Day Seven in Fukuoka.
Wakatakakage and Tamashoho continue to tear things up in Juryo with Enho and Asahifuji lapping at their heels. Here, we have Asahifuji using an armbar to drag fellow debutant, Ryuho, to ground. He appears to wince a bit after the win.
It looks like Fujinokawa’s brother, Ikarigata, will be moving up to Juryo in 2027. From the second rung of Makushita, he’s the only one among the joi still undefeated and really the only one making any sort of moves for promotion. I’d had high hopes for Inami and Tenshoyama there at the top rung but both are 1-3, in danger of sliding back down the banzuke.
Down in Jonokuchi, Sunamusashi won his Day 7 bout, picking up his kachi-koshi, but Eisei lost in Jonidan, falling to 3-1. Hikarumusashi defeated Zuitenryu to improve to 2-2. Sunamusashi is one of three undefeated men in Jonokuchi. Wakaonehara is also 4-0 and Hirose is 3-0 and will fight for kachi-koshi tomorrow. From then, we’ll be following the yusho races.
NHK videos are here. Along with the sumo action, there’s a little feature video about Ajigawa’s presence in Kurume city in Fukuoka Prefecture.
Makuuchi Action
Kitanowaka (3-4) defeated Tobizaru (5-2). Hidari-yotsu. Tobizaru got a strong right hand grip, planted his left foot and yanked Kitanowaka down with a forceful uwatenage. Gunbai Tobizaru. Mono-ii. Unfortunately, when Tobizaru planted his foot along the bales, his toes wrapped over the tawara and touched outside the ring. The initial call was reversed and Kitanowaka was awarded the win. Yorikiri.
Daiseizan (2-5) defeated Dewanoryu (5-2). Migi-yotsu. Dewanoryu charged ahead but at the bales Daiseizan pivoted and swung Dewanoryu over the edge. Sukuinage.
Kyokukaiyu (4-3) defeated Tokihayate (2-5). Kyokukaiyu used his footwork to cut off the dohyo and force Tokihayate to the edge, then press him over. Yorikiri.
Arashifuji (6-1) defeated Asasuiryu (3-4). After a lengthy migi-yotsu grapple, Arashifuji charged ahead and shoved Asasuiryu over the edge. Oshidashi.
Tamawashi (4-3) defeated Toshinofuji (2-5). Tamawashi’s powerful tsuppari bulldozed Toshinofuji backward and forced him out. Oshitaoshi.
Abi (2-5) defeated Oho (4-3). Abi displayed his old sumo style, hitting Oho with tsuppari to the face and shoving him out. Oho appeared to try to twist at the edge but really did nothing to stop Abi’s advance. Oshidashi.
Asahakuryu (6-1) defeated Shishi (0-7). Migi-yotsu. Shishi planted his left foot and twisted, pulling Asahakuryu to the edge. But he couldn’t advance from there. Asahakuryu dug in and forced the hapless lion cub back and out. Yorikiri.
Ichiyamamoto (4-3) defeated Asakoryu (1-6). Ichiyamamoto’s tsuppari pressured Asakoryu back to the edge. Asakoryu tried to shift left along the edge but Ichiyamamoto adjusted easily and shoved Asakoryu out. Oshidashi.
Oshoma (5-2) defeated Takanosho (5-2). Oshoma henka. A rare JFK henka. Oshoma jumped “back and to the left,” grabbing Takanosho by the back of the head and dropping him to the clay. Hatakikomi.
Nishikifuji (4-3) defeated Kotoshoho (4-3). Nishikifuji’s tsuppari and nodowa drove Kotoshoho out. Oshidashi.
Roga (4-3) defeated Gonoyama (3-4). Roga got his left hand uwate grip on Gonoyama’s belt. As Gonoyama chugged forward, Roga pulled and yanked him down. Uwatedashinage.
Halftime
Kinbozan (6-1) defeated Hiradoumi (2-5). Hiradoumi charged into Kinbozan but Kinbozan pivoted at the edge and pulled Hiradoumi forward and to the ground with his right hand inside. The yo-yo sekitori is having a great tournament, setting himself up for a rebound into the makuuchi joi for Hatsubasho. Shitatenage.
Wakamotoharu (6-1) defeated Daieisho (2-5). Wakamotoharu chased Daieisho around the ring and shoved him out. Where Kinbozan seems to yo-yo up and down the banzuke, like Ura, Wakamotoharu just seems to be getting his grove back after injury forced him to drop down the rankings for a few tournaments. Stella usually has some staying power up in sanyaku and wants a comeback. Oshidashi.
Takayasu (2-5) defeated Takerufuji (2-5). Takayasu did not look great in this bout. Takerufuji did a good job of standing him up and forcing him back. With the bales at his heels, though, Takayasu shifted left and thrust Takerufuji down. Tsukiotoshi.
Sanyaku
Atamifuji (6-1) defeated Fujiryoga (4-3). Fujiryoga had no solution to Atamifuji’s size. Atamifuji got his left-hand inside and steamrolled to another win. Yorikiri.
