amateur sumo

Turning pro: does amateur sumo success translate?

Thomas Griffin Amateur , ,

Perhaps it’s my American sensibility showing (the NFL Draft brought over half a million people to my hometown in 2019), but the amateur-to-pro sumo prospect pipeline has been on my mind for quite some time. After several dark years where four All-Japan Amateur Yokozuna in a row (2017–2020) chose not to join Grand Sumo (one, Hidetora Hanada, is currently trying to make it in the Canadian Football League!), there has been a resurgence of amateur talent joining the pro ranks. In May this trend culminated in the debut of perhaps the most successful amateur wrestler of all time, Daiki Nakamura (now “Onosato”), and so I thought it might be fun to look through the record books and ask, “how does amateur sumo success translate to the professional level?”

In my examination I’ve gone back as far as 2008, because that’s the furthest back one can go and still find an active pro wrestler with a major amateur title (Myogiryu). I used this list from the very helpful sumoforum.net as my principal resource (it’s hard out there for us English-only sumo fans).

First, what do I mean by “amateur success?” There are many amateur tournaments and titles in Japanese sumo, but they are not all created equal. For the purposes of this article, I’m limiting my analysis to only the tournaments that can grant an amateur wrestler a higher debut ranking in Grand Sumo. For the most part, this means university-aged wrestlers and older. There are many prestigious high school titles, and many “high school Yokozuna” enter pro sumo as top prospects, but they must do so from the bottom rung, and for even the best it takes years to reach the salaried ranks from Jonokuchi.

Grand Sumo officially recognizes four in particular as major titles. They are the Kokutai Tournament, the University Championship, the Corporate Sumo Championship, and the most prestigious, the All-Japan Amateur Championship. The University Championship is for college students only, while the Corporate Championship is open only to non-students sponsored by their employer. The Kokutai and the All-Japan Amateurs are open to both, though their qualifying structures are very different (prefectures select their own representatives for the Kokutai, and notably, high school Yokozuna as well as university and corporate stand-outs are given bids to the All-Japan Amateurs). Winning any one of these tournaments (or even coming close) grants you a higher debut rank in Grand Sumo—Makushita 15 for winners, Sandanme 90 for runners up—and winning multiple titles grants you the highest debut rank you can earn: Makushita 10 Tsukedashi.

Since 2008 there have been eighteen men who have won an amateur title and then turned pro, and most have come from the university ranks, where a few powerhouse universities dominate. In particular, rivals Nihon University and Nippon Sport Science University can boast alumni of most of the wrestlers on the list below (for Americans, they are the Alabama and Ohio State of college sumo). There are some notable “corporate” stand-outs as well, however.

Shikona (Amateur titles) — Highest career pro rank as of July 2023

Myogiryu (Kokutai ’08) — Sekiwake

Jokoryu (University ’08) — Komusubi

Chiyotairyu (University ’10 + Kokutai ’10) — Komusubi

Shodai (University ’11) — Ozeki

Daikiho (Kokutai ’11) — Maegashira 16

Endo (All-Japan Amateur ’12 + Kokutai ’12) — Komusubi

Hokutofuji (University ’12 + Kokutai ’13) — Komusubi

Daishomaru (All-Japan Amateur ’13) — Maegashira 5

Ichinojo (Corporate ’13) — Sekiwake

Mitakeumi (All-Japan Amateur ’14 + University ’14) — Ozeki

Daiamami (Corporate ’15) — Maegashira 11

Mitoryu (All-Japan Amateur ’15 + University ’16) — Maegashira 15

Yago (All-Japan Amateur ’16) — Maegashira 10

Tochimusashi (University ’18) — Juryo 7

Oshoma (University ’20) — Juryo 3

Kiho / Kawazoe (University ’21) — Juryo 13

Hakuoho / Ochiai (Corporate ’22) — Maegashira 17

Onosato (All-Japan Amateur ’21, ’22 + University ’19 + Kokutai ’19, ‘22) — Makushita 3

 

At first glance, the answer to our question seems to be, “it depends.” But the base level seems clear. Every man on this list from 2008—2016 has achieved at least a Makuuchi promotion. Of those thirteen, eight (over half) have reached san’yaku, and two, Shodai and Mitakeumi, have attained the coveted title of Ozeki. It is also worth noting that those thirteen men have five top division yusho between them.

