Yes, this blog is about sumo, sumo, and only sumo. There are many topics, like Japanese language, which are tangentially related to the sport and knowledge of which enriches fans’ enjoyment of the sport. While this article is not nominally related to sumo, it falls squarely in that category of related topics.
The ranking sheet (banzuke) for major sumo tournaments is usually released on a Monday, two weeks prior to the start of the tournament. However, the ranking sheet for the May tournament will be released on Tuesday because April 29 is a holiday, Showa Day. In fact, several days this week are national holidays, so called “Golden Week”.
Date
Holiday
Translation
1/1/2024
元日
New Year’s Day
1/8/2024
成人の日
Coming of Age Day
2/11/2024
建国記念の日
National Foundation Day
2/23/2024
天皇誕生日
Emperor’s Birthday
3/20/2024
春分の日
Spring Equinox
4/29/2024
昭和の日
Showa Day
5/3/2024
憲法記念日
Constitution Day
5/4/2024
みどりの日
Green Day
5/5/2024
こどもの日
Children’s Day
7/15/2024
海の日
Sea Day
8/11/2024
山の日
Mountain Day
9/16/2024
敬老の日
Respect for the Aged Day
9/22/2024
秋分の日
Fall Equinox
10/14/2024
スポーツの日
Sports Day
11/3/2024
文化の日
Culture Day
11/23/2024
勤労感謝の日
Thanksgiving
The Act on National Holidays is the law that established the official holidays observed in Japan. There are currently sixteen public holidays observed annually, listed above. So, what is Showa Day? The Showa era refers to the reign of Emperor Hirohito, from 1926 to 1989 and Showa Day was established in 2005 to reflect on that tumultuous timeframe and the historical lessons learned.
Showa Day
The era encompasses pre-World War II imperialism, World War II itself, as well as the occupation and post War economic boom, so there is certainly a lot to reflect upon. Even if we stay well away from the dramatic political and socio-economic changes, the sumo world itself underwent a massive amount of change.
Before this era, sumo was still fought in a much less systematic fashion, split between Osaka-centered competition and Tokyo-centered competition, each with slightly different rules. In 1927, the two merged and in 1957-1958 the familiar bi-monthly tournament schedule was set with three tournaments in Tokyo, one in Osaka, Nagoya, and Kyushu. (Let’s not look at the turbulent history of Kyokai chairmen and just say we did.)
The venues themselves had undergone considerable change. The Tokyo-based tournaments shifted from Kuramae Kokugikan to the current Ryogoku Kokugikan in 1985. There were also dramatic changes on the dohyo. The dohyo itself still had four physical pillars at the beginning of the Showa era. Those were replaced with the floating tassels we recognize today. Famously, the sport was also the first to have its own replay booth, implemented during the Showa period. Our black-clad shimpan have been working with their own VAR since the summer of ’69.
The wrestlers have also changed. The Showa era harkens back to Yokozuna Tsunenohana through Chiyonofuji, Hokutoumi, and Onokuni. Foreign rikishi began to compete and make their presence known in the sport. In 1972, Takamiyama won the top-division yusho. And late in this timeframe he ushered his protégé, Konishiki, to the rank Ozeki. Many of the top division wrestlers that we grew up watching were born during the era. Terunofuji is the first Yokozuna born during the Heisei era of the recently retired Akihito.
In Closing
I am sure that I am missing many monumental sumo reforms which occurred during the Showa era but it is easy to say that the period was transformational. The two gents in the picture were born during the Showa era. And sumo evolved into the modern sport we’ve come to love. If there are particular memories you have of sumo during the Showa period, feel free to leave a comment.
Asashoryu announced via Twitter today that he had undergone surgery and it had been a success. He also thanked Japanese healthcare service that he received. “Surgery? What surgery?”
Rewind a few weeks to right about the time the sumo world lost Akebono, there was a tweet posted to Asashoryu’s account saying that he had been admitted to the hospital and was undergoing tests and thanked his fans for their support. His account then went rather silent. On Instagram over subsequent days, he posted pictures with captions that mentioned a tumor/cancer but were also apparently rather optimistic. Today, he posted pictures from the hospital, of an IV in his arm and himself in a wheelchair with a thumbs up.
I am really waiting to hear what the press finds out about details (unless Asashoryu is a reader and is up for answering a few questions?). However, from what I can piece together, the surgical team at his hospital in Japan found a tumor, removed it, and this announcement today is hopefully an indication that “they got it all,” so to speak. There are no details so far on the type of tumor/cancer, or any prognosis but I will update if/when I have that information.
We certainly wish Asashoryu well and hope he makes a full recovery.
