Satonofuji

Jungyo Newsreel – December 10th

Herouth Hana-zumo, Jungyo (巡業) , , , , , , , , ,

🌐 Location: Kagoshima, Kagoshima

Today’s location was Kagoshima, where 4500 fans came to cheer for the rikishi, particularly the Kagoshima-born Chiyomaru and Daiamami. Daiamami, as a freshman, drew most of the attention. Accordingly, Kakuryu invited him to san-ban and butsukari.

kakuryu-butsukari-daiamami

The san-ban part consisted of 9 bouts, and as would be expected, Kakuryu won them all. This was followed by butsukari, but at this point Daiamami somehow came to admit that he “wasn’t doing enough keiko”.

The butsukari that followed turned out to be rather punishing for the local. Despite much support from the spectators, he hardly had any pushing power, and found himself rolling frequently:

Kakuryu was relentless, and after about 10 minutes, the session ended like this:

Daiamami did come to, and went through the thank-you ceremony at the end, albeit in a bit of a hazy state:

“This is all because you don’t do keiko”, scolded the Yokozuna after the keiko session was over. “I didn’t work you out that hard. You shouldn’t be exhausted by that much. You should do keiko every day.” Kasugano oyakata, who sat on the sidelines during the session, added his own voice to the scolding. “Both veterans and youngsters should go up the dohyo with vigor. It’s your job. There are fans watching.”

Kakuryu added: “The butsukari is not over. When we get to a warmer place, I’ll continue it”, hinting that when the Jungyo gets to its Okinawa leg he is going to be grilling Daiamami again.

By the way, did you notice Nishikigi hovering worried over Daiamami in the video above? This is typical of Nishikigi, who has earned the nickname “Mommy Nishikigi” for caring for rikishi during keiko, wiping sweat, etc.

OK, switching to the light side of the day’s event. First, Halt! Yokozuna aboard!

Enho works out in what seems to be a rather painful way:

Tobizaru, the Flying Monkey, tries to imitate him…

Er, no banana for you…

Isegahama beya took up the kiddie sumo as a team today:

isegahama-kiddies
Takarafuji, Terutsuyoshi, Aminishiki exchanging tykes

Where’s Homarefuji? Well, funny that you should ask!

Sumo with the older, more serious young sumo hopefuls was taken up by Kokonoe. Specifically, Chiyomaru, the other local.

Yep, that’s a big kid. But Chiyomaru is not Hikarugenji, either, if you catch my drift.

Here is the NHK coverage for the day, in which you’ll see Daiamami having recovered from the morning’s troubles, and beating Okinoumi in their torikumi.

You’ll also see Hakuho doing a baby dohyo-iri. This time we get to see the excited parents at the end. “He passed near us, and I asked if he’ll give the child a ‘dakko’. And he said a good-natured ‘yes’, so I quickly undressed her and handed her over” said mom.

More torikumi:

Takayasu vs. Goiedo

Takayasu complains about his lack of practice, but somehow ends up with the kensho-kin. Goeido having trouble with his ankle again?

Note Mitakeumi rising at the end to give the chikara-mizu on the opposite side. This means he has won his own torikumi (vs. Yoshikaze).

Musubi-no-ichiban:

Hakuho 4 – Kakuryu 3. Close call, there?

Again, note the applause Satonofuji gets when he arrives at the side of the dohyo. Very popular, that man.

satonofuji-popular
Also popular as a picture subject

 

Jungyo Newsreel – December 8th

Herouth Hana-zumo, Jungyo (巡業) , , , , , , , , , , ,

🌐 Location: Miyazaki, Miyazaki

Today the Jungyo landed at Miyazaki city, where 3000 spectators thronged the entrances.

ichinojo-kiddies
Planet Ichinojo attracts two new satellites to its orbit

Hakuho participated in morning practice for the first time. On previous days, he settled for stretches and workouts below the dohyo. Today he named Shodai – ever popular with top-rankers – for sanban. This involved 8 bouts, all of which Hakuho won.

hakuho-shodai

These bouts involved various throws and force-outs. “I was testing my dohyo sense”, commented the Dai-Yokozuna to the press.

Today I have lots of bouts for you. But as a warm up, first enjoy Abi’s shiko, which is considered one of the best ones. Up and straight. Even Hakuho can’t do that…

OK, so let’s start with Gagamaru vs. Yago. Here is a loooooong nodowa. Oshidashi.

And here is Terutsuyoshi in a tsuri-dashi. Too bad he is going to drop to Makushita at Hatsu.

Amakaze invents a new style of gaburi-yori. More like kangaroo-yori.

Aminishiki vs. Kaisei. Aminishiki gets a lot of support, and gambarizes.

And the musubi-no-ichiban. Note how the crowd applauds as Satonofuji bows in from the hana-michi.

Hakuho 3 – Kakuryu 2.

So, speaking about Satonofuji, here is one of your last chances to see his yumi-tori shiki:

Satonofuji – Yumitori-Shiki Master

Bruce H Kyushu Basho 2017 ,

Yumitori-shiki

At the end of each day’s sumo, a ritual is performed called “yumitori-shiki”, or as we tend to call it, “bow twirling ceremony”. Sadly many people, especially many foreigners in to watch sumo, leave before this ritual is complete, and miss a real treat. For the past several years this duty has fallen to Satonofuji, from the Isegahama heya. Satonofuji started sumo in 1996, and is currently at the ripe age of 40. He began his yumitori duties in 2013, and has now reached the highest number of rituals for the Heisei era (reign of the current Emperor, Akihito) at 418.

What I thought was fantastic was the number of fans seeking his autograph after the matches in May, he equaled or surpassed Chiyonokuni’s attention. Below is a video of the master at work.