Senshuraku in Osaka. In case you missed them, Leonid and I covered the yusho race and banzuke implications with brief updates. If you want to check those out before reading about and watching the action, I’ll wait.
Hakuho presented us with the Kyokai’s decision making for special prizes. Takayasu received an unconditional technique prize. Aonishiki received an unconditional Fighting Spirit prize. Churanoumi and Tokihayate will win fighting spirit prizes if they win their regulation bouts today. If any of the maegashira win the yusho, they will earn the Outstanding Performance prize. If Onosato wins, no one gets it.
Now that you’re ready, your NHK videos of the action are here: Juryo, Makuuchi Part I & Part II.
＜千秋楽の様子＞
— 日本相撲協会公式 (@sumokyokai) March 23, 2025
三賞が決定しました！
・殊勲賞
髙安※12勝で優勝した場合（5）
美ノ海※優勝した場合（初）
安青錦※優勝した場合（初）
時疾風※優勝した場合（初）
・敢闘賞
安青錦（初）
美ノ海※今日勝てば（初）
時疾風※今日勝てば（初）
・技能賞
髙安（3）#sumo #相撲 #三月場所… pic.twitter.com/S5oJLNxcOZ
Makuuchi Action
Onokatsu (10-5) defeated Shirokuma (5-10). Onokatsu overpowered Shirokuma and drove him over the tawara. Yorikiri.
Midorifuji (9-6) defeated Mitakeumi (6-9). Mitakeumi charged forward and Midorifuji wrapped up his left shoulder and pulled while rotating to his right, rolling Mitakeumi to the ground with a lightning quick katasukashi.
Kotoshoho (8-7) defeated Endo (7-8). Endo pulled rather unwisely and Kotoshoho bowled Endo violently through Hakuoho and into the Osaka sumo fan club. Yorikiri.
Hakuoho (9-6) defeated Asakoryu (6-9). Henka! Asakoryu jumped to his left but Hakuoho was wise to it and drove him from the dohyo. Yorikiri.
Ryuden (6-9) defeated Oshoma (9-6). Ryuden drove into Oshoma and Oshoma quit at the edge and stepped out. Yorikiri.
Sadanoumi (8-7) defeated Atamifuji (6-9). Migi-yotsu. Sadanoumi rather dominated Atamifuji and drove him over the bales. Yorikiri.
Tamawashi (10-5) defeated Shishi (9-6). The 40-year-old veteran bulldozed the young-gun and quickly shoved him from his dohyo. Oshidashi.
Shodai (6-9) defeated Nishikigi (3-12). Shodai wrapped up Nishikigi, pivoted, and forced him back to the bales. Nishikigi gave up about halfway there. Yorikiri.
Kinbozan (6-9) defeated Shonannoumi (4-11). Guess what? After Kinbozan’s tachiai nodowa, Shonannoumi pulled. I’m sure you are all shocked. Kinbozan knew the score, too, and dispatched Shonannoumi easily. Yorikiri.
Ichiyamamoto defeated Takarafuji. Ichiyamamoto drove forward with a brutal nodowa against Takarafuji. At the edge, Takarafuji managed to bat Ichiyamamoto’s arm away from his neck and reverse the attack. Takarafuji took the initiative and attacked but Ichiyamamoto pulled and danced along the tawara until Takarafuji fell down. Takarafuji was a bit slow getting up but I think he may have been hoping for a mono-ii that never came. “How could someone backpedal that far and not step out?” Hatakikomi.
Halftime
Ura (7-8) defeated Tobizaru (6-9). Ura wrapped his left arm around the back of Tobizaru’s shimekomi and forced him from the dohyo while Tobizaru tried a last-gasp kubinage. Tobizaru tumbled off the dohyo and Ura flopped onto the dohyo. Gunbai Ura. Tobizaru slow to get up…another mono-ii ploy? He seemed fine walking down the hanamichi but it was a rough fall. Oshidashi.
Meisei (9-6) defeated Chiyoshoma (6-9). Solid tachiai. Meisei shifted right and slapped Chiyoshoma down. Hikiotoshi.
Gonoyama (7-8) defeated Takanosho (3-12). Gonoyama forced Takanosho from the dohyo behind his right hand nodowa. Oshidashi.
Wakamotoharu (9-6) defeated Takerufuji (9-6). Wakamotoharu resisted Takerufuji’s throw attempt and drove forward with his right hand uwate grip. Yorikiri.
Wakatakakage (9-6) defeated Hiradoumi (9-6). Hiradoumi pulled and Wakatakakage stumbled forward…but did not go out. Hiradoumi was late to finish WTK off, so Wakatakakage made him pay. Wakatakakage charged forward and blasted Hiradoumi out. Oshitaoshi.
