Welcome back!
In just a few hours, professional sumo action will be back as Aki Basho gets underway. The dohyo matsuri was streamed last night on YouTube and the dohyo is now ready. I want to thank Honda-san and Osawa-san of the Ekoin Temple, again, for their insight and expertise. I learned a lot from them about the dohyo matsuri, in particular. Here, we see the items which are interred during the ceremony. Salt, rice, kayanomi, chestnuts, kombu, surume and sake which serve as offerings.
The sport is booming. Sponsorships and kensho bounties are way up from last year. Tickets have become very difficult to get, with even BST sold out for months in advance. Fans are looking for options and I am very curious about Konishiki’s VIP tours as an option. He hosts pop-up BBQ outside Kokugikan during the tournament, as well. If you live in the US, you will get a chance to see him on the Sumo + Sushi tour this Fall.
New fans might be rather unfamiliar with Konishiki and his career. “Who is this guy with the multi-colored hair?” Learn more about him in his own words, from his Naro project. There’s a wealth of information about sumo in these videos but it’s also chock full of stories of his career. Frankly, I wish I had watched these before going to Sumo + Sushi because I would have had ideas about questions to ask. It sounds like the life of an Ozeki is crazy.
Aside from sumo’s rising popularity, there are several storylines to discuss from Day One:
Hoshoryu tops Kyujo list
Let’s begin at the top of the banzuke. The press has not been kind to Hoshoryu over the past few weeks. As you will recall, the Yokozuna struggled to pick up seven wins in Nagoya and went kyujo on the last day…avoiding a possible makekoshi by avoiding the building altogether. Instead, Hoshoryu underwent surgery for his knee injury and he will miss this tournament to focus on rehab. His certainly back against the wall and even Tatsunami-oyakata has added to the pressure and expectation that if Hoshoryu fights, he needs to bring home the Emperor’s Cup. Onosato will represent the rank alone this month and you can be sure expectations will be suitably high for his performance.
Hoshoryu is not the only sekitori who will miss the tournament. Wakatakakage and Wakanosho will sit out, too. And both will fall into Juryo for Kyushu. Because of his kyujo status, Wakatakakage was unable to join Aonishiki at the presentation of their yusho portraits. The portraits will hang in the rafters at Kokugikan from this tournament.
Ozeki
Aonishiki regained his Ozeki status with his dramatic win in Nagoya. Atamifuji is eager to join him and is officially on an Ozeki run. Another fantastic result could see Atamifuji joining Kirishima, Kotohachinana, and Aonishiki. I ran a quick poll on Twitter and most respondents thought Atamifuji would not make it this time but would earn promotion in 2027. We shall see.
Eisei’s First Action
Eisei is a young English wrestler from Hull (officially North Humberside). He did well in his maezumo debut at Nagoya, quickly picking up the wins he needed in that debut to earn his place here. This will be his first full tournament and he will have some stiff competition, particularly his Day One opponent. Joshoyu is a Takakeisho recruit from the Tottori Johoku High School, a sumo powerhouse. Here, we see Joshoyu fight Hokuto in maezumo. Hokuto will also be fighting in Jonokuchi but has off tonight. I have a feeling these guys will be elevator rikishi who will feature in Justin’s write-ups in 2027.
And very soon, along with Hikarumusashi, Americans will also have another wrestler to cheer. Sunamusashi is scheduled to debut in maezumo this tournament. I swear, the lower division action is getting pretty fierce. The text on that video above roughly translates to, “You sure this is a maezumo bout?” I mean, damn. Gambatte, guys!
Day One Preview
Speaking of Elevator Rikishi, Asahifuji will fight tonight against Himukamaru. Himukamaru cracked into Juryo last November but fell back into Makushita and has been struggling to get back to full time this year.
Moving up into Juryo, Nishikigi is on notice and will fight Nishinoryu from Makushita. Nishikigi is staring demotion in the face. Meisei will fight Kayo, Kagayaki will take on Tanji. Enho has a winnable fight against Hatsuyama and Ryuden should have the upper hand against Tomokaze. Sadanoumi will fight Mitakeumi and Tamawashi will fight Kazuma.
As we turn to the top division, Wakamotoharu will fight Shodai and this pivotal battle will set the tone for the entire tournament. Oho has fallen to Maegashira 10 but will face Kinbozan. Ura versus Shishi is an interesting Day One pairing.
In sanyaku, Hakunofuji will fight Churanoumi, Yoshinofuji will fight Fujinokawa and Atamifuji will take on Gonoyama. Then, as Isegahama steps aside, Sadogatake takes the mound. Kotoeiho will fight Aonishiki, Kotozakura will fight Takayasu, and Kotoshoho will fight Kirishima. Onosato will close things out against Daieisho and someone will walk away with a lot of cash.
Discover more from Tachiai (立合い)
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Hoshoryu has withdrawn because of his knee injury but he is also said to be „down 10 kg from Insomnia and loss of appetite“, which doesn’t sound very good.
Aonishiki is still injured too. He took part in the summer tour but without sparring. And he hasn’t had a single bout against a sekitori in training building up to the basho. I‘m obviously much more concerned than he is, because he is talking of aiming for the yusho again.
