The Winter Tour started Sunday in Isahaya, Nagasaki, the orange point in the map above. Isahaya is famous for its oysters, mikan oranges, picturesque Megane-bashi, and fruit-shaped bus shelters. It’s the first stop of a 22-leg tour, stretching from Nagasaki back to the Tokyo region. It also gets to be the location of Aonishiki’s first bout as Ozeki, introduced here fighting against Oho. I love seeing a good amount of kensho banners on these tours.
For those who are new to sumo, these tours are generally one-day promotional exhibition “tournaments”. The bouts are a bit less lively than what was seen in London. Face it, no one’s going to go all out But they’re a great way for the Sumo Association and the wrestlers to get out to local communities and connect with fans who otherwise would not be able to enjoy a tournament. For a bit more detail about Jungyo based on my experience last year in Tachihi, click here.
The program for today’s show is above, from the Sumo Association’s Twitter account. But for a quick rundown, the day starts at 9am with keiko (or practice). The lower rankers warm up first, with the top division wrestlers later. Keep in mind this is not the entire crew. This is not all 500-600 wrestlers. We have the top division wrestlers, a few from Juryo, and their tsukebito. There are lower division bouts and then a few events that we don’t see during regular tournaments, such as the jinku singing, the hair-dressing demonstration, the Yokozuna belt-tying demonstration, the shokkiri comedy routine, and the taiko drumming. Looks like there was a good crowd for the show today.
This all leads up to the main event: the terrorising of local children. It is said those with the healthiest lungs will go on to be the most successful in life. No, they don’t say that. I’m making that up. But wow, this kid has some pipes. And Tamawashi has the patience of a 40-year-old father. The sekitori dohyo-iri is followed by the Yokozuna dohyo-iri and then the top division bouts, closing with the bow ceremony. Then the guys do a mad dash for the tour bus so they can head to the next venue.
Frankly, these tours are also great ways for me to learn more about Japan and add to a growing list of places that I want to visit. I will probably not be able to chronicle each and every stop this winter but I hope to show a few more.
These tours are a popular method of outreach for the Japan Sumo Association and it is a great way for fans to meet and mingle with their favorite wrestlers. I had the fortune of going to one such event this past summer. So, this picture is not from Miyazaki, but from Tachikawa. But I hope it gives a sense of the atmosphere. If you would like to read about my experience there, I wrote about it here. I encourage you to check out that post for background on Jungyo.
The Kyokai posted the schedule for the first event on Twitter. Takerufuji will be sitting for the oicho-mage demonstration and Terunofuji will have his rope tying demonstration and dohyo-iri, though he will not participate in bouts.
As for this tour, it starts in Miyazaki prefecture and will end in Okinawa. Miyazaki prefecture is a well known agricultural region in Japan. It’s known in particular for high-grade wagyu beef. That beef is celebrated in the Miyazaki Prefectural Government presents the Miyazaki Governor’s Award, which is a trophy in the shape of a cow. The winning wrestler receives the meat from one head of Miyazaki fine cattle, as well as chicken and produce.
This tour will also pass through Oita prefecture, whose Shiitake Cooperative provides the famous trophy filled with mushrooms. It will then go around Kyushu before passing over the Kanmon strait to Shimonoseki and hoofing it over to Hyogo and Osaka before flying down to the sun and sand in tropical Okinawa.
That brings us to the main reason I highlight these tours for foreign fans. They are a great way to get out of Tokyo and to see other areas of the country.
Interactive Tour Schedule
I’ve put an interactive map below with a tour schedule. This version allows the user to page through the Days as the tour progresses. I’ve defaulted to Day 2 so you can see the first leg of the long, circuitous path from Miyazaki to Okinawa. There are arrows on the left side, underneath “Tour Day”. Click on the right arrow to cycle toward Day 15 and the left arrow to go in reverse. Any feedback you have is appreciated.
Previous parts of this series touched on Why Go, Where We Would Stay, and our visit to Ekoin Temple. In this post, I am going to share my experience of going to a Jungyo event for the first time intersperced with some news about the current Aki 2024 tour.
This October is jammed with dates as the troupe snake their way toward Fukuoka. They start in Adachi, Tokyo and end in Kurashiki just as the banzuke comes out. Terunofuji is participating and doing his dohyo-iri but he is not fighting in the bouts. Oho, Tamawashi, Wakatakakage, and Atamifuji are kyujo. We are watching Oho’s condition, in particular, as he recovers from surgery from that eye injury.
Yesterday, they were in Ashikaga and the local NHK folks shared some great video of the event, particularly the Shokkiri and Jinku routines.
The offical Sumo Kyokai website is very helpful to explain Jungyo. Here, they explain what a day is like, in English. They also have a page that shows the schedule in English.
