Burying The Hatchet

Herouth Scandal , , ,

Takanoiwa and Harumafuji reconcile. Harumafuji to attend Takanoiwa’s danpatsu-shiki.

Riding into the sunshine. From the Smart Flash news site

On the evening of January 17th, shortly after the Day 5 action of the Hatsu basho has ended, two men arrived separately at a fancy Japanese restaurant in Akasaka, Tokyo. The two, known to us as former Yokozuna Harumafuji and former Maegashira Takanoiwa, were there to bury the hatchet. They enjoyed good food and discussed the future.

The meeting was a success. Following dinner, the former Yokozuna entered a black luxury car, and was soon followed by his fellow Mongolian, and the two were driven to Ginza, where they spent the rest of the evening having drinks together.

The news outlets reporting this meeting added that Harumafuji is to attend Takanoiwa’s danpatsu-shiki (ceremonial cutting of his top-knot) which will be held on February 2nd. The following day this has been confirmed by Chiganoura oyakata, who is in charge of Takanoiwa’s former heya, and is holding the ceremony for him. (Danpatsu-shiki are not given by the NSK, but rather by the individual heya, usually paid for by the heya’s koen-kai).

This finally puts the Harumafuji saga to rest.

A sad saga

The story began, as our readers may recall, on the night of October 25th, 2017, the night before the Aki Jungyo event at Tottori city. You can find the full details of the fateful after-party in previous posts. Harumafuji, annoyed with Takanoiwa for checking his phone while Hakuho was speaking to him, proceeded to beat him with bare hands and karaoke remote control, lacerating his skull to the degree that it required stapling. The whole affair would probably have gone under the radar, if word of it did not somehow get to the ears of Takanohana oyakata, Takanoiwa’s stablemaster, and at the time, the head of the Jungyo department.

The news broke out on the third day of the following Kyushu basho. Harumafuji went kyujo, and at the end of that tournament, took responsibility and retired. But what should have ended pretty much like the Asashoryu saga: a retirement, a settlement out-of-court, and that’s it, developed into a holy war between Takanohana and the NSK.

Harumafuji’s retirement press conference

In particular, Takanohana refused to allow Harumafuji to settle this matter with Takanoiwa. In the absence of an out-of-court settlement, Harumafuji faced a summary indictment and paid a fine. Furthermore, Takanoiwa was prevented from showing up to Jungyo events and honbasho for quite a while following the incident, ending up at the bottom of Juryo. After making his first appearance in honbasho eventually (Haru 2018), he was once again absent from Jungyo, handing in a doctor’s certificate for PTSD – which apparently healed in time for the next honbasho (Natsu 2018).

A civil suit

How did an injury whose original medical certificate was for less than two weeks of rest, and which should not have prevented Takanoiwa from participating in any honbasho following the incident, develop into several months of absences, it’s hard to say for certain. My guess was that a big lawsuit was in the works.

But that civil suit took its time in materializing. In the meantime, Takanohana was demoted to the bottom rung of the NSK ranks. He filed a complaint about the NSK for that with the Government Office (the NSK is a tax-exempt organization and as such its governance is subject to government scrutiny). But when his young deshi, Takayoshitoshi (now Takanofuji), unwisely decided to beat up his tsukebito right in front of dozens of people in the shitaku-beya during the Haru 2018 tournament, Takanohana was forced to pull that complaint, to allow his deshi to keep his career.

Takanoiwa responding to reporters under the watchful eye of Takanohana

Then one day at the end of September 2018, right after the end of the Aki basho, Takanohana announced that he is resigning the NSK, saying that he was “being forced to declare that the complaint to the government was unjustified, which he does not believe it was”. This was yet another media circus, which ended in the Takanohana beya being closed up, all its deshi being transferred to the care of a very surprised Chiganoura oyakata, and Takanohana leaving the NSK, getting a divorce and putting what was both his home and his heya out on the real-estate market. However, he did not let go of the Takanoiwa saga.

