Kasugaryu

Natsu Jungyo 2018 – Final Report

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Yes, we made it! Day 26 of this long-long-long Jungyo is here. Sit back and fasten your seatbelts, because today there is a lot of sumo action.

🌐 Location: KITTE, Tokyo

venue

This Jungyo event is different than the rest of the events we have been covering. KITTE is a chain of malls in Japan. This one in particular takes place in the KITTE mall at Tokyo Station. And it takes place on the last day of every Natsu Jungyo (for the past 5 years).

In addition to being a fixed location on the schedule, the order of the day is different than a Jungyo day. For one, there is no keiko, only bouts and “okonomi” performances. And a “talk show” (on-stage interview) with selected rikishi – in this case, Tochinoshin and Mitakeumi.

In fact, the Juryo wrestlers did not participate in this event at all – except for Akiseyama who had a Makuuchi bout.

But this doesn’t mean there was no goofing around. Here you see Chiyomaru, Daieisho and Takakeisho. They got a huge fan, and play rock-paper-scissors to see who is “it” – the one who has to cool off the other two.

Turns out, Takakeisho sucks at rock-paper-scissors:

The event started with sumo Jinku, followed by an oicho-mage tying demonstration, featuring both Endo and Yutakayama – so that spectators in all directions can enjoy the view.

As you can see, a large part of the oicho-mage preparation process is actually getting the pomade (“suki-abura” – apparently binzuke-abura is no longer used) evenly spread in the hair.

Next, Sandanme and Makushita had bouts in the form of an elimination tournament. The Makushita brackets were:

  • Enho-Tochiseiryu
  • Chiyootori-Nakazono
  • Chiyoarashi-Kyokusoten
  • Ikegawa-Ichiyamamoto

Here is the tournament itself.

I’m very disappointed in Enho there. He really shouldn’t be imitating Ishiura, for crying out loud. Tochiseiryu takes care of him very quickly.

Kyokusoten is an example of an underachieving foreigner. He is a nice guy, has many friends, has decent English and a very nice shiko. But his sumo is meh.

The deciding battle is between members of the same heya (which can happen in elimination format bouts) – Chiyootori and Chiyoarashi

The winner of the Sandanme tournament won ¥50,000. The winner of the Makushita tournament won ¥70,000.

This was followed by the aforesaid “Talk Show”, whose highlight seems to be that while Tochinoshin’s favorite animal is the wolf, Mitakeumi actually likes pigs.

By the way, take a look at what Tochinoshin was wearing:

Do you think that he’ll get the same kind of flack that Hakuho got for wearing that “Mongolian Team” jersey in the Fuyu Jungyo?

(I don’t think so. First, those deadbeats probably wouldn’t recognize the Georgian flag if it spat in their eye. If Hakuho had a flag on his back rather than a phrase in English, they would probably have never caught on. Second – there’s no semi-organized effort to get Tochinoshin out of the sport. He is perceived as harmless, I guess).

After the Shokkiri, Hakuho had his rope tied. Note the symmetrical Shiranui rope:

Then came the Makuuchi and Yokozuna dohyo-iri. And then…

Sumo! Sumo! Sumo!

  • Hoktofuji – Akiseyama
  • Kotoeko – Okinoumi
  • Sadanoumi – Tochiozan
  • Ryuden – Onosho
  • Aoiyama – Ishiura
  • Nishikigi – Yutakayama

Onosho is here to win. Aoiyama is not even slightly surprised by Ishiura, catches him in mid air, and gives him the potato-sack lift. Tsuri-dashi, and Ishiura is frustrated. Please don’t do that in honbasho, Ishiura – you’ll find yourself in Juryo before you can say “hassotobi”.

And that was an impressive Nodowa Yutakayama applied to Nishikigi.

  • Myogiryu – Chiyomaru
  • Kyokutaisei – Daieisho
  • Endo – Chiyotairyu
  • Daishomaru – Takakeisho

Chiyomaru uses his famous stomach push. Daieisho with a mighty tsuppari. Daishomaru not even putting up a fight.

Now, the next set starts with Kaisei vs. Ikioi. Here is this bout in another video first – watch what happens when Kaisei lands on Shodai:

Poor Shodai. After being abused by Kaisei he is being further abused by the shimpan (not sure – is that Onomatsu oyakata?)

So here is the set of bouts:

  • Ikioi – Kaisei
  • Kagayaki – Kotoshogiku
  • Shodai – Shohozan
  • Tamawashi – Mitakeumi

I think there should have been a monoii on that Ikioi-Kaisei bout, but the shimpan’s attention was drawn elsewhere…

Did you see Kagayaki beating Kotoshogiku by… gaburi yori?

