In its regular post-basho meeting on July 19th, the Yokozuna Deliberation Council unanimously approved the promotion of Ozeki Terunofuji to the rank of Yokozuna.
Following an approval by the NSK board and banzuke meeting, an acceptance ceremony will be held for the 73rd Yokozuna.
The expected procedure is:
July 21st – special board meeting, banzuke meeting, acceptance ceremony.
July 22nd – “tsuna uchi” – braiding of the new Yokozuna’s rope, and training the new Yokozuna to do the dohyo-iri.
July 23rd – first dohyo-iri at Meiji Grand Shrine in Tokyo
The schedule may be subject to changes, however, as July 23rd is also when the Olympic Games opening ceremony is to be held, near Meiji Grand Shrine, and some parts of the area may be closed off. On the other hand, COVID restrictions may render this point moot. We’ll keep our readers posted.
We have known since banzuke day that Yokozuna Hakuho was recovering from double-knee surgery undertaken in August, and was unlikely to even start Aki. Now word from Japan that Yokozuna Kakuryu is declaring himself “not ready” for the Aki basho, and should be considered doubtful to compete.
Kakuryu: "My body isn't quite ready. I'll make a decision about whether to participate in the basho by tomorrow"https://t.co/tTHQPHCmQO
With the prospect of no grand-champions in the September tournament, the Emperor’s Cup will be a wide-open contest. The Ozeki will be motivated to possibly claim a start of a promotion run, but in this era, even strong members of the rank-and-file have to be considered contenders if they can remain strong into week 2. Some fans will remark (and rightly so) that a basho without a Yokozuna is a weak basho, but these broad, multi-way brawls to advance have their own glorious appeal. We will miss the Yokozuna dohyo-iri, but the possibility that we will have an all-out slug fest between the Ozeki, the San’yaku and most of the joi-jin is compelling to me.
While sumo fans wait on pins and needles for Grand Sumo action to begin next weekend in Fukuoka, Japan’s National University Sumo Championship took place in Osaka. Successful wrestlers at this stage often become successful wrestlers on the professional level with the Champions granted privileged entry into Makushita, makushita tsukedashi, upon turning pro. Current wrestlers taking this path from Uni-Yokozuna to Jr. Sekitori include Endo, Ichinojo, and Aki-basho yusho winner, Mitakeumi. (I’m making up the Junior Sekitori term because they’re not immediately Sekitori but just outside.)
The big story coming out of Osaka is that the yusho winner was a first year (freshman) student-athlete, Yasuteru Nakamura from Nippon Sports Science University. He defeated Koshiro Tanioka, with a dominating yorikiri. Last year’s champion, Yota Kanno was knocked out in the first round. Any relation to Yoko Kanno is unconfirmed, but the need to knock a little harder is undeniable. Regardless, keep an eye out for these talented young men to be highly sought-after recruits and to appear on a banzuke in the near future.
In team competition, Nihon University won the title for the first time in four years from Mitakeumi’s alma mater, Toyo University. Jokoryu and Mitoryu are products of the Nihon University program. Nakamura’s Nippon Sports Science University finished tied for third, and they count Hokutofuji among their graduates. These three universities have had historically strong sumo programs, with one of these three teams winning the title in each of the last nine years.
After the Kyushu basho, eyes will turn back to Kokugikan in Tokyo for the 68th National Amateur Sumo Championship, a title won by Yago and the fore mentioned Mitakeumi, Mitoryu and Endo, as well as Daishomaru, Yoshikaze, and Takamisakari. The year Endo won, Shodai picked up the jun-yusho and Mitakeumi and Hokutofuji were semi-finalists.
Since the inception of the Yokozuna rank in 1789, only 72 men have been recognized as the greatest sumo has to offer. But who are the men behind the numbers? What made them stand out from the rest? And where do they belong in the pantheon of sumo’s most historic competitors?
I aim to answer these questions in my new series, The Yokozuna Chronicles, where work my way through the long history of sumo and I uncover the lives of its most prestigious athletes. In Chronicle One, I outline the legendary life of the first Yokozuna, Akashi Shiganosuke. A man more myth than material, Akashi Shiganosuke’s impact on sumo and the rank of Yokozuna is felt to this very day.
