Month: August 2025

Aki Banzuke Review

lksumo Nagoya 2025

The September rankings just dropped. After a string of “unconventional” banzuke, the committee pretty much stuck to the usual guidelines and precedents, resulting in good prediction for the Crystal Ball. Really, the only thing my guess got wrong were the exact drops for the falling sanyaku members. I had K1e Oshoma (3-12) at M6w, while the committee (quite reasonably) pushed him down another rank to M7w. On the other hand, my guess placed absent S1e Daieisho (0-0-15) at M11w, while the committee was more lenient, ranking him at M10e. The cascading effects of these two errors led to several other incorrect placements at M6w-M7w and M10-M12; otherwise the guess was perfect. The only head-scratching decision by the committee was placing M10w Roga (7-8) ahead of M6e Takerufuji (5-8-2), who was both higher-ranked and deserved to be ahead by the usual banzuke math.

As expected, the Sekiwake got reshuffled, with S2w Wakatakakage (10-5) moving to S1e ahead of S1w Kirishima (8-7), who stayed in place. Let’s see if WTK can rack up the 11 wins he likely needs for an Ozeki promotion. The Komusubi slots went to Takayasu and (one basho too late) Aonishiki, which gives him the record for the fastest rise to the named ranks by someone starting from the bottom, two basho faster than Asashoryu, Konishiki, and Kotooshu—not a bad list to pass! The four clear promotions from and demotions to Juryo were confirmed, with Shonannoumi, Tomokaze, Nishikigi, and Ryuden returning to the top division to replace Endo, Chiyoshoma, Hidenoumi, and Kayo. There was some uncertainty about the final two spots, but as the Crystal Ball foresaw, J6e Hitoshi (10-5) was just good and lucky enough to earn a Makuuchi debut, while M17w Shishi did just enough to hang on to the final rung of the top-division ladder (M18e) by his fingernails.

With the rankings released, we are only two weeks away from the start of the Aki basho, with lots of exciting story lines to follow!

Shin Makushita Aki 2025

hochiyama Makushita (幕下)

Our debutants last tournament did generally as expected. Ryūshō manged a 5-2 record, Fujiizumi was absent (and hopefully will be back sooner than the last time he skipped due to injury), and Furuta seems to have hit his ceiling. Fujiizumi and Furuta will be ranked back in Sandanme next time.
I will detail the projected shin-makushita (Kobayashi, Tenrōsei, Ryūji, Kōki, and Harunishiki) and catch up on a recently missed newbie (Anhibiki) in this edition.

Kobayashi (小林)

Stable: Kasugano
Age: 21
Height (cm/feet-inches): 178 / 5’10”
Weight (kg/lbs): 139 / 305
Home prefecture: Saitama
High School: Saitama Sakae
University: —
Career Record and notes: 56-23-26 (.709)
Debut: Hatsu 2023
Notes: Sandanme Yūshō in Nagoya 2025

Possibility of reaching sekitori: Likely.

Kobayashi won the Sandanme division last time, capping his return from a recent knee injury (posterior cruciate ligament) that took him back to Jonokuchi. He considers himself a rival of fellow Saitama Sakae high school graduates Gōnoumi, Gōnowaka (last tournament’s Jonidan champion), Fujinoshin, Kotokenryū, Kazeeidai, and last tournament’s shin-nyumaku Fujinokawa. His Sandanme championship will put him likely only behind Fujinokawa and Kotokenryū in the rankings. He indicated his goal is to become sekitori ahead of wrestlers his same age who first went to university, around the age of 21 or 22 – so he has to make his move this year.
Kobayashi has followed in the footsteps of Tochitaikai, Tochikamiyama, and Tochimusashi by joining Kasugano stable – referred to Kasugano by a supporter of the high school sumo club. His connection to Kasugano goes back further, as he used to train at Iruma sumo club (beginning sumo in 5th grade). Iruma sumo club’s coach was in the same Meiji University sumo club as Kasugano Oyakata (ex-Tochinowaka). When recruited, he indicated that “I chose this stable because they’ve looked after me since I was young. The decisive factor was their commitment to rigorous training.”

