Isegahama

The Oyakata Reassignment Thought Experiment

Josh K Nihon Sumo Kyokai, Oyakata, Scandal, Stables (Heya) , , , , , , ,

The venerable John Gunning dropped a banger in the Japan Times last week, discussing the fallout of the Hokuseiho bullying scandal and the Miyagino beya caretaker drama. Developments in the latter story have seen the public and media barred from the training facilities at the heya’s Osaka lodgings, as new temporary boss Tamagaki tries to steady the ship.

Tamagaki is the former Komusubi Tomonohana, and has been drafted in from Oshima beya to restore the viability of the troubled stable. In his article, Gunning expands on a point that frequent Tachiai reader/commenter/participant Asashosakari and I were discussing recently on Sumo Forum, that one of the issues that could be contributing to problems at heya that lack oversight is the wildly uneven distribution of oyakata at stables in the Kyokai:

“Despite there being 105 elder name shares in the JSA, and (currently) just 45 stables, the distribution of the former among the latter is far from even. Musashigawa stable for example has 14 wrestlers and just one elder… while in Kasugano stable, seven former top division men supervise 16 wrestlers. A more even apportioning of that experience and wisdom would go a long way toward preventing situations where immature 21- and 22-year-old wrestlers are left in control of groups of teenagers.” – John Gunning, The Japan Times

Now, before the conspiracy theorists start furiously pounding away at their keyboards, John and I have been seen in the same place at the same time, I couldn’t tell you anything about hurling and the only feelings I have for Manchester United are occasionally pity or loathing. But he is onto something and it’s rather in line with this excerpt from my Forum contribution:

“Another thing that hasn’t come up here is Takashima’s defection from Miyagino to Isenoumi a couple years ago. I don’t know if the real reason for this ever cropped up, and maybe he just didn’t want to be a part of what Hakuho was going to build, but you’d think that having a veteran presence at the heya (ie adult in the room) would help to hopefully mitigate some situations.

It seems absolutely nuts that Kasugano and Isenoumi account for 10% of all elder shares between just the two heya, and Kasugano has another 3 official staffers.

Now that everyone can be a sanyo, a good use of the role would be using their time to support new oyakata to help them develop. I could be wrong but newer shisho who have a sanyo or very senior oyakata in the backroom team (ie Oshima when he was Tomozuna, Ikazuchi with Irumagawa, Hanaregoma with Minatogawa, Oshiogawa with Oguruma, etc.) seem to have had it pretty smooth sailing so far.”

Before you make the point, I know, quoting yourself is weird and should be reserved for self-help and wellness influencers who repost their tweets on their main Instagram feed. But I digress.

I actually don’t believe heya consolidation is the answer, because while it potentially solves one problem it creates another issue in terms potentially pushing the declining rate of recruiting even further. But I do think a realignment of oyakata – and especially sanyo – makes a ton of sense.

Gunning points out a number of issues that would be caused by migration of oyakata, all of which are valid and you should go read the article. For the purposes of this thought exercise, let’s set up some ground rules:

  • No oyakata leave their existing ichimon (keeps power balance the same as it is now), with one exception
  • Prioritise support for new shisho (who inherited or opened stables in the last 5 years) by experienced oyakata and sanyo
  • Don’t move oyakata to experienced single shisho if a better option exists
  • Try to keep sub-family alignments in order to preserve culture (ie, among stables which branched from or share affiliations with other heya within the larger ichimon)
  • We will ignore the geographical locations of the heya. Obviously, in real life it would be a big deal for an oyakata based in the south of Tokyo to move to, for example, Chiba or Ibaraki prefectures. I think it’s difficult to do this as a thought experiment and consider the personal circumstances of people we don’t know all that much about.

Takasago Ichimon

  • Jinmaku (ex-Fujinoshin, 63) moves to Takasago from Hakkaku

Just one move here. I toyed with moving Tanigawa to Nishikido beya, as he’s spent 13 years coaching first at Hakkaku and then Kokonoe and is the best candidate to assume a heya. But Kokonoe has 25 rikishi and probably needs all four coaches. While Nishikido beya has been more or less dead since its own scandal(s) and has no one to inherit it, you can always move someone in closer to the time that the current shisho is ready to go.

