Hana-zumo

Jungyo Newsreel – December 7th

Herouth Hana-zumo, Jungyo (巡業) , , , , , , , ,

🌐 Location: Usa, Oita

Today the Jungyo arrived at the city of Usa, which happens to be the birth place of the one Yokozuna Hakuho is still looking up to – Futabayama Sadaji.

This, of course, meant that many rikishi were fiercely working their smartphones to get a pic with the most awesome Yokozuna in the world:

gaga-sokokurai-futabayama
One awesome Yokozuna, one Georgian patriot, and one Juryo Yusho winner

2300 spectators flocked to the venue despite the cold weather. Once again, Harumafuji goods were sold out as soon as they were offered.

Yoshikaze was the main man of the day, hailing from close-by Saiki. He entertained the crowd in the kiddie sumo:

girl-sumo

Yes, from time to time you’ll see a girl sumo enthusiast. They get to wear something modest in addition to the mawashi. Alas, they cannot dream of growing up to be rikishi.

But although Yoshikaze drew a lot of spectator attention, when Hakuho decided to step up the dohyo and do some kiddie sumo, the crowd blew up.

hakuho-kiddie

Yokozuna and Ozeki don’t normally do the kiddie sumo duty. In the previous Jungyo, Goeido chose to participate when the Jungyo passed through his home territory. Hakuho also chose one stop to play with the kids. So the crowd was delighted that the Yokozuna chose their town this time.

Back to Yoshikaze, when time came for the torikumi, the warm local support caused him to go for spectacular sumo, and he ended up with a tsuri-dashi win over Mitakeumi. Shohozan, who studied in a local high school, won against Takakeisho by okuridashi. Hakuho was less fortunate today, and got yori-kiried by Kakuryu. 2:2.

As you can see in that video, there is a new Shokkiri team. I feel a bit sorry for Baraki for losing his Shokkiri status so quickly. He seems to be the perfect fit for the job. I guess with Akua being promoted to sekitori, it couldn’t be helped.

Here is the full Shokkiri performance by the new duo:

Did someone from the crowd throw back some salt to the dohyo?

 

Jungyo Newsreel – December 6th

Herouth Hana-zumo, Jungyo (巡業) , , , , , , ,

🌐 Location: Nogata, Fukuoka

terutsuyoshi-smiling
Evidence contradicting the claim that Terutsuyoshi never smiles

Today I have a bit of a strange newsreel for you. The accredited news outlets continue to focus more on scandal and less on the content of the Jungyo. More reporters than ever are chasing the Jungyo, mostly trying to find some new reason to grill Hakuho.

Today’s event’s sponsor decided they will have none of that, and their press officer simply forbade any television crews from entering the venue, saying they do not want anything that will be troublesome for the spectators. As a result, and because none of the phone-wielding obasan was obliging, I have no actual bouts for you. Should anything materialize, I’ll update.

So what I managed to pick is mostly from unofficial (read “Twitter”) sources.

There was a positive, though secondhand, report, that said that attendance was higher than ever, with the floor level full, and all unnumbered seats in the gallery sold out. The reason? “The attached stall was selling Harumafuji goods”. This, despite the sponsor’s decision to replace the cover of the pamphlet handed at the event to one that does not include the troublesome retiring Yokozuna.

Takayasu continues to do keiko with low-ranked rikishi. This time he was working out with Shonannoumi and Hakuyozan – mostly the latter – for 40 or 50 minutes, in a quiet corner of the venue.

takayasu-practices

And Hokutofuji engaged in synchronized calisthenics (with Tobizaru):

The resident oyakata (I can’t tell which one it is from the back, sorry) watched Kagayaki and corrected him again and again. Looks tiring.

kagayaki-guided

During the moshi-age phase of the sekitori practice, we had the famous rivals in a battle of tadpoles:

onosho-takakeisho
Onosho vs. Takakeisho

As you recall, a Jungyo always includes kiddie sumo. Take a look at Shohozan – that sour-faced observer in the picture above – playing around with the kids:

Then, finally, everybody dressed up in their kesho-mawashi. Here is the Makuuchi dohyo iri – babies, babies everywhere! Watch out for Onosho trying to cope with a wriggling baby:

Edit: Got the musubi-no-ichiban!

