Year: 2024

Winter Jungyo, Week One

Andy Festivals, Japanese Culture, Jungyo (巡業), Travel , , , , ,

While a Taylor Swift tour will hop from massive stadium to massive stadium, these tours go out into the countryside a bit more after the main event has ended. Let’s face it, BTS is not going to be playing the Cat’s Cradle anytime soon. But these tours are focused on fan outreach in local communities. With that in mind, let’s check out the first week of the winter tour, galavanting around the island of Kyushu.

The largest city on the island of Kyushu is Fukuoka, site of the recent tournament. So, rather than pack their akeni for Honshu and bigger venues, our top wrestlers climbed into buses and hit the road for a quick tour of the island to stay close to supporters who could not make it to the sold out basho. The Kyokai has a nice webpage, in English, which describes the general “run of show.” Each event loosely follows a similar format, with practice in the morning followed by entertainment and bouts in the afternoon with the featured wrestlers shifting in each location to focus on hometown heroes. (You can read about my experience at Jungyo this past summer, here.)

While the Japan Sumo Assocation and its wrestlers focus on fans and local outreach, the local communities are often focused on the promoting tourism and festivals or local industries or products. Ever since the tour swung by Ukai during the cormorant fishing festival, I like to dig into these places a bit more. Last year, I discovered the Yatsushiro Myoken festival. There is a lot to see in Japan.

I am taking note of these for my future trips so I hope you all enjoy. Pipe up in the comments if you have been to, or lived in, any of these locations and have recommendations. For those of us who want to learn more about Japan outside of Tokyo and Osaka, these tour itineraries are actually a great place to start your research. Where are they going and why is this location trying to promote itself by hosting a Jungyo stop?

Miyakonojo, Miyazaki

“Beef. It’s what’s for dinner.” As I’ve repeated more times than is really necessary, Kotozakura won a head of cattle when he won the title in Fukuoka. That prize is given at every tournament and is sponsored by the government in Miyazaki to promote local produce, especially its famous wagyu beef. But as I have learned, there is more to Miyazaki than delicious, succulent, tender, marbled beef. (Insert drooling Homer emoji here.)

For the first time in eight years, the tour visited Miyakonojo in Miyazaki. Miyazaki prefecture has a great, English-language, tourism website. On this site, I saw many jaw-droppingly amazing photos, including the stunning Takachiho Gorge toward the center of Kyushu and two sites on the outskirts of Miyakonojo, minutes from the Jungyo venue. Below, are the Nagata Gorge and the Sekinoo Falls.

So, I’m showing these amazing pictures of gorges and rivers and forests to my wife and she’s like, “Oh, I’ve never been there but Miyazaki is kind of known for its beaches. They have, like, mango trees and stuff.” So, here are some more pictures of Aoshima and the Miyazaki Seaside Park.

One item that jumped off the page at me when I saw the Kyokai’s program for the day’s activities was the fact that several of the day’s features, including Terunofuji’s rope tying demonstration, were sponsored by “Kirishima Shuzo.” I was familiar with Kirishima Chanko, not Kirishima liquor. It turns out there is a Kirishima brewery and distillery, complete with a Factory Garden and walking tours, right in the heart of Miyakonojo City.

That brings us to the sumo event, itself. Local Makushita wrestlers Nagamura and Kamitani fought and won their bouts in front of the hometown crowd. Nagamura had won the Sandanme yusho in Osaka earlier this year and fights in Kise-beya. Kamitani also has a Sandanme yusho under his belt and fights in Arashio-beya. Miyazaki also produced recently retired Kotoeko, the new Oguruma oyakata, and he took time to address the crowd and thank them for their support. I should mention that Nobeoka, hometown of Kotoeko and Nagamura, is home to this “Pac-Man Rock” place.

Not every jungyo event has “Question Corner,” but this one did. For Question Corner, three wrestlers climb onto the dohyo in their kesho mawashi and answer questions from the audience. At this tour stop, Sadanoumi, Shodai, and Wakamotoharu were featured. Wakamotoharu was asked which wrestler gives him the biggest challenge, and his reply was, “Shodai.” While the Emo King stood next to him and glared — as intimidating as Masayo can get — Wakamotoharu worked up the strength to express his frustration of losing to Shodai even though his chin is always up and his mass is so high. Powerful, inspiring stuff.

See, Shodai, I told you, “You’re too damn high!” Sure enough, when you look at their head-to-head, Shodai has won their last three bouts for a slim 6-4 advantage in their rivalry.

