Sumo Topics

Winter 2025 News Update #1

Andy Jungyo (巡業), Sumo Topics , , ,

Andy and the family return home, fat and happy from Thanksgiving with the relatives. Our return was timed perfectly so I hope to be able to write a brief post tomorrow about the Winter Tour, which is about to get under way. But before it kicks off there are a couple of items to note.

Ex-Takakeisho to Inherit Heya

Hat tip to Justin for catching this news. The Sumo Association announced that Minatogawa-oyakata will inherit Tokiwayama-beya, effective January 26. The current master will turn 65 at the beginning of March, so the January tournament will be his last as master, before retiring. The heya will be renamed Minatogawa-beya and all of the wrestlers, one of the hair-dressers and one seiwanin will stay with the heya, though other staff will transfer to other stables.

January 26 is the day after Hatsubasho 2026. So, this upcoming tournament will be Takanosho’s last fighting under the Tokiwayama banner. When the Spring tournament comes around in Osaka, he would be fighting in Minatogawa-beya. I presume the heya lodgings will change at some point and the guys will move to another location in the Tokyo area, owned by Takakeisho. The current location (pictured) is in Maenocho, next to the Tokiwadai neighborhood, and close to Tokiwadai station. The kanji for Tokiwadai is 常盤台. I’ll provide an update when I find out more details.

Winter Tour Kyujo List

The Winter Tour is set to kick off on November 30 and will run for 22 straight days at 22 different locations. The path winds around Kyushu and then back toward home in the Tokyo region. It looks like there will be no Okinawa stop this year. Instead, the tour terminates in Saitama on the 21st. That might give the guys time to spend the holidays at home and be ready for action on January 11.

It comes as no surprise that Yokozuna Onosato tops the list of kyujo. He will be absent due to his Day 13 injury against Aonishiki and will be joined in the infirmary by a number of sekitori. This will include Takayasu, Hakuoho, Wakatakakage, Ura, Roga, Meisei, Hitoshi, Kotoeiho and Mita. We hope all of these guys make good use of the time to recouperate and prepare for next year.

Aonishiki Promoted to Ozeki; Juryo Promotions Released

Andy Banzuke, Banzuke (番付), Juryo (十両), promotion, Sumo Topics , ,

Before heading out on holidays, there is a bit of news to bring to you sumo fans. The banzuke committee meets after each tournament and has drawn up the ranking sheet for Hatsu 2026. Most of it will remain secret until two weeks before action kicks off. However, these promotions are formally announced ahead of time so the heya and wrestlers can get acclimated to their new status and duties.

Aonishiki Promoted to Ozeki

As expected Ajigawa-beya’s Ukrainian phenom, Aonishiki, was promoted to Ozeki after his dramatic and triumphant Play-off yusho in Kyushu. The Sumo Association played it a bit coy heading into the tournament, dismissing promotion chances and saying that his September result would be the official start of his Ozeki run and they did not intend to include his 11-win result from Maegashira 1.

However, his late yusho march flipped the script and forced the Association’s hand. He did not just meet the unofficial 33-win benchmark, he plowed through it with a Playoff victory over a Yokozuna to boot. To be honest, I had hoped he would face Onosato again in the playoff but it was not to be with Onosato’s unfortunate injury and late scratch from senshuraku action. As it was, he beat Hoshoryu again with a wild takedown.

In the video below, Asakayama and Oshima oyakata came by to represent the Sumo Association for the promotion ceremony.

Aonishiki’s promotion will create a bit of balance on the banzuke, evening out the sanyaku ranks and eliminating the need for a Yokozuna-Ozeki. As I noted in my banzuke post from a few weeks ago, two Ozeki are required for a hon-basho and lately Hoshoryu has been carrying the distinction of being Yokozuna and Ozeki on the West Side. Since we won’t be seeing that for a while, to see what that looks like on the ranking sheet, check out that Anatomy of a Banzuke post. This will also eliminate that Maegashira 18 East position. So, we’ll have four full sanyaku ranks to start 2026 (Reiwa 8).

Juryo Promotions

Leonid has been following the progress of Makushita tsukedashi wrestlers since the most recent policy changes. Check the post below for his most recent update. Gone are the days of Makushita 10 debuts, like Endo. Now, those wrestlers with sufficient success in the amateur ranks can be skipped only as high as Makushita 60 when they debut.

One such wrestler, Kazuma, has earned his Juryo promotion by virtue of his Makushita Yusho, alongside Kyokukaiyu and Dewanoryu. It is worth noting that Kazuma defeated Enho on his way to the yusho. For his part, Enho finished 5-2 and will move up in the division, closer to the promotable range.

