Ones To Watch – Post Haru Round Up (Makushita)

Bruce H Haru Basho 2019 (Osaka), Makushita (幕下), Ones To Watch , , , , , , , ,
Why is this man smiling? Ah yes, kachi-koshi in Makushita joi can feel like winning a Powerball jackpot.

With the glorious Haru basho in the record books, we can now examine how our up-an-coming, and well loved rikishi fared in the lower divisions. While we remarked at length at how brutal the competition was in the top division, the carnage carried down the banzuke to a surprising degree, with many of our “Ones to Watch” going down to make-koshi or squeaking out their final win with their last match.

Today we are looking at the Makushita rikishi, with lower divisions following soon.

Wakamotoharu – The second Onami brother to break into the salaried ranks, he had a disastrous record for Osaka, with only 5 wins against 10 losses. Ranked at Juryo 10, this is quite possibly enough certain to return him to the Makushita joi for May, where he will once again face some of the most difficult matches in sumo.

Hoshoryu – The rising star from Mongolia faced a 3 match cold streak in the first half of Haru, and closed with 3 straight wins to end 4-3. Prior to this tournament, Hoshoryu had been able to dominate the bulk of his matches, and may have found the competition a bit sedate. Ranked at Makusihta 7 in Osaka, he came up against some of the highly motivated rikishi, seeking to mangle each other in search of the final step into Sekitori status. While all of his fans are happy for his kachi-koshi, we expect him to have to repeat this kind of brutal slog at least a few more times before he can make his Juryo debut.

Akua – Electric green Akua went down to his second make-koshi in Osaka, putting his 3rd trip to Juryo further out of reach. Akua has been nursing nagging injuries after being forced to withdraw from the Aki basho on day 12. He has drive, speed and talent, but like so many hopefuls, his body suffers from the brutal pounding that is the top ¼ of Makushita.

Ichiyamamoto – Ichiyamamoto blazed a 6-1 record from Makushita 11, earning him a solid berth in the Makushita joi-jin for Natsu, and possibly a shot at Juryo if he can excel one more time. This will be no easy feat given how many strong rikishi had winning records in the top 10 Makushita ranks, who did not end up making the Juryo cut. He’s made one trip to these elevated ranks last summer, but suffered a brutal 1-6 at Aki 2018, and has been pushing to recover ever since.

Midorifuji – Midorifuji came to Osaka at his highest ever rank, and looking to do one thing – bring home 4 shiroboshi and a kachi-koshi. He closed the deal on this proposition on the final day, and assured himself a modest move higher. We will likely see him test his sumo against some of the joi-jin in May, and this might present him his biggest challenge yet. Midorifuji has shown an impressive range of sumo this year, and it’s only March…

Wakatakamoto – The lowest ranking of the three Onami brothers, Wakatakamoto excelled in Osaka, ending with a 5-2 record. Its likely this score will see him in the teens of the Makushita division, and he may find the level of competition a degree more intense than Osaka.

Ura – After a crippling re-injury to his right knee at Hatsu, Ura wasted no time returning to an orthopedic surgical theater, and undergoing a second surgery. He is not likely to return to the dohyo this year, and his Oyakata has indicated to the press that they are in “no rush” and want his recovery to be “perfect”. We could not agree more.

Musashikuni – The scion of the Mushashigawa clan went into the final day of the Haru basho already with 4 losses, but took his third win from Kotodairyu, to ease his fall down the banzuke for Natsu. We know the big Hawaiian has been nursing numerous mechanical injuries, and may have been at less than full health. He is also one of Takayasu’s tsukibeto.

Naya – One of the great stories of Haru was Naya’s bold run to within arm’s reach of the Makushita yusho from Ms51e. He was toe to toe with rikishi ranking well above him in many cases, but continued to dominated his matches. After a less than spectacular result from Hatsu, fans hopeful that Naya may be driving for higher ranks were delighted with his effort.

For a complementary take on the state of Makushita, see Chris Gould’s video below. -lksumo

Jungyo Newsreel – Day 1

Herouth Jungyo (巡業) , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Here we are back with the Jungyo reports, where we will be trying to quench some of your thirst for sumo while we are all waiting for the next tournament.

As a reminder, the Jungyo is a regional tour the sekitori – accompanied by tsukebito and support crews – go on during four of the even-numbered months, bringing sumo to small towns and giving the locals an opportunity to see some keiko and some sumo and interact with favorites.

The Haru Jungyo traditionally begins with a dedication at Ise Grand Shrine – the holiest shrine – located in and around Ise city, Mie prefecture.

🌐 Location: Ise Grand Shrine, Mie Prefecture

As this was a day of dedication ceremonies, it did not include the usual “shake hands with your favorite rikishi” part. The brass had to go perform ceremonies at the main shrines. The Ise Grand Shrine is actually a cluster of shrines. The two main ones are called Naiku and Geku. Ceremonies took place in both locations – about 6km apart.

The tail of the procession – current Ozeki, followed by a tiny shin-Ozeki

The rikishi and NSK brass offered prayers. The rikishi – including some additional san-yaku – were then purified by the priests

Not an easy walk wearing a kesho-mawashi!