So, the move that I did make is the soon-to-retire Jinmaku. Hakkaku beya has 18 rikishi, but in addition to the chairman of the association it’s also coached by a former shisho in Azumazeki and a future one in Kimigahama (Okinoumi).  Takasago-beya, meanwhile, has 24 rikishi of its own, but only two coaches at present and the shisho is one of the youngest and least experienced in the Kyokai with only 3 years as a coach before taking over as stable master amidst a scandal. While Wakamatsu (former Asanowaka) is also there, this provides a much better balance.

Tokitsukaze Ichimon

  • Kagamiyama (ex-Tagaryu, 66) moves to Arashio from Isenoumi
  • Michinoku (ex-Kirishima, 65) and Tatsutayama (ex-Sasshunnada, 66) move to Otowayama from Michinoku
  • Urakaze (ex-Shikishima, 53) moves to Arashio from Michinoku
  • Katsunoura (ex-Kirinishiki, 61) moves to Oitekaze from Isenoumi
  • Takashima (ex-Koboyama, 66) moves to Isegahama ichimon from Isenoumi

As referenced above, Isenoumi beya has 7 coaches for 15 rikishi, which is absolutely ridiculous. Let’s keep the former Oikari, Ikioi and Tosanoumi all in the heya with the shisho, as they were all Isenoumi-beya products. Kagamiyama recently shut down a basically dead heya and migrated to Isenoumi, and as a sanyo his services are better utilised with the relatively inexperienced Arashio oyakata, who has produced multiple sekitori and also seems to be an active recruiter.

Oitekaze oyakata is vastly experienced, but he has 20 rikishi that he oversees himself. Katsunoura is older than him, but by the time he reaches the mandatory retirement age, one of Oitekaze beya’s vast number of sekitori will be ready to take their steps into coaching anyway, so this can be a temporary move.

The other departure from Isenoumi beya will be Takashima. Whatever his reasons were for leaving Miyagino beya, he should certainly never have been allowed to take a fairly prestigious name out of that ichimon to go to a stable that was already overloaded with coaches, especially given the greater need for that share in Isegahama ichimon in future. It may be coincidental that Hokuseiho’s reign of terror is said to have begun in the summer of 2022, which is exactly when Takashima left Miyagino-beya.

Tatsutayama is formerly of Izutsu beya, so that’s why I found the fit for him as a sanyo who can provide senior support in Kakuryu’s new Otowayama beya. Finally, Michinoku beya closes in April and it’s said the rikishi will have their choice of stables to join within the ichimon. Word on the street is that Michinoku’s Ozeki and shisho will join up with Kakuryu, but there’s no reason for four coaches there so we’ll send Urakaze to Arashio beya.

Isegahama Ichimon

  • Takashima (ex-Koboyama, 66) moves to Ajigawa from Isenoumi

This is a tough one to project, as we have the ongoing Hakuho disciplinary issues, as well as a handful of potential names that may be needed soon.

There’s going to be a serious kabu crunch here soon, as Takarafuji and Terunofuji probably aren’t that long for the mawashi, and Isegahama is going to need to hand over his stable next year. So, we’re bringing the Takashima kabu back into the family where it should have stayed, and we’ll put him as a mentor to Ajigawa for the time being.

Every other shisho in the ichimon has a partner except for Asahiyama, who is much more experienced and also has quite a small heya of rikishi who are similar in rank. We’ll leave things as they are with respect to Tamagaki and Miyagino beya for now, as that situation will resolve itself shortly anyway.

