The Jungyo is over. All the rikishi are gathered at Kyushu at their respective heya’s lodgings. The banzuke is out, some of the people you saw in the reports wearing a white sekitori’s mawashi have dropped to Makushita. And some of those you saw serving sekitori are now getting their own tsukebito. But I want to keep posting my Jungyo reports, and complete the journey – unless, of course, you think it’s a waste of bandwidth and sleep. Let me know in the comments!
We have a lot of video action today. But first, take a look at Umizaru (“Sea Monkey”):
He is from Miyagino beya, and serves as Enho’s tsukebito for this Jungyo (Enho’s regular tsukebito are Takemaru and Kenyu, but Umizaru is a native of Kyoto, one of this Jungyo’s locations, so he was assigned temporarily).
Umizaru’s main claim to fame is the gag that has been doing the rounds in the sumo world: he is said to be the third brother to Hidenoumi and Tobizaru, and thus his Shikona is a melding of theirs.
Even I fell for this story – mostly because Tobizaru is always happy to endorse it. In fact, it fooled even Abema TV, who put that little piece of fake news on their trivia blurb on Hidenoumi. Hidenoumi wasn’t impressed.
It’s a lie. The Iwasaki brothers – Hidenoumi and Tobizaru – come from Tokyo, and Umizaru, as we know, from Kyoto.
But don’t you think his eyes look a bit like Tobizaru’s?
Anyway, on to the action of the day:
On the side lines, Nishikigi uses Yutakayama for a teppo pole:
Gagamaru is goofing around excessively. He interferes with Rikishi going down the hana-michi. He leans on Tobizaru – waiting to give him his water – as he goes up the dohyo, and then instead of throwing the salt on the dohyo, throws it at Tobizaru. Also does a tachiai in jikan-mae. Then he has this exchange with his opponent, Wakatakakage:
Aha! Kesho-mawashi are convenient like that. Though interestingly he doesn’t do the same when he participates in the yokozuna dohyo-iri. Probably squatting puts some strain on the frame.
Now take a look at Mitakeumi and Tamawashi throughout this video.
First Mitakeumi kisses Tamawashi’s back, no less. Then proceeds to caress it, then gets down to Tamawashi’s tush. At some point Tamawashi warns him off, but he still messes with the Eagle’s mawashi knot, and so on, and so forth.
No, he doesn’t. It’s a Nishikigi sock puppet. Somebody is operating him from behind!
And as he comes back from his bout, fans ask for attention. Signs the first one an autograph. Waves to the second. Signs for the third… and only then he gets his glasses back.
Once again, Abi is doing Mawashi sumo, although I feel like diving through my screen, going through the Intertubes, and getting to that dohyo only to shout at Abi to get his freaking ass down. It looks like he is trying to keep it as high as possible. Why?
The town of Takamatsu prepared for the sumo event, after two years of wait, hanging nobori and preparing the venue:
The Jungyo hanging roof is a simple, light canopy, unlike honbasho
But alas, two years ago, when the previous Jungyo took place here, the prefecture boasted two sekitori: Kotoyuki and Amakaze. Amakaze is no longer among the sekitori ranks, and Kotoyuki is unfortunately kyujo.
Although he didn’t participate in the torikumi due to an unspecified injury, Takayasu was present at the practice session:
Tochinoshin, still no brace but with elaborate taping, did some suri-ashi in the hana-michi:
That’s a whole different level. Note that since the morning Tochinoshin’s taping has become a heavy supporter – though I think it’s still not his usual brace. Maybe it’s being dry-cleaned.
Time for Juryo dohyo-iri. A kid asks Gagamaru for an autograph. Gagamaru replies: “If I said I can’t it would be a lie”:
Maybe it’s just me, but I find it really amusing when a huge rikishi has such a girly voice. It’s the same with Terunofuji. Huge, menacing rikishi, and a high-pitched, small voice.
Kisenosato back from demonstrating his rope tying. Yokozuna wearing their ropes don’t stop for fan service, but Awajiumi is serving as his proxy:
Time for Makuuchi dohyo-iri, and Takakeisho once again shows that his face is capable of more than just a pouting frown:
But of course, he is no competition to his new heya-mate:
This is from earlier in the day, of course. If you wonder why rikishi are so often photographed with kids, well, there is a belief in Japan that if a rikishi carries your child she will grow up healthy and strong. This one took a long stare at Onigiri-kun, I mean, Takanosho. I guess trying to decide whether he was edible or not.
Waiting for the Yokozuna dohyo-iri, Nishikigi and Shodai exchange – let’s call it an elaborate handshake?
So why have I upped the scandal level to 1? Because once again Tamawashi is tweaking nipples:
He really seems fascinated by the things. Or is he trying to break into a safe? We have decided to call him Chichiwashi over at Twitter. That means “Boob Eagle”.
So as brain bleach against the booby monster, I give you a great photo of Abi’s shiko:
Now that’s more wholesome. As long as you’re standing on this side, of course.