Last bashō, I documented four newcomers to the Third Division (Makushita). Three of the four managed to get kachi-koshi (majority of victories). Only Āron, from Nishonoseki, had a losing record of 2-5. Shiroma’s 4-3 record did not come as a surprise, and Takashōki also had demonstrated an ability that would allow him to succeed in division three. Suzaki’s 4-3 record was a bit of a pleasant surprise – mainly because I will continue to see his technique in the May tournament division three highlights (if I can figure out how to see them now that our heroic streamers have been kicked off of so many platforms).
Matsui (松井)
One newbie to Makushita that I did not cover is Matsui – as he got Tsukedashi qualification from the bottom of the division. Matsui took a short-cut to the tsukedashi qualification, which has traditionally gone to ex-collegiate wresters with a few notable exceptions (Ichinojō and Hakuōhō), Matsui, like Hakuōhō, joined the recently closed Miyagino-beya and now comes out of Isegahama-beya. The similarities to Hakuōhō continue as they both are graduates from Tottori Johoku and went into corporate sumo after grandating high school. Matsui finished in the top 8 in the corporate sumo (National Sports Festival tourhament), which qualified him to appear as makushita tsukedashi on his debut. He is 19 years old, 171 cm (5’8’’) and weighs in at 118 kg (260 pounds) – making him another one of the smaller Miyagino recruits (a la Ishiura, Enhō, Kihō, Raihō). He comes from Umi, Fukuoka prefecture. The 5-2 record from this mainly tsuki/oshi wrestler in his debut is not a surprise. We will see if he hits an upper limit.
Kusano (草野)
This tournament, there is another new entrant who has qualified for Makushita Tsukedashi and followed in the footsteps of his high school and university senpai and long-time friend, Kihō, into the sumo world. It is safe to say that he was recruited to Miyagino-beya as it was being shut down. As Miyagino is no longer permitted to officially recruit, it was Isegahama Oyakata who visited Buntoku High School for the recruiting announcement. He was team captain at Buntoku High School when his team won at the interhigh for the first time in 21 years in 2019 and made college Yokozuna in 2023. He won the 101st National Student Tournament championship (after a monoii) in November 2023 and then finished in second place at the 72nd All Japan Sumo tournament the next month. He also won the Gold Medal for the heavyweight division in the 2023 World Sumo Championship. He has amateur wins over Gōnoyama, Shirokuma, Asakōryū, Ōshōma, Ōnosato, and more. Thus, he should be able to have good record in his debut. He has been a consistent college performer, with a first, second, and third place finish at three major tournaments in 2023. He uses a wide range of techniques, from migi-yotsu to tsuki, oshi and morozashi.
He is 22 years old, 185 cm (6’0’’) and weighs in at 160 kg (352 pounds) and comes out of Uto, Kumamoto Prefecture – same as Shōdai and his friend Kihō. At his press conference held at Buntoku, he indicated “I want to do my best to become a sekitori as soon as possible. My goal is to become an ozeki or yokozuna.”
Kotetsu (虎徹)
Kotetsu is a 22 year old wrestler from Ōtake-beya. He hails from Tsu, Mie Prefecture and is 181 cm (5’11’’) and 169 kg (372 lbs). He comes from Nabari High School. He started with judo when he was in third grade and finished in 2nd place in a Prefectural judo tournament as well as appearing in the Tōkai tournament. He had no experience in sumo but war recruited by Ōtake Oyakata. His shikona comes from a famous Edo period swordsmith and was given to him by his father. As you can note in the picture above, he won the Jonidan division (Division 5) in Haru 2022, after overcoming an injury in Aki 2021 that dropped him from lower Sandanme back to Jonokuchi. He has been in the upper half of Sandanme for most of the past year and flirting with a promotion to Makushita a few times. His 5-2 record at Sandanme 19 will clinch his promotion to Division 3 in May and join his stablemate Suzaki! He has a 85-56-20 career record since his debut in March 2020.
Aonishiki (安青錦)
Aonishiki is a 20 year old wrestler from Ajigawa-beya. He hails from Vinnytsia, Ukraine and is 180cm (5’10’’) and 125 kg (275 lbs). He has rocketed up the banzuke since his debut, with a 20-1 record since his debut in Nagoya 2023. He began wrestling at age 7 and practicing sumo at the age of 13 and won the bronze medal at the middle weight class at the 2019 World Junior Championships and won the 2021 European Sumo Tournament under 100kg division. Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he was evacuated as a refugee to Japan in where he started training at Kansai University. He was invited to come to Japan by the Yamanaka family. Mr. Yamanaka had met him at the World Junior Championships and accepted him into his home where he started training first at Sekidai Sumo Club and then the university. His shikona is a reference to the blue in the Ukrainian flag, the color of his eyes and a deference to Ajigawa-Oyakata (former Aminishiki). The first name of his shikona, Arata, is to honor Mr. Yamanaka. He won the jonokuchi (division 6) and jonidan (division 5) yūshō back-to-back and won his first six fights in Sandanme (Division 4) – starting with a career record of 20-0. His winning streak was broken by Nagamura (see earlier new Makushita reports) in the division finals. Aonishiki wrestles both on the belt (yotsu-sumo) and by pushing and thrusting.
