All four of the lower division yusho races were decided earlier today. Mudoho won the Makushita yusho, Daimasakari won the Sandanme yusho, Yago won the Jonidan yusho and Daikisho won the Jonokuchi yusho.
Your NHK videos are here: Juryo Part I & Part II, Makuuchi Part I & Part II.
In Juryo, Shishi lost to Nabatame and Ryuden defeated Aonishiki, so we now have a two-man yusho contest in the second division. Matches have not been set for the next two days but Ryuden already beat Shishi, so they cannot meet again unless there’s a playoff.
Makuuchi Action
Tamashoho (5-8) defeated Nishikigi (6-7). Tamashoho kept plugging away at Nishikigi with his tsuppari and drove Nishikigi over the edge. Oshidashi.
Midorifuji (6-7) defeated Kotoshoho (3-10). Solid tachiai but when Kotoshoho charged ahead, Midorifuji slipped to the side and Kotoshoho ran himself off the dohyo. Tsukiotoshi.
Tamawashi (8-5) defeated Onokatsu (7-6). Onokatsu reached in with his left hand but Tamawashi immediately wrapped it in an arm bar. As Onokatsu extracted his arm, Tamawashi dragged Onokatsu toward the edge and battered him until he backed out. Oshidashi.
Oshoma (7-6) defeated Tokihayate (5-8). Oshoma pulled and tried a slapdown. It failed but drew Tokihayate toward the edge. At the edge, Oshoma attacked with another armbar, kotenage, and dragged Tokihayate along the bales by his arm. He then finished him off with a quick shove. Oshidashi.
Nishikifuji (8-5) defeated Churanoumi (4-9). Nishikifuji’s tsuppari never allowed Churanoumi to establish himself inside or get a belt grip. Churanoumi tried some misdirection but Nishikifuji’s footwork was solid today. Nishikifuji continued to press forward and drove Churanoumi to his ninth loss. Oshidashi.
Kagayaki (5-8) defeated Takarafuji (5-8). Solid tachiai. Kagayaki plowed ahead and Takarafuji slowly shifted to his left. Kagayaki maintained his steady pressure and forced Takarafuji back and out. Oshidashi #5.
Meisei (5-8) defeated Mitakeumi (2-11). Mitakeumi showed up and Meisei forced him out. Yorikiri #1.
Shonannoumi (7-6) defeated Endo (6-7). Endo did a henka and Shonannoumi thrust him from the dohyo. As Endo rolled down the dohyo, he made sure to kick Oho in the face a few times. Oshitaoshi #1.
Hakuoho (8-5) defeated Hiradoumi (6-7). Hiradoumi jumped early. Reset. Solid tachiai. Hakuoho got his left hand inside but Hiradoumi immediately shifted his right hand to force Hakuoho’s grip outside. Hakuoho seemed fine with the outside grip and bulldozed forward, forcing HIradoumi out. Yorikiri.
Oho (10-3) defeated Ura (6-7). Oho’s improved ring sense this tournament. He pulled but shifted left well in front of the bales to pull Ura down. Hatakikomi.
Halftime. Shimpan Shuffle.
Newsbreak. Another FujiTV update. Stick it to your competitor. Kick him when he’s down, repeatedly.
Tobizaru (6-7) defeated Atamifuji (3-10). Atamifuji spent a lot of time and energy on his right hand ottsuke, squeezing Tobizaru’s left hand and not allowing him to get too deep. With his left-hand outside, he tried to swing Tobizaru around but Tobizaru’s footwork was solid today. He countered by continuing to press inside with his right hand inside. Atamifuji was too big to throw but as the two danced along the edge, Tobizaru forced his weight into Atamifuji and pressed him out before tumbling from the dohyo himself. Yorikiri.
