Jonokuchi

Nagoya 2022: Jonokuchi Match Day 1

Andy Nagoya Basho 2022, Ones To Watch

I’m one of those guys who’s rather early to bed, so Jonokuchi’s 7-8pm start time, depending on Daylight Savings, lets me watch some live sumo action. While the sumo is not usually the highest quality early in the day, it gives a good glimpse at some of the up-and-comers before they get bulked up. I mean those images of scrawny Hakuho, Kakuryu, and Harumafuji…it’s hard to believe those Najima-sized kids turned out to be Yokozuna.

I’ve got five bouts for you today from Jonokuchi Match Day 1. The tournament opened with our first bout, Ikazuchido vs Yamadaumi. Ikazuchido has a judo background and has an athleticism which should see him do well in the lower divisions. He went 0-2-2 during maezumo, unfortunately being paired off against two tough opponents and then getting injured and actually missing out on his “introduction” wearing the kesho mawashi. No signs of injury in this bout, just some good footwork as he spun Yamadaumi around and pushed him backwards and off the dohyo.

Oyamada fought Ikazuchido in maezumo and pulled off a solid win. However, he’s still quite green, as we see in the next bout against Nippon Sports Science University graduate, Takahashi. Takahashi’s physically larger so Oyamada’s decision to attempt to meet force with lesser force, was ill-advised. Takahashi just drove forward and shoved Oyamada off the cliff. Takahashi will be a factor in the yusho race.

If there’s ever a big media frenzy around a sumo recruit, it’s usually a famous sekitori’s son or brother or nephew or something. But this tournament the big story has been Tokyo University student Suyama Hotaka. It’s not often that an Ivy Leaguer goes into amateur sports after graduating college but Suyama has made quite the splash by choosing the Heya Life. He drew lots and got to be the one to knock Sawaisamu over today. He will face bigger challenges this tournament.

As always, Najima’s heart was in his bout today but his opponent, Jokoki, dropped him like a rag doll. That slam, back hitting on the tawara, could not have been very comfortable. Ouch. We’ll get ’em tomorrow, Najima!

Lastly, two early favorites in this division are Toshunryu and Kazuto, and they fought today. Tamanoi beya recruited Toshunryu from Nippon Sport Science University, and he has decided to completely confuse me by not using either kanji for dragon at the end of his shikona, instead going with the character that I associate with taka (隆), as in Takanosho. Kazuto comes from a high school with a sumo background and is connected to the Sakamoto clan (as in Kiryuko) so he has joined them at Tatsunami stable.

We got a great, solid tachiai out of these two but after taking an early swing at Toshunryu, Kazuto ducked down to drive forward but his head was far too forward of his feet. Toshunryu struck out, pulling Kazuto’s head down and forward. It didn’t look like the first blow was going to win it, so he was ready to follow up with another shove, but Kazuto’s balance was gone. As soon as his knee hit the clay, he was done. We’ll get good bouts out of both of these gentlemen.

 

Natsu 2022: Jonokuchi Playoff!

Andy Natsu Basho 2022 , ,

Intro

Before the Emperor’s Cup would end up falling to whomever was too slow to get out of the way, four young lads mounted the dohyo in an exciting playoff for the Jonokuchi title. It must be quite the change in atmosphere for the youngsters who fought in relative silence over the past fortnight. Now they get to come on after the conclusion of the Juryo action to a packed, relatively raucous, arena.

You may ask, why do they do these playoffs after the conclusion of Juryo and before the Makuuchi dohyo-iri? Well, sometimes there’s also a Juryo Playoff, like today. To allow for that, they conduct all of the lower division playoffs, and the yusho presentation ceremony, before the top division action starts. This way if there’s a makuuchi playoff, they can just get right to it. And if there’s not a Makuuchi playoff, well, the party’s over and everyone goes outside to line up for the parade. (It’s nice to have those back.)

Jonokuchi Playoff

Back to the Jonokuchi contest. Today we’ve got Kazekeno (the favorite), Yamato (the leg puller), Tanji (the pup), and Arise (the other guy). When the four walked out, they drew lots to determine who faced whom. Kazekeno drew Tanji for the first bout and Yamato paired off with Arise.