Kyokukaiyu will return to the ranks of sekitori after a one basho absence. Justin wrote a profile on him when he was initially promoted into Makushita. His 6-9 record in September forced him to be demoted but he has quickly been repromoted after a 5-2 in Kyushu. Dewanoryu of Oshima-beya has earned his promotion after spending much of the last five years grinding his way through the third division.

Congratulations to all of the promotees! Update your banzuke guesses accordingly!

The winter Jungyo tour will begin this coming weekend and will wind its way around southern Japan for much of the month of December. I hope to bring a few posts of the tour as well as the New Year celebrations. There is much mochi-pounding action ahead!

Endo Retires

Andy Endo (遠藤), Retirement, Sumo Topics ,

News out of Oitekaze beya that Endo will retire. Though the Sumo Association has not made the official announcement, multiple media reports are confirming the decision citing sources close to the wrestler, including Nikkan Sports, Mainichi, Chunichi, Sports Hochi. I would still have held out for the official announcement but for the confirmed news that Kitajin-oyakata retired on 10/26. This was significant news because the kabu is owned by Endo and needed to be vacated so Endo could assume the name.

When the Kyushu banzuke was revealed yesterday, former Komusubi Endo had fallen from the sekitori ranks into Makushita. I anticipate the official announcement in a few hours but I will be at another family event so I wanted to get this out there. Frankly, we knew this day was coming several months ago when Endo underwent surgery on both knees. It is the end of an era.

Endo helped lead a resurgence in popularity for the sport after its nadir during the yaocho scandal of 2011. Here, we see Bruce taking a snap at one of the famous cutouts at Kokugikan. Endo was a successful rikishi at Nihon University and earned privileged debut at the rank of Ms10, like Mitakeumi and Onosato.

By virtue of that head start, Endo rose into the top division after only three tournaments, including a yusho in Juryo. He quickly rose to the Maegashira 1 rank in March 2014, his seventh professional tournament. However, injuries piled up and he wouldn’t reach Komusubi until 2018. In all, he claimed seven kinboshi in his career, including two against Hakuho.

Due to his popularity, he featured in TV commercials for sponsors like Nagatanien. He’s got that deep, gavelly voice that the ladies swoon for, amirite? Anyway, you can’t really tell because he never gets that many lines. He was rather notorious for seemingly giving the shortest answers to interview questions.

I am sure that all eight of his Shibaraku-kumadori inspired kesho mawashi will be on display at his retirement ceremony. The kabuki-themed image will likely be familiar for many of you. Unfortunately, the Instagram images that I featured in that article are gone but you may recognize this design It’s a brand of Nagatanien ochazuke toppings; a play on the word for “in a little while”. You can see it on his yukata in this ad and on Bruce’s picture, above. He actually has eight of these, each of a different color.

This takes me back to when I was first starting the blog back in 2014. I was consuming sumo any way I could. Thankfully these Araibira videos are still up. He had been chased from YouTube to Vimeo. (The struggle never ends but at least there is a lot more content out there now, including legit sources from the Sumo Association, the stables themselves, and even a bit from NHK and Abema.)

But, I digress. That year, Endo still had a zambara hair-style because it was too short for a top-knot. Above, we see him against Kotooshu — now Naruto-oyakata. We might think of that bout as Kotooshu handing over his role as the “ladies man” to the heart-throb of the new generation. And another video with a beautiful escape against his rival, Osunaarashi.

Good luck, Endo, in your second career! We are eager to see you churn out another generation of rikishi.

Kyushu 2025 Banzuke Released

Andy Banzuke, Banzuke (番付), Kyushu 2025, Kyushu Basho ,

The Kyushu Banzuke was released. A few days ago, I posted this summary to give a bit more information about this all-important ranking sheet and explain what you see there. Here it is in Japanese, and English from the Sumo Association website.

Leonid’s banzuke prediction worked out pretty well. On my first glance, he got everything right down to Fujinokawa. Wow. I’d be doing burnouts if my banzuke looked like that. I’ll let him break it down in more detail.

Kusano has changed his shikona to Yoshinofuji (義ノ富士). Aonishiki is shin-Sekiwake. Oho returns to the rank. Takanosho returns to Komusubi. Former Ozeki Asanoyama has moved on up to Juryo 4, much closer to a return to the top division. Injured ENDO has fallen from the salaried ranks at Makushita 3 East. ENHO has climbed up to Makushita 17 West.

Oitekaze-beya’s Kaki has jumped up to Sandanme 31 East. Watch this 190cm youngster. He’s won the Jonokuchi and Jonidan titles. American Hikarumusashi, aka Musashigawa’s nephew Daniel, slipped to Sandanme 73 after a tough 2-5 result at Aki. We’ll pay close attention to maezumo as well this tournament as we might get the debut of Isegahama’s big prospect, Battsetseg Ochirsaihan.