Nishihara, Kumamoto

On December 3, the tour stopped in the Aso district of Kumamoto Prefecture. Mt. Aso is a nearby volcano, the largest in Japan. We are all very familiar with Kumamon, the black bear mascot. Kumamon crops up on kesho mawashi and is frequently at events with Shodai, Sadanoumi, and other Kumamoto-area wrestlers. But the real draw of Kumamoto is the volcano. Mount Aso certainly features highly in the Kumamoto tourism campaigns. There is also a good amount of information in English, targeting foreign tourists.

Aso City is the hometown of Makushita wrestler Asonoyama, not to be confused with the former Ozeki. He and Fujiseiun were the hometown boys for this tour stop and Asonoyama was granted the privilege of wearing an oicho-mage for the first time as he fought in a Juryo bout against Kagayaki. Fujiseiun fought Nishikifuji. Local kids were also able to participate in the practice portion of the event with Shodai.

Nagasaki, Nagasaki

Hump Day brought us the Nagasaki Basho. So, um…Nagasaki is quite well known, particularly in America, for another sort of Fat Man. And in other news, Nagasaki is known for its long history as a port city by the Portuguese. There are a number of UNESCO World Heritage sites in the area tied to the Christian heritage in the area. Much of the event was brought to fans by Suginaga Kamaboko, headquartered in Nagasaki, timed to coincide with their year-end promotional campaign. If you are not familiar with kamaboko, think of the white and pink fish-cakes in your ramen.

The sumo event was held at Happiness Arena. Thanks to NiB, the local Nagasaki TV station, there is a great video of something we rarely see: the dohyo-matsuri performed for a Jungyo dohyo. This was a much more informal, laid-back affair than what we get before a hon-basho — or even at the heya — but fascinating in its own right. NiB also put together another quick piece covering the event itself, focusing on hometown hero, Hiradoumi.

Question Corner in Nagasaki pulled in fan favorites Hiradoumi, Ura, and Sadanoumi. Hiradoumi also stood in for the oicho-mage demonstration.

Genkai, Saga

Neighboring Saga Prefecture has a great, English-language tourism website, highlighting. Genkai town, with a small population under 5,000 people, does not feature highly on the tourism website but is home to a nuclear power plant. Check the irony at the door, please. Apparently, the tax revenue from hosting the power plant keeps the town pretty well in the black, financially.

Saga features good food and several onsen, as well as beautiful scenery. The real star seems to be the Nanatsugama Cave complex in neighboring Karatsu.

The venue was much more intimate than Nagasaki’s Happiness Arena, with 1650 people coming to the Genkai Gymnasium. Makushita-ranked Chiyotora is from Saga City and pint-sized, 16-year-old viral-video star, Kosei, is from Takeo. Perhaps because of Kosei’s presence, twenty kids from two local day care centers participated in the morning practice with the sekitori.

Omuta, Fukuoka

Omuta is a city in Fukuoka on the border with Kumamoto. The day’s events were sponsored by テレQ, FM FUKUOKA, and the local sports association. Just when you think you found a city to skip over, there’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Miike Coal Mine and its Miyanohara Pit played an integral role in Japan’s industrial development during the Meiji Era. The mine was also the site of a major labor dispute in 1960 (cool NHK video to get a sense of the scale of this lockout). Whenever I see the name, Miike, I always think of Miike Takashi’s “Audition.” Now, I have a much more pleasant association with the name. “Kiri, Kiri, Kiri…“

Beppu, Oita

Beppu is a somewhat regular stop for the Winter Jungyo. The Kyokai has not visited every year, but they do seem to cycle through every two or three years. It’s claim to fame are the hot springs. It is so famous for hot springs that a cuisine called Jigokumushi, or “Hell Steaming” where eggs, seafood, pork buns, and a wide variety of foods are steamed over the mineral-rich waters, gurgling forth from the Earth.

Sadanoumi, Hiradoumi, and Shodai participated in Question Corner. Presumably Shodai’s indimidating presence has moved Wakamotoharu off the bill, replaced with Hiradoumi because of his lightning fast, “anti-Shodai” tachiai.

On To Week Two

Week Two will finish the Kyushu loop of the journey and head back toward central Japan and Osaka. From Osaka, the final leg will be a quick trip out to Okinawa. Meanwhile, many of the non-jungyo wrestlers except for Kitanowaka have headed back to their dohyo. Kitanowaka, on the other hand, has been in London with his shisho. That will be a very interesting tournament.

