Retirement

Kotoeko Retirement Ceremony

Andy Retirement, Yokozuna (横綱)

On Saturday, the Kokugikan hosted the retirement ceremony of Kotoeko as he shifts to becoming Oguruma-oyakata. Kotoeko always occupied a special place in my mind as a sumo fan. It’s no mean feat to come from the great Sadogatake beya and establish yourself as a solid member of the rank and file in the top division at roughly 5 foot 10, 260 lbs. After all, this was the same stable which gave us the 400 lb gaburi-yotsu master, Kotoshogiku.

Kotoeko’s success came when the sport and the division seemed to get bigger and bigger, heavier and heavier. I feel his success portended a surge of smaller tacticians. Now, there seems to be a real surge in dynamic, solid grapplers like him. So, I am glad that Kotoeko has traded in his trademark lilac shimekomi for one of those fancy new Uniqlo navy jackets of the Kyokai oyakata to welcome a new crop of talented grapplers.

Speaking of lilac, Mrs. Oguruma wore it very well with her beautiful kimono.

Kotoeko’s retirement event included the usual hanazumo as well as hair-dressing, where Kotoshoho and Kotoeiho got to model together.

This event also featured Hyuga Hyottoko dancing which is particularly popular from Miyazaki Prefecture’s Hyuga Hyottoko Summer Festival. I am sure you’ve seen the masks of the dude with the puckered lips and the mug only a mother could love, as well as the cats’ face, okame, etc.

Whatever its origin, it looks like the face of a dude who got kneed in the nuts when he tried to steal a kiss from his apparently unrequited sweetheart. Come to think of it, I’ve got a few of these. Because of course I do. Right next to my pair of geta and fundoshi.

Andy knows what gets the ladies hot.

Back to the sumo. Kotoeko’s retirement ceremony was auspicious because it was the first public performance of Onosato’s Yokozuna dohyo-iri at the Kokugikan. Interestingly, there was a bit of a switch here. Takayasu was the sword-bearer but for dew-sweeper, we have Takanosho! I wonder if that’s a sign that Ryuden has been demoted to Juryo. There’s surely a whole host of guys from the Ichimon who would be eligible. Congratulations, Takanosho.

Final Weekly Update of 2024

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This week’s update will be a short one. As I mentioned over on Blue Sky, though the Kyushu tournament is over and Hatsu won’t begin for a few weeks, there is always a lot going on in the Sumo World. I hope that platform will offer another interesting and active forum for fans to enjoy and share sumo-related content, discussion and analysis.

At this point, there aren’t a whole lot of active accounts on there so I created a “Starter Pack” with the goal of featuring strictly sumo-related content. Hopefully, one day there will be an ongoing, sustained conversation there.  Currently, we’re on there as @tachiai.bsky.social, so if you provide sumo-related content and are active on the platform, let us know and we’ll get you added to the Starter Pack. We’re also intrigued by the algorithm flexibility and some of the other features.

I do not think traffic will really take off there until the stables and the Sumo Association have accounts there. When they’re producing content for Blue Sky, we’ll see it take off. The big venue still seems to be YouTube, and here’s the Sumo Prime Time wrap-up video for 2024.

End of Winter Jungyo

This year’s winter tour wrapped up in Okinawa in front of a large crowd of more than 10,000 sumo fans. Sumo on the Jumbo-tron! This event featured a makuuchi elimination-style tournament. The final bout featured Hoshoryu taking on Oho to win the Okinawa Basho.

Banzuke Release

As Leonid mentioned in his Crystal Ball post, the banzuke was released early this past week and as usual, there are several items of note. Tamashoho (Kataonami-beya) was promoted to Makuuchi for the first time. Several wrestlers were re-promoted, including Kinbozan, Hakuoho, Kitanowaka and someone’s favorite bullet-train, Kagayaki. Hakuoho’s return has been eagerly anticipated given his obvious talent.

Konishiki Recovery

News from Tokyo that Konishiki had been hospitalized last month in kidney failure. His wife, Chie, donated her kidney and after a successful operation, Konishiki is in recovery. He has been spending precious time over the holidays with the youngsters at Musashigawa-beya. We hope to see him again at a Sumo+Sushi event in the future.

SumoDB Rollercoaster

Tachiai is forever indebted to the sumo database (sumodb.sumogames.de). At last check, the site was back up. I had reburied some new squid that I buried under my computer is seasoned with salt, sake, and some ground kachi-kuri. Hopefully this one will do the job.

The data that’s there and the interface are such valuable contributions to sumo-fandom. Whether you’re new to sumo and hope to learn more about the active rikishi, or you’re an old hand trying to tweak your GTB methodology, or a wannabe journalist pulling up stats for a retired rikishi, that site is invaluable. Unfortunately, it had been down for quite a bit over the past few weeks. As hours turn into days, many of us begin to fear the worst.

Onosho and Kyokutaisei Retired

As of our last post, Onosho (Onomatsu) and Kyokutaisei (Oshima) announced their retirements.

Onosho’s announcement was sudden as he is only 28 years old, but expected as he had been injured. He was an early rival of Takakeisho and a founding member of Bruce’s “Tadpole” cohort. He rose quickly through the lower divisions and established himself in the top division, peaking at Komusubi. But knee injuries really hampered his ability to stay among the joi-jin and press for higher rank.