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)Kobayashi’s current shikona is just his last name – but he is likely to get a “Tochi-“ based shikona at some point.
He competed in Wanpaku and other tournaments before high school. In junior high school, he won the Kanto Tournament. In his second year at Saitama Sakae High School, he was runner-up in the Kanto Selection Tournament heavyweight division (100kg+). In his third year, he placed 3rd in the Kanto Tournament open weight division, 3rd in the National High School Selection Tournament (Usa Tournament), and reached the quarterfinals in the National Sports Festival.
Four straight tournaments with 5 or more wins at the beginning of his career saw him advance to the top of Sandanme before his first make-koshi. He was in upper Sandanme for another three tournaments before that right knee injury dropped him back to Jonokuchi. Displaying the humility of a good rikishi, he said in his yūshō interview: “It still hasn’t sunk in. I wasn’t nervous either. Before the tournament, my master told me to go all out with thrusting and pushing. I thought I lacked a feel for thrusting, but today, I won with a good thrusting push at the end. I’m glad I listened to my master.”

Kōki (昂輝)

Stable: Minato
Age: 21
Height (cm/feet-inches): 183 / 5’11”
Weight (kg/lbs): 157 / 346
Home prefecture: Aichi
High School: —
University: —
Career Record and notes: 128-117-14 (.522)
Debut: 2019 Haru

Possibility of reaching sekitori: Very unlikely.

Kōki participated in various sports during his youth, including karate, jūdō, soccer, and basketball.  He joined the Chukyo Sumo Club in his first year of junior high school.  During his 3rd year at junior high, he finished second place at a prefectural tournament and entered the national junior high school tournament.  Minato-beya’s Nagoya lodgings are close to his home, so he attracted the attention of Minato Oyakata, who personally recruited him.  There are no stories I could find about the origin of his shikona.

Like his rank, Kōki’s weight has steadily increased since he joined the sumo world. Starting at 132kg, he has grown to 157. Starting out of junior high, he initially found himself easily defeated by wrestlers with high school sumo experience.  It initially took him 16 tournaments of reaching Sandanme (almost three years), where he has been a fixture since the end of 2023.  His performance has steadily improved, and he is now easily holding his own against the high schoolers, earning his promotion to the third division.  I hope that he can become a steady presence in Makushita for Minato-beya.

Ryūji (隆志)

Stable: Ōnomatsu
Age: 20
Height (cm/feet-inches): 188 / 6’1”
Weight (kg/lbs): 112 / 247
Home prefecture: Kanagawa
High School: Kanagawa Technical High
University: —
Career Record and notes: 58-40 (.592)
Debut: Haru 2023
Possibility of reaching sekitori: Very unlikely

Possibility of reaching sekitori: Very unlikely

Ryūji participated in various sports throughout his adolescence. He was involved in swimming, soccer, kickboxing, and softball.  It was during his sophomore year of high school that he discovered a sport he was passionate about, sumo. This passion was cultivated during his high school years. He attended Kanagawa Technical High.  His coach, Sudō – who also coached former rikishi Michihaya, helped to bring him to the attention of Ōnomatsu Oyakata. He also managed to finish in the top 32 of a high school tournament (100kg weight limit) in his junior year.

While light, he seems to have some high ambitions – saying that a journey of 100 miles begins with a single step.  He has the goal of “becoming the strongest in sumo” and to do “pretty and pure shiko”.  I wish him luck in those lofty endeavors. Like many athletic high schoolers, he found his way quickly into Sandanme after starting his career before hitting a small wall.  He appears to have overcome that with three straight kachi-koshi to bring him to Makushita. His last match in Nagoya was a victory against former top division, Bushōzan.

Being of slighter build, he sticks to orthodox approaches in his sumo. A few personal notes on Ryūji:  He uses his first name, which apparently takes one character from each of his parent’s first names, as his shikona. He likes Taylor Swift, tuna donburi, and says that people only live one life, so they should not be discouraged by difficulties but to always look forward to something new and move on.  He sounds like a bit of a student of mottos/idioms to me.

