The Winter Tour started Sunday in Isahaya, Nagasaki, the orange point in the map above. Isahaya is famous for its oysters, mikan oranges, picturesque Megane-bashi, and fruit-shaped bus shelters. It’s the first stop of a 22-leg tour, stretching from Nagasaki back to the Tokyo region. It also gets to be the location of Aonishiki’s first bout as Ozeki, introduced here fighting against Oho. I love seeing a good amount of kensho banners on these tours.
#諫早場所
— みみきた (@mimikita2025) November 30, 2025
大関に昇進したばかりの安青錦関
アナウンスで大関安青錦との紹介に盛り上がりました👍
午前中の稽古の時に新大関とアナウンスされた時がもっと歓声と拍手が凄かったけど撮ってなかった💦 pic.twitter.com/9B9eLVCVZY
For those who are new to sumo, these tours are generally one-day promotional exhibition “tournaments”. The bouts are a bit less lively than what was seen in London. Face it, no one’s going to go all out But they’re a great way for the Sumo Association and the wrestlers to get out to local communities and connect with fans who otherwise would not be able to enjoy a tournament. For a bit more detail about Jungyo based on my experience last year in Tachihi, click here.
The program for today’s show is above, from the Sumo Association’s Twitter account. But for a quick rundown, the day starts at 9am with keiko (or practice). The lower rankers warm up first, with the top division wrestlers later. Keep in mind this is not the entire crew. This is not all 500-600 wrestlers. We have the top division wrestlers, a few from Juryo, and their tsukebito. There are lower division bouts and then a few events that we don’t see during regular tournaments, such as the jinku singing, the hair-dressing demonstration, the Yokozuna belt-tying demonstration, the shokkiri comedy routine, and the taiko drumming. Looks like there was a good crowd for the show today.
This all leads up to the main event: the terrorising of local children. It is said those with the healthiest lungs will go on to be the most successful in life. No, they don’t say that. I’m making that up. But wow, this kid has some pipes. And Tamawashi has the patience of a 40-year-old father. The sekitori dohyo-iri is followed by the Yokozuna dohyo-iri and then the top division bouts, closing with the bow ceremony. Then the guys do a mad dash for the tour bus so they can head to the next venue.
玉鷲関の👶もずっとギャン泣き笑
— ティー ☆陰ながら (@vivi20100522) November 30, 2025
👶抱いてない力士があやしたりニコニコしてくれるのがほんと微笑ましくて☺️
日向丸関がすごくかわいい😍
力士と赤ちゃんから得られる何か☺️#相撲 #諫早巡業 #諫早場所 pic.twitter.com/44Il3oJNel
Frankly, these tours are also great ways for me to learn more about Japan and add to a growing list of places that I want to visit. I will probably not be able to chronicle each and every stop this winter but I hope to show a few more.
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Many thanks for the Jungyo news, I’m always interested!
(Funny bus-stations, I love this kind of pics!)
Those Jungyo news are really entertaining. Thank you !
Also, Sekitori are able to be at two place at the same time and doing Jungyo while the Kyushu Basho seem to be still underway base on the calendar timeline on the front page.
That’s some dedication to sumo uh !!!!!! ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ
Damnit I will update that
Schrödinger‘s rikishi?
Great comment!
I always love the dichotomy between Tamawashi taking selfies with fans (or patiently carrying crying kids) and his vicious nodowa technique.
Me too. I think you’ve touched the heart of his appeal to so many fans. He is one of my top favorite rikishi, for his generous fan interaction, openly and proudly baking cupcakes, decorating cakes, loving textiles, embroidering pillow tops, and then crushing it in the ring. I’m always cheering for Tamawashi.
Yes, this is some fascinating contrast in a person! But you don‘t get a complete picture of Tamawashi without mentioning how he interacts with the rikishi around him. Slapping, bumping, poking… He touches intimate parts, doesn’t let them pass through etc. Probably he just thinks, it‘s funny – but it’s hazing, actually.
Nevertheless we all can become victims of the Stockholm Syndrome. I‘ve got a soft point for Abi, you know… :)
I have a Jungyo question… we know the rikishi and attendants travel daily from venue to venue by chartered bus, but where do they sleep? Are they put up in hotel (s)? I would guess they are not staying the night in shrine(s), or is this the case? If in hotels, do they share rooms even if they are makuuchi division rikishi? Thanks.
I just read Herouth’s comprehensive treatise on Jungyo, here on tachiai.org, posted in 2018, and she answers this….. in the past, Rikishi were lodged in private homes, at the expense of sponsors, but nowadays they are housed in hotels and supply their own food……. I would assume then that rikishi would be paired up by heya or ichimon.