Heya

Isegahama-beya To Absorb Miyagino-beya, But Not Permanently

Andy Hakuho (白鵬), Heya, Stables (Heya)

At its board meeting on 3/28, the Nihon Sumo Kyokai approved a plan to shutter Miyagino-beya and move its wrestlers and oyakata to Isegahama-beya in time for the May tournament. Hakuoho and other Miyagino-beya wrestlers will be introduced at the upcoming tournament as being from Isegahama-beya and they will not be able to fight against each other. The Isegahama Ichimon, led by Asakayama-oyakata (ex-Kaio), will be responsible for reporting back to the Kyokai after each tournament. They will provide guidance to Miyagino with an eye to re-opening his heya in the future, though there are no timelines for that at this point.

Readers will recall that the Hokuseiho bullying scandal broke during the Hatsu basho. The details quickly ensnared the heya’s master, Hakuho, because he knew of Hokuseiho’s behavior but did nothing to correct or address it for over a year. Hakuho was demoted but not dismissed from the Kyokai, and Tamagaki-oyakata was appointed as an interim-master for the Osaka tournament while the Ichimon, and the Kyokai, deliberated on a plan for what to do. Other proposals for the fate of Miyagino-beya after Osaka were considered by the Kyokai but rejected, including the idea to have wrestlers move to separate heya or be absorbed entirely at other heya in the Ichimon.

Further details about a potential reopening of Miyagino-beya have not been decided or revealed, such as whether the heya would retain its remaining wresters. Hokuseiho resigned before the tournament and Jonidan wrestler, Kurokage, retired afterward. Obviously, it is not clear at this point how well the individual wrestlers, Hakuho or Ishiura are taking this plan. It is certainly possible that other retirements will follow but I hope this will serve as a valuable education for Hakuho on how better to run and manage 20 young blokes. Folks will be quick to point out that Isegahama is not without its own scandals, including one that resulted in the demotion of Isegahama and his resignation from the board.

Commentary

This is an extraordinary decision by the Kyokai and a novel resolution to the bullying scandal. As I mentioned, we will probably never know all of the details or how the individuals have been dealing with this period of uncertainty. But it seemed apparent from the few interactions that we saw with Hakuho, that he was “bummed” to say the least. I imagine this period has been stressful as hell. Now that there is a path forward, I hope that everyone involved will make the best of it.

That’s not just lip service. It must be a challenge to manage a group of 20 dudes and teach them to live together in peace and harmony (while encouraging them to physically fight each other each day), oh, and to navigate a rigid hierarchy that results in some wrestlers being virtual serfs to those at the top. Hakuho took on a massive task when he took over Miyagino-beya. He has been a great recruiting success at a time when the sport NEEDS it.

The Kyokai acknowledges and appreciates the value that he provides…otherwise he would not still be there. The Hakuho Cup would transition to the Terunofuji Cup, just as it shifted from being the Asashoryu Cup. But Hakuho really has made that HIS cup and he’s even breaking down barriers with girls’ amateur sumo. He’s been committed to developing wanpaku sumo and he’s always been committed to the fans. So, for all of the Hakuho fans out there, ready to lambast the Kyokai as hypocritical tyrants, find solace in the fact that Hakuho is not Takanohana. He’s not an adversary. He’s an asset.

I am speculating here but I think Hakuho had no idea what to do with Hokuseiho. He’d committed to the kid when Hokuseiho was in elementary school and was kind of stuck with him from there. When Hokuseiho became an entitled prat, Hakuho did not know how to get him to stop and respect his lower-ranked stablemates. Hakuho seems to have picked out a good crop of guys since then. I’m not sure if Isegahama or Asakayama will have any great answers, either, but this will buy him the time that he probably needed in order to figure it out. The delay in opening Kakuryu’s stable, for instance, may not have been entirely about citizenship status and kabu negotiations but in preparing for, “how in the hell am I going to do this?”

As a parent of two kids, I know how to discipline my kids — at least I think so — but I would be utter crap at disciplining someone else’s kids, your kids. Shoot, I yelled at one of the neighbor’s kids about 10 years ago and the poor kid still seems traumatized. (He’s not laid a finger on my kids’ stuff, though, since.) Similarly, management is not fun. Conflict happens and some people seem to enjoy it and promote it which really freaks me out…especially at work. So, management and leadership are extremely important to get right. When Miyagino-beya reopens, I think he will have a better idea of what to do and how to do it.