I have updated the interactive map so that it is in Kita-kyushu, next stop on the Jungyo Trail.

2024: The Yusho Year in Review

bradk Commentary, Yūshō (優勝) , ,

Ozeki Kotozakura made good on his potential and wrapped up 2024 with a 14-1 record and his first yusho. In doing so, he became the fourth man to capture a title in 2024: joining Yokozuna Terunofuji in January (13-2) and July (12-3); M17 Takerufuji in March (13-2); and K/S Onosato in May (12-3) and September (13-2). In all those ranks and records we find a way to historically situate a yusho-year.

A basic way to evaluate a year of yusho victories is tallying the number of wins by the champion. Since 1958 (excluding 2011 and 2020 when there were only 5 basho) the average number of wins for the six yusho is 81.5. By that metric, any total greater than 82 wins is above average and anything below 81 is below average.

In 2024 the win total was 77: well below average. Since 1958, only five years saw a lower win total (’61, ‘75, ’99,’22, ’23) while 2 years saw an equal number of wins (’72, ’03).

Another way to gage the strength of each championship is to consider the rank of the champion. We could call this rank-quality (RQ). For RQ I awarded 5 points for every yokozuna championship; 3 for every ozeki; 2 for every sekiwake; and one for every komosubi. For every maegashira championship I subtracted the rank value of the rikishi. In this system, the highest RQ value for one year would be 30: representing a yokozuna (5 points) winning each of the 6 basho.

The RQ for 2024 was -1. Terunofuji’s two wins for 10 points; plus 3 for Onosato’s wins as a komosubi (1 point) and sekiwake (2 points); plus 3 for Kotozakura’s win as an ozeki; minus 17 points for Takerufuji’s win at M17. The average RQ for a basho-year is just under 21.5. Once again, in 2024 the average rank of yusho winners was well below average.

It is now a rather simple exercise to add the annual total of championship wins and the rank quality. The highest possible score in such a system would be 120: this represents a yokozuna winning each basho with a 15-0 record. We might call this a championship quality (CQ) score. The average CQ score since 1958 is 103. The CQ score for 2024 was 76: 77 wins + -1 RQ. A 76 RQ score basically translates to an M1 winning each basho of the year with 12 or 13 wins. Not exactly compelling sumo.

In short, 2024 continued an era of mediocre yusho years.

2024 was below average for the number of wins and the rank of winners. This has been the case every year since 2019. The average number of wins in a year is 81.5. The average rank quality is 21.5. The average sum of these numbers- the championship quality- is 103. Since 2019 numbers look like this:

Year Wins (81.5) Rank quality (21.5)

Championship quality (103)

2019

 80 11

91

2020

66

 -24

42

2021

80

 19

99

2022

74

 -3

71

2023

74

 18

92

2024

77

 -1

76

 

Again, in 2020 there were only 5 basho, so that year’s totals are not considered in the averages. Even so, every year since 2019 has been below average in every metric.  This is not only a six year lull; it is an historical 6 year lull. The 74 wins in 2022 and again in 2023 represent the lowest total for any year since 1958. The rank quality of -3 in 2022 is the worst for any year of the six-basho era. The -1 RQ of 2024 is only “bettered” (ehhh…worsened?) by the -2 RQ of 1991. The 71 CQ of 2022 and 76 CQ of 2024 are the worst 2 scores of any year.

There has never been a span of yusho as weak as 2019-2024. 1972-1976 and 1998-2003 had similar lulls. But in both periods, there were at least some categories that were average to above average.

Year

 Wins (81.5) Rank quality (21.5)

Championship quality (103)

1972

 77 3

80

1973

84

 26

110

1974

78

 21

99

1975

76

 17

93

1976

 81 21

102

1998

 79 7

86

1999

76

 20

96

2001

 81 4

85

2001

79

 19

98

2002

 80 24

104

2003

77

 22

99

 

The championship quality from 2019-2024 has been consistently, completely, and historically below average. When you consider just the rank and record of the yusho winner, 2019-2024 is the worst span of yusho quality in the six basho era.

Will 2025 bring more of the same? There is reason to look forward with hope. If Takerufuji duplicates his success, it will certainly be at a better rank than M17. Onosato is now an ozeki. Kotozakura is fishing for tuna in January. Any basho won by these men in 2025 will improve the RQ and CQ score for the year. Hopefully they (and others!) can push each other to greater heights. Even if those “greater heights” only represent a return to normalcy.

