Team Tachiai is breaking our normal “Mega Podcast” into smaller components to make it easier to enjoy. First up are Bruce and Andy’s commentary on the banzuke, published Christmas Eve in the US, for the upcoming Hatsu basho. Audio version only for now, with video posted to YouTube shortly!
Tachiai.org is a growing community of sumo fans, united with the common interest of promoting the sport and we look forward to another exciting year of sumo action! We almost hit 900,000 views last year and I’m shooting for 1,000,000 this year. I started the site as a place to share my love of the sport and to dispel rather derisive and dismissive stereotypes. It is inherently subjective in nature, where the opinions of its contributors and visitors are vital to the site, as with any other blog.
As the site has grown with the fantastic content of its contributors, Bruce, Herouth, Josh, Leonid, Nicola, Liam, Timothée, all of our commenters and readers, many have naturally begun to turn Tachiai for sumo news, holding us to a standard of journalism which should not apply to a blog.
Therefore, I’ve decided that early in 2020 I will release a new site, TachiaiTimes.com, as a distinct sumo news site committed to upholding the core values journalists should espouse: namely that journalists should only follow sumo, 24/7, and none of the other nonsense. “I kid, I kid.” But seriously, only sumo news at the new site and none of my infamous humor.
Web 2.0 applications feature, and thrive upon, a constant feedback loop. Tachai.org will always be the kind of community that supports and promotes sumo with a focus on 大相撲, or “Grand Sumo,” but I do want to promote the international and amateur sumo community as well so count on me following those a bit more closely. In that regard, it seems March has a little tournament in Kochi that I am looking forward to.
Following sumo and the “heya life” (admittedly from quite a distance) it strikes me as a fascinating social program that I wish were available to all people: dedicate yourself fully to a pursuit without having to worry about making ends meet since your needs are covered by the heya. But it’s no utopia. In return for lodging, food, clothes, health care, etc., a wrestler leads a strict lifestyle. And in reality, not all heya are the same; not every circumstance is ideal. Crucially, it’s not mandatory and many drop out…but there’s no going back. To me, that’s an extremely interesting conversation, perfect for Tachiai.org but one which I understand many may not want, in preference for hard, one-way news about the sport and wrestlers they follow. And that’s why TachiaiTimes is needed.
Journalism has always been a passion of mine…but I’ve had a few stumbles while trying to pursue it as a career, including a few rejection letters back when I wanted to go to graduate school. At the day job, I work closely with our public affairs office and members of the media as they mine our (at times incomprehensible) data and conduct research, so the passion remains strong and this is my way forward. This seems like a critical time in journalism and I’ll carve out a little sumo-related respite for those interested. I look forward to another year of great conversations, and hopefully the retirement of our scandal meter.
Happy New Year!
明けましておめでとうございます。良いお年を。
For our New Year’s Eve dinner this year, my wife made chanko! Chanko is the core of sumo cuisine. However, there’s not one stock recipe. Ours featured shrimp, sausages, chicken meatballs, shiitake and shimeji mushrooms, and assorted vegetables on maroni- noodles, served in a seafood broth. In a special move, she also included mochi kinchaku (purse).
Shiitake mushrooms are probably the most famous variety of Japanese mushroom, a giant container of which is usually presented to the yusho winner. Fitting, then, that it was the first mushroom I ever ate…in my 20s. I had been afraid of those button mushrooms one finds in salads and on pizzas, as if all had been irradiated in Chernobyl. They just seem so, plain. I became much more open to trying new things when I lived in Japan, perhaps because every time anything was prepared, it was done to the best of the cook’s ability.
So, when I tried my first shiitake (the mushrooms with dark, broad tops) I was surprised that it tasted good. I wouldn’t say “great” but certainly edible. That opened me to at least trying more types of mushrooms. I don’t like enoki. They’re little, thin, white mushrooms with tiny tops, and usually doused in butter. They’re certainly thinner than these shimeji mushrooms, which I found to be the best part of this chanko – even better than the yummy sausages and meatballs.
This was the first time I ever ate a purse. I did not know this was a thing until now. The outside is agedofu, that horrible stuff that they sometimes fill with sushi rice at rather disreputable establishments. Here, it was filled with sticky mochi…and not much better. Maybe since it had been boiled, the texture wasn’t as revolting as when it’s filled with too-hard and too-sour sushi rice. The mochi inside was quite good…but not as good as agemochi…which I suddenly need right now. Overall, tonight’s chanko was a fantastic warm-up for tomorrow’s osechi which I will bring to you tomorrow.
Have a Happy New Year!
