Author: Josh K

Haru 2023 Winners & Losers

Josh K Daieisho (大栄翔), Enho, Hakuho (白鵬), Haru Basho 2023, Hokuseiho (北青鵬), Hokutōfuji (北勝富士), Hoshoryu, Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kinbozan (金峰山), Kiribayama (霧馬山), Kisenosato (稀勢の里), Midorifuji, Mitakeumi(御嶽海), Ryuden (竜電), Takakeishō (貴景勝), Takayasu (高安), Ura (宇良), Wakamotoharu (若元春), Wakatakakage

In the past, I’ve chanced my arm at a rundown of all of the 42 rikishi in the top division and their performance in the preceding tournament. The problem with doing these kinds of posts is that there are an awful of lot of guys whose performance doesn’t really bear writing about. If you’re a rikishi that was swirling around the Darwin Funnel™ going into the final weekend, then there are good chances I’m talking about you.

So instead, this time, I’m going to give my thoughts on who won and didn’t win in this basho. It will be controversial and some people will be angry! I can’t wait. We’ll save the best for last, and start with the…

Losers

Sumo – But for some final day drama, this was a forgettable makuuchi tournament. It will not be referenced among the all time greats. Sumo is the loser when its top rankers do not challenge. The way the sport is set up requires big performances from big names or other guys dethroning big names. The title race changed hands twice in 15 days. Yikes.

Takakeisho – As Andy remarked, he went from rope run to kadoban in a matter of days. There’s no way to spin that positively.

Daieisho – He will move up to Sekiwake and posted a very strong basho, but he lost the yusho in horrific fashion: two virtually identical losses on the final day to the same opponent, having only needed to win one. Then, in the second defeat, he was given the hope of redemption by a monoii, only for that hope to be cruelly dashed upon confirmation of the final result. Woof.

Takayasu – His confident, assured, 6-0 start raised the idea that this might finally be his basho, but an awful fade took the dream away. Again. A couple of extremely convincing wins towards the end signalled what could have been. 10-5 is in no way a bad result, but finishing 4-5 in yet another basho that was his for the taking was extremely disappointing. When people reference Takayasu being the bridesmaid, they often reference his mighty collection of Jun-Yusho scorelines – but there are just as many of these tournaments that don’t show up in any Sumo Reference box score and where Takayasu had it all to lose and then did just that. As fans, we cannot alter fate, so the best we can do is just cheer him on whole-heartedly and hope that one day it will change.

Hoshoryu – You might think I’m crazy putting a couple ten-win guys and a twelve-win guy in the loser category. To be fair, you could put 41 guys in the loser category and you’d have a case for all of them. That’s how sports works. This is another case of “what could have been?” I firmly agreed with Herouth’s tweet early in the basho that Hoshoryu needs to shelve his niramiai until he’s got a couple Emperor’s Cups in the bag. Staring down a former Ozeki in Takayasu as if he’s the top dog, only to get embarrassingly dropped on the chief shimpan – and a cocky approach to a Nishikigi match that ended in defeat – showed a rikishi who’s simply not ready for the top two ranks.

He could have won this yusho outright with a more professional approach to his sumo. It may seem like we’re being hard on a rikishi who once again displayed some fabulous sumo, but whatever, if anything, is between his ears continues to let him down. The best thing he can take from this basho is that he’ll probably be S1E and he’s potentially just put down the first basho of an ozeki run. But I’ll come right out and say it: he’s frittered away losses in the last two tournaments which would have had him at the rank already. While he’s still young, more top prospects are coming and he will not want to look back on this period as the golden opportunity that he missed.

Hokutofuji – He’s been the master of come-from-behind kachikoshi in the past, and looked to be well on his way with 7 straight wins after digging himself an 0-4 hole. Alas, he couldn’t find the one win in his last four days to get the job done, and continues a slide that will leave him outside the joi for an entire calendar year.