Sumo in London: More Details Emerge

Josh K Breaking News, Sumo Tourism , ,

Sumo in London

More details about the upcoming sumo expedition to London have emerged, and we must again credit our friends at Inside Sport: Japan for the up-to-the-minute coverage across multiple media formats.

Together with London’s Royal Albert Hall, the Kyokai has announced a koen to take place at the famous venue over the 15th-19th of October, 2025.

Tickets will go on sale for the event in “early 2025,” according to the Royal Albert Hall itself. Click here to follow the ticket page for the latest ticket information and to sign up for ticket notifications.

Royal Albert Hall has issued a warning on its site that only tickets purchased directly from the venue or its approved agents (including its resale partner, Twickets) are valid. Curiously, following in the wake of this year’s Ticketmaster fracas in the UK after the launch of the Oasis reunion tickets, the RAH has also shared on its page that:

Ticket prices are adjusted based on demand. We carefully monitor demand and adjust on a daily basis. We do not change prices during an on-sale.

To editorialise, I’m not sure that statement makes a ton of sense, given that the tickets will presumably be on sale from the original on-sale date until they sell out, and prospective ticket buyers will certainly be coming from multiple time zones. In any case, it seems that dynamic pricing will be in play. With the Kyokai only visiting London once every few decades or so, they can of course allow the ticketing partner to take the brunt of any blowback from fans. It will be intriguing to see how the tickets are eventually priced, given that dynamic ticketing has been a massively unpopular – and certainly unfriendly – development with average consumers in a market that already has extremely high tourism costs.

As ISJ points out on its socials, and other punters have already speculated in a lengthy thread on SumoForum, misinformation may continue to occur in the lead up to the event (some of which has apparently been propagated by the venue itself). And of course, weary longtime fans should expect a flurry of well-meaning but incomplete analysis and coverage from Western media. However, we certainly welcome all newcomers to the sport to participate in the conversation!

We would also like to follow the esteemed outlet’s lead by reiterating that based on all available information, the October trip would not be an official basho. But it may well be a fun time, and we encourage readers to share their stories of any attempts to acquire tickets or attend the event with us, as preparations get closer in the new year.

Winter Jungyo 2024 Opens in Miyakonojo

Andy Jungyo (巡業), Travel , ,

The Winter Tour has started in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki prefecture. At the bottom of this post, I have an interactive map that will show the path of this particular tour. One can imagine the London event that Josh wrote about yesterday will be very similar, though not a “Jungyo”.

These tours are a popular method of outreach for the Japan Sumo Association and it is a great way for fans to meet and mingle with their favorite wrestlers. I had the fortune of going to one such event this past summer. So, this picture is not from Miyazaki, but from Tachikawa. But I hope it gives a sense of the atmosphere. If you would like to read about my experience there, I wrote about it here. I encourage you to check out that post for background on Jungyo.

The Kyokai posted the schedule for the first event on Twitter. Takerufuji will be sitting for the oicho-mage demonstration and Terunofuji will have his rope tying demonstration and dohyo-iri, though he will not participate in bouts.

As for this tour, it starts in Miyazaki prefecture and will end in Okinawa. Miyazaki prefecture is a well known agricultural region in Japan. It’s known in particular for high-grade wagyu beef. That beef is celebrated in the Miyazaki Prefectural Government presents the Miyazaki Governor’s Award, which is a trophy in the shape of a cow. The winning wrestler receives the meat from one head of Miyazaki fine cattle, as well as chicken and produce.

This tour will also pass through Oita prefecture, whose Shiitake Cooperative provides the famous trophy filled with mushrooms. It will then go around Kyushu before passing over the Kanmon strait to Shimonoseki and hoofing it over to Hyogo and Osaka before flying down to the sun and sand in tropical Okinawa.

That brings us to the main reason I highlight these tours for foreign fans. They are a great way to get out of Tokyo and to see other areas of the country.

Interactive Tour Schedule

I’ve put an interactive map below with a tour schedule. This version allows the user to page through the Days as the tour progresses. I’ve defaulted to Day 2 so you can see the first leg of the long, circuitous path from Miyazaki to Okinawa. There are arrows on the left side, underneath “Tour Day”. Click on the right arrow to cycle toward Day 15 and the left arrow to go in reverse. Any feedback you have is appreciated.