I must say, Herouth’s article about this topic is gold. Reading through it is an amazing blast from the past. Hoshoryu in Sandanme. Terutsuyoshi. Aminishiki. Goeido. Ryunosuke is 21 years old now! Required reading. If you hadn’t found it on the website, check the menu near the top of the site and hover over the “Jungyo Trail.” This Introduction to the Jungyo article is there. I’ve tried to put other “must read” articles up there, like the mawashi ‘splainer and Josh’s various interviews with sumo luminaries.
For those who like the Cliff’s Notes versions, Jungyo means “Tour”. Musicians do it, authors do it, politicians do it and apparently sumo wrestlers do it. Why? This industry survives on fan support and many fans live in areas that do not have easy access to the main tournaments. Tours generate ticket sales and merchandise sales and other fan support.
Yes, there have even been international tours to France, Los Angeles, Hawaii, etc. Japanese sumo fans also suffer from the same issues as Taylor Swift and Oasis fans: not enough seats available for tournament dates. Tours provide more opportunities for fans to see their favorite wrestlers, especially up-close.
Getting Tickets
We knew that we wanted to get tickets and we also knew we needed to get them early. Unfortunately, we do not live in Japan. Why is that a problem, you ask? Can’t you just buy tickets online? One of the more frustrating aspects of purchasing tickets overseas is that if you use Ticket Pia or other official ticket sources, you have to have a phone number in Japan. Do you have a phone number in Japan? I don’t, either. My brother-in-law does, however. So, he bought two tickets for us and we were all set!
This is why sites like BuySumoTickets exist. And it’s why I went through my little experiment with Ticket Pia but will be getting tickets from BuySumoTickets in the future. I’ve been to a few tournaments before and we generally would get tickets through ochaya but those are pretty darned expensive and it’s a bit of a hassle because we always have to go through one of our intermediaries “in-country”, like my 80-year-old mother-in-law.
When we got to Japan, we met up with my in-laws for lunch and then went to hang out at one of their condos. Their condo happens to be just two blocks from Arashio-beya, so of course they took me over to check it out. When I got back, my wife’s other brother gave me the jungyo tickets and I put them in a white bag full of souvenirs and we eventually went back to the hotel.
Fast-forward a few days and it’s the Day before Jungyo. My wife wakes up and asks, “where are the tickets?” I say, “didn’t you see them in the white bag?” “Yes, I took them out because I gave that white bag to my friend the other day.” A bit of frantic searching later and it became clear the tickets were not in our hotel room. Shhhhhh*t. So, we retrace steps, do more frantic searching…nothing. The morning of we ended up running down to the 7-Eleven and buying tickets from the machine there. Thankfully there were still some tickets available. And then I set off for Tachikawa.
Why am I telling you this? If you buy tickets through any vendor, they’re usually physical tickets. This holds true for Jungyo and for regular tournament dates. When you pick them up, HOLD ON TO THEM. If you lose them, you’re S.O.L. You will not be able to get into the venue, no matter how much you bitch at whichever oyakata is taking tickets at the ticket counter. I’ve heard that the Kyokai is starting to use QR-codes for tickets and that is probably a good thing and will hopefully eliminate some headaches. But I’m sure there will be physical tickets for as long as there are physical chestnuts buried in the dohyo.
The Venue
Tachikawa was a good hour from central Tokyo and the Tachihi Arena lies along the Tachikawa monorail line. The important thing is to get there early in the morning to watch the wrestlers spar and do butsukari-keiko. I was late and in a hurry to make it for the “start” of the basho, so I went straight to Tachikawa and straight to the Arena.
You can tell sumo is in town by the banners in front of the building and the streams of people heading inside. When you get inside, there are booths for food, drink, and merch. Being late, I headed straight for my seat. I did not want to miss anything on the dohyo.
(BIG mistake.)
The Action
The lower division guys go first and then the sekitori. Unless your name is Hiradoumi, much of the action here does not take place at full strength. These are exhibition bouts and while there might be a little kensho, there are no macarons on the line here. So, fans go there more for the engagement and less for the action. I have a picture of some of the “improvised” kensho banners but most of the kensho banners were actually legit. Anyway, back to the task at hand…
I am saying, “Learn from my mistakes.” Do not get there around lunch time. Get there early, visit the souvenir stands and pick up merch. The Waka brothers were manning the till! Wander around and do not be too shy to ask for pictures with your favorite wrestler. If you can get good seats, get good seats downstairs. You will have more chances to engage with wrestlers if you have better seats.
While at a sumo tournament, I would recommend getting to your seat early and watching as much action as you can. But at these tour events, do the opposite. I would catch the shokkiri and jinku because those are things that you will not see at any of the main tournaments. Maybe watch your favorite wrestler if he is paired up with a great rival…but even then, expect an easy-going bout. Guys are not here to hurt each other*.