Tenrōsei (天狼星)

Stable: Shikoroyama
Age: 18
Height (cm/feet-inches): 186 / 6’1”
Weight (kg/lbs): 118 / 259
Home: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
High School: Meitoku Gijuku High (quit)
University: —
Career Record and notes: 18-3 (.857)
Debut: Kyūshū 2024
Notes: Jonidan Ketteisen in Natsu 2025

Possibility of reaching sekitori: Likely

Tenrōsei is famous for being the nephew of former Yokozuna Asashōryū and the cousin of current Yokozuna Hōshōryū.  That being written, he was not a sumo wrestler to start. He was into playing baseball as a youth, and that is what brought him to Japan.  As you may not know, baseball is not very common in Mongolia. He came to Japan and played baseball at Meitoku Gijuku junior high, but did not make the team. He did, however, join the school’s softball team, known to be a national powerhouse, and the team placed third in the national tournament during his third year.

He used to wrestle with his uncle, just for sport – and his uncle encouraged him to pursue sumo in junior high. He started wresting during his third year of junior high and found some immediate successes.  He was in the top 16 in the 100kg weight class division of a national high school sumo tournament in his freshman year.

He did not stay in high school long, dropping out after his sophomore year to join Shikoroyama stable. He had to take the long training period, and was with them a year before he could make his debut.  By the time he was starting professionally, it was said that he was already at the level of a Sandanme wrestler.  This was evident by his 5-2 start in jonokuchi, followed up by a 7-0 tournament in jonidan (losing in a playoff to fellow Shikoroyama-beya’s Mineyaiba).

His shikona is a reference to the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius (Canis Majoris) – and a bit of an homage to his father who was a professional wrestler (not sumo) in Japan, called “Blue wolf”. Sirius is also the “Great Star” for Mongolians and he has indicated his desire is to shine as bright as Sirius in his sumo career. He indicated “I like the sumo of the first Wakanohana. I love how he’d toss huge guys around with his slender frame. I want to be stronger than anyone.”

Harunishiki (悠錦)

Stable: Asahiyama
Age: 25
Height (cm/feet-inches): 181/ 5’11”
Weight (kg/lbs): 126 / 278
Home prefecture: Ibaraki
High School: Unknown
University: —
Career Record and notes: 160-161-1 (.498)
Debut: Aki 2017

Possibility of reaching sekitori: Maybe stranger things have happened, hard to think of one…  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lluvia_de_peces

Harunishiki did not initially plan to become a sumo wrestler. He was taking care of his father, who was recuperating from a health issue. His father took that time to encourage him to become a rikishi.  So, Harunishiki knocked on the door of Asahiyama stable and signed up.  Asahiyama-beya seems to specialize in recruiting wrestlers with little/no prior sumo experience. His first aim was to be like Kisenosato.

Despite his lack of experience, he has steadily climbed the banzuke, first under his own name (Sugawara) and then as Asahiō/朝日凰, before reverting to his own name for about another year.  His shikona takes the “Nishiki” from his stablemaster, former Kotonishiki.  The “haru” describes “permanence”, sort of like how he has taken his time to leisurely rise up the banzuke.  It is often used as a first name.

On day 10 in the Natsu 2023 bashō, Harunishiki was involved in an interesting incident that close banzuke watchers may recall.  He faced Murayama and pushed him out of the ring.  Maruyama’s oyakata (Naruto) called for a mono-ii. Under video review, it seemed clear that Harunishiki’s pushing had caused Murayama to step out. However, Naruto Oyakata (as head shimpan) announced that Murayama was the victor to the crowd.  This “overturn” resulted in Harunishiki’s 4th loss of the tournament and a make-koshi. Harunishiki won his last two bouts and finished 3-4.  However, the Sumo Association recognized that there was an issue with the mono-ii and permitted Harunishiki to keep his rank (Sandanme 38) for the subsequent tournament despite the apparent losing record.

In the summer tour of Ibaraki, Harunishiki was able to borrow the chest of Kotozakura during the jungyo. He was happy to have the hometown’s support – despite going up against “a wall of muscle. It was scary.”  On this experience and his upcoming promotion to Makushita he says, “I want to convey to children that even if they do not have any sports experience, they can become strong if they work hard.”