They’ve been putting me in leadership development courses and stuff at work. This is a direct quote: “Andy, don’t do it. This is leadership, not work. We just want the plan, we don’t want you to do it.” My brain seized as I thought, “but this would be so easy.” I see a parallel in Hakuho’s excitement when he gets his mawashi on and gets in the ring. He’s like, “I just love sumo, I really wanna do sumo.” Similarly, I’m like, “Just let me get this s*** done, dude. It’s fun.” But there comes a time when you need to hang up the mawashi and let others get in the ring because you need to focus on helping the next generation develop their skills (and hopefully improve it and do it even better). That transition has been difficult for me and may be for him, as well.

What I have hated the most about this whole episode is the character assassination and rumor-mill which gets reported by some in the press. But I’ll not rant about that here. I have been very happy to see that the Tachiai viewership of day-to-day tournament coverage eclipsed the “scandal coverage,” so I sure feel pretty damn good about my readers. You all know what’s up. Sure, the scandal will certainly have an impact on the careers of our gladiators (and the sport as a whole) so it’s important to cover it and know what is going on. But the action on the dohyo is what brings us here, not the tawdry bits.

I see scandal coverage as sprinkles on top of an ice cream sundae — tasteless faff that I could do without and that certainly doesn’t add anything to the overall greatness of the ice cream sundae. And I leave the scandal meter up because it seems that as soon as I get optimistic and take it down, there’s a new scandal. My apologies for jinxing things. Let’s hope that number just gets bigger.

Addendum: Isegahama Ichimon

Andy Heya, Stables (Heya) ,

Reader jmotzi had a very interesting question that I felt needed more/better explanation on my part. First of all, the reports do not indicate that Isegahama-oyakata will be appointed to supervise Miyagino-beya. As jmotzi points out, Isegahama had his own bullying controversy which resulted in the loss of his powerful position on the Kyokai’s board. Instead of Isegahama-oyakata, the reports indicate that an oyakata will come from Isegahama-ichimon and if that name has been determined, I have not seen it reported.

“Interesting that the caretaker is from Isegahama-beya which had it’s own bullying episode in 2022. Or maybe I am confused by the names. Anyway we can hope that this puts everybody on notice regarding these type of behaviors and all stables become more proactive.”

jmotzi

The various (usually around 40) stables are organized into associated groups, or factions, called Ichimon. I’m not going to dive into the politics and the leadership contests and leadership struggles because, well, I am still just trying to bring myself up-to-speed on that. But if you are trying to run an organization and achieve consensus on issues, it’s easier to work with a smaller group of factions than 40 independent leaders, no?

The Isegahama Ichimon includes Miyagino-beya, as well as Oshima, Asakayama, Asahiyama, and Ajigawa. The latter two of these stables do not have subordinate oyakata, or coaches but the others have a number of subordinate coaches who might be able to pick up the mantle here. I have not seen any indication that the Kyokai is planning to choose a current stablemaster, or a subordinate oyakata. If anyone has seen that, please let me know.

Isegahama Ichimon

I would not be surprised if the Kyokai would prefer an existing stablemaster. Then again, I would not be surprised if the Kyokai thinks it would be too much and would prefer the caretaker be one of the subordinates. I have listed a table of the oyakata available here and there are a number of very interesting possibilities. I think a lot of people would love to see Kaisei take a leadership role but that would be quite the surprise, no?

Winter Update 2023.12.29

Andy Hatsu 2024, Heya, Stables (Heya)

There are a couple more news-worthy items which have come up that I must share with you all, both related to heya. First up, Kakuryu has secured a kabu and will branch out with his own, independent stable: Otowayama. He takes Tokotsuru, the top-ranked Tokoyama (hairdresser) along with a couple of deshi, Hagane and his new recruit. Hagane is the only banzuke-ranked wrestler currently listed on the heya profile. This is fantastic news as the search has been a running drama for a few years with the 5-year shot clock running down.

Secondly, former Homasho (Tatsutagawa-oyakata) has officially been named acting stablemaster at Shikoroyama-beya, following the passing of Terao. Both he and Kakuryu…oops, Otowayama… will be gearing up in earnest for Hatsubasho once the New Year holidays calm down.

These machinations are often difficult for me to track in my head, so I am in the process of building a visualization based on the Kabu history pages at the SumoDB. There are a bunch of ways to look at these and I’m starting off with several different Gantt-style charts to look at the changes through time.

This first one that I would like to share is a list of all kabu, with color indicating whether the kabu holder is the stable master or a coach within another heya. What becomes apparent is that several names have long histories of being independent (Izutsu, Nishonoseki, Sadogatake) while others do not, like Otowayama and Ikazuchi. Homasho’s Tatsutagawa kabu has had a bit of a history as an independent heya but not as storied as Isegahama, obviously.