In this Tweet from the current Jungyo tour, both Kirishima and Daieisho engage in some hijinx by squishing Hoshoryu, sitting ringside. Hoshoryu is not in sandanme anymore, he is Ozeki. (If you read Herouth’s piece, which I linked to above, he was down in Sandanme at the time.) Now, Kirishima was an Ozeki earlier this year and both he and Daieisho likely have eyes on the rank as the latter rejoins the Sekiwake ranks. Kirishima is probably pretty close to earning re-promotion.
Lessons Learned
It was not until the last few bouts that I thought to get up and walk to where all of the wrestlers were heading when they finished their bouts. It was there that I got as close to any of my favorite wrestlers as I would for almost the entire trip (except for meeting Shohozan and being three feet from Endo as he cycled away from keiko). I’ve got great pics of Hiradoumi, Atamifuji, Daieisho (chatting up a few ladies), Abi, Kotozakura, Onosato, Kenta, Narimasa, ex-Shonosuke, and more. But I missed Shodai!
I am the “no regerts” poster-child.
That said, it was a great event. I wish I had a seat close to the dohyo and I wish I had ventured around more. But I am very glad I went and I will do it again when I have a chance. The shokkiri was fun but I was most impressed with the jinku. The wrestlers who were a part of that group had great voices. The other fans at the venue were very nice and enjoyed chatting about sumo and their favorite wrestlers. Some were very new to sumo and others were long-time super fans, and there was certainly a foreign fan presence. It was a great mix and a nice way to meet other fans.
The tournament is over but we know that the Makuuchi yusho is not the final sumo thing for the year. There was still quite a bit of news coming out of Fukuoka this week and I wanted to take a moment to cover that in this news brief. Yes, we had the final tournament results and top division special prizes but we also had a group of retirements, Juryo promotions, and we now turn to Winter Jungyo!
Kyushu Hardware Distribution
As far as the yusho, we got a thrilling showdown between Kirishima and Atamifuji on Day 14, which Kirishima won, convincingly. Then he defeated Takakeisho on Senshuraku to seal his 13-2 title and claim the Golden Macaron. Ichiyamamoto, Kotonowaka, and Atamifuji won Fighting Spirit prizes. No technique prize was awarded and only Atamifuji had a shot at Outstanding Performance but he would have had to win the yusho.
In the lower divisions, we have an interesting group of yusho winners. As Leonid covered previously, the Juryo title was claimed by Kotoshoho. He had a tough go of things in the top division but has surely reclaimed a spot there with an exciting victory over Onosato (actually two). The video below has a replay from their playoff, as well as footage from the yusho award ceremony. As Leonid also covered, Satorufuji won the Makushita yusho. Daishoryu, Dairinzan, and Aonishiki won the Sandanme, Jonidan, and Jonokuchi titles, respectively.
Retirements
The Kyokai announced seven wrestlers who retired during the tournament.
Daijo debuted in 2007 and reached Makushita for the first time in 2013 before falling back into Sandanme. He climbed back into Makushita two more times, in 2017 and 2018, peaking at Makushita 43. Kototakuya debuted in 2018 and cracked into Makushita in the summer of last year, spending much of his career in Sandanme, and much of that career in the wild pandemic era. Kirizakura called “time” on a career that began in the Spring of 1999. At 176cm and 92kg, he fought his entire career in the lower divisions, peaking at Sandanme 69 in May of 2011 (a rather contentious time).
Chiyoshishi‘s retirement was known prior to the basho as a result of the unfortunate underage drinking scandal during the Aki Jungyo. Tamanowaka began his career in 2018, peaking in Jonidan. Young Itoga had a short sumo career, starting in May of this year, and retiring after clinching his first kachi-koshi in September, and promotion to Jonidan. Similarly, Raikisho made a short effort, spending much time banzuke-gai and peaking in Jonidan.
Juryo Promotions
Leonid was spot on with his predictions for the Juryo promotions. Takerufuji and Oshoumi have earned their first-time promotions while Hakuyozan and Tochimusashi return.
Winter Jungyo Preparations
The winter jungyo tour kicks off tomorrow in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto. This first week of the tour will hop around Kyushu with dates in Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Oita, and Fukuoka prefectures before spending next weekend in Nagasaki. Afterwards, they will pop over to Shikoku in Ehime, before going back to Honshu at Hiroshima and spending a few days around Osaka, Hyogo, and finally closing out the tour on Christmas Eve in Tochigi. From there, we’ll surely see a lot of New Year holiday events back in Tokyo. I’ll give weekly updates of the tour events and the holiday happenings leading into Hatsu basho!
