One piece of long-anticipated news finally came to pass today, as former Sekiwake Aminishiki has officially branched out from Isegahama beya to launch Ajigawa beya.
It has been known for some time that Ajigawa was working on the construction of a new stable. In the meantime, the heya will take up temporary premises while the new build is completed. The oyakata himself started his career at Ajigawa beya before it was renamed to Isegahama in 2007, so the development will create a homecoming of sorts for ex-Aminishiki, whose near-career-long shikona’s first character is taken from the heya’s name.
With the launch of the new heya, Isegahama ichimon will see its members increase to six, with the heya joining the eponymous heya run by ex-Asahifuji, ex-Hakuho’s Miyagino beya, ex-Kaio’s Asakayama beya, ex-Kyokutenho’s recently redubbed Oshima beya, and ex-Kotonishiki’s Asahiyama beya in the group. With Isegahama himself due to retire in 2 1/2 years time, an interesting leadership group for the future is taking shape.
Sumo is a family business for the Suginomoris, and the new Ajigawa beya’s branch out from Isegahama will come with a curious wrinkle: Isegahama has long had a well developed scouting pipeline in Aomori (from where both ex-Aminishiki and ex-Asahifuji hail). Ajigawa is launching his stable with just one recruit – the shisho’s nephew Sakuraba who also hails from Aomori. It will be intriguing to see whether more Aomori based recruits filter into Ajigawa or Isegahama beya over the next couple of years, and also whether Ajigawa is able to cast a wider net in his search for promising new talent. With Sakuraba leaving along with “Uncle Sumo,” the Aomori contingent at Isegahama will consist of sekitori Takarafuji and Nishikifuji, along with Jonokuchi champion Takerufuji and the struggling youngster Yoshinofuji.
Also of note will be whether Ajigawa is able to put into practise any development characteristics gleaned from his time working – first as an active rikishi and then as a coach – under his second cousin Isegahama. Long respected as a master recruiter and developer of talent, the 63rd Yokozuna recently reached a milestone in being the first stablemaster in nearly 20 years to have six rikishi into the top division simultaneously.
Other hot topics to watch in the heya’s medium term future will be whether he inherits personnel (such as Tateyama-oyakata, ex-Homarefuji, or the presumably soon-to-retire Takarafuji) or rikishi upon Isegahama’s retirement, or even potentially the whole operation should a presumptive heir such as Yokozuna Terunofuji not be ready or able to inherit it in 2025. We may also be curious to learn whether he restores the A- naming convention notably bestowed on himself, his brother Asofuji, and of course Ama (later to become Yokozuna Harumafuji) among others, which was popular under the old version of the heya.
All of those issues are of course questions for the future. For the present, we will look forward to seeing Ajigawa’s first recruit make his first proper honbasho appearance in Jonokuchi in the upcoming tournament, and hope that the new shisho can bring in new recruits for him to train with as soon as possible.
Hat tip to our friend Kintamayama and Herouth for being among the first to report the news through various channels!
Just as we gather ourselves together here to watch the Aki Basho, Konishiki offers up great content in the form of an introductory course on all things sumo, available from Tuesday morning Japan-time, so 7:30pm Eastern on Monday evening. A Tokyo-based startup, Naro, offers these courses on features of Japanese culture and cuisine, provided by experts in their craft. Their debut series this summer was a Tempura course featuring Shuji Niitome. For the sumo fans among us, Konishiki’s video provides an awesome way to demystify the sport. Tachiai was lucky enough to take a quick look, and the folks at Naro.tv are offering Tachiai readers a special 15% discount code: TACHIAI15.
The two hours of content is like a documentary broken up into individual, digestible chunks. With the help of three former wrestlers to help demonstrate, Konishiki covers a variety of the warm-ups and excercises, from shiko to the teppo pole and suri-ashi. His insight here gave me more of an appreciation for the rhythmic, meditative side to the teppo pole that I wouldn’t have grasped, otherwise. Having had a heavy bag in my room after college, I could see myself taking a few hours to decompress in the corner of the keiko-ba — venting at the teppo pole.
The videos provide a great look at some of the basic moves and techniques, as well as a frank, eye-opening discussion of the heya lifestyle from the lens of an 18-year-old kid who rose to become a Champion. Over the span of the videos, Konishiki opens up about his experiences and the difficult lifestyle that any young man faces in that environment. It should be required watching for any of us romantics who dream (or dreamt) of giving it all up and joining a heya. The reality of it is the grind — endless laundry, cooking, cleaning toilets and floors, helping your senpai shower — with no breaks, no “weekend”. The Heya Life is lived 24/7, drama or no drama.