Kirishima (10-3) defeated Takayasu (7-6). A battle of former Ozeki. Kirishima longed for an inside position but Takayasu brawled him to keep him off his belt. “I will fight you.” Eventually, Takayasu tired and Kirishima took the opportunity to get his left hand inside. Takayasu trapped Kirishima’s left arm so Kirishima pulled and dragged Takayasu down while rotating and shoving Takayasu with his left. Both men tumbled down the dohyo’s side. A mono-ii was called to check if they fell at the same time but Takayasu was clearly down first. Tsukiotoshi.
Takanosho (6-7) defeated Gonoyama (6-7). Takanosho lives on the edge. After a back-and-forth grapple, Gonoyama finally worked Takanosho to the bales but Takanosho escaped right and shoved Gonoyama down. No kensho on this bout? Both of these men are heyagashira. Takakeisho’s supporters have not shifted to the pleasant, cheerful Onigiri-kun? Tsukiotoshi.
Sanyaku
Wakatakakage (7-6) defeated Shodai (6-7). Shodai tried to shift his left-hand inside but as this brought Shodai’s body up, Wakatakakage took advantage, bulled forward and toppled Shodai into the crowd. Yorikiri.
Takerufuji (10-3) defeated Abi (7-6). Abi decided to play tawara roulette today. Abi shifted left, pulled and Takerufuji charged forward. Takerufuji seemed to stay up just long enough to force Abi out. Mono-ii. Replay showed Abi’s heel touching outside the ring as Takerufji was still falling forward. Oshidashi #6.
Daieisho (9-4) defeated Chiyoshoma (8-5). Chiyoshoma has been taking on the top guys, head-on. I have to give him props. No henka today. In fact, Daieisho was the one to shift to the right, thrusting Chiyoshoma from the left side. He followed up with his steady blasts. Chiyoshoma dropped off the dohyo. It was a good run. Props to Kokonoe’s top dog. Tsukidashi.
Ichiyamamoto (7-6) defeated Wakamotoharu (4-9). Ichiyamamoto yanked yard on Wakamotoharu, pulling him to the edge of the ring. Ichiyamamoto then followed up with powerful thrusts and forced Wakamotoharu off the ring and out of sanyaku altogether. Oshidashi.
Hoshoryu (10-3) defeated Onosato (8-5). Hoshoryu wanted a left-hand grip but Onosato batted his arm away and pressed forward. Hoshoryu then reached up with his right arm and put Onosato into a headlock. Onosato was trying to reach in with his right hand and Hoshoryu’s pivot carried him forward and off the ground. Hoshoryu dropped Onosato with the Kubinage.
Kinbozan (11-2) defeated Kotozakura (5-8). Kinbozan blasted Kotozakura head-on at the tachiai. Kotozakura pulled weakly and Kinbozan’s footwork was solid. He quickly rushed the Ozeki to his make-koshi. Tsukidashi.
Wrap-up
What a Tournament! As we head into the final weekend, Kinbozan leads a yusho race we did not see coming on Day One. Kotozakura has gone from the consensus favorite for Yokozuna promotion to Kadoban. Hoshoryu’s slim hopes might still be alive, though even with a yusho, I’m not sure if it will be enough to impress and earn a promotion at this tournament.
Schedulers need to get cracking because they have not set up our Day 14 bouts, yet. I’ll try to bring an update later with the details but it might not come until late. In the meantime, I’m eager to hear what bouts you will be looking forward to this weekend! Will Kotozakura continue? If he does not, who will get the fusen win?
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Welcome back, Kiribayama … I mean, Kirishima. We’ve missed you.
Agreed! Good to see him regain his form. He’s fighting Kinbozan tomorrow, and Hoshoryu, Takerufuji. So exciting.
Thanks Andy.
I agree and disagree. In this basho he is Kiribayama, as he was in the September (jun yusho), but in November he was Kirishima with a 6-9. Therefore let‘s wait for the next tournament and see whether he is back for good.
So Kirishima gets Kinbozan on Saturday and Hoshoryu gets Takerufuji.