Jonokuchi Semi-finals

In Bout #1, Kazekeno took on Tanji. I didn’t realize until now that Tanji is only 15. When I was 15 I was giggling to Beavis and Butthead, playing Sonic the Hedgehog, and occasionally braving the Carolina sunshine to play roller hockey. Instead, Tanji has set out on a very interesting career path. Today, that path intersected with Oshiogawa-beya’s recruit from Chuo University. Kazekeno came out and hit the youngster so hard, the whole crowd gasped. “Finish Him.” While Tanji staggered and tried to regain his balance, Kazekeno hit him again, putting Tanji on his ass.

I’m confident that we will see the youngster make considerable progress. At 17, while I would have been working up the courage to ask a girl to prom, this kid will be battling to reach sekitori. When he’s 22, I’m calling sanyaku for this kid. Mark my words.

In Bout #2, Yamato wrapped up Arise’s leg and forced the poor kid to bunny hop around the ring before dumping him in the corner. I guess Arise doesn’t read Tachiai because the leg grab is kind of Yamato’s thing. While it works, keep doing it. Am I right? Yamato’s victory set up a rematch final between Yamato and Kazekeno.

Jonokuchi Final

One way to defeat someone who’s going to grab your leg or trip you is to never give them the chance. Come out hot and hit ’em hard, just like with Tanji. Yamato looked a bit “over-genki” and came off the line early. Matta. Regular readers of Tachiai would know this is when my Spider-sense kicks in, looks like a henka is incoming.

And what do you know, Yamato shifts to the left at the tachiai! But Kazekeno must have known what was up because he didn’t plow forward. Instead, he waited and played it conservative and patient. He fended off a few of Yamato’s attempts at a leg grab and with the last one, struck down with just enough speed and force to send Yamato tumbling.

Party at Oshiogawa-beya tonight!

Jonidan Playoff Extra

But first, we’ve got a little more sumo. I bring you, the Jonidan yusho playoff.

It’s nice to see when a wrestler prepares for a bout. Hanafusa had a plan and put it into action immediately. He locked in quickly on Kototebakari’s right arm and rotated while seeking a belt grip with his own right arm to execute a throw. Kototebakari struggled to fight him off while maintaining his balance in this death spin. As Kototebakari approached the tawara, Hanafusa abandoned the attempted belt grab and brought his hand down on his opponent’s shoulder, attempting a katasukashi pulldown. But Kototebakari resisted, maintained his balance, wrapped up Hanafusa’s shoulder and threw him out of the ring while he jumped out to the side. Kototebakari maintained one foot alive in the ring just long enough to claim the win. What a thrilling bout!

Wrap-up

Well, that’s the end of my Jonokuchi coverage, and the bonus Jonidan footage. Above is a picture of all of the lower division yusho winners. Left to right we’ve got Nishikifuji (Juryo), Oshoma (Makushita), Kamitani (Sandanme), Kototebakari (Jonidan), and Kazekeno (Jonokuchi). We look forward to bringing you more action from the lower divisions in July, as well as news on new recruits in the interim.

Natsu 2022: Jonokuchi Match Day 7

Andy Natsu Basho 2022 ,

Alright. Since Kazekeno has win #7 and the Jonokuchi yusho locked-up, let’s move right into the exciting Joni–

What’s that you say? Yamato isn’t a puffcake? Well, I know that but as forcefully as he was blown away in his last match, surely Kazekeno has this in the bag. No? Exactly. That’s why they play the game. Yamato was not going to go down without a fight, that’s for sure.

The leg grab had been working for Yamato in his early bouts, so why not go back to it? In those bouts his opponents, like Hitoshi, were so freaked out that they practically ran away. This time, Yamato got his ashitori win. At the tachiai, Kazekeno appeared to miss with his thrust down attempt and that was a critical mistake. Yamato got a lock on Kazekeno’s right leg, turned with his opponent, and drove forward sending Kazekeno off the dohyo to his first loss.