Nishonoseki Ichimon

  • Kumegawa (ex-Kotoinazuma, 61) moves to Naruto from Sadogatake
  • Minatogawa (ex-Daitetsu, 63) moves to Nishonoseki from Hanaregoma
  • Minezaki (ex-Misugiiso, 67) moves to Shikoroyama from Shibatayama
  • Shiratama (ex-Kototsubaki, 63) accompanies Hidenoyama when the heya branches out from Sadogatake
  • Merge Otake beya into Minato beya when it probably closes next year

There aren’t many stables with a surplus of coaches in this large ichimon, apart from Sadogatake which will soon lose Hidenoyama oyakata to a branch-out. We also don’t want to deplete Sadogatake beya too much, because with 24 rikishi it’s easily one of the biggest heya in the sport.

So I’ve made five recommendations here, in an attempt to exercise restraint. Shibatayama beya, with just eight rikishi and a very senior shisho, doesn’t feel like the best home for a sanyo like Minezaki, a former stable master in his own right, despite their long standing connection. So, I’ve sent him to support ex-Homasho at Shikoroyama-beya where he is the new shisho following the former Terao’s passing. Homasho has plenty of seasoning as a coach, but as a large stable which has had some issues in the past, a veteran oyakata seems better placed to assist there.

Sadogatake beya ultimately gets its allocation reduced by half here, as the very senior Shiratama could accompany Hidenoyama upon his branch-out to offer senior support. Hidenoyama, presumably, will be slightly reducing the overall number of deshi at Sadogatake when he leaves, anyway. We’ll also send Kumegawa oyakata to Naruto beya, to offer support to an oyakata who has shown tremendous scouting and recruiting prowess but whose rikishi have suffered plenty of issues on and off the dohyo.

Hanaregoma beya, with just nine rikishi, probably isn’t the best home for three oyakata, including the very senior Minatogawa. As a former Nishonoseki man himself, we’ll send him to assist ex-Kisenosato, who is the youngest shisho in the Kyokai and with one of the largest heya, thanks to the deshi brought by his deputy Nakamura (ex-Yoshikaze). But in an effort to avoid the Hakuho scenario, sticking a veteran presence in a very junior heya might be helpful, even if temporarily.

Finally, Otake beya will probably close next year. If the oyakata intends to continue as sanyo (provided the Kyokai is open to it), it might make sense to send him to Minato beya where there have been some behind-the-scenes issues in recent years in an attempt to lend some additional stability.

Dewanoumi Ichimon

  • Wakafuji (ex-Otsukasa, 53) to Shikihide from Kise
  • Nishikijima (ex-Shotenro, 42) to Futagoyama from Fujishima
  • Sekinoto (ex-Iwakiyama, 48) to Takekuma from Sakaigawa
  • Dekiyama (ex-Hochiyama, 42) to Musashigawa from Sakaigawa
  • Mihogaseki (ex-Tochisakae, 50) to Tatsunami from Kasugano
  • Iwatomo (ex-Kimurayama, 42) to Tamanoi from Kasugano

Some of these moves were obvious and some were less obvious, and in the end I decided to be somewhat conservative rather than doing anything radical. Each of these moves adds an oyakata to a single-oyakata stable.

Wakafuji’s move to Kise always seemed a little bit weird. The heya has a few other oyakata, none of whom really made sense to move (Futeno might ultimately be the successor and seems to have worked closely with many of the sekitori, while Tokushoryu and especially Akiseyama may only be in situ temporarily, depending on Shimanoumi’s situation). In any case, another veteran presence at a Shikihide beya which has had some internal issues in the past few years seems prudent.

Nishikijima was the only oyakata that seemed to make sense to move to Futagoyama, as all of the other Fujishima beya oyakata would be senior to a shisho who by now has some decent experience. On the flip side, Takekuma is a brand new heya and it seems prudent to stick a senior oyakata from the parent heya with the former Goeido, who is one of the youngest stablemasters in the Kyokai.