Wakatakakage – I left a stat in the comments here this week that since his sekiwake promotion, he’s been 15-20 over days 1-5 of tournaments, and 31-11 over days 6-11 (before the final, most difficult matches for a sekiwake). If he could start better when his schedule was lightest, he’d have already been an Ozeki. When you consistently start so poorly, the issue is either preparation or mental or both. This tournament proved to be one escape act too far, with an 0-5 hole proving too much to overcome. His 7-1 rescue attempt over days 6 to 13 looked to have him on solid ground until the injury that led to a late kyujo. One early win and this all would have been a non issue with kachikoshi in hand, but instead he’ll have to completely rebuild from komusubi next basho – if indeed he’s able to return (reports are that he may not).

Mitakeumi – His body hasn’t looked right since the injuries that zapped his chance at an Ozeki career upon his promotion to the rank. This tournament was ghastly to watch, a 4-11 that left me wondering at the end where the 4 wins could ever have come from.

Ryuden – I think this was just a basho too far on the meteoric comeback trail for one of sumo’s latest bad boys. It’s a credit to him that he mostly looked very genki en route to his 13 loss campaign. Every rikishi fights hurt, some more than others, but Ryuden’s performances were vastly superior to the results that he got (the eye test would credit him with a 6-9 or 5-10 at worst). But nevertheless, he will take a massive demotion after this basho. You have to call that what it is.

Winners

Sumo – Sumo can be the loser and also be the winner. You can have grey areas in life, deal with it! With makuuchi being the equivalent of pulling a green turban out of your fishing net when you were expecting a sea urchin, Juryo emerged as a thrilling division. We also can’t overlook the top division’s final day drama, a new yusho winner whose rank and profile is good for sumo, and the fact that much of lower san’yaku managed to hang around the title race in its final days.

Kiribayama – He’s now one of the most technically proficient top rankers. Some could be forgiven for looking at an 8-11-12 Ozeki promotion after this basho as reasonable given the current state of the sport (and some Tachiai commenters have already posed it as an idea), but with two fusen-sho in there he’s always going to need another strong tournament. You’d think 9 next time could be enough to make things interesting, but 10 should bank it.

Small guys doing crazy stuff – Ura, Midorifuji, and Enho all had highly entertaining tournaments, even if it did fizzle a bit from Midorifuji after his first loss. Credit to these guys and their weird sumo for giving us box office entertainment.

Juryo – it was always going to be a good tournament with 4 former makuuchi yusho winners in the division plus a catalogue of top prospects, but strong performances from big names made this one of the marquee collections of second division talent in ages.

Ichinojo – Everyone expected another Asanoyama yusho, but the big man blasted his way to a 14-1, making his Juryo return brief.

Ura – He was king of the dohyo in his native Osaka, and highly entertaining and mostly successful in the ring. He received rapturous applause and a thunderous reception in the EDION arena. His comeback has firmly sealed his place as successor to Ikioi as Osaka’s hometown hero.

Nishonoseki-beya/Kisenosato – The mid-basho announcement of the recruitment of generational talent Nakamura stole all the headlines (more on that later), but his squad also grabbed the makushita yusho through journeyman Ryuo, had a handful of other good prospect results (Kayo, Takahashi, Miyagi) and a successful return to sekitori level for Tomokaze.

Kakuryu-oyakata – Much has been made of the close attentions the former Yokozuna has paid Kiribayama since his retirement, having taken his compatriot under his wing after moving from Izutsu to Michinoku beya. Kiribayama’s rise has corresponded with this tutelage, and it bodes well for Kakuryu’s future as shisho – be that in his own heya someday or a Michinoku-beya (including Kiribayama) that he could yet inherit upon the incumbent’s retirement.

Miyagino-beya/Hakuho – the top 8 rankers in the stable all scored winning records, with Enho starting to close in on a comeback to the top division and Ochiai putting out a very solid and entertaining sekitori debut. Hokuseiho’s 9 wins on his top flight debut were overshadowed by Kinbozan’s debut, and it’s clear that his ponderous sumo may lead him to struggle for consistency as he approaches the joi for the first time. I’d probably revise his ceiling to be a more technical version of Ichinojo. But for now, all good.