Asanoyama (3-4) defeated Fujinokawa (2-5). Asanoyama chased and corralled the energetic Fujinokawa and forced him to the edge before shoving him to fall back over the tawara. The momentum of Asanoyama’s final thrust forced him off balance. Rather than land on top of Fujinokawa, Asanoyama extended his damaged left leg to catch his fall from the dohyo. That looked painful. He crumpled at the base of the dohyo, looking like my kids after a nice hot shower, curled up on the floor. He took some time to get up but managed to get up, accept his winnings and walk back down the hanamichi under his own power. Oshitaoshi.
Kirishima (6-1) defeated Hakunofuji (2-5). Migi-yotsu. Kirishima got a strong left-hand uwate and bulldozed Hakunofuji out. I’m not convinced Hakunofuji could put a lot of weight on his right foot. Yorikiri.
Kotozakura (5-2) defeated Ura (1-6). Kotozakura is picking up the wins he’s supposed to win. This is great. He was patient to wrangle Ura at the center of the ring, pivot and shove Ura out. Ura the yo-yo is getting brutalized by his sanyaku opponents. He’s probably looking forward to his lighter Week Two schedule. Oshidashi.
Fujiseiun (4-3) defeated Aonishiki (4-3). Fujiseiun drove Aonishiki to the bales. Aonishiki had his favored left-hand grip but not a lot of room to do anything with it. He tried to shuffle along the bales but Fujiseiun stuck with him and drove him over the edge. Uwatenage.
Hoshoryu (4-3) defeated Yoshinofuji (4-3). Yoshinofuji had his left hand uwate grip and started to drag the Yokozuna back for an uwatenage. But what’s this? Hoshoryu’s right foot wrapped around Yoshinofuji’s left leg? That’s not good for Yoshinofuji, is it? Nope. Down goes Yoshinofuji. Beautiful, patient work from the Yokozuna. Sotogake.
Onosato (6-1) defeated Churanoumi (1-6). Churanoumi tried to get his left-hand hold at the front of Onosato’s belt but Onosato shoved him backward, hard. Onosato pursued and easily shoved Churanoumi out. Yorikiri.
Wrap-up
There are seven guys with one loss, lead by Onosato, Kirishima, and Atamifuji. Kotozakura’s one off-pace. It would be great if his name is still in the conversation next weekend. But we’ve got a long way to go before we get there, don’t we? Nakabi is tomorrow and is will set the tone for Week Two.
Hoshoryu will fight Hakunofuji, Onosato will take on Takayasu, Kotozakura will fight Kirishima (already?), and Aonishiki will fight Fujinokawa. Atamifuji will fight Fujiseiun, Yoshinofuji faces Asanoyama and Churanoumi will take on Fujiryoga. Churanoumi’s been really chewed up by his sanyaku opponents and will be eager for this rank-and-file bout. But Fujiryoga ain’t exactly a Beard Papa crème puff, is he?
I used to love the smell of the Beard Papa stand in Yokohama station. I’m actually not a fan of choux, so I really don’t like crème puffs but they do smell nice. But I digress. See you tomorrow!
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I don’t understand it. Yesterday I thought there had to be something wrong with Takayasu, otherwise he would certainly have beaten Hoshoryu. But today the yokozuna overwhelms in-form Yoshinofuji! Is his knee suddenly better? Strange. That said it would of course be great if the nephew was able to kachikoshi, an option which only yesterday had seemed impossible (and frankly still seems improbable to me now).
You are not the only one scratching his head about this. One thing that was noted already yesterday is that Hoshoryu changed his knee support starting yesterday. However, it seems too minor to be the cause of the events on days 3-5. Another is that Hoshoryu has been moving forward both yesterday and today. Also the NHK commentators both yesterday and today have asked the question of what will happen when he will not be able to move forward.
I don’t think the knee is mysteriously better. I still think it’s fragile and that he’s lucky he wasn’t uwatenage’d today.
I’m not sure about that – it seemed like as convincing a win as you could get to me – totally in control the whole time. And, just to sprinkle in a bit more control, he also did a hand trip on the other leg – bit like a mitokorozeme but with a sotogake.. There is still the question about going backwards, but he had enough oomph in that knee to drive Yoshinofuji backwards, who is no creme-puff either. Which brings me to the more important point – how can anyone not like choux??? Perhaps you’ve never tried them from Le Coussinet in Nezu???
Oh, choux are horrible, though I have not eaten it from there. The only redeeming quality of a creme puff is the creme.