Sunday should be something like Oho/Kinbozan, Kirishima/Takerufuji and Hoshoryu vs someone not in the yusho race (a kadoban Kotozakura? Abi who should probably get his kk against Takayasu on Saturday? the best available Darwin match?).
Playoff chaos looks a racing certainty at this point.
Is your handle a pun on Sean Connery?
Yessshhh, it issssh.
Is is culturally insensitive?
It’s hilarioussh. Well done. That’s a heck of a shikona which I would probably rip off if I actually were a sumo wrestler.
Thanks for the compliment. I might try and unite all my little contributions to the sumo-sphere online under this shikona.
Imagine the yobidashi calling it out before the fight, or the gyoji afterwards. Imagine the kesho-mawashi with various Bond related clues.
especially since there was a Bond movie with sumo in it.
The thing is, as the Japan Times article indicates it’s a match between Kotozakura and Fujinishiki, but nothing in their honbasho record matches what’s being seen in the movie.
Googling around I came across a blog by a Japanese James Bond fan who seemingly went to great lengths to research contemporary press coverage of the filming. Strongly indicates that everything shown was specifically set up for the film crew.
https://bondinochi007.blog.jp/archives/1803248.html
I believe that you would that scene you are refering Andy. Am I right ?
I’m curious how they manage to do that scene. Obviously, they didn’t just made Sean Connery pop up in one of the Honbasho, followed by some film camera crew, and shoot the take. Everything that we see must have been a movie scene with actors purposely made for the movie.
Yet….that scene look so much like the real thing that we see each day during a tournament. With real rikishi. And it look much like the real Kokugikan too with a real ring and all with real spectator.
I wonder….did the movie director just did a deal with the JSA and rented the kokugikan for a day, created like a mini match for that scene, like those 1 day special tournament they sometime held at the kokugikan between basho ? And just advertised to the public “come assist and be part of a James Bond movie by watching a real exhibition match !”
From what I understand, it was an actual tournament. Those are real wrestlers and it was filmed at the old Kuramae Kokugikan. Even creepier is the coincidental connection with current Kotozakura. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2020/03/15/sumo/kotozakura-limited-run-yokozuna-successful-tenure-stablemaster/
I have no idea why my post got timestamped to earlier than the one I was following up on. :))
LOL. Crazy weekend.
Takerufuji vs. Hoshoryu as Musubi no Ichiban. Kinbozan faces Kirishima and Oho gets Takanosho.
Thanks to the Takeru Hoshoryu pairing the yusho will definitely get decided on senshuraku, but whether we will have only 2 or up to 4 rikishi in the race depends on tomorrow’s results. There is still a theoretical case that we end up with an 11-4 yusho, but if Oho wins tomorrow and assuming he meets Kinbozan on senshuraku, that would be ruled out too.
I think it is just hilarious we have gone from potential double-Yokozuna talk to a potential day 15 M14-M11 decider bout!
The chaos era reigns.
My focus today was clearly on the contender matches, but let’s start from the bottom.
Tokihayate secured his makehoshi today, but he will probably stay in makuuchi with one more win no matter what. With Teru’s intai, the injured records by Roga, Hokutofuji and Kitanowaka four open promotion spots are already accounted for. Also Kotoshoho seems pretty determined to join his brother opening a fifth spot, but outside the 3 leaders in juryo, promotion candidates are slim.
So Takarafuji did his best today to keep Kagayaki in makuuchi. His 5 wins might already be enough.
Tamawashi secured his kachikoshi today at the cost of Onokatsu. Onokatsu needs to better prepare for his opponents. That was pretty standard Tamawashi.
Hakuoho very convincingly got his kachikoshi against Hiradoumi. Bit surprised, how easy that was. Hiradoumi has a somewhat weird basho.
Gonoyama with another missed opportunity. He needs to better capitalise on his strong tachiai.
Wakatakakage met the off version of Shodai today, making a big step towards staying in sanyaku. That attempt to change the grip by Shodai looked pretty stupid, as it rose him up, making him an easy target to walk out, but he was in a very bad position. Ozeki Shodai somehow managed to escape from that frequently, but he isn’t anymore.