Here is a summary of the day’s event from NHK, where you can see some glimpses of bouts, and the full Kisenosato-Kakuryu bout:
So here is your daily Tobizaru:
If he ever opens an online dating account for the purpose of marriage, that’s the photo I’d recommend as his profile pic.
Sumo tournaments and events draw members of other traditional Japanese professions, such as rakugo story tellers, and in this case, geiko.
Geiko are the Kyoto version of what is called a “geisha” in Tokyo, or a “geigi” in Fukuoka. They are traditional entertainers, skilled in singing, dancing, playing instruments, conversation, and drinking games.
There are many similarities between the world of geiko and the world of sumo. Aspiring geiko join an okiya, which is the equivalent of a heya. There is strict hierarchy between them, and you can tell the ranks by the outfits and accessories. There is a sharp difference between an apprentice geiko – a maiko – the equivalent of a makushita-and-below rikishi, and a full-fledged geiko, the equivalent of a sekitori. Maiko and geiko wear kimono or yukata even when off-duty (though less fancy then their work kimono), and you can recognize an off-duty maiko by the combination of the kimono and the special hairdo.
They also spend most of their days training. Even when they have graduated into geiko.
So in the photo above we have five maiko – one of them a minarai, the equivalent of a Jonokuchi wrestler – and one senior geiko, from the Tsurui okiya, coming to see and be seen at the Kyoto Jungyo event.
So let’s join them and see what the rikishi are up to.
Today’s fashion statement comes from Kagayaki, who shows how to do a head tie:
The fans claim that this is actually a form of stretching.
Yesterday we had a discussion in the comments about seiza and hefty guys like Takayasu. So what would you say about this guy sitting seiza?
My legs ache in sympathy. The fans, by the way, claim that this, too, is a form of stretching.
Now here is a mystery rikishi for you. Since the connoisseurs here are able to tell Kisenosato from Kotoshogiku by the mere outline of their moobs, I’m sure identifying this butt will be no challenge:
The answer is below, following the daily Tobizaru.
Goeido does shiko stomps at the bottom of the dohyo. But something seems to distract him:
There are no sekitori hailing from Kyoto. The NSK had to dig really hard for home boys – the reason why Enho is accompanied by Kyoto-born Jonidan rikishi Umizaru this Jungyo rather than his regular tsukebito. Another Kyoto man is Sandanme rikishi Kawamoto, from Kasugano beya, who gets the unexpected honor of a butsukari from an Ozeki.
This is easy enough for the Ozeki to leave his gigantic brace off his knee.
Takayasu went for a more serious butsukari opponent – Wakatakakage. And Takayasu doesn’t do butsukari by halves.
Now here are a couple of lessons in Japanese consideration for others. First, Takanosho practices his tachiai. But waits patiently until the arriving spectators move along, so as not to hit them by accident:
I find it strange to see jinku without the famous Mutsukaze and his mutton chops.
Gokushindo seems to enjoy his continuing oicho-mage privileges:
What is Nishikigi laughing so hard about?
As it turns out, he has been using that towel of his as a whip, lashing at Ryuden as he came down from his bout down the hana-michi. I guess Nishikigi is yet another one in the “pain is fun, especially in others” faction of bored rikishi. But Ryuden seems not to mind too much.
Remember Goeido’s new gag, heckling Tamawashi by proxy? Well, I have footage of it. Tamawashi is about to start his bout with Kaisei:
And the ozeki is guffawing into his elbow. He then has that tsukebito get eye contact with Tamawashi after he wins and raise his fist in feigned encouragement.
Eventually Tamawashi comes down the hana-michi after giving Takakeisho his chikara-mizu, and Goeido sends his proxy to greet his hero.
Tamawashi, for a change, is totally classy about all this:
Let’s see some bouts. Here is Akiseyama vs. Meisei, though I have to warn you – the end has been cut off, because apparently this fan, sitting in this excellent seat, is a huge fan of Yago:
As soon as the last bout of the day (well, the last Juryo bout in this case) is over, the kachi-nokori and make-nokori, the rikishi from the previous bouts who fill the seats next to the shimpan (and also have a duty to raise a mono-ii if they see something amiss) rise and hurry off to the dressing room. Yago was one of them.
By the way, here is something that only happens in Jungyo. Takayasu and Tochinoshin were waiting their turn by the sides of the shimpan – who happened to be the gregarious Tomozuna oyakata. The oyakata took the fan’s smartphone and took their pictures for her:
Let’s see you try to get a picture from that angle in honbasho. And those smiles right before a bout.
Here is Goeido vs. Takayasu:
Finally, here is your Tobizaru:
OK, OK, what’s that supposed to be? Yet another prank during the wait for the dohyo-iri?
No, worse. It’s a prank during the dohyo-iri itself:
Tobizaru demonstrates the Japanese saying “Even monkeys fall from trees” – or dohyos, in this case.
So here is your real Tobizaru of the day:
And the mystery butt is, of course, Enho, the thinnest sekitori.