One thing that I would like to do is to tie the heya to exactly how storied or successful they were (have been). I’m trying to work out a defensible metric that I can use to gage such success through time. Maybe with the number of sanyaku wrestlers or top division wrestlers? It’s a tough call. Would you say that Oitekaze tops Isegahama as the most dominant heya, currently? Another tab on the visual already shows the holder by rank, as pictured on the left. Yokozuna are yellow, with lower ranking wrestlers darker shades of green. It’s interesting to see that according to the SumoDB data, gyoji had owned some of the kabu in the past.

I’ve got a draft version of another visualization that tracks the kabu by holder so that we can see how often some of these swap hands. Kobo, one of Hakuho’s former stablemates at Miyagino-beya, traded five different kabu during the ten years he remained a coach. Sanoyama is another kabu which seems to trade hands frequently, being held by Konishiki, Chiyotaikai, and recently Satoyama. However, with that visualization, there are so many holders and so few colors that it looks a bit crazy. Once I figure out a clean way to pair that down, it will be more helpful.

Heya Hunters International

Josh K Gōeidō (豪栄道), Hakuho (白鵬), Heya, Kisenosato (稀勢の里), Stables (Heya), Takekaze (豪風), Yoshikaze (嘉風) , ,

As detailed by Andy in his recent post (and via Twitter from Herouth, and throughout the usual dispatches from our friend Kintamayama over the preceding weeks), a number of heya changes have recently taken place. Additional changes will follow in the coming days… and in fact, there will be even more changes yet to follow later this year!

The kabu stock market tends to be an interest that’s restricted to the most intense of sumo anoraks. It’s not a topic of conversation for most normal sumo fans, confusing to others, and many changes and name transfers are often administrative in nature. However, for those wishing for a deeper dive, it seems like a good time to do some recap and analysis.

Nishonoseki Ichimon

The major story is the former Yokozuna Kisenosato taking over the prestigious headline Nishonoseki name, renaming his relatively new heya from Araiso beya to Nishonoseki beya. We have often wondered what kind of heya Araiso beya would be, and we don’t have to wonder anymore, because it won’t exist. Nishonoseki beya will be augmented by the arrival of eight rikishi from the soon to close Oguruma beya.

Oguruma oyakata reaches retirement age this spring, and the stable had long been rumoured to split into Yoshikaze (Nakamura oyakata) and Takekaze (Oshiogawa oyakata) factions. We have known for some time that Oshiogawa beya would be a new stable opening this year, but the division of the rikishi and what would happen to the existing stable and Nakamura oyakata had yet to be announced.

It was somewhat of a surprise, then, that Nakamura oyakata will make the big move up to Ibaraki prefecture to join up with Nishonoseki beya. And it was equally a surprise that the vast majority of Oguruma beya’s rikishi will not accompany the outgoing oyakata or the former Takekaze, with whom they will have had a much longer relationship, but instead be heading north with the former Yoshikaze to work under the former Yokozuna at his new stable. Kisenosato had long spoken – and even published a paper as part of his studies – about how to run a new type of modern sumo stable, and it seems that alongside his own recruits, 8 of the Oguruma beya rikishi will get a chance to experience that first hand when his new lodging opens.

Additionally, Nishonoseki beya gets an immediate quality boost with the presence of former sekitori Tomokaze, who will now almost certainly be the first sekitori of the new Nishonoseki beya as he continues his rehabilitation in the Makushita joi over the next couple of basho. While the former Yoshikaze certainly could have inherited and renamed the former Oguruma stable, and also qualifies as someone able to branch out and create a new heya in the future, he is also known to have a number of extra-curricular circumstances outside of sumo that would seem to have prevented him from running a stable at this time.

Working with Nishonoseki oyakata in the meantime, of course, does not prevent him from branching out in the future, and would appear to be a great experience for all involved: a number of the former Oguruma rikishi will certainly relish the opportunity to work under a former Yokozuna known for his fundamentals, and both coaches had very different sumo styles serving them well throughout their lengthy top division careers. And with Nishonoseki oyakata known to be both ambitious about his plans for the stable and shorthanded in the support department (most stables have an okamisan on hand to help with stable running – although this is certainly not a requirement and may be viewed as another way that Nishonoseki is progressing the tradition of stable management), the addition of a capable, young new coach should certainly help a stable master who is known to be extremely busy, between overseeing heya construction, kyokai and frequent media duties, and his various brand partnerships and endorsement deals.