He spent much of last year in the upper half of the rank-and-file but his final fall was rather swift. He was ranked Maegashira 5 in Nagoya but destined for Makushita by Christmas, so he decided to retire. He will not stay with the Kyokai but we are eager to see what he plans to do in his second career.

Kyokutaisei had a lengthy stint as sekitori, mostly in Juryo. He briefly did break through the tatami ceiling and rise into the top division, even earning a fighting spirit prize. However, he had spent the last few years in Makushita and was destined to fall back into Sandanme for Hatsu Basho. Ranked at Sandanme 20 to start 2025, Kyokutaisei decided to retire. He will not be staying with the Kyokai, either.

Wrap-up

My apologies for the rather perfunctory write-up. It’s been a crazy week. Next year, I hope Tachiai can host a Bonenkai. Maybe we’ll do it over Zoom or Teams or something so we can all forget the year, wherever we are. We are really excited for 2025 but I have a feeling 2026 will be even better!

Two Juryo Promotions Confirmed

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As Leonid postulated, Hatsuyama (Tamanoi) and Kiryuko (Tatsunami) were promoted to Juryo. Hatsuyama will make his debut while Kiryuko will have his second attempt competing as sekitori. Kotokuzan’s narrow 4-3 record was not good enough to earn promotion from Ms4 but he will move closer to the promised land and have a good chance at promotion in January. Makuuchi veterans Chiyomaru and Onosho will likely slide into Makushita in January.

There is also news of eight retirements after the Kyushu tournament. Three men from Sandanme retired: Hayanami, Kotoozutsu, and Chiyoresshi. Two men from Jonidan retired: Daishosei and Kotoryusei. Jonokuchi wrestler Daishiyama as well as Nishikiori and Kokiryu, who had fallen off the banzuke, also retired. Unfortunately, I have not seen any news of Kawazoe since his early win and subsequent kyujo announcement. We will bring an update as soon as we have one.

Aki Basho Retirement Announcements

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The Kokugikan Barber Shop will be busy in 2025. Aki Basho 2024 has become a real turning point for professional sumo. We have been discussing a “changing of the guard,” and three popular wrestlers have decided to call it a career. When Takakeisho announced his retirement mid-basho, it was rather apparent that others would follow.

On Tuesday, we learned that two more sekitori would trade in their mawashi for blue jackets and become elders in the Japan Sumo Association: Myogiryu and Aoiyama. Fans of oshi-tsuki are losing three top Pusher-Thrusters in one fell swoop. These announcements come just before the Kyokai will make the Kyushu banzuke and announce Juryo promotions.

Takakeisho

Takakeisho, the former Ozeki, retired in the middle of the tournament after going kyujo. His injuries were too great, and he had lost the ability to compete at this high level. His childhood dream was always to become Yokozuna, so it was very hard to let it go and call it a career when he was so tantalizingly close to achieving it. Demotion plus kyujo meant he would be chasing the dream from the rank-and-file in Kyushu and the goal was slipping farther from his grasp.

He had started his career as Sato back it 2014 in Takanohana-beya. Starting in maezumo, he rose up the ranks relatively quickly, securing three yusho in Jonokuchi, Jonidan and Juryo on his way to his Makuuchi debut in 2017. His rise was well timed as the stable was ensnared in the Harumafuji, Takanoiwa, Takanofuji, and Takagenji scandals.

His career and his success, along with stablemate Takanosho, likely served as a bouy for current Tokiwayama-oyakata during those difficult times as he took the reigns from Takanohana. There may have been storm clouds all around but T-Rex was on the straight-and-narrow, and will serve the Kyokai well. Takakeisho will remain with the Kyokai as Minatogawa-oyakata.

Myogiryu

Myogiryu (Sakaigawa-beya) was a successful amateur wrestler from the prolific Saitama Sakae High School who then joined the sumo powerhouse Nihon Sports Science University (NittaiDai). His career earned him a Makushita debut and he rose quickly to Juryo in 2010, but was injured in his debut tournament.

He fell back to Sandanme as he recovered but rose into Makuuchi where he established himself as a regular and a favorite. He was regularly in sanyaku during his prime, topping out at the rank of Sekiwake. His six kinboshi and six technique prizes help to pad his resume and monthly bonus check. The knee injury continued to plague him and forced him to drop out of this latest tournament. He will become Furiwake-oyakata.

Aoiyama

Aoiyama (Kasugano-beya), one of the few wrestlers from Europe (Bulgaria), was always a big hit with foreign sumo fans. Like Takakeisho and Myogiryu, Aoiyama was known for his oshi-zumo. When that V-Twin was fired up, opponents would get battered or slapped to the ground with no mercy granted. He rose quickly through the ranks, winning yusho in Jonokuchi, Jonidan, and Makushita.

Aoiyama blasted his way into the top division at Kyushu in 2011, taking 11 wins and going home with a special prize. He had been a Top Division mainstay until injuries really took their toll earlier this year. His peak rank was Sekiwake. Hat tip to reader, Checkit, for reminding me to include his future plans. He will take on the elder name, Iwatomo.

More to come?

Kabu-watch is in full swing. I will bring you more retirement news as soon as I hear it. With all of these announcements, I will update you with news on when the ceremonies will be. They won’t happen before  2025, that’s for sure. These guys need time to promote the events.