This means we will get a thrilling four-way playoff on senshuraku for the Jonokuchi yusho. With Yamato’s win this brings Tanji and Arise back into the yusho picture. For those intimidated with their Japanese studies, this tweet below may bolster your confidence because you can probably read the whole thing. If nothing else, it should give a good lesson in the use of “の”. Usually, that’s a possessive character so just think apostrophe S. The rest are pretty much proper nouns.

“Jonokuchi’s 6 wins, 1 loss, Dewanoumi beya’s Yamato, Arashio beya’s Tanji, Tokitsukaze beya’s Arise, Oshiogawa beya’s Kazekeno Yusho playoff (lit. deciding battle) on senshuraku.” You already know pretty much all of that vocab. Remembering the characters is definitely difficult, though.

OK. Back to the sumo. The Jonidan yusho will also be determined in a ketteisen (決定戦), or play-off, but that was already known. Coming into Match Day 7 there were four undefeated wrestlers. This meant that the winners of Hanafusa/Toseiryu and Kototebakari/Daiseizan would get fight on senshuraku. Toseiryu had handed Yamato his first loss the other day, could he avenge his Jonokuchi loss and beat Hanafusa?

Toseiryu gave it a valiant effort but Hanafusa’s sumo fundamentals are solid. Hanafusa kept his feet firm beneath his mass and swatted away Toseiryu’s slaps. Then, by moving forward (imagine that!) Hanafusa corralled his opponent and sent him over the edge.

Kototebakari came into this tournament “the-man-to-watch.” As the Jonokuchi yusho holder and the younger brother of Kotoshoho, he’s clearly the favorite. Would there be another lower division upset?

Nope. Kototebakari doesn’t just have the solid fundamentals. He’s clearly working on more advanced curriculum. At the tachiai he met Daiseizan head on, but stayed low and pushed Daiseizan upwards. At the same time, watch that right leg snake inside Daiseizan’s left. With Daiseizan pulling Kototebakari to the same side, he basically sealed his own fate and Kototebakari won by sotogake.

There you have it, Kototebakari will go into senshuraku the heavy favorite to claim his second consecutive lower division yusho against Hanafusa. And then in Jonokuchi we’ll get three bouts as Kazekeno, Yamato, Arise, and Tanji will fight in a single elimination round-robin. The last man standing will walk away with his first yusho…while the others plot their revenge in Nagoya. Anyway, if you’re getting tired of Ozeki losing, at least there’s light in the lower divisions.

Natsu 2022: Jonokuchi Match Day 6

Andy Natsu Basho 2022

And just like that, we’re down to one. Kazekeno won his bout against Hitoshi in impressive fashion. Both men understood the stakes at the outset. The tension before the tachiai is palpable. Kazekeno made sure to slide back a few feet from the shikirisen (white lines). Then, he bunny-hopped back six inches farther, which raised Hitoshi’s eyebrows. Hitoshi adjusted his own position while Kazekeno bounced around, settling in for the charge.

When the two men launch out at each other, Kazekeno’s extra distance required him to take two full steps forward. That running start was significant. When he met Hitoshi, his pushed strongly upward, and that extra momentum forced his opponent backward. Hitoshi’s right foot met the tawara but he seemed to miss with his left foot, and stepped out. Kazekeno is undefeated heading into the final match day.

Further up the torikumi in Jonidan, Yamato was pitted against Toseiryu. I’ll give you a little more of an introduction to Toseiryu next. In his previous bouts, Yamato dove straight for his opponents’ legs and was able to score quick, acrobatic wins. However, Toseiryu was a challenge too far. Weighing 50kg more than Yamato, and with considerably more speed and power than any of Yamato’s previous opponents, he blasted the poor youngster into the cushions behind the waiting wrestlers.

Toseiryu is a strong lad who made his debut last tournament against Kototebakari. Further losses in Osaka against Sokokurai’s nephew, Daiseizan, and Nishonoseki recruit Hanafusa, meant that his 4-3 record was really nothing to sneeze at. In fact, with this win over Yamato, these four men comprise the Jonidan yusho race. They will pair off on Day 13 and the two winners should meet in a thrilling playoff on senshuraku.