I pulled another oyakata out of Sakaigawa beya as well, with Dekiyama going to Musashigawa beya. This was an imperfect fit, but I felt better about pulling from Sakaigawa (itself, like the original Musashigawa, branched from Dewanoumi beya) rather than Kasugano beya for two reasons: 1) Sadanoumi and Myogiryu – who may well be the eventual successor – are both soon to retire, potentially giving the stable yet more oyakata; and 2) it’s possible that Tochiozan (Kiyomigata oyakata) is a branchout candidate from Kasugano himself, especially if Tochinonada (Takenawa oyakata) is the eventual successor to the heya in 3 years’ time.

I did however pull two oyakata from the bloated Kasugano beya: the first was the more obvious move, with the junior Kimurayama going to Tamanoi beya which branched from Kasugano, and which has a large volume of rikishi. The second was less obvious, and probably the biggest debate, as Tatsunami beya is another large stable. It also has a number of sekitori with more likely soon to follow, so it felt like an experienced coach was better than moving the likes of Tokushoryu, which is why I settled on Mihogaseki, the former Tochisakae. With Tatsunami not having any connections within the ichimon due to its relatively recent realignment, it was tougher to find a suitable candidate.

Conclusion

All in all, this was an interesting exercise. What it showed me was that it’s possible to improve the balance of coaching within the Kyokai by making around a dozen or so moves and without any radical realignment of the existing ichimon structure.

There will be more scientific ways of doing this, and more forensic ways that take into account the various personalities. As a back of the napkin exercise, however, I think it does show that if the Kyokai put some proper time into researching how to realign their coaching resources, they can probably come up with something even better that would be even more impactful.

It’s also worth linking to this recent article from the Asahi Shimbun. The piece details another solution, which is allowing coaching credentials and ideas to dictate the ability of a former rikishi to operate a stable, rather than the duration of their time on the dohyo. Perhaps we can visit some suggestions for concepts like that in a later post.

What do you think of all of this? Obviously this isn’t the standard Tachiai thought experiment and might be limited in scope to a handful of die-hard readers, but if anyone has any thoughts they’d like to share in the comments then I’d certainly love to kick those around as we get ready for the upcoming basho.

Haru 2023 Winners & Losers

Josh K Daieisho (大栄翔), Enho, Hakuho (白鵬), Haru Basho 2023, Hokuseiho (北青鵬), Hokutōfuji (北勝富士), Hoshoryu, Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kinbozan (金峰山), Kiribayama (霧馬山), Kisenosato (稀勢の里), Midorifuji, Mitakeumi(御嶽海), Ryuden (竜電), Takakeishō (貴景勝), Takayasu (高安), Ura (宇良), Wakamotoharu (若元春), Wakatakakage

In the past, I’ve chanced my arm at a rundown of all of the 42 rikishi in the top division and their performance in the preceding tournament. The problem with doing these kinds of posts is that there are an awful of lot of guys whose performance doesn’t really bear writing about. If you’re a rikishi that was swirling around the Darwin Funnel™ going into the final weekend, then there are good chances I’m talking about you.

So instead, this time, I’m going to give my thoughts on who won and didn’t win in this basho. It will be controversial and some people will be angry! I can’t wait. We’ll save the best for last, and start with the…

Losers

Sumo – But for some final day drama, this was a forgettable makuuchi tournament. It will not be referenced among the all time greats. Sumo is the loser when its top rankers do not challenge. The way the sport is set up requires big performances from big names or other guys dethroning big names. The title race changed hands twice in 15 days. Yikes.

Takakeisho – As Andy remarked, he went from rope run to kadoban in a matter of days. There’s no way to spin that positively.

Daieisho – He will move up to Sekiwake and posted a very strong basho, but he lost the yusho in horrific fashion: two virtually identical losses on the final day to the same opponent, having only needed to win one. Then, in the second defeat, he was given the hope of redemption by a monoii, only for that hope to be cruelly dashed upon confirmation of the final result. Woof.