1. How many honbasho have been won by a foreign-born rikishi ?
d. Four : Tamawashi in January, Hakuho in March and November ; Kakuryu in July.
2. Nobody won more bouts than Asanoyama in 2019. Who finished runner up ?
a. Abi, with 55. Hakuho and Hokutofuji finished with 51 wins, Mitakeumi with 48.
3. And many wins have notched all three yokozuna combined ?
c. 92. Kakuryu managed to get 41 wins (one yusho), and Hakuho 51 (two yushos). Kisenosato announced his retirement after losing the first three bouts of the January tournament.
4. How many shin-makuuchi rikishis (newly promoted wrestlers to the top division) have we seen in 2019 ?
c. Eight : None in Hatsu ; Tomokaze, Terutsuyoshi and Daishoho in Haru ; Shimanoumi and Enho in Natsu ; Takagenji in Nagoya ; Tsurugisho in Aki ; Wakatakakage in Kyushu
5. How many rikishi have made their san’yaku debut in 2019 ?
Note : we’re only talking about rikishi who have never, ever been in san’yaku before 2019 !
b. Four : Hokutofuji in March ; Abi and Ryuden in September ; Asanoyama in November.
6. What has been Enho’s record in makuuchi ?
d. 7-8 ; 9-6 ; 9-6 ; 8-7
Answer A is Shimanoumi’s record. Answer C is Terutsuyoshi’s record. Answer B is fictional.
7. Abi had a fine year 2019. Which of these statements is true ?
d. He managed six kachi koshi in 2019. He is the only makuuchi wrestler who achieved that.
8. Takakeisho had a mixed year 2019, having to cope with serious injuries. He did so quite impressively, however, going to a playoff in September, where he lost to Mitakeumi. Who was the last rikishi to lose a playoff in makuuchi ?
d. Goeido. Kakuryu lost a playoff in January 2014. Terunofuji lost a playoff in March 2017 for Kisenosato’s yokozuna debut. Ichonojo came close to winning in March 2019 with a 14-1 record but couldn’t match Hakuho’s 15-0 perfect record. Goeido spoiled a three wins lead to surrender the Aki 2017 yusho to Harumafuji, in a playoff. The yokozuna defeated the ozeki twice on senshuraku to leapfrog him.
9. Terutsuyoshi luckily escaped juryo demotion after the Natsu basho 2019. Sumo gods’ lenience paid off as he produced an astonishing 12-3 result in Nagoya, finishing runner up for his third makuuchi appearance. Who did better ?
d. Ichinojo
Goeido started his makuuchi career with an impressive 11-4 record in Aki 2007, but wasn’t runner up of the event. Hakuho finished runner up four tournaments after his debut, at the end of 2004. Terunofuji finished runner up in March 2015, a year after his debut.
Ichinojo famouslu finished runner up for his makuuchi debut. He produced a fearless 13-2 record, not without henka-ing Kisenosato and Kakuryu in the process.
10. How many foreign rikishi have made a makuuchi appearance in 2019 (having fought in at least one bout) ?
a. Ten : Hakuho, Kakuryu, Tochinoshin, Tamawashi, Ichinojo, Aoiyama, Kaisei, Chiyoshoma, Daishoho, Azumaryu. Takanoiwa was on the January banzuke but, having retired, did not compete in makuuchi in 2019.
11. Ishiura usually bounces from juryo to makuuchi, and from makuuchi to juryo. If M symbolizes makuuchi and J symbolizes juryo, how can one represent Ishiura’s year ?
a. J – M – M – J – M – M
12. What about Chiyomaru ?
d. J – J – M – M – J – M
13. Azumaryu made a makuuchi return during the Aki basho. He last appeared in makuuchi in…
b. 2014. He also made one appearance during the Natsu basho 2013.
14. Which one of these rikishi have earned two kinboshi in 2019 ?
b. Tomokaze
Nishikigi defeated Kakuryu in January. He had a fusen-sho win over Kisenosato, which does not count as a kinboshi. Asanoyama defeated Kakuryu during the Aki basho. Myogiryu defeated Kakuryu during the Natsu basho. Tomokaze defeated Kakuryu in Nagoya and Aki.
15. Which one of these wrestlers have produced six make kochi this year ?
c. Nishikigi, with 7-8, 4-11, 5-10, 6-9, 6-9 and 4-11 records. As a consequence, he’ll be demoted to juryo in January 2020.
Kagayaki had two winning in March and November, while Tochiozan ended up in Juryo in November, where he bounced back with a 10-5 record. Kotoshogiku had just one kachi koshi, in March when he ended up 11-4.