On October 3rd, 2018, Takanoiwa filed a civil suit against Harumafuji. That civil suit included all those lengthy medical expenses, damages, loss of income, etc., for the long absences I have mentioned above, to the tune of nearly ¥25,000,000. His new oyakata, Chiganoura, was not aware of this. The law firm behind the suit was the same law firm Takanohana (now back to his family name of Hanada) was using for his own affairs.

The lawyers on the Harumafuji side reacted with indignation, calling this an extortionist sum and declaring that they will fight it in court, as it was way above and beyond the real damages accrued by their client.

Once again, attempts at settlement out of court were blocked.

Public Shaming In Mongolia

It seems that Takanohana and his lawyers failed to predict all the consequences of that civil action. Back in Mongolia, people were outraged. Harumafuji is held in much respect by many in Mongolia, due to his philanthropic activities there. In particular, he recently established a school in Ulan-Baatar which is supposed to give young Mongolians a Japanese-style education. He invested about $12,000,000 in the establishment of that school of his own money, and also raised donations from others. His fans in his home land took a dim view of Takanoiwa’s “preposterous” law suit, and some of them started publicly shaming and physically harassing Takanoiwa’s family. It should be noted that neither of Takanoiwa’s parents is alive, and his family consists of siblings and their own families. They called him often to express their distress, and he couldn’t bear it any longer.

On October 30th, Takanoiwa announced that he will be pulling the suit. “I will pay for my own medical expenses… I want the harassment of my family to stop”, he said.

The reaction from the Harumafuji side was that it was “unthinkable that Mongolian Society would act in such a deplorable way towards the victim side”. While a bit cryptic, the reaction from the Takanohana side was much more dramatic. According to Takanoiwa’s koen-kai, the former oyakata immediately severed ties with his former deshi.

The next day, Harumafuji’s lawyers hinted that they think “perhaps Takanoiwa’s legal representatives were obstructing negotiations and misrepresenting their own offers”, and suggested that direct talks should take place between the sides.

The victim turns aggressor

Whether or not such direct talks indeed started at this point, we will probably never know. But we do know that shortly afterwards, during the 2018 Fuyu Jungyo, Takanoiwa, angry with his assigned tsukebito, Takataisho, for forgetting his purse in the previous Jungyo location, beat him up. When the attending oyakata found out, Takanoiwa was sent off to Tokyo, questioned together with his new oyakata, and sent off to await judgement at his heya. This was all too much for the victim-turned-aggressor, and he decided to leave the world of Sumo.

Takanoiwa’s retirement press conference

No red carpets were waiting for him out the door. The RIZIN pro-wrestling association, following the embarrassing Osunaarashi second scandal, announced that it wasn’t a dumping ground for sumo criminals (or something more polite but to the same effect). There was no invitation waiting for him there. Without education, without a civil profession, with burnt bridges in his home land, and now also without the support of his former oyakata (who made a public announcement that he will not allow Takanoiwa within his presence before he does 10 years of penitence), Takanoiwa was in a serious pinch.

A lonely danpatsu-shiki

His recent oyakata, Chiganoura, was acting very decently – appearing by his side in his news conference and bowing in apology together, appealing to the Chiganoura koen-kai to be kind to his short-time deshi in his new life, and arranging for that danpatsu-shiki at the Ryogoku Kokugikan to give him a respectable farewell. Chiganoura also invited Takanohana, as Takanoiwa’s former stablemaster. However, no indication was given that Takanohana was going to accept the invitation, and given the above, the likelihood that this would happen was very low indeed.

This ceremony, unlike Harumafuji’s (and the one planned for Kisenosato next September) is not going to include hana-zumo (a day of sumo, jinku, shokkiri etc). Hana-zumo requires the cooperation of the rikishi-kai, and is an expensive affair. It includes only the ceremony itself and an after-party. At the moment, only 90 tickets have been sold.