While there have definitely been some changes to that lifestyle in the last two decades, so much of it surely remains. His experience will be just as relevant to a recruit today, though the degree of the drama he describes will be less now, than it was then. But any recruit will have to face the fact that they’re going to live in a dorm with a bunch of teenage boys and young men. For those not fluent in Japanese or familiar with the culture, the learning curve will be…parabolic. One requires a singular dedication to not only the sport but a brutal, communal livelihood.
Overall, I found Konishiki’s auto-biographical discussion fascinating. Content-wise, it’s a suitable, engaging introduction to the sport, a “Sumo 101” course. It acknowledges but gets us past the “fat guys in diapers” stereotypes and imparts an understanding and respect for what’s really more than just a sport — an entire way of living. I hope there will be more in the works, perhaps with rikishi from multiple time-periods to see how things have evolved, as well as more specifics on the Shinto traditions and symbolism; or a deeper dive into the various roles from gyoji, yobidashi, and tokoyama to okami to oyakata. Then there’s the organization itself, from riji-cho on down. As for sumo, we’d love more from keiko and honbasho to jungyo and hanazumo, I could go on. Sumo’s a complex topic.
Many rikishi are unable to craft a second act in sumo that’s as good as their first. That’s normal: the requirements to become an oyakata are such that you either need to create a career of some achievement, or just hang around long enough to have done your time in the dohyo and you’re then entitled to extend your career in the sport out of it.
In the former camp, there are plenty of oyakata who will have raised dozens of deshi over the course of their decades in the sport, never to see one come close to their own achievements. In recent years, former Yokozuna like Onokuni and Musashimaru come to mind, along with Ozeki like Chiyotaikai or Kirishima. Even the riji-cho, former Hokutoumi, who has raised plenty of top division talent, has yet to develop someone to even come close to his own achievements in the ring, as he nears the mandatory retirement age. Guys like the former Asahifuji (Isegahama oyakata) are rare: a champion who has raised (multiple) champions.
And on the flip side of the coin you have the long time coaches whose own careers didn’t amount to much beyond their longevity, but who have scouted and developed talent that has surpassed their own ability on the clay. The former Oginohana had a 44% winning record in the top division, never going higher than Maegashira 2, and he’s developed 3 time champion Ozeki Mitakeumi. Like his brother Terao, the former Sakahoko had a stellar top division career but never won a Yusho or made the top 2 ranks, and while the storied heya bearing the Izutsu name was more barren in later years, he still produced Yokozuna Kakuryu. Most famously of course, the former Chikubayama, veteran of a mere 2 tournaments in the top division, gave us the gift of record setting dai-Yokozuna Hakuho.
Over recent weeks, months and years, as many of our longtime favourites in the previous generation have gradually retired, our thoughts have turned to the question of “what kind of oyakata will they be?” Most people who read this site and some people who write on this site will be experiencing their first mass turnover of rikishi we have watched for years, as they become those blue-jacketed security guys we see next to the hanamichi when a rikishi is preparing himself for battle.
So the conversation has been: “wow, Hakuho has really recruited a lot of guys already,” or “Kisenosato is building an incredible new heya,” or “what’s going to happen with Takekaze’s new place now that he had Yoshikaze have split the rikishi from Oguruma beya” or “Goeido’s just branched out and already has a sekitori.”
But there was one guy that no one really talked about when he became an elder, and that’s ex-Maegashira 2 Sokokurai, who is now Arashio oyakata.
Arashio beya is a unique place. The previous oyakata, former Komusubi Oyutaka, coached for 15 years before branching out to open his own spot, and had a short and totally unremarkable sekitori career of his own. The heya became notable in later years among sumo fans for two things:
If you have ever tried to visit a heya (in the before times), you’ll know that it’s not terribly difficult with the right connections, but that also a strict set of guidelines will apply for your visit. At Arashio beya, fans could simply walk right up on the street and peer in the giant window outside to watch morning keiko. The stable’s rikishi were known for being friendly with tourists and willing to snap a photo at the end of practise. It appears that after a stoppage to this practise during the pandemic, viewers may once again peep through the window to get a real live look at asageiko.
The other curiosity of this stable was the rise to prominence of its two cats, Moru and Mugi. During the days when rikishi were more able to share their lifestyle via social media, it offered sumo lovers and animal lovers a glimpse into the lifestyle where the stable’s rikishi cared for these two creatures. A coffee table book exists where fans can learn more.