To me these observations are significant and suggest that our expectation for the last five men on the list, who have all been pros for 14 basho or less, should be at least a Maegashira ranking. San’yaku also seems a safe bet, though above that is anyone’s guess. Barring injury or scandal, however, they all have the potential to achieve top division success.

This is quintuply true for the aforementioned Onosato. Keen eyes will have already noted that no wrestlers on the above list have more than two amateur titles to their name—except for one. Onosato, being a 5-time amateur champ, has been heaped with high praise and higher expectations since well before his Ms10TD debut this May, and if he does not rocket up the banzuke it will be considered a colossal bust.

Let’s not worry about that yet, though. So far, our hot prospects have not disappointed. Oshoma, Tochimusashi, and Ochiai (now Hakuoho) already have lower division titles to their names, Kawazoe (now Kiho) just earned his Juryo promotion, and Onosato, with a debut 6-1 record (he won 6 straight after losing his very first bout to wily Ishizaki), is poised for salaried promotion by summer’s end. And these men are just the blue-chip prospects; there are too many young talents to count climbing their way up the banzuke right now. Sumo has been going through a strange transition since the retirement of the last era’s stars, but it seems a bright and competitive future is right around the corner with the next generation. I’m expecting at least one new Ozeki from the names above, and a lot of fun new rivalries besides. In particular, Nishonoseki stable (led by former Yokozuna Kisenosato) seems to be collecting Nippon Sports Science grads like Onosato and Takahashi, while Miyagino (former Yokozuna Hakuho) seems to favor Nihon University stars like Kiho and Otani, as well as some of the top high schoolers such as Hakuoho and Hokuseiho. Let’s hope these amateur-to-pro rivalries take all involved to the next level!

Freshman Wins Amateur Title

Andy Amateur ,

“I came to win. I came to win, and I won.”

Hanada Hidetora

The Japan Sumo Federation, not to be confused with the Japanese Sumo Association which governs professional sumo, hosted its 69th Annual All-Japan Sumo Championship. Hanada Hidetora took the yusho. Nitaidai has been a powerhouse, winning the yusho back in October. I think Hanada is the one holding the yusho pennant/banner in the picture in that article. But just to show how tight these competitions are, Yersin Baltagul did not make it to the final eight — and four of the eight were from Nitaidai, including Nakamura, who won last year’s university title. This elimination format is very different from the fortnight of fun we’re used to.

Young Hanada, no apparent relation to the infamous Hanada clan, hails from Wakayama Prefecture. In another coincidence, the last Freshman to win this sumo title was Kushima Keita (ex-Kushimaumi) who also came from Wakayama. However, Kushima was actually a repeat champion since he also won the title as a high school senior.

Above is the bracket for the final eight, elimination phase of the tournament. After beating Hadeyama from Toyo University, he faced off against his teammate, Matsuzono in the first bout below. Matsuzono had previously defeated Yersin Baltagul in the Sweet Sixteen. Hanada drove Matsuzono back to the bales, then pulled for the hikiotoshi win.

In the finals, the second clip from the embed below, Hanada beat Kinki University’s Yamaguchi. It seems like it was a mistake for Yamaguchi to try to go for the headlock. This meant Yamaguchi was too high and turned around, so Hanada drove straight through and pushed Yamaguchi off the dohyo.

I really encourage all sumo fans to try to learn some Japanese. Start off with the hiragana and katakana but definitely pick up some kanji as well. Give yourself a month to get that and you’ll find that a bit helpful when you’re watching sumo. For the next level, you’ll want to pick up vocabulary and some of the first kanji you’ll learn is 来る, to come, and 勝つ, to win. If you are diving into the grammar so you can try to really master it and read Japanese news articles, I found a part of the interview with Hanada very instructive on how to use ために.

