This has been a relatively quiet week on the sumo news front. During times like this when there is a lengthy break in sumo action, this quiet voice joins the multitude of others in my head with a soothing but longing refrain, “No basho, no jungyo, no degeiko, no….”
Regardless, many of the top wrestlers are visiting their hometowns and holding promotional events with local supporters. The sumo world exists for its fans and it is during times like these that those fans are able to see their heroes up-close and personal. It is also a chance for guys like Asanoyama and Endo to demonstrate their own support for their communities, struck hard by the earthquake at the beginning of the year.
Hakuho Cup
Hakuho hosted more than a thousand boys, the next generation of Grand Sumo, at the 14th Annual Hakuho Cup. He even donned a mawashi and faced Kotoshogiku’s young son as the sumo world hopes to encourage young men and women to take up the sport…if not professionally but at least to put the keitai down, get up off the couch (or futon) and get some activity into their lives. Nine foreign countries also fielded teams for this years event. There was a total of 160 teams. Third Year middle-schooler Ibata Yuki, claimed the top yusho.
You get the sense from Hakuho that, like Tokushoryu, he still wants to be out there. He seems to wear that white mawashi frequently, in keiko at Miyagino-beya, at the Hakuho Cup, while out getting coffee, taking a stroll in Tokyo… I get the sense that it is included in his rider when taking on a new gig.
“Pictures? It’s time for pictures? Just let me get changed real quick…”
Nearly 10 hours of footage from the tournament…everything at “Dohyo A,” is right here. For those of you with amateur sumo experience, I am interested in the difference between the dohyo on the left and the one on the right. The one on the left looks like what Konishiki had at the Sumo+Sushi event. It seemed to be padded and made for quite the comfortable landing when I got thrown. Did I mention that I got thrown by Tooyama? Yes? Several times? Oh. Well, it was fun. But back to my point, does anyone have experience with the set up on the right? What is the “best” amateur dohyo? What is “best practice?” Anyway, I have heard that the real thing feels hard, almost like concrete.
Kokugikan Concert
For the first time in five years, Kokugikan and Sumida ward were able to host its 5000-person “Dai 9” choral and orchestra concert, which features youth talents from junior orchestras among the musicians. There is a great video about the concert below. When they belt out the famous Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, you can see that it brought tears to the eyes of several in the audience. This video is “pre-pandemic” so I hope there will be another one from this weekend’s performance. I will keep an eye out.
Haru Banzuke One Week Countdown
One week from today, the Kyokai will release the ranking list for Haru Basho. We already know that Kotonowaka will be the fourth Ozeki and we have our list of Juryo promotions. Big questions remain about that makuuchi/juryo boundary. There will be surprises and a good deal of banuke luck. That makuuchi joi will be interesting.
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I can pop up my full banzuke guess tomorrow.
There are some head scratchers up there.
I think it’s pretty clear who ends up roughly where, but definitely some coin flips for the exact order
I appreciate the details about Hakuho Sho! Watching the Sumo Kids in the contest kept me smiling for half an hour. So cute – and so determined in their attitude!