Isegahama-beya – Midorifuji took the headlines, but Nishikifuji put up another very solid basho. Meanwhile, an initially hopeless looking Takarafuji found his patented defend-and-extend technique late on to clinch a kachi-koshi when the conversation on nakabi was about whether he could really be demoted to Juryo. Plus, the heya boasted winning records for top prospects Hayatefuji and Takerufuji. As for the Yokozuna? Even he’s a bit of a winner in absentia, as Takakeisho’s rope-run collapsing amid the removal of Wakatakakage from the Ozeki conversation (for the time being) means that Terunofuji’s seat isn’t especially hot in spite of his lengthy absence.

Wakamotoharu – His 11 win basho will see him overtake his brother as heyagashira. He has grown gradually into the top division and looked at points to have an outside shot at the Haru yusho. It will be curious to now see whether he or Wakatakakage can mount an ozeki run soonest – if he’s able to get the yusho in May, one would think Wakamotoharu could even grab it in his next basho.

Kinbozan – In a tournament that boasted three fairly high(ish) profile debutants in the top division, some props should be due to Kinbozan for his excellent performance. While it’s not unusual to see talents who have blown through Juryo come up and grab double digits in their first top division tournament, Kinbozan did it with a minimum of fuss and some excellent sumo. He (and Juryo’s Gonoyama) still looks like a rikishi that has a lot of physical development until he finds his final competitive physique, and it will be interesting to see how he takes on higher challenges in the division. With Hokuseiho impressing but also lumbering at times to victory, and Bushozan being mostly overmatched, we should put some credit on Kise-beya’s Kazakhstani special prize winner.

Who are we forgetting? Who are you angry about me calling a loser? Let’s hear it in the comments!

Heading Back to The Basho

Josh K Haru Basho 2023

It’s been three long years. Long time readers of the site will know that in the “before-times,” I made every effort to attend honbasho and other events to try and grab interesting content for the site – interviews, the soken, the jungyo, ‘day out‘ experiences at the basho, Ozeki Bento reviews, etc. Hopefully, you found some of it to be enjoyable!

I was in Osaka three years ago, with tickets in hand, when the proclamation came down that Haru 2020 was to be the silent basho. Obviously none of us could have expected what the coming days, weeks, months and years would have in store. How lucky, in retrospect it felt that, in good health, a friend and I were able to take in the basho from quiet cocktail bars in Osaka’s dark alleys. The city felt empty and weird. Everything that followed has obviously profoundly impacted sumo over the course of the last few years, and have touched all of us here at Tachiai in some significant way, and probably you as well.

In the interim, the Sumo Association did what they could to keep the sport ticking. They got some big calls right and some wrong, but there was no playbook for this, and by and large it’s been refreshing that every two months we could continue to bury ourselves in some engrossing storylines. I am deeply grateful for that.

Now, I’m happy to report it’s time for me to return to sumo. I’m a little nervous, I don’t really know what to expect! Haru has always been my favourite basho, by a street. But all of the factors that make it great are things I’m not sure if I can expect to encounter next week in Osaka.

In line with the prevailing gregarious stereotype of the place itself, the Haru basho is known as the wild basho. The EDION Arena can be a raucous ol’ box of a venue and – while there will absolutely never be a time when I would willingly turn down a trip to the hallowed grounds of the Kokugikan, one of the best and most unique venues in all of sport – there’s no better time to see sumo than in a packed house of Kansai natives letting loose when one of the native sons – an Ura, an Ikioi (in days gone by) – has provided some form of monstrous entertainment on the dohyo.