Shohozan continues his bar brawl style, and Shodai finishes this day very very frustrated.

Tamawashi has a really scary nodowa.

Finally, we have:

  • San-yaku soroi-bumi
  • Ichinojo vs. Tochinoshin
  • Kisenosato vs. Goeido
  • Kakuryu vs. Hakuho
  • Yumi-tori shiki

Ichinojo must have heard that Tochinoshin likes wolves. He came ready for the kill. Please, please, Ichinojo – that’s the Ichinojo we want to see in Aki. Not the Leaning Tower of Pizza.

Hakuho is back on the torikumi – well, it’s just the one last day. I have a hunch he’ll need to be kyujo again in Aki. Those legs don’t carry him, despite having lost a couple of kilos since Natsu.

Kasugaryu’s technique with the bow has improved! His behind-the-back passes are getting smoother.

Here is your final Enho in a black mawashi. May he never wear one again in his long, healthy sumo career:

enho

By the way, this is what he looks like today – with his newly assigned tsukebito (Takemaru and Kenyu) and white mawashi:

enho-with-tsukebito

Did Miyagino oyakata manage to find Enho a tsukebito who’s shorter than he is? Apparently so… but Takemaru is actually only 17, so this may actually change.

Jungyo over – and out!

Natsu 2018 Jungyo Newsreel – Day 22

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🌐 Location: Tachikawa, Tokyo

The Jungyo once again reached Tokyo – and not for the last time in this long trail. In Tokyo, there are all kinds of comforts. Like specially-branded ice cream (the blue lettering reads “Grand Sumo Tachikawa Tachihi Basho”):

ice-cream
Photograph taken before Ichinojo arrived at the arena❉

❉ Not really. It’s a Joke. Fake news. Shame on me. Sad.

In Tokyo, apparently, you also get a full house even though it’s a Jungyo event.

full-house
Top left – the “Man’in Onrei” sign – “Thank you for the full house”

And since it’s Tokyo, it’s a good opportunity for kyujo rikishi to join the Jungyo if they can. One who went a bit under the radar (his name was not in the original kyujo list in the papers) was Takagenji, the more self-possessed of the Taka twins.

Another, more high-profile comeback is this man:

kotoshogiku-back
The hills are alive… 🎵 with the sound of music… 🎶

Yes, King of the Hug, Prince of the Chug, Kotoshogiku, is doing his stretches.

One notable absence, on the other hand, is Takayasu. I have seen nothing about it in the newspapers, but he has been taken off the Torikumi, and I could spot him neither in the dohyo iri nor in any of the official and unofficial still photographs.

Tochinoshin was giving reverse butsukari to Kisenosato. The Yokozuna is a conservative type, so he insists on having the full monty, monkey walk, and “itten” at the end.

Kisenosato usually does this with Takayasu who obliges him on the “full treatment” part, but Takayasu is not around, so he had to settle for another Ozeki. Tochinoshin obliged, but reverse butsukari is still not anything like real butsukari/kawaigari. Just compare it to the short butsukari Tochinoshin gave Chiyonoumi:

Suddenly the Ozeki is immovable and the throw is decisive.

Tochinoshin also joined the torikumi for the first time. No photo of the act itself (vs. Ichinojo, so I’m guessing no tsuri-dashi), but here he is doing fansa after his shower:

tochinoshin

Nice towel.

Kisenosato also had san-ban with Mitakeumi. He won the majority of them, but still, where is the famous Kisenosato low stance?

Takekaze was having a discussion with Tamawashi. It seemed like they were discussing hazu-oshi (armpit push) and its counter-measures:

tamawashi-takekaze-discussion

Hokutofuji, Enho, and Tobizaru engaged in synchronized calisthenics:

The okonomi of the day included drumming demonstration:

yobidashi-fujio-uchiwake
Yobidashi Fujio, of Isegahama beya, demonstrates

There was also a rope tying demonstration:

During the Makuuchi dohyo-iri, Chiyomaru gave a good natured back shove. Onosho pushed back. Chiyomaru stood his ground. Yutakayama, sandwiched between them, was subjected to inhuman compression forces:

onosho-yutakayama-chiyomaru-sandwich

You can see the whole scene here in the full dohyo iri (also includes Kakuryu’s):

Also note Ikioi and Tamawashi pestering Shodai in the East part.