The Yokozuna performed dohyo-iri, and the top six san-yaku rikishi then performed synchronized shiko – “sanyaku-soroi-bumi”, similar to that which is performed on senshuraku.

Heading back to more secular activities, perhaps I should start with a list of kyujo. Five rikishi are absent from the Jungyo altogether: Takayasu (lower back issues), Ichinojo (herniated disk), Ikioi (general wreck), Chiyonokuni (Still recovering from operation), and Juryo’s Hakuyozan (who broke a bone during the basho if I’m not mistaken).

In addition, some rikishi are present but not participating in torikumi. Hakuho is basically doing only dohyo-iri and ceremonial functions. Enho had issues with his shoulder through most of the basho and is not on the torikumi list, and Yoshikaze is also not on it.

Enho. Present but not fighting.

Some of the above will be back in action at some point in the Jungyo, and I’ll try to keep you posted when they are.

Back at the venue – which, as you can see in the photo above, is an open facility, but very nicely set up – keiko started out early in the morning. Here is Kiribayama’s practice with Shimanoumi:

This is the only practice video the NSK Twitter account offers – probably because its subject, Shimanoumi, was the star of the day, being a native of Shima city, Mie prefecture.

Following practice, the lower rank bouts, as well as the usual performances of Shokkiri, Jinku, and drum demonstrations took place, giving the sekitori time to have lunch and wear their kesho mawashi. Some kids got their photos taken with ozeki:

Ozeki are like quarks. Here we have a down ozeki, a strange ozeki, and an up ozeki.

This photo-op is what replaces kiddie sumo these days.

Waiting for dohyo-iri back in the venue was no mean feat. The venue, as already mentioned, is an open facility. And it was cold.

Even cold-blooded Mongolians suffered, never mind the poor, suffering Brazilian.

Some fans took the opportunity to ask for autographs and the like. Sadanoumi impressed the fans as he signed an autograph with a proper calligraphy brush:

While the lower divisions’ – including Juryo – bouts took place in the usual fashion, Makuuchi was split into two sets of competitions. The bottom to middle rikishi were in normal, one bout per rikishi fashion. The top, however, participated in an elimination tournament called the “Senshiken”.

In the previous Haru Jungyo, Hakuho won the senshiken, and so he had to hand back the yusho flag:

As top yokuzuna, he also led the senshi vow (“senshi” (選士) here is a word that means “chosen”, but I suspect it’s used as a combination of “athlete” (選手, “senshu”) and “rikishi” (力士)).

Of course, he did not participate in the tournament, and Kakuryu (as well as the Ozeki) were soon eliminated from it.

Eliminated Yokozuna not forgetting to low-five little hands

The winner of the tournament was Hokutofuji – a career first – and the jun-yusho went to Nishikigi.

Hokutofuji’s first yusho

Hokutofuji also won a nice little mini-shrine, which I believe is actually a useful item in a heya.

This concluded the event at Ise. Here is a summary video from Mie TV.

I think Kotoyuki’s bout with Chiyomaru is funnier than Shokkiri. Of course, Shimanoumi stars in this summary, but there are several other torikumi for your pleasure.

Breaking: Ex-NFL Star Rob Gronkowski to Join Professional Sumo

lksumo Haru Basho 2019 (Osaka)

Following his surprise retirement last week, the former Patriots tight end has revealed that his next step will be to move to Japan and see how high up the professional sumo ranks he can climb. Gronkowski, who has previously moonlighted in professional wrestling, said that the move was inspired by Tom Brady’s visit to Japan in 2017, when the Patriots quarterback visited Sakaigawa beya and trained with none other than Ozeki Goeido. He plans to use the connections Brady made during the visit to enter the sumo world.

Gronkowski, who stands 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) and weighs 268 lb (122 kg), knows that while he is big for an NFL tight end, he will need to put on some weight to succeed in professional sumo. Having famously not touched any of his career NFL earnings, “Gronk” says that he is prepared for heya life and looks forward to doing the chores that are expected of low-ranked rikishi. “I’ve read John Gunning’s article (on foreigners entering sumo), and I am not taking this lightly,” he said.

You can read the full interview with Gronkowski here.

Update on Hakuho’s Injury

Herouth Hakuho (白鵬), Injuries, injury

The Haru Jungyo – regional tour – started today with a dedication dohyo-iri and competition at Ise Grand Shrine, Mie prefecture.

Hakuho took this opportunity to answer media questions about his injury. As it turned out, he was diagnosed with a tear in the coracobrachialis, an inner muscle located near the short head of the biceps. This is a rare injury.

The Yokozuna says that the tear in this muscle should not prevent him from grabbing the mawashi or doing tsuppari, but flexing his arm “Popeye” style, gives him discomfort. His doctors presented him with a surgical option, but he decided against it, as “it takes too much time”. Instead he opted to rest the muscle.

He plans to consult with his doctors again in the days to come. However, he is not resting at home, but will continue the regional tour with the rest of the sekitori. Currently he is not participating in bouts, and at Ise he performed dohyo-iri and “the senshi vow”.