With Takanohana not attending, and an ongoing feud with the Harumafuji camp in the Mongolian community, news outlets were speculating that the event would turn out to be not just low-key, but a rather lonely affair.

So perhaps it is Takanohana absenting himself from the scene. Perhaps it was the prospect of a lonely farewell ceremony. And perhaps the reason was the new state of unemployment Takanoiwa found himself in. Whatever the reason, the overtures from Harumafuji’s side, long rejected, found an ear this time, and the two sides finally found a way to put one of the saddest, ugliest affairs in the world of Sumo in recent years to rest, and smoke the pipe of peace.

And the danpatsu-shiki? Harumafuji will attend it. Gossip columns tell us that Takanohana’s ex-wife, Takanoiwa’s former Okami-san, Keiko Kono, will also attend it. Whether ticket sales will increase as a result, and whether Harumafuji’s attendance will draw in more of the Mongolian community, we will learn in a few days.

Wrapping Up the Hatsu Storylines

lksumo Hatsu Basho 2019
Image courtesy of Nippon Sports

The Yusho Race

Congratulations to Sekiwake Tamawashi on his first career yusho! With a 13-2 championship following a 9-6 record at M2 in Kyushu, will the long-time sumo veteran be considered for an Ozeki promotion in March, and if so, what is his target number of wins? After today’s non-promotion decision (see below), who knows!

Kadoban Watch

After slow starts, Takayasu and Goeido rebounded with creditable 9-6 final records, and will once again be ranked O1e and O1w in Osaka. Injured Tochinoshin (0-5-10) will be kadoban at Haru, needing 8 wins to retain his Ozeki rank. The good news? He should finally be “promoted” from O2w to O2e after Kisenosato’s retirement removed the need to balance the banuke.

Takakeisho’s Ozeki Run

Today we learned that 33 wins in three basho while ranked in sanyaku isn’t always enough. There have been 38 prior instances of such performances in the six-basho era (since 1958), and 35 of them led to Ozeki promotion. Of the three exceptions, two overlapping ones involved Miyabiyama in 2006, and he is a special case, as he was trying to get re-promoted to Ozeki after being demoted from the rank 5 years earlier. The other instance was Baruto in 2009-2010, who was denied promotion after going K1e 12-3, S1e 9-6, S1e 12-3 with a jun-yusho. He responded by ensuring that he wouldn’t be overlooked again with a 14-1 jun-yusho in the March tournament. Can Takakeisho similarly force the issue in Osaka? By the way, Kisenosato’s retirement now means that there will be one fewer named rank on the next banzuke. Because the total number of Makuuchi rikishi is fixed at 42, there has to be one more maegashira slot, so 17e will reappear.

The Sanyaku

The two Sekiwake will retain their ranks at Haru. The only question is whether they will switch sides. As is often the case, the banzuke committee decisions make for confusing precedents. They used to regularly reshuffle the Sekiwake ranks based on their records in the most recent basho, just as they still do with the Yokozuna and Ozeki. But then the practice appeared to stop. For instance, after the 2017 March tournament, 8-7 S1e Tamawashi stayed on the East side, despite S1w Takayasu finishing 12-3. However, after winning the 2018 Nagoya basho, S1w Mitakeumi (13-2) was moved ahead of S1e Ichinojo (8-7). What made the difference? The extra victory, the yusho, or something else? If it was the yusho, we could see Takakeisho move down to S1w instead of up to the anticipated O2w.

The ripple effects of Takakeisho’s non-promotion include Mitakeumi moving over to East Komusubi, rather than up to West Sekiwake, and only one Komusubi slot opening up. Conveniently, there is only one strong promotion candidate: M2 Hokutofuji (9-6), who was the only rikishi of the ten ranked between M1 and M5 to finish with more wins than losses, and who will finally make his sanyaku debut after missing out despite going 11-4 at M3 in Kyushu in 2017.