Takayasu – His confident, assured, 6-0 start raised the idea that this might finally be his basho, but an awful fade took the dream away. Again. A couple of extremely convincing wins towards the end signalled what could have been. 10-5 is in no way a bad result, but finishing 4-5 in yet another basho that was his for the taking was extremely disappointing. When people reference Takayasu being the bridesmaid, they often reference his mighty collection of Jun-Yusho scorelines – but there are just as many of these tournaments that don’t show up in any Sumo Reference box score and where Takayasu had it all to lose and then did just that. As fans, we cannot alter fate, so the best we can do is just cheer him on whole-heartedly and hope that one day it will change.

Hoshoryu – You might think I’m crazy putting a couple ten-win guys and a twelve-win guy in the loser category. To be fair, you could put 41 guys in the loser category and you’d have a case for all of them. That’s how sports works. This is another case of “what could have been?” I firmly agreed with Herouth’s tweet early in the basho that Hoshoryu needs to shelve his niramiai until he’s got a couple Emperor’s Cups in the bag. Staring down a former Ozeki in Takayasu as if he’s the top dog, only to get embarrassingly dropped on the chief shimpan – and a cocky approach to a Nishikigi match that ended in defeat – showed a rikishi who’s simply not ready for the top two ranks.

He could have won this yusho outright with a more professional approach to his sumo. It may seem like we’re being hard on a rikishi who once again displayed some fabulous sumo, but whatever, if anything, is between his ears continues to let him down. The best thing he can take from this basho is that he’ll probably be S1E and he’s potentially just put down the first basho of an ozeki run. But I’ll come right out and say it: he’s frittered away losses in the last two tournaments which would have had him at the rank already. While he’s still young, more top prospects are coming and he will not want to look back on this period as the golden opportunity that he missed.

Hokutofuji – He’s been the master of come-from-behind kachikoshi in the past, and looked to be well on his way with 7 straight wins after digging himself an 0-4 hole. Alas, he couldn’t find the one win in his last four days to get the job done, and continues a slide that will leave him outside the joi for an entire calendar year.

Wakatakakage – I left a stat in the comments here this week that since his sekiwake promotion, he’s been 15-20 over days 1-5 of tournaments, and 31-11 over days 6-11 (before the final, most difficult matches for a sekiwake). If he could start better when his schedule was lightest, he’d have already been an Ozeki. When you consistently start so poorly, the issue is either preparation or mental or both. This tournament proved to be one escape act too far, with an 0-5 hole proving too much to overcome. His 7-1 rescue attempt over days 6 to 13 looked to have him on solid ground until the injury that led to a late kyujo. One early win and this all would have been a non issue with kachikoshi in hand, but instead he’ll have to completely rebuild from komusubi next basho – if indeed he’s able to return (reports are that he may not).

Mitakeumi – His body hasn’t looked right since the injuries that zapped his chance at an Ozeki career upon his promotion to the rank. This tournament was ghastly to watch, a 4-11 that left me wondering at the end where the 4 wins could ever have come from.

Ryuden – I think this was just a basho too far on the meteoric comeback trail for one of sumo’s latest bad boys. It’s a credit to him that he mostly looked very genki en route to his 13 loss campaign. Every rikishi fights hurt, some more than others, but Ryuden’s performances were vastly superior to the results that he got (the eye test would credit him with a 6-9 or 5-10 at worst). But nevertheless, he will take a massive demotion after this basho. You have to call that what it is.

Winners

Sumo – Sumo can be the loser and also be the winner. You can have grey areas in life, deal with it! With makuuchi being the equivalent of pulling a green turban out of your fishing net when you were expecting a sea urchin, Juryo emerged as a thrilling division. We also can’t overlook the top division’s final day drama, a new yusho winner whose rank and profile is good for sumo, and the fact that much of lower san’yaku managed to hang around the title race in its final days.

Kiribayama – He’s now one of the most technically proficient top rankers. Some could be forgiven for looking at an 8-11-12 Ozeki promotion after this basho as reasonable given the current state of the sport (and some Tachiai commenters have already posed it as an idea), but with two fusen-sho in there he’s always going to need another strong tournament. You’d think 9 next time could be enough to make things interesting, but 10 should bank it.