Hakuho 2 – Kakuryu 1

Alas, outside the venue, controversy continued. When Hakuho came out, the press bore down on him, and in the crowd, somebody raised this placard behind his back. It says (free translation) “Hakuho carries most of the blame”.

hating-hakuho

 

Short Jungyo Newsreel – December 4th

Herouth Hana-zumo, Jungyo (巡業) , ,

🌐 Location: Goto, Nagasaki

Not much news from the Jungyo today. Most of the sports news is still focusing on the Harumafuji scandal rather than on sumo – but still, the guys took a ferry from the mainland to the Goto islands, where 2700 fans awaited them in Goto city.

kotoshogiku
Terunofuji vs. Kotoshogiku

Aminishiki confessed in his blog that he was embarrassed to find himself seasick in that ferry ride, coming from a family of fishermen. He blames it on the book he was reading. Again, too literate for his own good. :-)

Of the day itself, here is NHK’s report:

You get to see most of today’s musubi-no-ichiban, that is, Hakuho vs. Kakuryu. This time, Kakuryu wins. 1:1.

Then Hakuho makes his first public statement about the Harumafuji affair. He says: “I can’t find the words to say to the man. It’s better that I take my time, and then express myself to the man directly”.

That’s it for today, sorry for the brevity.

Tomorrow the Jungyo is on a day off. Hakuho, though, is not. He is going to be visiting the city of Asakura in Fukuoka Prefecture, which has been hit by torrential rain in July and suffered severe devastation. He will be there, together with Kotoshogiku (and at least one other maegashira, and of course his tsukebito team), accompanied by two oyakata, to comfort the survivors. He is expected to perform a dohyo-iri, to have pictures taken with the locals, and to participate in a memorial service.

For those readers who weren’t here in the previous Jungyo, here is today’s Sumo-Jinku. It’s a medley of sumo songs, performed in Jungyo and on similar occasions by low-ranked rikishi, wearing (borrowed) kesho-mawashi.

I’m wondering whose mawashi is worn by the singer with his back to us. It’s obviously way too wide for him. Chiyomaru? :-)

Sekitori participating in the torikumi:

Juryo

Takagenji, Yago, Osunaarashi, Takanosho, Gagamaru, Toyohibiki, Hidenoumi, Yamaguchi, Terutsuyoshi, Tsurugisho, Kotoeko, Sokokurai, Kyokutaisei, Amakaze, Sadanoumi, Abi, Homarefuji.

Makuuchi

Nishikigi, Kotoyuki, Daiamami, Takekaze, Aminishiki, Okinoumi, Kagayaki, Ikioi, Daieisho, Endo, Kaisei, Daishomaru, Chiyomaru, Shodai, Tochinoshin, Takarafuji, Arawashi, Ichinojo, Hokutofuji, Shohozan, Tochiozan, Chiyotairyu, Takakeisho, Tamawashi, Onosho, Terunofuji, Kotoshogiku, Mitakeumi, Yoshikaze, Kakuryu, Hakuho.

So, Takayasu is still just doing keiko. [Good. Rest well, huge bear. –PinkMawashi]

Jungyo Newsreel – December 3rd

Herouth Hana-zumo, Jungyo (巡業) , , , , , ,

🌐 Location: Omura, Nagasaki

Ohisashiburi! Here we go again with the daily (if possible) Jungyo updates. Sekitori (excepting 13 kyujo), tsukebito, the jinku team, the shokkiri team, and home boys from the various Jungyo locations – 250 people in total – gathered in Fukuoka and went down the road to Omura last night.

fuyu-jungyo-17-03-all

The events of the sumo world cannot be forgotten, and Kasugano oyakata, who has taken charge in place of Takanohana in this Jungyo, laid down strict rules of conduct, from maintaining the dress code to not allowing private outings. He also opened the day with an apology to the spectators.

But the fans who filled the venue to the brim (4000 attending) really couldn’t care less. Or rather, they cared, but mostly about getting Harumafuji goods before they are sold out. Harumafuji’s memorabilia was the most popular, as the following video (which also includes the bout between Kakuryu and Hakuho) shows.

Hakuho, as you can see, was diligently working the crowd in his usual fansa-god fashion.

I couldn’t get much details on the practices, who engaged whom etc., but I do have a couple more torikumi for you:

  • Kore yori san-yaku
  • Terunofuji vs. Yoshikaze
  • Mitakeumi vs. Goeido

So, as you can see, Takayasu does not participate in the torikumi at this stage, while Terunofuji tries to find new and interesting ways to wreck his knees.

Bonus: Yokozuna tsuna-shime. This is one of the events of the Jungyo (and other exhibitions) – a demonstration of how the Yokozuna’s rope is wrapped and tied around him. This time Hakuho demonstrates. Guest star: Enho, who is on this Jungyo, as in the previous one, as part of the “Hakuho team”.

Yes, it takes 7 rikishi to tie up one Yokozuna (though I have a hunch that Enho is not really essential there). Note the squat at the end. The rope is tested and tightened so that it doesn’t move when the Yokozuna performs the shiko parts of his ring-entrance ceremony.

The full ceremony, including the unfurling of the rope, from a different angle: