Heya

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!

A Sumo Fan Decides Which Stable to Join – Part 1

Josh K Heya, Oyakata, Stables (Heya)

One of the most important but least seen aspects of sumo life is, well… your day to day life. It has been said that the daily activity, the keiko, the act of being a rikishi is what sumo is all about. The tournaments we see on television, on the internet or in person are simply the culmination of all of the processes, traditions and daily activities one must endure.

There can be a number of reasons why a new recruit joins a particular stable. Perhaps the stable master has a strong scouting network in his hometown, or there are links with the stable’s supporters group. Perhaps he was invited to spend time in the heya and loved it, went to the same school as the shisho, or simply idolised the stable master or had mutual friends with someone connected to the heya. Perhaps, as with Hokuseiho, the recruit had a chance meeting with the stable’s superstar rikishi in an airport. 

Let’s assume we have none of these personal connections, and decide to join a stable. Which one to join? In light of recent announcements heralding the future branch-outs of new stables from relatively recent top division names like Kisenosato and Takekaze, there’s much to be excited about in terms of the shifting landscape of sumo stables. Both of those guys have shared new ideas for their evolution of the place for which sumo’s lifestyle revolves – joining other recently minted oyakata such as former Kotooshu in attempting to push the sport forward. Of course, plenty of other stable masters have experienced incredible success with age old coaching methods or just good old-fashioned man management.

Our rikishi will be for all intents and purposes of average build and good (better than average but perhaps not superstar) ability. We can say they will be a little more technique driven than simply a pure pusher-thruster who relies on blunt strength and physicality. It will be someone for whom development will be required rather than being able to simply bulldoze the bottom four divisions and brute force their way to sekitori-hood. Like the author, this rikishi will be very handsome and surely will attract some of Endo’s brand sponsors should they ever make the top division. This is of course my analysis and these are my opinions, and yours may differ, and that’s okay. But if there were no subjectivity in sports, they probably would not be as interesting and we’d all have the same favourite teams.

With that preamble out of the way, we’ll start today with the smallest ichimon, Takasago, and work our way through the other four over the next few weeks before doing a deeper dive and settling on a final decision. Come with me on my journey!

Part 1 – Takasago Ichimon

Hakkaku: This stable is enormous (growing yet larger with the import of Azumazeki’s crew) and has quite a bit of upwardly mobile young talent. The influential and inspiring stable master – the current chairman of the kyokai – was a yokozuna, the coaching staff now includes the exciting former “Robocop” Takamisakari**, and in a few years, you probably report to Okinoumi, one of the more underrated technicians of the current time. While you’re probably starting your career scrapping for sleeping space with a large number of lower-rankers, the location of the stable in Ryogoku is also really good, about as good as it’s possible to get without waking up to the sounds of the JR line. There are no long commutes to Kokugikan from here. Verdict: On the shortlist.

Kokonoe: Chiyotaikai took over from an all-time legend in Chiyonofuji about five years ago, and has done well to develop many rikishi he inherited into mid-level sekitori. Additionally, various rehabilitative efforts have kept that impressive number of sekitori on the dohyo, or returned them to the salaried ranks after they’ve dropped out. Kokonoe-oyakata is a visible presence within the kyokai, but for all of the recruits he’s brought in, he hasn’t added a ton of quality since he took over a few years back. So when you see a stable of this size, you wonder whether the recruitment efforts are in service of a tsukebito factory. Verdict: This shikona won’t be joining the thousand generations of “Chiyos” – it’s going to have to be a pass.

Nishikido: An apparently dying stable with plenty of scandal in its history. It’s a hard pass.

Takasago: There’s some degree of uncertainty, following the retirement (and re-employement as consultant) of the former high-achieving shisho, who apparently still lives in the heya. The roster is a bit bottom heavy, but contains some inspiring talent to practise with (the soon to depart Ozeki, plus names like Murata, Asagyokusei and Terasawa), and the recent recruiting (Fukai, Osanai, Ishizaki) has been interesting. But it’s tough to go where you’re not sure what the future holds, especially with some degree of punishment awaiting the new oyakata for the Asanoyama scandal. Verdict: A reluctant pass.

** Azumazeki-beya would have been an intriguing option due to the legacy and heritage, but Robocop, lacking the support needed to run a heya, decided to move over to Hakkaku’s place and recently shut it down.

Sumo Fan Survey!

Andy Forecasting, Foreign Rikishi, Heya, Stables (Heya), Sumo Topics, Visualization , , ,

Our friends over at GSB have created a survey (link here and in the embedded Tweet below) to learn more about rikishi popularity. We all know Ikioi is the greatest but NOW is when you fill it in to a survey and see it actually reflected in data. As people may be aware with the Tableau dashboards around the website, Leonid’s prognostication and the encyclopedic knowledge of Bruce, Herouth, and Josh, we love data. Metrics are good. Sometimes it’s just because they make pretty pictures but often there are interesting things to learn. Mostly, I just like pretty graphs that move when I click and I expect the numbers will shift quite a bit next year when Terunofuji returns to Juryo…and hopefully Makuuchi soon after!

Seriously, though, who wouldn’t love a stats-based approach to running a heya? Even if it is just my armchair heya? I’m particularly interested in the heya popularity data.

The Empire Strikes Back is always the best Star Wars movie, and Terunofuji is Lord Vader. When he beat Kisenosato…or perhaps when he beat Kotoshogiku…and knelt to accept his kenshokin, was anyone else struck by how his oicho-mage evoked Vader’s kabuto-inspired mask? Or maybe it was the evil of the victory…I dunno. He’ll always be Vader to me and now he’s back! Dun, dun, dun…

Wow. Post-basho delirium is in full swing. (Send help.) Thank God for that amateur tournament in a few days.

Kaishu Rintaro

Andy Heya, Japanese Culture, Travel , , , ,

Lower division sumo bouts are perfect prime-time viewing for those of us sumo fans living in exile in the Eastern US. Obviously, we miss out on most of the stars unless we take a nap through makushita and wake up at 3 to 4am for makuuchi. In the lower ranks, many of the wrestlers have yet to pack on the skills and girth necessary to climb up the ranks but there are some fantastic bouts with great finishing moves. This izori from Kaishu was one of my favorite bouts from the whole tournament.

Kaishu is a Musashigawa beya stablemate of Musashikuni and Wakaichiro. All of the coaches’ and wrestlers’ profiles are available on the Musashigawa homepage. He joined back in 2016 at the age of 18. Ladies, his blood type is B. https://musashigawa.com/rikishi-urakata/rikishi_kaisyu

He has three years of championship-caliber judo training in high school. If I’m getting my time frames right his High School, Shutoku, won the national judo title while he was there. With that experience under his belt, he’s come in with a strong grappling background. This was his first izori victory at Natsu 2019 but he’s already got a rather impressive slate of kimarite, including two ashitori wins and the zubuneri seen below, when he was fighting under the name Kobayashi. He’s young — but those guns, dude.

Now, for a statistic that blew me away when I saw it. For all of the 1107 wrestlers featured in the Tachiai Kimarite dashboard, which includes all active wrestlers plus those who retired after 2013, the median wrestler has won with 16 kimarite. Kaishu has already won by using 24 distinct kimarite. That puts him near the 90th percentile and he’s only been in sumo for 3 years. Granted, Aminishiki has nearly doubled that tally. But that’s Aminishiki. By the way, the data in the dashboard has been updated with data from Natsu 2019.

Median wrestler has won with 16 kimarite. Kaishu has 24. Mr 47 is Aminishiki.

For those fans with an interest in Japanese history, his current shikona, 海舟, is a nod to Katsu Kaishu. He also changed the character used for his first name, from 倫太郎 to 麟太郎, which was a name used by Katsu Kaishu, father of the Japanese Navy. When the West pressured Japan to open themselves to commerce in the 1850s, Kaishu pushed to establish a strong navy and to staff it with people based on capability rather than lineage. He commanded the ship which brought the first Japanese delegation to the US before playing a pivotal role in the Meiji Restoration.

He also likes mangoes. OK, I admit, that’s non sequitur. I just had to throw that in there because I had an amazing mango yesterday and his profile actually does say his favorite food is mango. In more Musashigawa fun facts, the stable will be participating in a beach clean up this Saturday at Enoshima’s Benten Bridge. If you’re in Japan, and in the area of Enoshima, this may be a great reason to go to the beach! There’s a great little train, too, the Enoden that you can take down there from Kamakura.

Kaishu Rintaro

Unfortunately, he’s been on a bit of a slide after peaking near the top of Sandanme. He had a winless hatsu and will be back in Jonidan in Nagoya because he finished with a 3-4 makekoshi record. One of those pivotal losses, though, came at the hands of Shiraishi who won the Sandanme yusho in his debut tournament from below Sandanme 100. He skipped Go — mae-zumo, jonokuchi, and Jonidan — based on his amateur pedigree from Toyo University. Without that tough match up, one wonders if he’d have been able to secure his kachi-koshi.