The other Waka is now officially opening up one sanyaku slot. Not much to say about the bout. Something is wrong with Wakamotoharu this basho and Ichiyamamoto easily pushed him out.
Chiyoshoma has his kachikoshi and probably isn’t too unhappy about being removed from the yusho race at the hands of Daieisho. In Sanyaku he is outmatched for the most part.
Typical Abi bout. He pulled and tried to turn tables at the edge and it almost worked … but the win goes to Takerufuji, who remains in the race and will face Hoshoryu tomorrow. Abi will fight Takayasu tomorrow trying to get his kachikoshi. If he loses, I would pair him instead of Kotozakura with Hoshoryu.
Speaking of Takyasu… solid fight with Kirishima. I thought it was over when Kirishima got to his belt, but he almost managed to drag Kirishima down with him. Close call, but Kirishima remains in the race.
I was a bit worried about Oho, because Ura is always dangerous to surprise you, but he solved that hurdle very calm and methodically. Technically he pulled today, but only after setting Ura up well for it and as Andy mentioned, without his back to the tawara zen … not giving Ura any chance to capitalise.
The highlight match of the day was over very quickly. Onosato is just not very sharp this basho and so he ran into a nice throw by Hoshoryu. Very nicely executed. Hoshoryu stays in the race and is rooting for Kirishima tomorrow.
Kinbozan disposed Kotozakura even faster and sealed his kadoban. Should we scold Kotozakura for even participating this basho or applaud him for the 5wins he picked up despite his condition? Unfortunately one of those is against Oho.
Still a number of scenarios possible.I don’t have the slightest guess about the headliner in Kinbozan vs. Kirishima. Takanosho is a dangerous opponent for Oho and still fighting for kachikoshi. I favour Hoshoryu against Takerufuji. Exciting weekend ahead.
With Mudoho taking the Makushita title, the possibility for two brothers taking yusho in the same tournament is still there. Probably a pretty rare thing.
Other Juryo promotion candidates: Sadanoumi needs 1 win for promotion from Juryo. If they win out, Kayo, Asakoryu, & Shirokuma will also have promotable records. Shirokuma has the hardest path since he faces Aonishiki.
As to whether a yusho would be enough for Hoshoryu to get the rope. It was always my understanding that consecutive yusho would be sufficient, regardless of score. The score only came into play when it was for a jun yusho after or before a yusho. This made sense, because the score needed to be equivalent to a yusho, that is a score that might plausibly lead to a yusho. So 14-1 or 13-2. Hoshoryu already has that. If a 13-2 jun yusho is sufficient, I don’t see why a 12-3 yusho wouldn’t satisfy that part. It isn’t a bad score for a yusho. Obviously 11-4 would be questionable.
As always, I defer to those who have actual knowledge, but if he does win at 12-3 and isn’t promoted, I will be sulky for a while.
Hoshoryu didn’t win the yusho in November. He had a jun-yusho. So, winning here would not be consecutive yusho. I have to refer back to Asashosakari’s comment earlier this basho. I haven’t seen updated statements on Hoshoryu’s “run” and I haven’t seen chatter in the press. I don’t think it is a matter of, “was November enough to count?” More like if his performance was strong enough in January, it could be a possibility. I’m not convinced this is a possibility at this point. Maybe in March.
I thought the November result was considered “yusho equivalent” in which case a January yusho would be consecutive. Other promotions have been made on the basis of a yusho consecutive to a jun yusho.
Asashosakari’s post, I think, was targeted at this way of thinking. https://tachiai.org/2025/01/21/hatsu-2025-day-ten/comment-page-1/#comment-39133
Not to put words in his mouth but rather than a blanket statement that November “ticked the box,” so to speak, it was that going into January he and Kotozakura had an opportunity to shine and show that they were possibly worthy of elevation depending on the outcome of this tournament. Given Kotozakura’s kadoban and Hoshoryu’s earlier losses, I think both runs are toast. I mean we came into this with romantic hopes of Hoshoryu and Kotozakura fighting on Senshuraku for the title again. That’s fallen apart in such spectacular fashion that I am not even sure Hoshoryu and Kotozakura will even fight this tournament.