Sanyaku
Takayasu (12-3) defeated Abi (6-9). We all knew Abi’s henka was coming. Thankfully, Takayasu did, too. He make Abi pay, shoving Abi hard with his right paw in Abi’s right shoulder. That gave Takayasu access to Abi’s belt. Takayasu seized Abi’s belt with his right hand and immediately used the grip to rotate and yank Abi down. With that, Takayasu immediately eliminated Tokihayate, Aonishiki and Churanoumi from contention. Uwatedashinage.
Kirishima (8-7) defeated Tokihayate (10-5). Tokihayate pulled. Kirishima pursued, reached low and inside, latching on quickly. Kirishima kept Tokihayate’s momentum moving backwards and walked him out. Yorikiri.
Aonishiki (11-4) defeated Oho (6-9). Aonishiki is the real deal. He earned his way into the Kore-Yori-Sanyaku in this debut tournament. Mr. Fundamentals then earned the arrows by keeping his head buried under Oho’s chin and driving forward. As Oho retreated and neared the bales, Aonishiki reached deep behind him with his left hand and his right hand up front. He rotated left, bringing Oho backward over his extended knee. Absolutely beautiful. Of the videos, that is a key one to watch. Kirikaeshi.
Churanoumi (11-4) defeated Daieisho (9-6). After his initial powerful tsuppari, Daieisho pulled. Churanoumi stayed up and in. Realizing his back was at the edge, Daieisho stepped out. With the win, Churanoumi claimed a Fighting Spirit Prize. Oshidashi.
Onosato (12-3) defeated Kotozakura (8-7). Onosato pressed forward and shoved Kotozakura out quickly, claimed a massive pile of kensho, and forced a playoff with Takayasu. Yorikiri.
Playoff
A playoff at 12-3 between Ozeki Onosato and former Ozeki and beloved Papa Bear, Takayasu. This is an infinitely better scenario than the alternative 5-man playoff. Takayasu can win his first yusho and try to make a final run at re-promotion to Ozeki. Onosato can kick off his own tsuna-tori.
Onosato defeated Takayasu. Onosato hit Takayasu with a tachiai that staggered the former Ozeki. Takayasu latched on with his left and pulled, nearly forcing Onosato over the bales but Onosato shifted right and kept his weight back. If he was going to fall forward, Takayasu would have to pull him and Takayasu would have to fall first. Takayasu shuffled right but Onosato was now well positioned behind Takayasu and pushed him out. Okuridashi.
Wrap-up
Thank you for joining me for this tournament. It was one heck of a roller-coaster ride. I’m proud for Onosato but am writing through tears for Takayasu. Yet again, he lost a yusho in a playoff. This time, Onosato seemed vulnerable and Takayasu seemed to be fighting well. “厳しいです。” Absolutely right. Frankly, though, the better sumo won today. That tachiai from Onosato was the best one I saw from him this tournament and I hope he hits with that power on a consistent basis. Hoshoryu will hopefully be back and healed in May, ready to make Onosato earn his rope. If Onosato wants it, he will need to do his best and go through Hoshoryu.
There will be news in a few days about Juryo promotions. Jungyo will start up next weekend and will run through the banzuke release at the end of April. The banzuke will be eagerly anticipated in this household. We’re eager to see where these hot-shot yung’uns land as they spring up the ranking sheet.
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Ah, too bad for Takayasu, he’s been so close and wanted it for so long.
Coompletely off-topic – Hakuho’s face looks a bit unbalanced in that picture, like he might have very mild Bell’s palsy. I hope they give him his heya back soon.
Thanks as always, team Tachiai!
Thanks for the great coverage all basho. Comments today are a bit on the short side today, like Onokatsu vs. Shirokuma was actually a nice belt fight worth watching and Endo was quite a bit on the offense before that pull and the unnecessary violent shove by Kotoshoho.
Overall that basho was mediocre. Hoshoryu may or may have not been injured coming into the basho, but he had the worst possible start as a Yokozuna. Kotozakura was a complete non-factor and saved his rank with a bare minimum kachikoshi. Daieisho had an ok basho, but lost two too many bouts. That day one loss against Honoyama and that loss to Kotozakura will probably bite him in a potential Ozeki run.
Oho had some great bouts, but also a lot of no shows. That doesn’t include todays bout, which I think was okay, but Aonishiki was just really hot this basho. Kirishima for some reason had to take one of Takayasu while otherwise being invisible, but at least managed a kachikoshi and Abi was just weak all basho.
That leaves one Sanyaku doing well in Onosato and like others said he has been shaky at times too. Playoff-Onosato is a force, but he wasn’t there all 15 days.