As for Oshiogawa beya, former Takekaze will bring Oguruma oyakata, current sekitori Yago, and a couple others along with him to his own innovative new building (which was at one point said to include lodgings for students, and with the absence of a gym as his rikishi will apparently make use of community facilities as he seeks to integrate the stable with the local community).

Meanwhile, the man who held the Nishonoseki name for most of the last decade, former Ozeki Wakashimazu, continues as a consultant using Kisenosato’s former Araiso name. A number of his stable’s rikishi have retired following the Hatsu basho, but those opting to continue will do so under the tutelage of former Sekiwake Tamanoshima, who has long held the name of Hanaregoma oyakata, and as such, with the transfer of power complete at the former Nishonoseki beya, will run the stable – also soon to be at new premises – under the name Hanaregoma beya. The longtime shimpan and sometime heartthrob Hanaregoma will look back fondly at his move from Kataonami beya – where he was developed himself as a rikishi – to work under the former Wakashimazu, a move that certainly paid off in the long run as the legendary Kataonami beya (once home to Yokozuna Tamanoumi) fell into sharp decline.

Hanaregoma oyakata will preside over a stable with no fewer than three sekitori, as Wakashimazu’s (presumably) final recruit to make the jump to the salaried ranks, Shimazuumi, will move to Juryo in the forthcoming basho (joining stablemates Ichiyamamoto and veteran Shohozan there). I had pegged Shohozan to retire and inherit both the name and stable from Wakashimazu, having been his greatest success story as an oyakata and given Shohozan’s advancing years, but the wheeling and dealing behind the scenes, transferring names and stables, caught many sumo observers as a bit of a surprise. It’s probable however, that the deal for former Tamanoshima to take over the stable from former Wakashimazu had been in the works for a long time.

Dewanoumi Ichimon

It’s not quite as complicated here, as former Ozeki Goeido (Takekuma oyakata) and his new haircut have branched out from Sakaigawa beya, taking Makushita champ Nishikawa and promising youngster Goseiryu with him, to form Takekuma beya.

Given that Goseiryu has taken the first character of Goeido’s shikona, it will be interesting to see if this is an indicator of future shikona in the new Takekuma beya, and if more rikishi will take a “Go” prefix in deference to the new yusho-winning stablemaster. That said, the character also matches the first character of the rikishi’s given name, so it’s a little early to call.

Curiously, it’s the first time since the war that Takekuma beya will exist outside of the Tatsunami-Isegahama ichimon, and Goeido’s assumption of the name upon his retirement a couple years back marked what may become a more normal transfer of less prestigious names across ichimon lines.

Isegahama Ichimon

2021 had been a big year for this group of stables, but largely for reasons on the dohyo, with the retirement of Yokozuna Hakuho (Miyagino beya), the elevation of Yokozuna Terunofuji (Isegahama beya), and the kanreki dohyo-iri of Isegahama oyakata.

But a series of moves are now in the offing outside of the ring, and the first of these is the administrative name switch of Tomozuna oyakata (former yusho winner Kyokutenho) and Oshima oyakata (former sekiwake Kaiki), who ran Tomozuna beya for many years before his retirement, developing current sekitori Kaisei and long-time former Ozeki Kaio (for the vast majority of Kaio’s career, anyway).

Kyokutenho was brought up in the now legendary former Oshima beya under the tutelage of ex-Ozeki Asahikuni, who oversaw a decades-long production line running from Yokozuna Asahifuji (possibly now the best developer of talent in sumo as Isegahama oyakata) all the way through to Kyokutenho and his younger mates Kyokutaisei (as detailed in the film “A Normal Life”) and the newly-retired Kyokushuho.

Following the successful merger of the former Oshima beya with Tomozuna beya following former Asahikuni’s retirement, Kaiki ran the stable until his mandatory retirement in 2017 when Kyokutenho switched elder names to continue running the stable under the Tomozuna banner, in deference to Kaiki. Kaiki continued as a sanyo (consultant), and as he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 for sanyo this summer and leaves the kyokai for good, the two have switched names again to allow Kyokutenho to revive the Oshima beya name, which he will presumably run for many years to come. There are no fundamental changes to the stable beyond the name swap.