Without a second open sanyaku slot, Kaisei will have to content himself with being the top maegashira. After that, the upper maegashira ranks are a mess. The next 10 spots on the banzuke will have to be filled with a mix of rikishi from the upper ranks who won’t be demoted far despite posting losing records, and those from down the banzuke who’ll receive overly generous promotions. The former group includes K1e Myogiryu (5-10), M1e Tochiozan (6-9), M1w Ichinojo (6-9), M2e Nishikigi (7-8), M3e Shodai (7-8), and M4w Okinoumi (7-8). The latter consists of M7w Daieisho (9-6), M9w Endo (10-5), M6e Chiyotairyu (8-7), and M6w Onosho (8-7). I’ll do my best to sort out their order in my upcoming regular banzuke prediction post.

The 7-7 Club

Half of this group succeeded in picking up their kachi-koshi, while the others lost to drop to make-koshi. Winning on the final day were M12 Meisei and M8 Asanoyama, while M15 Kotoeko and M5 Aoiyama ended the tournament on a down note.

Makuuchi Turnover

The five clear open slots—vacated by Daishomaru, Daiamami, and Kotoyuki’s demotions and Kisenosato and Takanoiwa’s retirements—are spoken for by Tomokaze and Daishoho, who clinched promotion with final-day victories, and Terutsuyoshi, Ishiura, and Toyonoshima, who dropped their final matches, but had already done just enough (in fact, Terutsuyoshi lost on four straight days after securing his kachi-koshi, while Ishiura closed the tournament with three straight losses). It will be exciting to see at least three Makuuchi debuts—the most since there were four in May of 2013.

Kagayaki defeated Yutakayama to become the last man in the top division to reach safety. That leaves the 6-9 M14 duo of Yutakayama and Chiyoshoma on the bubble. In the Juryo bout matching two promotion contenders, yusho winner Shimanoumi prevailed over Chiyomaru, likely eliminating the latter from consideration. Will Shimanoumi’s 13-2 record from all the way down at J11 be good enough to ensure a Makuuchi debut and force down Chiyoshoma? I’d say yes, but it’ll be a close call—after the last two basho, rikishi with 6-9 records at M14w just hung on to the final rung of the top-division ladder. They could also drop Yutakayama in favor of Chiyomaru, but this seems less likely.

Ura update

Herouth Hatsu Basho 2019, injury
Ura leaving the dohoyo leaning on a sewanin after re-injuring his knee

Although the world of sumo usually keeps silent about injuries and the decisions behind them, leaving us fans to speculate, in Ura’s case, the fans are lucky, as there is an oyakata who keeps us relatively informed on the tragic ex-actrobat wrestler.

Inagawa oyakata is a member of Ura’s heya, and he tweets updates about him from time to time. The first tweet appeared on January 23rd:

Good morning. This will become known anyway, so I decided to just come out and tell.

The result of Ura’s medical examination this time is the same as his previous injury – a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Once he settles down, I will talk to him and try to inform you if there is anything to report


This was rather ominous. But today, during the various heya’s senshuraku parties, Inagawa oyakata came up with a new tweet:

Thank goodness… As it is something only the man himself can decide through his worries, all I can do is support him. But when we met, he immediately said “I’m having surgery, and work on my comeback once again”. I’m very happy. Everybody, we’ll be grateful for your continued support!

And I’m very grateful to Inagawa oyakata for these tweets. So the bottom line is: No intai at the moment, but also do not expect to see Ura in the upper divisions any time soon. Better luck this time!