Thanks for that! I sometimes miss the subtleties of the Japanese way of looking at things!
I think I’ll agree with Andy about this basho not being enough to get Hoshoryu the rope. The opponents he lost to aren’t fighting well this basho and it feels like he should have won those matches. Based on the fact that people have to vote to promote someone to Yokozuna, if Hoshoryu wins the Cup I don’t think it’ll be enough to convince people. I will say, though, that Terunofuji going intai also does play into the discussion.
That last sentence is the biggest unknown factor, in my mind. How much does the YDC need a Yokozuna? If they don’t mind a period of time without one, we could be without for quite a while. If they’re desperate for one, Hoshoryu is likely already there and they might even give it to him with a jun-yusho here. We’ve had worse Yokozuna.
Only two Ozeki had 13 wins in the first basho and a yusho with 12 in the second, but as they both also won the first basho, there is really no precedent. One of the two wasn’t promoted to Yokozuna, though he had a double yusho! I don’t know if that gives us a hint, because it was back in 1949.
I’d like to agree Redfearn, however, I don’t know enough of the intricacies to do so. In fairness, Hoshoryu has been lot more focused, I think, in the last basho, and this one. Does he need to demonstrate more consistency over another few basho? I mean, in November he just scraped an 8-7 result. (That was November wasn’t it?). Another point in his favour from my perspective is that he’s been an Ozeki now for 9 tournaments. No kadoban. Kirishima went up to Ozeki the tournament before Hoshoryu, but as we know has fallen to Maergashira#1, for now. Kotozakura has been Ozeki 6 tournaments, now kadoban. Credit to Hoshoryu – plus, he’s a favourite of mine.
The ways of the JSA are opaque to me. Anyone got a crystal ball? 🔮
Hoshoryu’s 8-7 tournament was September. He had a 13-2 jun-yusho in November.
Ah thank you Andy, I got utterly confused there!! Duh.
We’re going to have a lot to talk about after this weekend is over. My goodness! I hope Kotozakura bows out tomorrow. He needs to heal up and take as much time as he needs to take care of himself. Of course, he’ll mount the dohyo in the next basho and risk his entire career in an attempt to save his Ozeki rank.
Sanyaku is currently an interesting mix of people who need to do more work in various ways. The most obvious is Onosato, but it’s important to remember he’s still young and doesn’t have a lot of professional basho under his belt. I’m hoping this basho is the appropriate kick in the pants for him to dedicate himself to learning and training more often. Hoshoryu has definitely settled into the “anchor” position at the top of banzuke now that Terunofuji has gone intai. I suspect that next basho we’ll have most of the rikishi near where they should be ranked instead of having Kinbozan and Takerufuji down in the lower reaches of the top division. There will still probably be a surprise or two that’ll happen though.
As for today, I’m curious to see if Abi will be able to hold onto his rank using his standard shenanigans. Takerufuji was wise to his strategy, but Abi doing a kick at the tachiai was a huge blunder and just set himself up for failure (never mind that he kicked his opponent’s leg that had all of Takerufuji’s weight on it and that could have blown out his ankle or knee).
I will also give a lot of credit to Chiyoshoma. His behavior is an high quality example for those who are looking to him for leadership and to learn.
Onosato continues to amaze me. With the dumpster fires around him he’s kachi-koshi, again, and might still manage 10 wins. He’s clearly still developing which is just a phenomenal realization given that he’s already won AND reached Ozeki. To me, he’s the top talent of this younger crop and it will be amazing to see where these guys take the sport in the next 2-5 years.
Hoshoryu can sure pull off some elegant moves.
Nice that Kotoeiho is doing so well down in juryo. He does really pretty shiko too.