There have been a few feeld good stories in the maegashira ranks. Sadly Takayasu again without a happy end, but he didn’t falter. I think the costly losses were Tobizaru and Kirishima. Churanoumi had a great tournament and is doing fairly well into thrusters and pushers. No coincidence he beat Daieisho as well today.
Aonishiki was obviously fantastic. Next basho will be the real test, when people start to adjust to hime. Iron men Tamawashi was in contention for a while and finished in double digits at the age of 65 or something ;)
Takerufuji and Hakuoho have to be considered a mild dissapointment with 9-6 at their respective rank, especially with Takerufuji losing his last 4.
Overall a pretty mediocre basho to me. A lot of really banged up rikishi. In a few years it might be the basho when Dai-Yokozuna Onosato started his rope run … who knows.
At least we got a new hype train down in Juryo. Lets see how that one arrives back in Tokyo. We should also have two long time fan favorites with Enho and Asanoyama in extended promotion range for Juryo. And maybe Motobayashi/Oshoryu finally on his way to a Sekitori debut?
Thanks for this great overview. I think I agree with U on almost everything.
Because of Aonishiki‘s incredible run after his false start, I don’t feel it was a mediocre basho, but that is a subjective point of view, of course.
Lets face it, Aonishiki had an incredibly weak schedule. I kind of hesitate to call beating Oho a quality win, although this was one of Oho’s better bouts this basho.
It was a great Makuuchi debut, but this Takerufuji guy debuted with a 13-2 yusho only one year ago and he still has to establish himself as even Sanyaku material. So lets not get ahead of ourselves and put too much expectations on Aonishiki.
Very true. The real ordeal comes only when the rikishi are part of the joi.
But still: as I rooted for Aonishiki from the beginning, Haru turned out to be a great basho for me personally.
Excellent point
Aonishiki was M15E. He faced all 6 rikishi below him plus one Juryo man. He faced the 3 riksihi directly above him, then those at M11, M9, M6, and both Sekiwake. In that later group he lost only to Daiesho. I would not call that a weak schedule for M15E.
That’s the point. For M15 his schedule was slightly above average with the two Sekiwake due to him being in the yusho race, but generally his schedule was weak, as is expected at M15. 11-4 in your makuuchi debut is a great accimplishment, but it doesn’t mean that he is automatically marching to sanyaku now, because his schedule over the next tournaments will become much more competitive and people will adjust to him.
It’s not taking anything from him, it just means, we will see over the next basho, what he is really capable of, if he keeps putting up good results.
Thoroughly enjoyed today’s matches. Glad my fav Kirishima got his needed wins; disappointed that Takerafuji is apparently NOT Jesus; fooled by that tan. Didn’t Abi realize that EVERYONE knew he might pull a henka; what was he 🤔 thinking?
Our perpetual bridesmaid looked crestfallen. Sure hope whatever money he makes will help.
Hope that Mitakeumi has some plan beyond wallowing around Juryo since can’t see him beating those guys anyway.
Frankly, been kind of ignoring the Ukrainians until recently. Anoshiki seems to be the real thing, wow! But please, let’s NOT use any words beginning with O or Y at least until September!
Parabéns to ONOSATO. Some of you don’t care for him but he’s getting the job done. Right? Practice? That’s for chumps.
Until May…
(PS: I agree, always thought Hakuoho’s face seemed
Thanks so much for the great coverage, Andy, including the convenient links to the NHK videos. I’m awarding you the unclaimed Outstanding Performance prize.
Thank you! It’s my first 🥇.
Saaaaavaros !!! Write more please
There are Sumo gods. The Sumo higher ups pray to them every evening that they will never have to demote Ura.
Endo – I have been watching sumo for years and years. The announcers always introduce him as the fan favorite Endo. I do not live in Japan. Is that the way fans see him? Why? He made it to Komusubi at one point but mostly he just bounces up and down in the mid ranks. He got off to a good start this time. I thought maybe he will his technician skills this time. But no that didn’t happen. What am I not seeing about Endo?
That’s a great question. It goes back to when he burst on the scene as a Makushita tsukedashi in 2013 out of Nihon Daigaku. He held two amateur Yokozuna titles and debuted as such a heavyweight they gave him Ms10.
Two basho later, sekitori and Juryo yusho. One more, shin’nyumaku. That’s a faster rise than Onosato or Mitakeumi or Ichinojo. Hakuoho made it to sekitori faster because he won the yusho on his debut.
Anyway, it had been a couple of years after the yaocho scandal and the big earthquake. Sumo was at a very low point. He generated a massive amount of buzz and fans, especially female fans. He’s got good looks a deep voice, and so he featured on a lot of commercials. Nagatanien was one of his biggest sponsors. He used to attract a lot of kensho kin, though it has dwindled as his performance has not lived up to the hype. He probably attracted more attention to sumo than Kotoshogiku’s yusho or Kisenosato becoming Yokozuna. Sumo was in a bad way and he made it cool.