Hatsu Day 15 Highlights

Bruce H Aoiyama, Daiamami (大奄美), Gōeidō (豪栄道), Hokutōfuji (北勝富士), Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Kagayaki (輝), Meisei, Shōdai (正代直也), Takakeishō (貴景勝), Yoshikaze (嘉風), Yutakayama, Ōnoshō (阿武咲)

That’s it folks! The rest of the team have done an excellent job of reporting the results, but there were a couple of interesting matches that took place on the final day. I will state that in many ways, that this basho was “odd”. In that we saw rikishi with multi-day hot and cold streaks, and many capable men significantly underperform their multi-tournament trends. I suspect that the influenza virus that is ravaging Japan has some part in this oddity, and that Osaka might be a better bellwether of the state of sumo. But the chaos virus (or whatever it was) certainly made for an interesting run.

As a reminder to all of you sumo fans, there is no jungyo between Hatsu and the the March tournament in Osaka, so news from the world of sumo may be a bit thin, yet again. I know things were very quiet over Christmas too, so I encourage everyone to pace themselves. Perhaps weekend binges of Kintamayama and Jason’s excellent coverage from this basho, and highlights of great tournaments of the past.

Lastly thanks to all of you readers for giving us quite the month (more on that in a few days), Tachiai’s oyakata, Andy, and everyone at Team Tachiai for making this Hatsu one to remember.

Highlight Matches

Kagayaki defeats Yutakayama – After a horrific start, Kagayaki found his sumo around day 10, and has been fighting with purpose ever sense. Today he gave Yutakayama a trip to the clay with a rather potent okurinage. Yutakayama’s meteoric rise was arrested following a disasters Aki, which saw him go kyujo for 3 days, and return to a series of daily defeats.

Meisei defeats Onosho – Very happy that Onosho was able to get his 8th win this tournament. Going in, it was stated that he was still recovering from knee surgery, and that being at Maegashira 6 was a good rank for him. With the extended break leading to Osaka, we hope he has time to further heal and strengthen his lower body. I predict with him in the joi-jin for March, he’s going to start taking a bite out of the upper ranks. Thought I really like Takakeisho’s sumo, Onosho is the stronger, more capable rikishi, and I am rooting for him to regain his health and show us what he is capable of.

Yoshikaze defeats Daiamami – As a die-hard Yoshikaze fan, this tournament has been another that is tough to watch. I don’t know what is plaguing one of the great competitors of sumo, but it seems most of Japan wishes him well, and hopes he can get better. Today’s match against Daiamami, Yoshikaze mustered enough genki to win against the damaged and depleted Daiamami. At least that’s something.

Hokutofuji defeats Aoiyama – Hokutofuji managed to finish with 9 wins, and with the joi-jin rikishi reduced to flaming hulks, I am going to assume Hokutofuji will take a sanyaku spot for March. He has huge potential, but I would love to see him make his sumo more efficient. Many of his body moves during a match are larger than they should be, and that excess movement opens avenues for him to be defeated. Aoiyama, as is sometimes the case, shows up and fights with strength every day, but some days is just 5% less than his opponents.

Shodai defeats Ichinojo – If Shodai ends up at any rank above Maegashira 4, I am going to lose my mind.

Nishikigi defeats Mitakeumi – Nishikigi continues to be sumo’s Cinderella story. His make-koshi was 7-8, so he may not be pushed too far down the banzuke. But a word to all the other rikishi: this guy went from sucking wind at the bottom of the banzuke to a credible upper Maegashira rikishi. He is a sort of sumo “everyman”, so I am sure his success motivates many to believe they can work to higher performance.

Goeido defeats Takakeisho – I have to remark again just how impressive Goeido’s rally from an 0-4 start has been. Many worried that he was headed for kadoban again, and it certainly looked that way. But in spite of his injuries and physical problems, he took in 9 wins by the end of it all. His win over Takakeisho was pure Goeido. He’s a speed monster who throws everything into an offensive opening gambit. He either blows you away or he’s in trouble. Takakeisho could not set up any kind of offense, and in desperation tried for some kind of pull down. Meanwhile the Goeido locomotive was screaming down the tracks with Takakeisho affixed to the front – next destination zabuton city.