Speaking of Yokozuna dohyo-iri, I’ll go off at a bit of a tangent here. Some of you may remember the huge wave of anti-Hakuho sentiment that washed over the Fuyu Jungyo following Hakuho’s 40th Yusho, with complaints about Hakuho’s banzai, Hakuho’s sore loser behavior after his bout with Yoshikaze, and then complaints about his kachiage and harizashi, and even complaints about him wearing a “Mongolian Team” Jersey.

Hakuho has since regained his composure (the Kyushu basho was when the Harumafuji stuff broke out, and he lost his best friend and apparently his social bearings). He has been on his best behavior since, asking permission for anything, expressing gratitude for everything, doing charity work and whatnot. So what was there for the Hakuho haters to complain about?

Ah yes. His dohyo-iri is ugly. He is unworthy of being a Yokozuna.

I’m serious.

They are complaining that he does not stretch his arms fully, and that he looks like a plucked chicken.

The thing is, Hakuho always had a style in which he stops short of stretching his arms, and then gives a sharp stretch, which has the effect emphasizing his moves. Only, it appears he is either getting lazy or simply can’t stretch his arms fully anymore.

Take a look at this dohyo-iri of his (from this event at Tachikawa) and see for yourself:

Compare to Kisenosato’s (and Kakuryu’s above). They are doing different styles, of course – Hakuho is Shiranui and therefore stretches both arms after the seriagari (rise). But there is still enough to compare:

Now compare to this dohyo-iri of his from 2016:

So, what do you think? Dai-yokozuna or plucked chicken?

OK, back to the Jungyo and its goofs. A little before the Makuuchi dohyo-iri, the Juryo torikumi took place. You know that old prank in which the rikishi who hands chikara-mizu to the next one mixes in some of the dohyo salt?

Well, Chiyonoumi decided to go all the way on that and handed Mitoryu a very salty ladle:

The prankster was very pleased with himself:

Apparently, Terutsuyoshi was all “I see your salt and raise you some dirt”. The victim was our poor Yago:

Of all the bouts of the day, I have only the musubi. For the first time in this Jungyo, we are treated to Hakuho vs. Kakuryu:

Whoa.

Yesterday I gave you a video of the dohyo construction. Today, I’ll introduce the dohyo de-construction. How is the dohyo taken apart?

We start with a slightly used dohyo:

dohyo-01

The padding boards around the dohyo are packed away and the tawara are dug out and put to one side:

dohyo-02

Then the side panels are removed, and the packed dirt is broken and shovelled away (spaded away?):

dohyo-03

As the clay is removed, the blocks of styrofoam are removed:

dohyo-04

Finally, the matting is stripped off and we’re all done:

dohyo-05

Can you tell which Yokozuna this is?

identify-the-yokozuna

(A little space left here to avoid spoiling)

…

……

………..

Well, even if you can’t recognize his backside quite the way that I can, the rope tie is a dead giveaway. With Harumafuji retired, the only Yokozuna wearing a Shiranui tie is Hakuho.

But there are other corroborating evidence in the picture. Take a look at the tsukebito to his right. He is wearing an oicho-mage. That means this is Kasugaryu, they yumi-tori performer. Other than the yumi-tori man, the only non-sekitori to wear an oicho-mage are the Shokkiri team, and they are not Yokozuna tsukebito (it’s not a rule, I suppose, but they just aren’t).

So if this is Kasugaryu, the Yokozuna is Hakuho.

And of course, the tsukebito closest to the camera. What do you mean, you don’t recognize him? I’ve been putting a picture of him in each and every one of these Jungyo newsreels. Well, at least when one was available. Can’t recognize Enho’s backside? How is that possible? :-)

Of course, Enho is only temporarily Hakuho’s tsukebito. He’ll soon be a sekitori again.

Which leads us to our daily pic:

enho-with-tobizaru
Two for the price of one: Tobizaru and Enho

 

Day 3 – Juryo and below

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As well as the exciting matches at the top of the Banzuke, we also had some interesting action below Makuuchi. Let’s start with Juryo, and this time I don’t need to embed a lot of videos, because Kintamayama has been extra generous and made a full Juryo summary of day 3. Head over there to watch it.

enho-after-takayoshitoshi
Enho, preparing to hand his first chikara-mizu in Juryo

Enho, Hakuho’s Mini-Me, finally got his first win today, against the other shin-Juryo, Takayoshitoshi. “I am relieved. I have been watching videos of my best past sumo yesterday”, he said afterwards. Tomorrow, alas, he faces my main man, Terutsuyoshi, in a bout I want neither to lose. Can’t we all just be friends?