Small guys doing crazy stuff – Ura, Midorifuji, and Enho all had highly entertaining tournaments, even if it did fizzle a bit from Midorifuji after his first loss. Credit to these guys and their weird sumo for giving us box office entertainment.

Juryo – it was always going to be a good tournament with 4 former makuuchi yusho winners in the division plus a catalogue of top prospects, but strong performances from big names made this one of the marquee collections of second division talent in ages.

Ichinojo – Everyone expected another Asanoyama yusho, but the big man blasted his way to a 14-1, making his Juryo return brief.

Ura – He was king of the dohyo in his native Osaka, and highly entertaining and mostly successful in the ring. He received rapturous applause and a thunderous reception in the EDION arena. His comeback has firmly sealed his place as successor to Ikioi as Osaka’s hometown hero.

Nishonoseki-beya/Kisenosato – The mid-basho announcement of the recruitment of generational talent Nakamura stole all the headlines (more on that later), but his squad also grabbed the makushita yusho through journeyman Ryuo, had a handful of other good prospect results (Kayo, Takahashi, Miyagi) and a successful return to sekitori level for Tomokaze.

Kakuryu-oyakata – Much has been made of the close attentions the former Yokozuna has paid Kiribayama since his retirement, having taken his compatriot under his wing after moving from Izutsu to Michinoku beya. Kiribayama’s rise has corresponded with this tutelage, and it bodes well for Kakuryu’s future as shisho – be that in his own heya someday or a Michinoku-beya (including Kiribayama) that he could yet inherit upon the incumbent’s retirement.

Miyagino-beya/Hakuho – the top 8 rankers in the stable all scored winning records, with Enho starting to close in on a comeback to the top division and Ochiai putting out a very solid and entertaining sekitori debut. Hokuseiho’s 9 wins on his top flight debut were overshadowed by Kinbozan’s debut, and it’s clear that his ponderous sumo may lead him to struggle for consistency as he approaches the joi for the first time. I’d probably revise his ceiling to be a more technical version of Ichinojo. But for now, all good.

Isegahama-beya – Midorifuji took the headlines, but Nishikifuji put up another very solid basho. Meanwhile, an initially hopeless looking Takarafuji found his patented defend-and-extend technique late on to clinch a kachi-koshi when the conversation on nakabi was about whether he could really be demoted to Juryo. Plus, the heya boasted winning records for top prospects Hayatefuji and Takerufuji. As for the Yokozuna? Even he’s a bit of a winner in absentia, as Takakeisho’s rope-run collapsing amid the removal of Wakatakakage from the Ozeki conversation (for the time being) means that Terunofuji’s seat isn’t especially hot in spite of his lengthy absence.

Wakamotoharu – His 11 win basho will see him overtake his brother as heyagashira. He has grown gradually into the top division and looked at points to have an outside shot at the Haru yusho. It will be curious to now see whether he or Wakatakakage can mount an ozeki run soonest – if he’s able to get the yusho in May, one would think Wakamotoharu could even grab it in his next basho.

Kinbozan – In a tournament that boasted three fairly high(ish) profile debutants in the top division, some props should be due to Kinbozan for his excellent performance. While it’s not unusual to see talents who have blown through Juryo come up and grab double digits in their first top division tournament, Kinbozan did it with a minimum of fuss and some excellent sumo. He (and Juryo’s Gonoyama) still looks like a rikishi that has a lot of physical development until he finds his final competitive physique, and it will be interesting to see how he takes on higher challenges in the division. With Hokuseiho impressing but also lumbering at times to victory, and Bushozan being mostly overmatched, we should put some credit on Kise-beya’s Kazakhstani special prize winner.

Who are we forgetting? Who are you angry about me calling a loser? Let’s hear it in the comments!

Isegahama Bullying Incident Leads Oyakata to Resign from Board

Andy Scandal , ,

It’s Two-Fer-One Tuesday, I mean Monday, here at Tachiai! The holidays have offered up a real backlog of scandals! We’re practically giving them away!