It’s also a venue that allows you, the spectator, to get up close and personal with the rikishi. Like the other regional basho, the big names walk in right through the front door. The placement of the shitakubeya also means that rikishi have to walk through souvenir stalls to reach the hanamichi, which often provides a great opportunity to shout some messages of support, cheer for a rikishi on their way to or from the dohyo, or grab a selfie afterwards. Very few sports already offer the kind of access that is possible with sumo, and the Osaka tournament offers some of the best of those experiences.

So with that being said, it will be interesting to see what awaits. While many of the pandemic-era restrictions have been walked back over the past few tournaments, what kind of atmosphere will emerge this year in Osaka? Will it be like the tournaments we knew, or will it be something else altogether? Will fans yet be able to interact with rikishi? And of course, now there’s a new wild card on the scene, as roving reporter Hiro Morita has made a habit of popping up in public at tournaments for his wonderful Sumo Prime Time channel, and chatting especially to foreign fans who may not have really felt part of the experience in years gone by.

I’m looking forward to hopefully providing some insight about the experience after the basho has wrapped up. If you’ve been to a tournament recently, I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments! In the meantime, I’ll look forward to the daily updates here to keep the nerves settled ahead of an experience I can’t quite believe is happening after not being sure when it might happen again.

HAKKEYOI!

The Makushita Intrigue: Haru Edition

Josh K Banzuke (番付), Haru Basho 2023, Makushita (幕下), Terutsuyoshi

One of my favourite things about a tournament and the few days after is the battle to cross the “heaven and hell” line dividing Juryo and Makushita. It’s often some of the most entertaining sumo, and Bruce doesn’t even have to stay up late on Senshuraku with his special “Yamazaki: The Darwin” whiskey bottle (don’t worry Bruce, I’ll have one made for you) to enjoy it because this high stakes sumo happens every day of the basho.

Let’s take a look at who’s in the promotion zone this time, plus a few other guys further down who might be worth putting a flier on in your fantasy sumo game of choice to do some damage this time out.

Ms1e Tsukahara – I remember when I used to write a regular “Ones to Watch” feature, someone in the comments would always say “what about my guy Tsukahara?” For some reason he was always a bit of a non-prospect to me and it looked like he properly hit the Makushita wall. He’s been in the division for 26 straight basho, now finding himself in the ultimate position. Probably a good bet for the 4-3 he needs to punch his ticket.

Ms1w Terutsuyoshi – He’ll be hoping he’s reached the end of his annus horribilus (ask an older British person, or your parents if they’re into history). The Samurai Blue superfan has had 12 months to forget, going 22-53 over the previous five tournaments and without winning a majority of his matches on the dohyo in a basho since July of 2021. #yikes. He’s had notable health issues, but that’s the kind of form that gets you turfed out of the salaried ranks, and here we are. He has the ability to take a majority of wins from matches against those around him, but the form book says he’s just as likely to notch a 2-5 or go kyujo.

Ms2e Fujiseiun – While Fuijshima oyakata coached a number of sekitori he inherited from the old Musashigawa beya at the start of his career, this is arguably the brightest period of his tenure as shisho, with a handful of intriguing products in the heya. Fujiseiun (a recent member of the 21 Club: rikishi with 3 straight zensho to open their competitive career) has stuttered a bit when the lights have been brightest, but finished strongly last basho. I’d tip him for a 4-3 here given that he’s likely to get at least one crossover match against a Juryo opponent.

Ms2w Chiyosakae – I wouldn’t bet against him “riding the elevator” a few times between Juryo and Makushita like his stablemate Chiyonoumi (and more recently/previously, Chiyoarashi). As far as the eye test is concerned, I didn’t feel like I saw anything notable in his four basho stint in Juryo and this may be a basho that determines whether or not he’s clogging up the banzuke ahead of the more vaunted prospects coming in behind.

Ms3e Tokihayate – Another guy who just feels like he’s been in the division absolutely ages, although he is only 26 and should be in his career prime. He’s fighting for the second time here at his career high rank, but with only two kachikoshi in seven career attempts ranked Makushita 10 and higher, even if he does make the breakthrough it’s tough to bet on him sticking.