Okay, all of that is facts. The speculation comes here: he got married and was thus off-the-market for all of the sujo who would take pictures of themselves and his wooden cutout in front of Kokugikan. Also, I think he’s got some bad injuries, in particular head injuries. I think due to repeated knockouts, he gets concussions easily. Since his kensho awards were so big, I think he was frequently targeted for kachi-age and other rather rough tactics. I’m still a big fan but I am also a very concerned fan when I see him fall and take time to get up.
I’d add that he was a brilliant technician on the belt, even though I only saw him after he was already severely hampered by a knee injury (ALC tear?) that they chose to “heel naturally.”
if I recall right, that devastating injury was exactly 10 years. Its actually quite impressive how long he was able to continue his career and stay in Makuuchi all that time with a few minor interruptions.
His belt bouts have been a joy to watch for years.
Thank you. I never knew the Endo back story. I understand it now. Living outside of Iapan and not being able to understand Iapanese media makes it difficult not to superficially judge the sumotori.
Wow, I had never considered that it’s dangerous to have a lot of kensho sponsors because your opponent will be so motivated to clobber you for all that cash.
To be frank, I think that’s why kensho exists, to motivate the combatants to have a good fight. Seems like Prize Fighting 101, especially in a sport where not everyone is competing for the yusho, not everyone will get kachi-koshi, not every bout will necessarily be meaningful to your position. As an economist, sumo fandom is a master class in economic incentives. As for it being dangerous…well… it’s a combat sport with no helmets or gloves or mats or pads or any other protection, aside from one’s modesty.
Thanks for great coverage/site + a great set of commenters .. Can i shave yet? ..
Churanoumi had a great under-the-radar basho by keeping his head velco’d (+bunji-cord?) under his opponent’s chin .. no matter the battering his head took .. It worked! .. Will his head/heart be willing to continue that strategy? ..
Hiradoumi aspires to that skill ..
Aonishiki has a high floor .. his fundamentals + strength + adaptive wrestling moves .. should keep him from dropping down the banzuke .. How high can he go? .. btw .. his style is consistent w preserving his cranium ..
I am struck be the series/cycles of one-basho-wonders .. i.e. those who get us fired up as the “next great” up-and-coming-rikishi .. only to taper off or fall back once they reach a higher level on the banzuke .. Oho, Kinbozan, + Ichiyamamoto come to mind post-January basho .. Meanwhile Takerufuji & Atamifuji are repeat under-performers ..
Onokatsu & Tokihayate deserve note as showing enough growth that they may stay in Makuuchi for more than a few bashos ..
What makes you say Takerufuji is a repeat under-performer? After winning Jonokuchi and Jonidan division championships in successive tournaments, he went through Sandamne and Makushita in in 5 tournaments, won the Juryo championship in his one basho residency, won the Makuuchi division in the next basho, where he injured himself.
Off sick then for essentially two whole tournaments, came back and won Juryo again and popped back into Makuuchi, perhaps a little older, wiser, and slightly tempered by his experiences.10-5, 10-5, and 9-6 results in the last 3 bashos is hardly terrible, going from. #16, to #11, to #6. Now, I will allow that he’s not exactly set the world on fire, but he’s not exactly failing either is he?
Atamafuji though, does seem to be going backwards!
Betty, That is a good analysis of Takerufuji .. I was taken w his first yusho + ability to seemingly storm through the banzuke .. Leaving the impression of a fast rising Ozeki candidate .. Thereafter he has appeared human .. i.e. too high expectations here .. His classy behavior on the dohyo wins my appreciation .. Do wonder if those near skinny legs will hold up against mobile upper rikishi not overpowered by his tachiai (e.g. WMH) .. imho .. He will be fun to watch .. w/o the expectations ..
I agree Kyotoguru. I can’t imagine the amount of pressure these young men are under, let alone when they show that extra spark of talent /ability. You are so right about his classy behaviour on the dohyo, it’s good to see that consideratio. He’s not alone in that, however I’d like more of that from others who just ignore their fellow rikishi lying in a heap beside the dohyo!
Takerufuji is known here as ‘he of the delicate ankles’. I hope he can expand his skills (and his lower body strength) and become another force on the banzuke.
OK, the question on everyone’s lips (well, mine until I took the dive) – who has the most yusho runner-ups? (Hint: the answer is the same as just about every sumo record question).
Yes, Hakuho is miles out in front with 22. However, the silver lining for Takayasu is that, from what I can tell, he has moved out in front by himself for the most runner-ups without a yusho (this basho broke a tie with Yutakayama – the old one)!