From Jalopnik

Andy, you’d make a terrible pitch man. Just say you don’t have a picture of Isegahama and get on with the news, buddy.

While the Ichinojo thing has actually been stewing for a few months and has found some resolution (for now), another revelation has taken us by surprise today. There’s been a bullying situation at Isegahama-beya involving three wrestlers from the lower-ranks.

We do not know the identities of the wrestlers officially, yet, but two wrestlers were apparently bullying a third. The bullying included the victim being physically punched and stomped, as well as burned with chanko. One of the bullies has been forced to retire while the other is suspended for two tournaments. Isegahama has resigned from his post on the Board of Directors.

This is certainly a sad situation which has cost at least one wrestler his career. Isegahama-beya has had several recent new recruits and a few banzuke-gai, so it’s certainly not clear at this point what impact it will have on the stable. Sadly, there will be more to come on this story.

Aminishiki Branches Out to Launch Ajigawa Beya

Josh K Aminishiki (安美錦), Stables (Heya) ,

One piece of long-anticipated news finally came to pass today, as former Sekiwake Aminishiki has officially branched out from Isegahama beya to launch Ajigawa beya.

It has been known for some time that Ajigawa was working on the construction of a new stable. In the meantime, the heya will take up temporary premises while the new build is completed. The oyakata himself started his career at Ajigawa beya before it was renamed to Isegahama in 2007, so the development will create a homecoming of sorts for ex-Aminishiki, whose near-career-long shikona’s first character is taken from the heya’s name.

With the launch of the new heya, Isegahama ichimon will see its members increase to six, with the heya joining the eponymous heya run by ex-Asahifuji, ex-Hakuho’s Miyagino beya, ex-Kaio’s Asakayama beya, ex-Kyokutenho’s recently redubbed Oshima beya, and ex-Kotonishiki’s Asahiyama beya in the group. With Isegahama himself due to retire in 2 1/2 years time, an interesting leadership group for the future is taking shape.

Sumo is a family business for the Suginomoris, and the new Ajigawa beya’s branch out from Isegahama will come with a curious wrinkle: Isegahama has long had a well developed scouting pipeline in Aomori (from where both ex-Aminishiki and ex-Asahifuji hail). Ajigawa is launching his stable with just one recruit – the shisho’s nephew Sakuraba who also hails from Aomori. It will be intriguing to see whether more Aomori based recruits filter into Ajigawa or Isegahama beya over the next couple of years, and also whether Ajigawa is able to cast a wider net in his search for promising new talent. With Sakuraba leaving along with “Uncle Sumo,” the Aomori contingent at Isegahama will consist of sekitori Takarafuji and Nishikifuji, along with Jonokuchi champion Takerufuji and the struggling youngster Yoshinofuji.

Also of note will be whether Ajigawa is able to put into practise any development characteristics gleaned from his time working – first as an active rikishi and then as a coach – under his second cousin Isegahama. Long respected as a master recruiter and developer of talent, the 63rd Yokozuna recently reached a milestone in being the first stablemaster in nearly 20 years to have six rikishi into the top division simultaneously.

Other hot topics to watch in the heya’s medium term future will be whether he inherits personnel (such as Tateyama-oyakata, ex-Homarefuji, or the presumably soon-to-retire Takarafuji) or rikishi upon Isegahama’s retirement, or even potentially the whole operation should a presumptive heir such as Yokozuna Terunofuji not be ready or able to inherit it in 2025. We may also be curious to learn whether he restores the A- naming convention notably bestowed on himself, his brother Asofuji, and of course Ama (later to become Yokozuna Harumafuji) among others, which was popular under the old version of the heya.

All of those issues are of course questions for the future. For the present, we will look forward to seeing Ajigawa’s first recruit make his first proper honbasho appearance in Jonokuchi in the upcoming tournament, and hope that the new shisho can bring in new recruits for him to train with as soon as possible.

Hat tip to our friend Kintamayama and Herouth for being among the first to report the news through various channels!