Ms3w Kawazoe – It feels totally weird to say this, but could it be that a prospect as hyped as Kawazoe has had his star dimmed a little, just because of the excitement in his own heya? Former Yokozuna Hakuho gets his first top division product as shisho this basho with ponderous giant Hokuseiho entering Makuuchi, while Ochiai obliterated the competition last basho to reach sekitori after only one tournament. Off the back of 3 kachikoshi, the former Makushita tsukedashi entrant Kawazoe will make his debut inside the “promotion zone” with as good a chance as anyone to nail down a third straight 5-2 that would probably see him clinch promotion. I think he’ll do it. And if all this wasn’t terrifying enough to the rest of the sumo world, behind another top prospect in Mukainakano, there is absolute monster Otani making his debut at the bottom of Makushita in this basho. It’s far too soon to call it a Miyagino dynasty, but if Daiki Nakamura rocks up…

Ms4e Mineyaiba – Beleaguered popular oyakata Shikoroyama (former Terao) could always use some good news, and I think Mineyaiba will provide it, although he may need to wait another basho. I’ve long thought the lanky prospect has looked like a sekitori-in-waiting since back when he was going by his family name of Ito (now being used by his brother down in Jonidan). It’s not hard to see how an oyakata known for being a tall guy with a long reach, producer of recent yusho snaffler Abi, would also have additional success with another rikishi of similar (not the same) build. I do rate Mineyaiba, now 23, as more likely to stick in the sekitori ranks however than previous heya products Oki and Itadori.

Ms4w Kaisho – I’m really disappointed to see Kaisho back down here, but six straight makekoshi is not the making of a good run at any level. I felt pretty confident after his fantastic 11 win tournament at Nagoya 2021 that he would make short work of the penultimate division on his second try, but he’s had a fairly horrendous run in Juryo since then, despite showing glimpses of his promise. I think he’s a technically very capable rikishi, although I also do wonder if he’s let down a bit in his development by the lack of suitable training partners in his heya. At 28 he should be in his career prime, but legendary former Ozeki Kaio has not been a prolific recruiter of talent. One wonders if Kaisho should be spending as much time as he can get on degeiko with some of those terrifying monsters in the ichimon over at Hakuho’s place.

Ms5e Chiyonoumi – Veteran of 14 basho in Juryo, his form has been pretty indifferent since his return to Makushita and it seems unlikely he’ll find the 6 wins he likely needs to gain promotion from this tournament.

Ms5w Tochikamiyama – It feels like there are a lot of Kasugano guys in this part of the banzuke. Veteran Tochimaru wasn’t able to make it stick in Juryo, but Tochimusashi probably has a bright future (despite a tough Hatsu), Tsukahara we’ve covered, and Tochikamiyama at 22 looks like he’s positioned well to knock on the door for the next couple of tournaments. To have already been in Makushita for 21 basho at that age is some considerable experience at the level. He stumbled badly last time, losing a potential exchange bout (although it didn’t transpire that way) against Juryo man Hakuyozan, followed by a Darwin shootout against Tomokaze, who ended up himself getting promoted. 4-3 or 5-2 feels like the right outcome here this time.

Vets who could go 7-0 but probably won’t: Shiden (6e) hasn’t been back to Juryo since his scandal suspension wiped out his sekitori debut, and still hasn’t fought at the level. Chiyoarashi (7e) and Tochimaru (9e) were overmatched in Juryo and haven’t shown much in Makushita since coming back. Yago (8w) has zensho’d at this level before and has the ability but has been dismantled by injury. Akiseyama (10e) was on one of the best runs of his career before injury sent him out of Makuuchi and tumbling down two levels, but he’s unlikely to mount a storied promotion.