Rinko (麟虎)
Rinko is a 17 year old wrestler from Nishonoseki-beya. He hails from Okaya, Nagano Prefecture and is 173cm (5’8’’) and 118 kg (259 lbs). I am always energized to see 16- or 17-year-olds enter Makushita – they have chances to flame out, or have high ceilings. After the March tournament, he has a 50-34 career record. Rinko joined sumo along with his twin brother, Hayashiryū (林龍), at the 2022 Spring tournament. The Hayashi brothers started sumo wrestling in elementary school and trained at the same sumo dojo as Mitakeumi. The brothers were active in national competitions throughout middle school and were recruited together by Nishonoseki oyakata. Both brothers started out with similar shikona, using the Hayashi (林) character that can also be read as “rin”. Given his success, he was rewarded with a shikona change. The new “rin”, (麟), has historically been a kanji used in Nishonoseki stable, being the latter one in “Giraffe” (Kirin – 麒麟). He is joining other Nishonoseki recentl shin-Makushita (Āron and Nishida – see earlier entries).
Hamanoumi (濱ノ海)
Hamanoumi is a 22-year-old wrestler from Tokitsukaze-beya alongside his brother – Hamayutaka. He hails from Yokohama City in Kanagawa Prefecture and is 186 cm (6’1’’) and 171 kg (376 lbs). He has a sub-.500 career record of 134-153 – which is not something you often see from a new-Makushita wrestler outside a freak 7-0 appearance from lower Sandanme or 6-1 from about Sandanme 50. However, Hamanoumi has been in the “promotion zone” since early 2023 and has established himself as a solid upper Sandanme level wrestler. He was a baseball player in elementary and middle school and had no experience as a sumo wrestler before deciding to join his older brother at Tokitsukaze-stable. This lack of sumo experience was quite evident in his early career. He is one of the “long-time” makekoshi streakers to start a career – going 8 tournaments in jonokuchi before achieving the elusive first kachi-koshi. He has put on a lot of weight since his debut in March 2017 – gaining about 70 kg. He likes sushi, but is not a fan of spiders.
This past week, we learned of the passing of Akebono. He was 54 years old. Known as Chad Rowan, he was recruited by former Takamiyama to join his Azumazeki-beya in 1988. His maezumo class famously included Takanohana and Wakanohana, both of whom rose to the rank of Yokozuna and with whom he shared one of the sports’ greatest rivalries.
As I’ve noted before, my introduction to the sport of sumo was from late-night highlight digests, broadcast by ESPN. Akebono and this great rivalry with Takanohana and Wakanohana were featured prominently. When the Olympics came to Japan, he performed a dohyo-iri during the opening ceremony. The IOC remembered his life by posting a video from that event.
After his sumo career, he shifted into K-1, MMA, and professional wrestling. Due to health issues, he returned to Japan and maintained a quiet presence, occasionally featuring in social media updates from guys like Konishiki and Hama.
I encourage everyone to check out this montage, put together by Nikkan Sports. It features photos from early in his sumo career, his climb through the ranks, his reign as Yokozuna, retirement, and his post-sumo life. An ad may pop up, click the Japanese character for, “To close,” 閉. The opposite character is “Open,” 開. Note the difference in the central radical. The radical kind of looks like an open door in the character for “open” and a closed door in the character for “closed”.
Closure of Miyagino-beya
Speaking of closure, Miyagino-beya was officially closed and its wrestlers and staff transferred to Isegahama-beya. Keiko has started up again under the new arrangements. This is intended to be a temporary solution as Hakuho is prepped to re-open the Miyagino stable at some point in the future. We’ll give updates as we hear what the Isegahama-ichimon have to report to the Kyokai in the reports they are expected to provide after each tournament.
Jungyo Reaches Kanto Region
The Jungyo tour has been hopping around the Tokyo region for the past few days. Kirishima rejoined the tour after his earlier injury-induced absence. Mid-tour, the Kyokai will host a Kanjin sumo event at Kokugikan on Tuesday, 4/16. This will be a special fund-raising event for victims of the Noto-peninsula earthquake on New Year’s Day. Some tickets are still available and there’s an English webpage to buy tickets, here. As a bonus, it looks like you get a commemorative zabuton for the express purpose of NOT throwing.
NYC Sumo+Sushi
Tickets are available for Konishiki’s Sumo+Sushi tour in NYC. He will be there in June, from the 14th to the 16th. Benton is the vendor providing food. I’ll be eager to hear feedback from folks who attend the NYC event!