Speaking of Terutsuyoshi, he brought Takanoiwa’s race back to Makuuchi to a stop today, defeating him by a spirited yori-kiri. Of course, this was a piquant bout, as far as the press was concerned, between a member of Isegahama beya (specifically, they all called him “Harumafuji’s ototo-deshi”) and Takanoiwa. Terutsuyoshi responded to that with “On the dohyo, it’s man against man. If you start bringing other people’s affairs on the dohyo, you wouldn’t be able to do sumo”.

Of course, if you are looking for schadenfreude, you can always follow Asashoryu’s twitter account. He was laughing in Japanese again today. But of course, it was because of a funny video. Not Takanoiwa at all.

Yago continues to struggle. Tomorrow he goes against Takayoshitoshi. Both are 0-3 at the moment, so at least one of them will get his first shiro-boshi tomorrow. I prefer Yago, of course.

And Terunofuji got a second win in a row, vs. the hapless Amakaze. There were reports in the morning that the former Ozeki was in an improved mood following his first win – he came to morning practice, practiced with Midorifuji, and was all smiles. His good mood continued after this win, as he wrote on the Isegahama site: “Winning after a long dry spell yesterday made me remember the trick to winning! LOL”. So the former kaiju is in a good mood, but if you look at the bout, it was still far from the real Terunofuji. He got a mawashi grip quickly enough, but couldn’t do anything decisive with it.

teru-amakaze

Eventually he lost his grip and Amakaze tried to make that into a sloppy tottari, and Terunofuji simply used his bulk for a couple of side bumps to make sure Amakaze fell first. At this point, he really can’t afford any futile attempts at good technique with muscles he doesn’t have. If he drops down to Makushita, he’s going to lose not just his salary and private apartment, but also Shunba.

Let’s go down a step and visit Makushita. The bout between Kizenryu and Ichiyamamoto became the talk of the day today.

chiyonoumi-kizenryu
Chiyonoumi wiping dirt off the injured Kizenryu

Here is the video:

The bout starts as usual, takes quite a while with nice Sumo on both sides, but it ends up with both rikishi diving head down and Kizenryu’s face meeting hard clay. Problem is, it’s really hard to tell who hit the ground first. A monoii is called, but Kizenryu is having a hard time getting up and off the dohyo. The first shimpan up (I believe it’s Shikihide oyakata) checks on him, and then the yobidashi.

With the help of the yobidashi he finally gets up, descends and awaits the referees decision. At this point all he has on his mind is probably going back to the shitakubeya and taking care of his bleeding face. But he is stunned (even further) when the shimpan call a torinaoshi.

By this time he has three yobidashi trying to wipe him off, and then Chiyonoumi, who is sitting down awaiting his own turn, gets up, fixes the stunned Kizenryu’s mawashi knot, proceeds to wipe the dirt off him, and then watches over him as he goes to the steps, in case he stumbles.

Ichiyamamoto adds matta to injury, but eventually Kizenryu manages to win by uwatenage. Dragging himself away from the dohyo, his face bleeding again, he doesn’t forget to turn around and bow. Wow.

(And yes, that’s a Maiko making her way to her seat right there at the end).

Kudos to Kizenryu for a heroic performance, and Chiyonoumi earned himself a new fan. What a mensch!

Chiyonoumi himself won his bout after that vs. Asabenkei:

Sotogake. And as one of the spectators mentioned, he looked like Chiyonokuni there for a moment.

Down at Sandanme, if anybody is interested to see what the new yumi-tori man’s sumo is like, here is Kasugaryu vs. Nakashima:

Kasugaryu is 0-2 so far. Perhaps it’s the bow ceremony that gets to him, because he certainly seems to have good technique.

And further down at Jonidan, while we are looking at bow twirlers’ sumo, Satonofuji went against Chura today:

Ah, yes. I think even an alien would recognize that this man is from Aminishiki’s stable.

Finally, at the very bottom, in Jonidan: remember I made a bit of fun of Urutora (Kanji aside, that seems to be the Japanese rendition of “Ultra”, and I think it’s intentional) and his huge gap from Naia? Well, he may be a poppy seed, but he is no Hattorizakura. Here he is against Azumayama:

I wonder what’s the story of this “Ultra” rikishi. He seems to spend a lot of his time kyujo and even banzuke-gai.

His rival from yesterday, the famous Naia, also competed today. This time his rival was Watatani.

Still no challenge whatsoever. Naya enjoys his new privilege (using nodowa – you’re not allowed to do that in amateur/youth sumo). We’re probably watching the Jonokuchi yusho winner here. Just sayin’.