Oyutaka only ever produced Sokokurai as a sekitori over the 18 years he spent running the place, until Wakatakakage made it to Juryo just before he retired. Wakatakakage was always a talent of immense potential ever since his arrival on the scene, and is someone we’ve followed since his Sandanme tsukedashi debut. A skilled technician and incredibly athletic rikishi, it has been clear for some time that as long as his dedication and mental attributes were tuned to top level sumo, he could have a very high ceiling. This of course paid off in one way earlier this year as the now-Sekiwake clinched his first Emperor’s Cup.
It’s impossible to say whether Wakatakakage’s triumph was inevitable, but it is clear that since Sōkokurai took over the Arashio name, his coaching methods have translated to stark improvements in development across the heya. Both of Wakatakakage’s brothers had been languishing in Makushita, and Wakamotoharu has made a rapid ascent not only into the salaried ranks but all the way to the joi-jin, where he’s claimed an Ozeki scalp and taken the Yokozuna to the brink of a shocking kinboshi. He looks to be someone who can at least consolidate his place in the top division over the next couple of years, and certainly finish his career with the 30 sekitori basho needed to qualify for elder status himself.
The Onami family has some pedigree, with the three of Arashio’s Fukushima-hailing siblings descended from a grandfather who also plied his trade in Ozumo. But despite the lack of progress made by Makushita longtimer and eldest brother Wakatakamoto, the new Arashio-oyakata’s achievements don’t stop there.
Viewers of Makushita over the past several years will be familiar with Kotokuzan, the Filipino-Japanese rikishi who is surely sumo’s only Jasper. Kotokuzan (pronounced Ko-toku-zan, not “koto” like a Sadogatake beya rikishi) had struggled to make his way through sumo’s third highest division for nearly seven full years from his division debut until finally making the breakthrough to Juryo late last year. Kotokuzan is a pusher-thruster and possesses a very different style both to the other successful rikishi in his heya as well as how his shisho performed his own style of sumo (as a skilled yotsuzumo-technician) while he was active, and it’s perhaps most surprising of all that in his second bite at Juryo (after a quick demotion in mid-2021), he stormed his way into the top division.
Kotokuzan only has fought two tournaments as a Maegashira, both unsuccessfully and both looking somewhat overmatched, but at 28 still very much has time to solidify his place as a sekitori and go again. It wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility to see him settle into an Azumaryu or Daishōmaru style role in playing out most of his remaining career in Juryo, putting it together once in a while for a fleeting crack at the top division. It bears reminding that for a rikishi who didn’t seem to really look like he’d make the breakthrough to Juryo as of 3 or 4 years ago, that’s quite an achievement in itself. The success of Kotokuzan in recent years is perhaps the most indicative of Arashio’s ability to coax performances from his top talent, as other serial sekitori-impresarios like Kise, Oitekaze and, until recently, Oguruma-oyakata have shown the ability to get rikishi to the promised land with a wide variety of fighting styles.
While Arashio has never been a large stable, and very infrequently added new recruits, the new shisho has started to bring in his own deshi now that he’s got his feet firmly under the table. Famously sumo’s only Chinese rikishi for a period, and one who wasn’t short of opinions about the fate of his beloved Inner Mongolia region, it’s no surprise that his first foreign recruit hails from his own shusshin. Daiseizan has moved quickly to the top of the Sandanme division following three consecutive 6-1 tournaments, and that fortuitous banzuke placement this time out will give him a chance to make an auspicious debut in Makushita with a good score in the upcoming Aki basho.
16 year old Tanji has started his career with identical scores from his first two basho, and Jonidan pair Dairinzan and Sonoshun (18 and 19 respectively) may be intriguing prospects over the long term, with the latter the first rikishi to inherit his the prefix of his stablemaster’s shikona into his own ring name. We are in a period where other oyakata such as Nishonoseki, Naruto, Miyagino and others have been making waves for the sheer volume (and often quality) of their recruits putting their celebrity drawing power to good use, but it’s possible that the slightly more pinpoint recruitment strategy of the former Sokokurai will pay dividends for the heya when allied to his apparent coaching ability. And he seems more than willing to talk about his work, as evidenced by a series of appearances on NHK’s sumo content throughout the pandemic, showing how, as a new head of a stable, he was attempting to adapt his new home to the challenges presented by the unpredictable nature of COVID-19 in the sumo world.
Nishonoseki (former Kisenosato) has certainly positioned himself as a leader of the future by way of his remarkable rethink of what a heya should be, his political manoeuvring and what appears to be an interesting (if slightly voluminous) batch of early recruits. Miyagino (former Hakuho)’s pulling power and talent development has already made an impact on the top two divisions and had long before he hung up the mawashi himself. What Arashio is showing us is that there it doesn’t take a headline name to be an above average developer of talent, and that he does so in such a media- and fan-friendly environment is a welcome breath of fresh air in the sumo world.
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 Nishikijimaname 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!