The young man also contained his emotions when he won and did not celebrate. In Japan, they call such celebratory displays a “guts pose”. ガッツポーズ. I told you that katakana knowledge could be useful! He commented that Yokozuna and Ozeki do not do it, so he felt he should be able to contain his emotions, as well. Good job, and good luck next year!

＊Note: For those who tried but quit trying to learn Japanese, I totally understand. Just when you think you’re getting the hang of it, you get a curve ball that makes you question what you’re doing with your life. You’re thinking, “Oh, that one’s easy. I recognize the name 山内. They just put a 小 in front of it, so it’s got to be Koyamauchi, right?”

“Bahahahahaha! No, you fool! It’s Osanai!“

68th Annual All-Japan Amateur Sumo Championship

Andy Amateur

Kokugikan hosted the Amateur Sumo Championship on Sunday. Koshiro Tanioka of Kinki University (近畿大) won the yusho. One of the favorites heading into the event was new college Yokozuna, Daiki Nakamura. You may remember that last month the first-year college student from Nippon Sports Science University (日体大) defeated Tanioka to capture the University title. If anyone had hoped for a rematch, they got it…in the round of 32!

That’s right, imagine Duke facing off against UNC on the first weekend of March Madness, perhaps a late game on Sunday night as everyone’s trying to get home for their 8 am classes. The freshman yokozuna was toppled after his first-round bye. Tanioka went on to win his next four matches (at total of six through the knockout phase) and captured the yusho! Tanioka had one loss in the earlier qualification stage so while Nakamura went undefeated in the prelims, this highlight matchup came early.

* Corrections made to some rather sloppy mistakes I made with the universities. Thank you Herouth! I’m glad I spelled UNC and Duke right. That would have been embarrassing. I think they’d retract my birth certificate over that. The university abbreviations are often two characters but were three on the torikumi list I saw, and that’s what I used for the data in the graph at the bottom.

I’m sorry this video picks up after the tachiai but it gives a great sense of the crashing disappointment felt by Nakamura as he realized he lost. His afternoon should have just started but it was suddenly all over and time to go home. Tanioka, on the other hand, exhibited great technique by dancing along the tawara but sneaking his hands in for a strong uwatedashinage.

The title bout was against a Kazakh prospect, Yelshin, from Nippon Daigaku (日本大). Tanioka got on his opponent’s nerves early with the matta games. He did this several times during the tournament. The hit-and-shift tachiai led to a quick, arms-length shoving match with Tanioka quickly sneaking in for a belt grip. The sudden pull forced Yelshin to one knee for an uwatenage win for Tanioka.

Ladies, Get a Load of the Size of That Belt Buckle!

I want to draw your attention not to the yusho trophy, which is quite nice or the Purple Ribbon of Greatness, but to the massive belt-buckle which would fit in quite well in Texas. Amirite, Bruce? This trophy may find itself next to the macaron and the mushrooms in my list of all-time-faves. The original of this comes from @die_is_cast_ on Twitter, who has more great pics of the winners.

An interesting component of this tournament is that it features sumo wrestlers from companies and the general public, even the occasional high school student. There were two such high school students in this year’s competition, including the high school yokozuna. Nippon Daigaku and Chuo Daigaku sent quite a few wrestlers, as did the Aishin corporation.

Number of Competitors per Institution

68th Annual Amateur Sumo Championship LIVE on NHK (Dec. 1: 5pm Japan time)

Andy Amateur , ,
Nothing to see here…

Don’t let the official Sumo Kyokai website fool you, there’s definitely something going down at Kokugikan tomorrow. As Hakuho and the rest of the sekitori start Jungyo in Nogata, the best amateurs will gather at Kokugikan for the 68th All-Japan Sumo Championship. NHK will offer coverage from 5pm.

NHK Coverage

For those Tachiai readers lucky enough to be in Japan, be sure to tune in. You may see the next crop of sekitori. Past winners of this tournament include Yago, Endo, and Makuuchi yusho winner, Mitakeumi.