This is the 19th basho since Aonishiki entered sumo. Though this seems to be one of his weaker tournaments, he already overtook Kotooshu the day before yesterday and is now the rikishi with the most wins ever during that period:
https://sumodb.sumogames.de/Query.aspx?show_form=0&columns=19&show_total=on&sum_wins=105&sum_range=19&form1_year=196007-now&form1_jk=on&form1_debutd=on&rowcount=2&sort_by=sum_total
Meanwhile after the first six basho he was third until yesterday but has now been overtaken by Asahifuji, who has still eight days to become number one in that ranking:
https://sumodb.sumogames.de/Query.aspx?show_form=0&columns=6&rowcount=2&show_total=on&sum_wins=30&sum_range=6&showcareerhigh=on&form1_year=196007-now&form1_jk=on&form1_debutd=on&sort_by=sum_total
Let’s just hope Asahifuji‘s injury isn’t too bad.
It looks like the other wrestlers have figured out how to attack Aonishiki. It doesn’t always work, but they really seem to be trying to get under that right shoulder while keeping his left hand off the belt for as long as possible. I think Fujiseiun was helped a bit by a rolling start tachiai (it looked to me like his hands didn’t touch as he leaned forward), but he got under that right shoulder far too easily and was able to rob Aonishiki of the space he needed to make his left hand grip work when it eventually landed. That’s been a common theme in many of his matches this basho. I think Aonishiki will need to alter his tactics going forward to protect against that.
Great analysis. It‘s conspicuous that all his losses were first time meetings. The opponents seem to know his weakness very well, while he has to learn to adapt to their strategies yet.
I’m going to be watching for that point about the right shoulder.
The matchmakers putting Kirishima v Kotozakura this early in the Basho is very odd. Days 13 to 15 is when we usually see the top of the Banzuke go head-to-head. Aonishiki v Fujinokawa is also a bit early, if you ask me.
With five Ozeki/Yokozuna it takes at least four, if not five days (maths, too, aren’t my forte) to match them all up. Still day 8 is early, even if one considers that they might need slots for the yusho race on the last days.
Five days is required because you can only pair 4 of them one day, the 5th has to always fight someone else, so it requires the same amount of days as would be with 6 Yokozuna/Ozeki (5 days because there are 5 opponents to go through). You can see more easily the logic with 3 and 4 which both require 3 days to go through.
I think they want a big, highlight bout for Nakabi. Ticket prices are higher on weekends than during the week.
Attendance doesn’t look great compared to Tokyo so perhaps that’s right. I think it takes 6 days for all Y and O combos, so 2 days earlier than necessary.. Certainly was a double-take moment seeing that
The entire tournament sold out in 50 minutes.
I think the Fukuoka venue seats fewer than 7000 while Kokugikan seats a little more than 11,000. I feel like I could fling a zabuton clear across the Kokusai Center. I’d only do it if Shodai’s there to catch.
I mean there look to be lots of empty seats. Perhaps they’re only coming for the last few bouts, by which time I’ve stopped paying attention..
Oh, yeah. People do come for just the top guys. When you watch Jonokuchi or maezumo, hardly anyone is there. But more folks start coming and then they’re usually pretty full for Makuuchi.
Fukuoka venue is tiny. I have been in high school gyms that are larger.
It also is almost all box seats (there are like 10 rows of chair seats, and the top row of box seats are the 2 person table seats. I would be surprised if the place holds even 5000 for sumo.
In 2024 I had a seat in the absolute top row and I was still not very far from the action. The crowd there is way more enthusiastic than the crowds in Tokyo or Osaka from my experience. Especially when someone from Kyushu is competing.
I can’t recommend seeing sumo there enough, it is just a fun atmosphere.
Aonishiki – Fujinokawa is absolutely not too early, there has to be at least one ozeki vs sekiwake match on Day 8 (and two of them if they weren’t doing Kirishima – Kotozakura) in order to get through all intra-sanyaku pairings in time.
„On Day 8 of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament on November 15, 2026, at Fukuoka International Center, an ozeki showdown between one-loss Kirishima (Otowayama) and two-loss Kotozakura (Sadogatake) is scheduled for the middle day of a tournament for the first time since the September 2018 basho. Judging Committee Chief Asakayama (former ozeki Kaio) explained that the pairing was made because lower-ranking wrestlers performing well must be scheduled against top-ranked wrestlers in the second half of the tournament, noting that such mid-tournament ozeki bouts used to happen frequently.“ (Sports Hochi)
Andy, sorry, I don’t get it. What’s that Stella thing? Is it a nickname of WMH?
Oh, that was a terrible joke about a movie called, “How Stella Got Her Groove Back.” A middle aged woman gets “back in the saddle” after meeting a younger guy. I was making an age joke.
Ah, thank you, never heard about it. By the way, AI treats it already as official Tachiai moniker for Wakamotoharu. You’re leading the algorithms astray :)
Oh, that’s hilarious! That’s a great lesson about AI. Be very careful with it.
There’s reason to call it ‘Artificial Stupidity’ at many occasions. But it knows the entire sumodb and has access to japanese press, so sumo talk can be nice with it
I’ve been testing it for ages and I have written a few posts about those tests. It’s definitely gotten loads better but still has fits with Shikona. The errors are funny. It’s a very interesting tool but it requires loads of auditing and validation.