Anhibiki (安響)

Stable: Ajigawa
Age: 19
Height (cm/feet-inches): 185/ 6’0”
Weight (kg/lbs): 139 / 2306
Home prefecture: Aomori
High School: Goshogawara Agriculturan and Forestry High School
University: —
Career Record and notes: 44-26 (.629)
Highest rank: Makushita 45
Debut: Kyūshū 2023

Notes: Jonokuchi Yūshō Hatsu 2024

Possibility of reaching sekitori: Unlikely

Anhibiki comes from Goshogawara Agricultural and Forestry High School, where he achieved 3rd place in National High School Athletic Meet (Inter-high) tournament, which qualified him to actually be the first high school wreslter to earn a Sandanme Tsukedashi qualification. His father, Takuya, was a former runner-up in national corporate sumo.  He was personally invited to join Ajigawa-beya (which has connections to Aomori as home prefecture of Ajigawa-oyakata and Goshogawara High).  Aminishiki was a wrestler that Anhibiki had admired since he was a child, and when Ajigawa went independent from Isegahama – Anhibiki’s desire to train under his former idol increased. He is also an old acquaintance of Anzakura as they are from the same town and school.

Asked why he gave up the right to use the tsukedashi qualification (a first time someone volunteered to give this away in my long sumo watching career), he said “Even if I entered from Sandanme, I wouldn’t necessarily become a sekitori right away. Either way, I have to build my strength myself. Starting from the maezumo isn’t going to slow me down. I want to climb up from the bottom.”  The only example of not using tsukedashi privileges that I have seen comes from college or amateur champions who lost their  tsukedashi status for winning titles early in their college careers and “timing out” of the tsukedashi qualification – (Yoshikaze, Jōkōryū, Shōdai, and Hokutofuji are examples of getting amateur titles but starting in maezumo). 

His shikona is a combination of characters from from the stable/stable master plus a part of his first name (Kaoto – 力響). His sister and brother also use the “Hibiki” character in their first names, so it seems as if his own family has a stable-like naming convention. Both siblings are also in sumo clubs – his younger sister was at Kizuka High and younger brother was at Kizuka junior high when Anhibiki entered sumo. Kizuka High is the alma matter of former Maegashira Hōchiyama and current Nishiiwa wrestler Wakajin.

Anhibiki started sumo at age 10 (4th Grade) at the Tsugaru Asahifuji Junior Sumo Club.  Goshogawara and Anhibiki won the team title at the National High School Selection Tournament during his sophomore year. In his junior year, he got second place in the team competition at the National High School Kanazawa Tournament and his 3rd place finish at the Inter-high was also boosted by the school’s 3rd place finish in the team competition.  Fellow Goshogawara Agriculture and Forestry alumns include Osanai (Takasago-beya), Tokitenran (Tokitsukaze-beya), Anzakura, and Tateyama Oyakata.  Don’t confuse this high school with the former Goshogawara Commercial High School (home of Takarafuji, Katsunofuji, and current Miyagino-Oyakata, former Asahifuji). The commercial high school was renamed in 2023 to Shimoyama Gakuen to help sumo fans avoid that confusion!

Makushita Tsukedashi Review

lksumo Nagoya 2025

The Makushita tsukedashi system, which allows successful amateur wrestlers to start their professional careers in the third division rather than at the very bottom, has been around in some form for many decades. Changes introduced in 2001 allowed especially successful amateurs to start at Ms15 or even Ms10, though only Endo, Mitakeumi, and Onosato ever qualified for the latter. The system changed again at the end of 2023, when the upper-Makushita starts were eliminated in favor of Ms60 while the qualifying criteria were expanded significantly. Onokatsu was the last rikishi to debut at Ms15 under the old rules. Matsui was the first to start at Ms60 under the new ones and has since been followed by 10 others, most recently Ryusho in the just-completed Nagoya basho (for comparison, only 5 rikishi got an Ms15 or Ms10 start from 2018 to 2023). In this post, I wanted to take a look at how this group has fared.

Matsui (Haru 2024)

The first rikishi to debut under the new system, the Miyagino-Isegahama recruit has charted a solid if unspectacular path. He started off with a 5-2 basho and posted four more winning records before bouncing hard off the upper Makushita wall with a 2-5 at Ms8e. He’s rebounded with three straight 4-3 kachi-koshi, and should be ranked near his career high at Aki. Grade: B–

Kusano (Natsu 2024)

The clear standout success of the group so far, Kusano was recruited by Hakuho but joined the Isegahama beya after the merger. He debuted with a 6-1 basho and hasn’t looked back, reaching Juryo after five basho before really taking off with two consecutive Juryo yusho followed by an 11-4 jun-yusho with two special prizes in his top-division debut in Nagoya, where he was in the yusho race until the final day. His 38 wins in his first 3 sekitori basho are the new all-time record, besting Onosato by 3 wins and previous record-holder Ichinojo by one. We can only hope that his future trajectory follows that of the former. Grade: A+