The funnel is akin to a great forge that fashions mighty works of gold, Champions and Grand Champions. Hoshoryu is looking more and more golden with each month as Ozeki. Onosato’s talent and size are also quite blinding, the future is bright no doubt. I respect Teru’s timing, he’s been a real ambassador for sumo. This has been quite a couple of weeks, Saturday and Sunday should be very exciting.
Gonoyama is to Takakeisho as Ichiyamamoto is to Abi — a little bit smaller, a little bit less sauce.
Even if Abi’s heel had not gone out before Takerufuji touched down Abi’s other leg had long since broken the plane of the dohyo. The heel makes it a bit clearer though.
Is “the plane of the dohyo” a real thing or something borrowed from the NFL?
Imagine a dohyo with orange pylons all around the circumference.
Dude, the orange pylons have cameras now! It’s wild! One day there might be cameras embedded in the tawara.
…and the mawashi…
…and the top knot…
For those who’d been wondering in recent weeks: The jungyo tour calendar for April was finally announced today.
https://www.sumo.or.jp/EnJungyo/schedule/
Oh, thank you! Someone had been asking about that.
The next few years look bright for sumo .. Teru tossed the baton into a cage fight .. There are a couple candidates for the rope, but competition is rising + dangerous vets remain .. Future bashos will have more drama than a middle school classroom ..
Loved Daieisho’s twist on Chiyoshoma .. threw a henka-master a curveball ..
Oho v Takanosho should be a good match .. imho Takanosho’s record does reflect solid sumo in his early matches .. Darwin time should focus his mind ..
Hoshoryu’s ability to react is special .. Can never predict how he will react to a move ..
Unlike Kirishima, Kiribiyama kept pressing Takayasu … took his beating + got inside + believed in his abilty to react/figure something out .. Kinbozan presents a big puzzle .. keep pressing + moving to find an opening, but don’t get blocked out against the bales ..
Gotta wonder how Atamifuji would do if he focussed on keeping his hands/arms under his opponent’s .. Tobizaru ducked/dodged until he got inside on the belt .. Atamifuji is strong enough to still almost throw him out .. flying monkeys are tough to herd ..
I agree about Daieisho’s twist on Chiyoshoma. “Inashi” is a part of the sport and always an acceptable strategy. When it gets to be predictable, it’s not effective.
Underrated storylines of the basho:
One: What’s wrong with Wakamotoharu? He’s been solid, consistent, but not this time out. Biggest non-Ozeki disappointment this basho?
Two: Atamifuji’s slow start tendency bled into week two. He’s been really subpar all tournament, and whatever promise he was showing has been dulled, despite the two wins against Ozeki. I want to believe in him, but he’s running into a wall even harder than Onosato right now,
Three: Just how close is Mitakeumi to retirement? The dearth of promotion candidates might slow his fall, but Juryo is looking like a likely destination by summer for him at this rate. An addendum to this: have we seen the last of Hokutofuji? Like Onosho, the end seems to have come on all-of-a-sudden for him, which is crushing as both of them are among my favorites.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Wakamotoharu has an injury but he’s flopped at Sekiwake before. I’ve heard rumors that Atamifuji has back issues. I do think Mitakeumi and Hokutofuji are heading for Juryo for a while.
It is interesting pegging what rank is the best rank for each rikishi to perform their best sumo. Some of my favs perform best at levels below what they previously achieved. Consistency at the higher ranks is a tough day at the office ..every day !
Kotozakura is completely out of power, it seems. Though lateral mobility is not on top in his toolkit, there would have been some time and space for it at the edge with Kinbozan. But he simply stepped out. In the Takerufuji bout it also showed up he had no stability against the attack from aside. It looked spectacular, but I thought observing that Takerufuji kicked his knee shortly to the inside of Kotozakura‘s left leg, so the balance was broken a moment before the shove to the shoulder. Anyhow, the kid had a gloomy look in his face on from Day One. Needs some time out for sure.