While Yokozuna and other senior level duties carry on, many wrestlers are getting a much needed break from jungyo tours to focus on recuperation of injuries and training for the upcoming July tournament. I had a bit of a double take when I saw this Instagram post about Onosho hitting the gym in Chiba. His training partner is none other than former Makuuchi and recent retiree, 元-Amuru.
Yokozuna Kakuryu was in Minamisanrikyu to perform a dohyo-iri in remembrance of the Tohoku earthquake and continuing support of the hard hit community. The Yokozuna noted he had come eight years ago as the sword-bearer for Hakuho, who is still recovering from his arm injury.
Araiso oyakata, former Yokozuna Kisenosato, was also on hand and expressed his support for the community. Many are still in trouble and need support.
On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Tohoku. The quake and resulting tsunami killed more than 15,000 people and touched off a nuclear contamination disaster which the area has yet to recover from.
Small man sumo is very much in vogue at the moment, with rikishi like Enho and Terutsuyoshi capturing the imagination of fans. But sumo has a rich history of smaller rikishi and one of the more notable names of recent times, Satoyama, recently retired at the end of the Kyushu basho in November. He then became Sanoyama oyakata, having borrowed his kabu from Chiyootori. He spent much of his sekitori career in juryo – where I personally especially enjoyed his matches with Asahisho (even if he didn’t always come out on top).
He is one of two new oyakata in the Onoe stable, a stable I recently had the chance to visit for morning keiko – an exercise which I will detail further in a future post on the site.
Visitors to recent basho since Satoyama’s retirement have seen the friendly former rikishi staffing the NSK’s official merch booth at Kokugikan and the other venues. Usually, he is one of three or four oyakata working the booth and interacting with fans, along with his stablemate and fellow new coach Hidenoyama, the former Tenkaiho.
I said hello to Satoyama/Sanoyama during the recent Natsu basho, and told him I had seen keiko recently at his stable (he was not present that day), and that it was a cool experience. He inquired about my Tachiai t-shirt, and when I told him it was an English sumo website, he handed me a flier in the hope that I would share some news with you all. Here is that flier:
Satoyama’s Danpatsushiki takes place on September 28
Satoyama/Sanoyama has been spending most of his time during the basho interacting with fans and working hard to advertise his forthcoming danpatsushiki, where his hair will be cut and his retirement process will be complete.
As a former top division rikishi, this event will take place at Kokugikan on September 28. The day will consist of Makuuchi and Juryo matches as well as, of course, the ceremonial cutting of Satoyama’s top-knot.
If you buy tickets direct from the NSK, the ticket prices are as follows:
¥2000 for Arena C seats
¥4000 for Arena B seats
¥8000 for Arena A seats
¥36000 for Masu (box) C seats
¥42000 for Masu (box) B seats
¥46000 for Masu (box) A seats
Bear in mind of course that the boxes seat four people (and comfortably seat two people).
In addition to Satoyama’s sake sponsor, the flier also includes an outline of Amami Island in the Oshima district of Kagoshima prefecture, from where Satoyama hails. I wasn’t familiar with it before discovering the island through this flier, but it does look like a very lovely place. Having recently visited Okinawa for the first time, I’m intrigued that there’s quite a bit of content on youtube (such as this video) playing Amami up as an alternative, desirable Japanese island destination.
Our friends over at buysumotickets.com are currently selling tickets for this event. Tickets will come with a markup over the face value prices, but I have found this to be an acceptable price to pay in exchange for the ease of securing good tickets. Additionally, the event has an official website at satoyama.basho-sumo.jp, where an order form has been set up in Japanese (along with additional event details).
If you have plans to attend the Aki basho and will be extending your stay in Japan (or are a local), this event could be a good opportunity to not only see sumo but enjoy a unique milestone in the career of a former popular sekitori!
This morning sumo wrestling’s governing body, the Nihon Sumo Kyokai (日本相撲協会), announced an increase in the price of sponsorship banners. Under the old scheme, banners cost 62,000 yen each (US$565.75). Now, they will cost 70,000 yen (US$638.82). The amount of money awarded on the dohyo remains unchanged at 30,000 yen per envelope. However, the amount reserved for the wrestler’s retirement, etc, is increased from 26,700 yen to the same 30,000 yen per banner. The NSK fee also increased from 5,300 to 10,000 yen.
When I saw the headline, I had wished Mitakeumi’s fat stacks would be getting fatter. Instead, they’re charging sponsors like Dr. Takasu a bit more and the winning wrestlers will see a bit more off the dohyo.