This, of course, will generate debate as to who will take the Tomozuna name when it becomes available later this year. Isegahama ichimon has no shortage of aging rikishi that may require a myoseki. And while there are those in other stables (Miyagino, Isegahama) who meet the requirements, Oshima beya will have its own coaching logjam. Former Asahisho is already using a loaner kabu (Kiriyama), which, coming from the Isegahama stable, is presumed to be Takarafuji’s in waiting. Meanwhile, Kyokutaisei, having been beset by numerous injuries and punted out of the salaried ranks, may need a kabu himself in the near future if he wishes to continue his career as an elder in the kyokai, having reached the required number of basho. While he hadn’t always seemed an obvious choice to become a coach, he assisted in the recent recruitment of one of the stable’s relatively few new recruits under Kyokutenho, the fellow Hokkaido native Kyokutaiga. It is possible he may unlock further recruits in the future from his home in the north.

All of this of course ignores the presence of 35 year old Kaisei, the veteran most closely linked to the Tomozuna name, having been the last sekitori to have reached the top division from the old heya under Kaiki’s tutelage. The Brazilian born rikishi has already taken Japanese nationality, but has also given mixed signals in the past about his desire to remain in sumo. In any case, it would be a major surprise not to see the Tomozuna name ultimately go to Kaisei, but in the meantime the name may be shuffled around the heya to protect the employment statuses of others.

If you’ve made it this far, you can accuse me of burying the lede a bit, because August brings the mandatory retirement of Miyagino oyakata in what will signal the official power transfer of the storied stable to the former Yokozuna Hakuho. Hakuho – now Magaki oyakata – has of course already become one of the sport’s most prolific recruiters and developers of talent in recent years, even while still active (to some extent) on the dohyo.

Hakuho was made to sign a statement by the Kyokai with regards to his future conduct and behaviour upon retirement, but this is not thought to be an impediment to the future transfer of the stable into his control at this time. We already know that Hakuho has indicated an intention to build a new home for the heya, but the two questions currently unresolved are 1) whether he will switch names with the current Miyagino oyakata so that the stable can continue to operate under the Miyagino name, or if it will be given a fresh start and renamed Magaki beya; and 2) whether the current Miyagino oyakata and Takashima oyakata, who reach age 65 within a few days of each other, will both continue as sanyo for another five years in support of Hakuho. If either the current Takashima or Miyagino decide to leave, it could free up a name to be used for – speculatively – Ishiura. Hakuho has longtime links to the Ishiura family – Ishiura’s father runs the powerhouse Tottori Johoku sumo club, and the continued employ of the 32 year old Ishiura in the stable after his career could further deepen the recruitment pipeline for Hakuho’s stable over the next two decades.

Takasago Ichimon

Not much happening here, but the Oyama name will become available for the first time in 36 years by October, when former Onobori reaches the mandatory sanyo retirement age of 70. The Nishikijima name was also occupied by the former Takasago oyakata and Ozeki Asashio before his scandal related departure from the Kyokai last year. Speculatively speaking, either name could come into play on loan for the former Kotoyuki, who is currently borrowing soon-to-be-37-year-old Okinoumi’s myoseki Kimigahama. Both names could also be acquisition targets for Hokutofuji, who turns 30 later this year.

Tokitsukaze Ichimon

Michinoku beya’s Tatsutayama oyakata reaches the retirement age of 65 in June, and has yet to indicate whether he intends to continue as a sanyo. This will be of interest largely because of the situations regarding the former Toyonoshima (currently borrowing Izutsu from the deceased former shisho of that stable, Sakahoko) and former Yokozuna Kakuryu (currently operating under his ring name as the rank allows for a temporary period of up to 5 years). At some point, both former rikishi will need to acquire their own name.

Toyonoshima was said to have been making payments towards the Nishikijima name for years, and the Nishikijima name belonged to the Tokitsukaze ichimon for decades before being picked up by the Takasago family more recently. So, it would not be a surprise to see it come back into play as an option for him, especially if Tatsutayama (or Isenoumi beya’s coach and a former stable master in his own right, Kagamiyama, upon his retirement in 12 months) elects not to continue as a sanyo.

The wild card in all of this is that the former Izutsu’s widow was rumoured to be adamant the name would go only to the rikishi who married her daughter, and the rikishi to have taken that particular challenge on is none other than current maegashira Shimanoumi, of Dewanoumi ichimon’s Kise beya. While Shimanoumi seems likely to qualify for elder status by 2023, it seems incredibly unlikely that the prestigious Izutsu name, having never been associated with any other ichimon (barring a brief period under Kitanofuji’s control in the 70s), would be moved to Dewanoumi ichimon (though stranger things have happened).

So, in summary, watch this space in 2022 as there may be an update regarding the statuses of former Toyonoshima and Kakuryu, as any one of the Nishikijima, Tatsutayama, Izutsu or Kagamiyama names could come into play… or maybe not!