Ishizaki and Kazuma (Nagoya 2024)

The careers of last July’s debutants have followed two very different paths so far. Ishizaki, the younger brother of Asakoryu, who himself originally fought under their family name, reached the extended promotion zone after 3 basho with a combined record 16-5. From there, he missed out on promotion by a single final-bout win in 3 basho in a row: a 6-1 at Ms8w, losing the yusho final to Mudoho, a 3-4 at Ms1w, and a 4-3 at Ms4e. He made certain on his 4th try in Nagoya, going 6-1 at Ms2e to earn a rare triple promotion with his heya-mates Asahakuryu and Asanoyama. He’ll make his sekitori debut at Aki, and he has a new shikona: start getting used to Asasuiryu. Grade: A–

Kazuma started off with four dominant victories but suffered a serious knee injury in his 5th-bout loss and missed the next four basho. He had to restart all the way down in Jonokuchi, going 7-0 and 6-1 in his comeback so far. I expect that Kazuma will be ranked in upper Sandanme at Aki, where 5 wins or better should get him at least back to where he started. Grade: Incomplete

Mita (Aki 2024)

The Futagoyama beya man has been on a steady upward arc following his debut a year ago. He made his way through Makushita in four tournaments with a combined record of 22-6, becoming the second in this group (after Kusano) to reach the salaried ranks. In his Juryo debut in May, he had to pull out with a broken finger, but not before recording 8 wins. Fighting at J11w in Nagoya, Mita lost just 4 times on his way to an 11-4 yusho. This result should rocket him up the Juryo banzuke to around J3, where another good score could take him to Makuuchi before the end of the year. Grade: A

Goshima and Fukuzaki (Haru 2025)

If you’ve read my Makushita coverage, you’ve come across this Fujishima beya duo due to their regular participation in the third-division yusho races. They sport identical 16-5 career records, and both should be ranked around Ms5-Ms6 at Aki, on the outskirts of the promotion zone. It’s probably too much to expect them to make their Juryo debuts this year, but I’d bet on seeing them in the sekitori ranks in early 2026. Grade: A

Gyotoku, Urayama, Hanaoka (Natsu 2025)

In this unusually large group of debutants, we have had two successful starts and one injury. Gyotoku was the least heralded of the trio, having the unusual distinction of being a college graduate with no collegiate sumo experience. He preferred to train with his old high school sumo club and earned the tsukedashi qualification through corporate sumo after college. Despite this background, or perhaps because of it, he rocketed to a 6-1 start in May, losing only to the above-mentioned Fukuzaki in the yusho semifinals. And he again featured in my third-division yusho race coverage in Nagoya before losing in the semifinals to the much higher-ranked and more experienced eventual chamption Asahakuryu. Gyotoku may just sneak into the extended promotion zone for Aki, or be ranked just outside Ms15. Based on his results so far, as well as on the eye test, I don’t expect him to stay in the lower divisions for long. Grade: A

Hanaoka and Urayama both started with modest 4-3 kachi-koshi in May, but then their fates diverged. Hanaoka posted a 6-1 record in Nagoya, though his first bout was a fusen win, and his second was a loss that knocked him out of the yusho bracket and reduced the caliber of his subsequent competition. Nevertheless, 6 wins is 6 wins, and he will be fighting in the upper half of the division in September. Grade: B+

As for Urayama, he got the shikona Kakueizan after his debut basho but never fought in July, apparently sustaining a knee injury in training right before the tournament. I haven’t seen any news about the severity of the injury or a timeline for his return. Grade: Incomplete

Ryusho (Nagoya 2025)

Our latest Ms60TD finished with a 5-2 record, right in the middle of the tsukedashi pack, making the group 11 for 11 so far in getting a debut kachi-koshi. Every uninjured debutant has been able to replicate this feat in his sophomore basho; let’s see if Ryusho, who should be ranked around Ms40 for Aki, can continue the trend. Grade: Incomplete

In summary, the system seems to be working well. More promising prospects are getting a head start, and, barring injury, they are performing well. Three will be sekitori in September, with several others looking to join them in the near future.