Talking about yusho hopes I liked the following statement of Tokifudo very much, who with a 4-3 record from Ms2 was finally promoted to juryo after 27 basho in makushita:
‘You never really know until you’ve fought through all 15 days, but I want to aim for a yusho with a perfect record.’
Yeah, I can’t imagine the stress Hoshoryu has at the moment. Hopefully, he comes back when the time is right and puts in a great performance.
I love that my nickname for Kotozakura is sticking. Kotohachinana disappoints regularly and royally. He seems to have the same problem as some of the other former Ozeki, which if he isn’t over whatever is keeping him hachinana, he is headed for the “former” appellation.
Aonishiki’s lack of sparring could be troublesome, but with basically one good foot he pulled off his third yusho. Maybe the added rest by not sparring will be a plus.
An interesting trivia fact — the top 4 sanyaku rikishi – Onosato, Hoshoryu, Kirishima and Kotohachinana, never beat a Yokozuna when they were Maegashira. But the rest of the current Sanyaku are all Kinboshi owners with a total of 13 kinboshi against the current top dogs, of the 30 that they have given.
Will be watching tonight and every night, can’t get enough of Grand Sumo.
That’s a very interesting factoid. I do think there will be some upsets. The thing about this crop of Ozeki is that none are kadoban…for now.
Onosato has 2-1 winning record vs Terunofuji
He lost as maegashira and won as sanyaku, therefore JBipes is right.
Hello, good to ‘see’ you again Andy, herbern, and everyone else, July seems a very long time ago, heatwaves, and wildfires…now the autumn rain ! Still, we’ve sumo and tachiai.org to lighten our days, and Andy’s sacrifice of sleep to support.
Interesting news there herbern, re Hosh and Aonishiki, thank you.
On Friday I watched Murray, John, and Hiro discussing the rikishi and who they thought might win the yusho. I suspect that something unexpected might happen; this is grand sumo after all! They didn’t seem to feel Onosato was completely back on top form, though much improved by all accounts. I fear for Hosh’s future though. His Yokozuna career thus far has been less than stellar, and as a fan, I worry.
Still, we’ve lots of new and improving talent and a shin Komusubi and a shin Sekiwake to celebrate. Bring on the sumo!
Hosh’s “less than stellar” Yokozuna career is about spot on. In 10 Basho as Yokozuna — no Yusho, 4 Jun-Yusho, 2 Doten among them. And 4 times dropping out due to injury.
He’s given up 17 kinboshi in 7 of the 10 basho, even when performing at the expected Yokozuna level.
Not being able to go this time has me worried about his future. Hope he heals quickly and can bust the streak of bad luck on his return.
Love your comments.
Correction — this would be his 10th basho, and the first one he will completely sit out, so subtract one basho for the above stats.
Hello Andy and ye all again – glad for Aki basho to begin! Interesting banzuke tectonics expected, WMH, Oho, Abi and Asahakuryu are challenged with their places. Sanyaku will be hot! Four persons dreaming of the rope, and the newcomers are excited. Ready to rumble!
I am glad Hosh had the surgery + is taking time to get healthy .. To my recollection … he has not been fully healthy since he made Yokozuna .. His sumo was always capable of big highs and head scratching losses .. But his quickness + abilty to change strategies in an instance always made him dangerourous .. Recently, he seemed to be avoiding his favorite hip throws .. presumably to protect that knee .. imho w/o health he could not cover up for not being fundamentally strong all the time .. which was never his forte ..
Does anyone know exactly what the surgery was? I heard it was a meniscus issue, but if the surgery also involved microfracture, then that usually takes ages to come back from (but gives a good recovery).
My few thoughts before the basho.
On Yokozuna. In his recent matches Onosato showed he’s getting back to his sumo. He was regaining slowly two keys of his dominant style – speed and balance. The last match against Kotoshoho was his best performance on recent Basho. I expect him to compete for the yusho this time if he can have good start with 3-4 straight victories.
On Ozeki. I see Kirishima as the best all-rounded sekitori at the moment. His losses come mostly from luck in mental part. I’ll repeat myself – he needs to find the way of winning without thinking too much about the need for winning. The time goes faster for him; he is the oldest in sanyaku.
Kotozakura. I won’t say much here. His effort in last two bouts looked more like practice matches. That was quite disappointing to look at.
Expectations could not be higher on Aonishiki and he raised the bar himself. Last basho he came with new approach at tachiai – small step and reaching for the left hang grip at the front. Few opponents counteracted this move quite successfully. It will be interesting to see what Aonishiki will do to make it still work. Another thing to watch is his work on the tawara, something he was not doing before last basho.
Atamifuji developing his style – keeping his hips low, shoulders relaxed and not rushing while driving forward – that simple formula could keep him winning. Another contender for the yusho in my eyes.
It will be interesting to see new faces competing at the top. My eyes will be on Kotoeiho, I hope he could stay collected and show good sumo against top rankers. I expect him to KK.
With quite few sekitori being able to win the tournament it will be quite exiting basho to watch.