Jungyo

Jungyo Update: Takayasu Kyujo, Takakeisho to “Participate” from Oct. 16

Andy injury, Jungyo (巡業), Kyujo (休場), Takakeishō (貴景勝), Takayasu (高安) , , ,

As Herouth noted on Twitter, Takayasu will be kyujo from the upcoming Aki Jungyo. Hopefully this was a reassessment of his injury and not a training setback.

To update our earlier report about Takakeisho’s kyujo, Herouth also tweeted news that the re-Ozeki will participate in the latter half of Jungyo, starting with the Hamamatsu event on October 16.

Aki Jungyo: Absent Sektori

Andy Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Jungyo (巡業), Scandal, Takakeishō (貴景勝) , , ,

The Nihon Sumo Kyokai announced eight wrestlers will not participate in the upcoming Fall tour (Jungyo). The tour is scheduled to begin on 10/5 in Ishikawa prefecture and end in Hiroshima prefecture on 10/27. Several popular top wrestlers will not participate due to injury while Takanofuji is listed as well, due to the ongoing bullying drama, in spite of his refusal to submit his resignation.

Aki Jungyo Injury Update

From the top division, Takakeisho, Ichinojo, and Tomokaze will be absent, and sorely missed. It’s a bit of a surprise that Tochinoshin will participate in the tour and not focus on recuperation. When the tour hits Kyushu, he will need to repeat his feat from this summer where he won 10 bouts as Sekiwake to reclaim his Ozeki status. Kadoban Takayasu will need to win 8 with his seriously damaged arm to avoid a similar fate in January.

From Juryo, there will be several missing wrestlers, including the fore-mentioned Takanofuji. Two Kokonoe wrestlers, Chiyoshoma and Chiyonoumi will miss the tour, along with Kyokushuho and Seiro. As Leonid mentioned in his Aki Wrap-Up article, Seiro and Chiyonoumi are headed back to Makushita.

Tachiai wishes all of the injured rikishi a full recovery and an awesome Kyushu.

Spring Jungyo Tour Map

Andy Jungyo (巡業) ,
On The Road Again…

This spring’s Jungyo tour is quite the working holiday. The troupe of warriors will travel to 25 different locations over the course of a month, possibly the most ambitious (or nightmarish) tour on record. I find the prospect fascinating, as if MLB Spring training would leave the comforts of balmy Florida to swing by Durham, NC, Austin, TX, Nashville, TN…

Herouth‘s updates not only give me the needed dose of sumo between basho, but also a dose of their personalities and interaction with fans that gets lost in the shuffle during honbasho. Josh has been able to enjoy a jungyo event and I am very jealous. I encourage any Tachiai readers who live in Japan or happen to be visiting these areas to attend a jungyo and share what you can of your experience.

Natsu Jungyo Summary

Andy Jungyo (巡業) ,

Thanks again to Herouth for her reporting on the Natsu Jungyo! Not only does it help mitigate sumo withdrawal symptoms, I feel like I learn something new about the sport every time, making it much more accessible. From the different forms of practice (keiko) to what the wrestlers do to kill time and horse around, to the way the yokozuna rope (tsuna) is tied and how their hair gets done. These jungyo reports are always something special so I wanted to call it out. I want to make it to at least one of these jungyo events next time I am in Japan.

If you want to re-visit the jungyo tour, you will find it in the “Features” menu along with past tours. I’ll also re-blog this next week in the lead-up to the tournament. It’s great to glean what we can of the fitness of our favorite rikishi. I am hoping all of our Yokozuna and Ozeki are able to compete this basho!