former Ozeki who got punished, and they are not going to go easy on this guy – ever. It will either make him wilt away, or make him incredibly tough. I can’t wait to find out which one. When the two lockup at the tachiai, the difference in sumo posture is quite shocking. As soon as Asanoyama can land that left hand on Tsurugisho’s mawashi, he is done. One last win for Asanoyama and he is 12-3, and headed much higher in the ranks.
Kagayaki defeats Hokuseiho – Kagayaki gets one final win, and if that somehow translates into him staying in the top division, I am going to lose all hope. Hokuseiho faded out in week 2, losing 5 in a row. Sure, he was a lower rank and file guy fighting the san’yaku, but he should have been able to rally today to get rid of the last man on the banzuke. How did Kagayaki defeat the “immobile” Hokuseiho? Hokuseiho’s foot placement was about an good as mine would be, maybe he just did not feel like putting in too much effort as he already had his 8th win.
Takarafuji defeats Ichiyamamoto – Takarafuji wins one more. You can see Ichiyamamoto trying to get his sumo going, but he just falls apart. Takarafuji grabs his head and flings him to the clay, finishing 5-10.
Kotoeko defeats Ryuden – I continue to admire Kotoeko. He needs one more win for kachi-koshi, and he’s all forward power and sharp offense today. He manages to yorkikiri Ryuden into the second row of the zabuton section to secure his 8th win and finish Natsu kachi-koshi.
Hiradoumi defeats Chiyoshoma – I think Chiyoshoma was surprised to find Hiradoumi inside with a morozashi by the second step. Chiyoshoma attempted an escape, but Hiradoumi deployed a leg trip and brought him down, finishing Natsu at 9-6.
Takanosho defeats Myogiryu – Myogiryu had the stronger offense today, and I am not sure why he decided his path to victory was trying to pull Takanosho down. Such a move is always a gamble, because the rikishi initiating the pull releases forward pressure. Takanosho new exactly what to do, and ran Myogiryu by oshitaoshi, finishing Natsu 7-8.
Aoiyama defeats Hokutofuji – Aoiyama gets a fortunate hand placement, and immediately employs the katasukashi to bring down Hokutofuji just as Hokutofuji is charging forward to push Aoiyama out. The final win brings Aoiyama’s score for May to 5-10.
Daishoho defeats Kinbozan – That was too slow to be considered denshamichi, but Daishoho marched Kinbozan directly back and out for a quick yorikiri. Hopefully Kinbozan can recover for July. Daishoho ends the tournament 6-9.
Nishikigi defeats Onosho – Nishikigi goes for the battle hug at the tachiai, Onosho succeeds in blocking him, but shows poor foot placement when executing an ill advised pulling attempt. Nishikigi knows just what to do, and runs Onosho down to win by yoritaoshi, finishing 9-6. Eight (8!) consecutive wins for Nishikigi to conclude Natsu. What happened to this guy?
Sadanoumi defeats Nishikifuji – Nishikifuji has no effective offense and is quickly removed from the ring by Sadanoumi’s oshidashi. He completes his 15 days with just 3 wins; a final score of 3-12.
Tobizaru defeats Tamawashi – Excellent evasive sumo from Tobizaru. I note that he was able to keep his thrusting attack mostly center mass the whole time he was dodging just about everything that Tamawashi was trying to employ. Each time Tamawashi went for a thrust, or to grab Tobizaru for a pull, he was no longer where Tamawashi was aiming. Our first Darwin match ends with Tobizaru kachi-koshi at 8-7, Tamawashi make-koshi at 7-8.
Takayasu defeats Kotoshoho – The battle of the kyujo features Takayasu attacking then releasing forward pressure as Kotoshoho falls forward. A hikiotoshi win, and Takayasu finishes Natsu 3-12.
Oho defeats Midorifuji – I counted twice that Midorifuji was on the cusp of winning this one, just to have Oho battle back. Oho is then able to grapple Midorifuji, and eventually Midorifuji works himself into a jam by trying to get lower and lower to get under Oho to attack. When he’s too low to recover, Oho brings him to the clay with a hikiotoshi. 11-4 final score for Oho, including an amazing 7 consecutive wins in the final week.
Abi defeats Ura – These two were both expecting some manner of complexity in the tachiai, and there was non. As a result, Ura was low and worked lower as he tried to counter Abi’s thrusting attack. The challenge with this kind of position for Ura is that it’s tough to keep your balance, and Abi was able to catch him out of step, and push him out of the ring. The final Darwin match ends with Abi kachi-koshi at 8-7, Ura make-koshi at 7-8.
Mitakeumi defeats Shodai – Excellent focus from Mitakeumi, he ensures all power is headed to center mass. Shodai has no answer, and is first stood up, then pushed out in this battle of the former Ozeki. Mitakeumi with a final win at 9-6.
Kotonowaka defeats Meisei – Ah, Meisei. He was one part of the lead for the yusho race, then 6 consecutive losses took him to a 8-7 kachi-koshi. Good enough if you ask me. Meisei did seem to melt under Kotonowaka’s attack, and maybe those losses for Meisei are thanks to some injury. Kotonowaka finishes Natsu 8-7. Meisei does end up with the Shukun-sho (Outstanding Performance Award).
Daieisho defeats Wakamotoharu – Daieisho shows that standing between him and his 10th win is not a safe place to be. This may be the first time this basho we see him really uncork the intensity of sumo that won him a yusho in January of 2021. Wakamotoharu is lucky if he still has all of his dental work, as Daieisho finishes 10-5. Wakamotoharu is awarded the Gino-sho (Technique Prize).
Hoshoryu defeats Kiribayama – Future Ozeki Kiribayama gets captured, passivated and tossed like a salad by Kiribayama in his last match of the tournament. That was some over the top intensity from Hoshoryu, and he needs that every day. Both end with respectable 11-4 records, and Kiribayama ends with the Gino-sho (Technique Prize). Anyone else notice that all of the special prize winners lost their matches today?
Terunofuji defeats Takakeisho – I have no clue what Takakeisho was trying to do here, but the whole match was a disorganized mess. He had a double inside “grip” on Terunofuji for a moment, then went mad trying to pull the Yokozuna. It’s ok, he cleared kadoban, and he’s going to be back in July. Terunofuji’s final score is 14-1.
Thank you, dear readers, for following along for the last 15 days. Team Tachiai has enjoyed bring you are coverage of the 2023 Natsu basho, and we hope you will follow along as we wait for the formalities of Kiribayama’s promotion to Ozeki. This concludes are daily coverage of the May tournament. Thanks for sharing our love of sumo!