Prospects who could go 7-0 but probably won’t, but it would be cool if they did: Hayatefuji (6w) is yet another exciting one on the Isegahama production line at just 21, but his progress over the last couple years has been slow and steady. Takasago guy Ishizaki (7w) wants his Asa prefix, but had a rough makekoshi last time out. Mukainakano (8e) is possibly the likeliest of the big prospects to zensho – what price a playoff against Kawazoe, with both going up? Former Sandanme tsukedashi Hatsuyama (11w) and Kanzaki (15e) have to be in the reckoning and will hope to give their respective former Ozeki stablemasters another sekitori before long. Youngster Kiryuko (13w) and Miyagi (14w) have been on decent runs, and Oitekaze’s Hitoshi (14e) has zensho’d three times in his seven lower-division basho so far. Finally, Ukrainian Shishi will make his bow for the new Ikazuchi-beya under the tutelage of former Kakizoe.

Aminishiki Branches Out to Launch Ajigawa Beya

Josh K Aminishiki (安美錦), Stables (Heya) ,

One piece of long-anticipated news finally came to pass today, as former Sekiwake Aminishiki has officially branched out from Isegahama beya to launch Ajigawa beya.

It has been known for some time that Ajigawa was working on the construction of a new stable. In the meantime, the heya will take up temporary premises while the new build is completed. The oyakata himself started his career at Ajigawa beya before it was renamed to Isegahama in 2007, so the development will create a homecoming of sorts for ex-Aminishiki, whose near-career-long shikona’s first character is taken from the heya’s name.

With the launch of the new heya, Isegahama ichimon will see its members increase to six, with the heya joining the eponymous heya run by ex-Asahifuji, ex-Hakuho’s Miyagino beya, ex-Kaio’s Asakayama beya, ex-Kyokutenho’s recently redubbed Oshima beya, and ex-Kotonishiki’s Asahiyama beya in the group. With Isegahama himself due to retire in 2 1/2 years time, an interesting leadership group for the future is taking shape.

Sumo is a family business for the Suginomoris, and the new Ajigawa beya’s branch out from Isegahama will come with a curious wrinkle: Isegahama has long had a well developed scouting pipeline in Aomori (from where both ex-Aminishiki and ex-Asahifuji hail). Ajigawa is launching his stable with just one recruit – the shisho’s nephew Sakuraba who also hails from Aomori. It will be intriguing to see whether more Aomori based recruits filter into Ajigawa or Isegahama beya over the next couple of years, and also whether Ajigawa is able to cast a wider net in his search for promising new talent. With Sakuraba leaving along with “Uncle Sumo,” the Aomori contingent at Isegahama will consist of sekitori Takarafuji and Nishikifuji, along with Jonokuchi champion Takerufuji and the struggling youngster Yoshinofuji.

Also of note will be whether Ajigawa is able to put into practise any development characteristics gleaned from his time working – first as an active rikishi and then as a coach – under his second cousin Isegahama. Long respected as a master recruiter and developer of talent, the 63rd Yokozuna recently reached a milestone in being the first stablemaster in nearly 20 years to have six rikishi into the top division simultaneously.

Other hot topics to watch in the heya’s medium term future will be whether he inherits personnel (such as Tateyama-oyakata, ex-Homarefuji, or the presumably soon-to-retire Takarafuji) or rikishi upon Isegahama’s retirement, or even potentially the whole operation should a presumptive heir such as Yokozuna Terunofuji not be ready or able to inherit it in 2025. We may also be curious to learn whether he restores the A- naming convention notably bestowed on himself, his brother Asofuji, and of course Ama (later to become Yokozuna Harumafuji) among others, which was popular under the old version of the heya.

All of those issues are of course questions for the future. For the present, we will look forward to seeing Ajigawa’s first recruit make his first proper honbasho appearance in Jonokuchi in the upcoming tournament, and hope that the new shisho can bring in new recruits for him to train with as soon as possible.

Hat tip to our friend Kintamayama and Herouth for being among the first to report the news through various channels!