I received my banzuke today so I wanted to update folks on two news items related to this tournament’s ranking sheet. Sumo fans will remember the big news last tournament which resulted in Isegahama-oyakata being kyujo while the Sumo Association conducted its investigation.

As a refresher or a brief summary for those who were under a rock last month: there was an Isegahama event where an intoxicated Hakunofuji was getting fresh with a female guest at the event. Isegahama got angry and struck Hakunofuji. Due to the power harassment and anti-bullying policies, this was obviously “an incident”. Isegahama got ahead of things and reported the incident, himself, to the Sumo Association…thus the kyujo in March while the Sumo Association investigated and deliberated.

Ultimately, Isegahama was docked pay and demoted because of his actions. Hakunofuji was also admonished for his behavior. What I wanted to illustrate to readers was what the impact of the demotion actually looked like on the banzuke. What I’ve got below is a picture of the March banzuke on top of the current, May, banzuke. I highlighted Isegahama on each.

Back in March, Isegahama was ranked next to Minatogawa (Takakeisho). Now, he’s just ahead of Sendagawa (Tokushoryu). Isegahama was shifted in rank below Kise oyakata, as well as recent retirees you all will be familiar with as former Kotoeko, Myogiryu, and Aoiyama. Anyway, when this punishment came down, I was curious what that meant in the grand hierarchy of the Kyokai.

Now, for the second update. Among our recent retirees, we saw Chiyomaru retire from active sumo at the end of last tournament. However, he stayed with the sumo association as an employee called, “Wakaimonogashira.” It’s an auxillary role which acts primarily as a guide to young wrestlers.

You’ll see him associated with the sumo school course work as well as active during maezumo activities, like the upcoming gyoji toss, and in a ring-side support role. So, he moved from his position in Sandanme in March (above) to being listed on the bottom row of the ranking sheet, to the right of the central column with the other wakaimonogashira (below).

I hope this helps give a bit more context to those previous news stories. Sorry I didn’t publish this earlier but I wanted a copy of the current sheet in my hands so I could blow up these pictures better.

On to Day 14!!