Yes, the tournament is over. Terunofuji won in spectacular fashion against the impressive Kotonowaka. Our coverage from the tournament is collected here. Nevertheless, this week is jam-packed with sumo news.
Shin-Ozeki Kotonowaka
Kotonowaka was promoted to Ozeki, as expected. He came tantalizingly close to a yusho and was understandably disappointed to lose in the playoff. His performance over the past three basho has been of a consistent, high quality. But if we look back further, we can see a reliable, top-level sekitori since May of 2022.
Sumo fans everywhere were expecting him to change his shikona to Kotozakura, the shikona used by his grandfather. However, he has decided to stick with Kotonowaka for the time being, and will change his shikona in May.
Juryo Promotions Released
Along with Kotonowaka’s Ozeki promotion, the Banzuke Committee released the names of those makushita wrestlers who earned promotion to Juryo. This time, four rikishi return to juryo, no debutantes. We finally see the long-awaited returns of Wakatakakage and Hakuoho to the ranks of sekitori, along with journeymen Tsushimanada and Kitaharima.
You will remember that Wakatakakage and Hakuoho were top division wrestlers who suffered unfortunate injuries to the knee and shoulder, respectively, which required surgery and long rehab. In Wakatakakage’s case, he was Sekiwake in March of 2023 when he blew up his knee falling onto the tawara. Hakuoho’s shoulder had been a nagging concern going back to his amateur days. His other shoulder had surgery before going pro and the intense action of Makuuchi seemed to require the same surgery to be repeated on the opposite side after Nagoya 2023.
Both men dropped into Makushita during their rehab but will rise together in March 2024. Wakatakakage won the yusho, following up on his 5-2 in Kyushu. Hakuoho lost one bout to another standout, Onokatsu, to finish 6-1. Onokatsu lost his next match to Wakatakakage and he also finished 6-1, narrowly missing out on promotion.
Setsubun (February 3)
I’ve written about this a few times. Setsubun is a festival to celebrate the coming of spring. You have just cleaned the house at the beginning of January during “oosouji,” so let’s make an absolute mess of things again by throwing beans or peanuts at one of the kids, who runs around the house wearing a devil mask, and shouting “oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi” (“Bad spirits out! Fortune in!”) Brilliant. And, let’s top it off by standing up and eating a long sushi roll (eho-maki) while facing the same direction. This year, for those who observe, it’s east-north-east. With all of the kyujo from January, we need all the help we can get!
Tochinoshin Retirement Ceremony
Tochinoshin had his retirement ceremony at Kokugikan. These events feature exhibition bouts and various demonstrations, building up to the main event…the haircut. Yobidashi perform drum demonstrations while Tokoyama show how they make the infamous oicho-mage hairstyle donned by sekitori during tournaments. The Kasugano stable’s own Jiro is the top-ranked tate-yobidashi, and did the taiko demonstration while Tokotakumi, the level four Tokoyama, used Tochimusashi as his model. This was likely to be a role for Aoiyama but he was kyujo, as was Hokuseiho.
Gyoji certainly do not get the day off as they officiate bouts as well as participate in the Shokkiri. The comedy duo of Wakazakura and Tochimitsuru teamed up with Nishikido-beya’s Kimura Kintaro to lighten the mood with the famous “How NOT to Sumo” routine. Jinku included Yuki and Kasugano’s Tochigidake. At the end of the makuuchi bouts, Tochikodai closed things out with the bow-twirling ceremony.
Tochinoshin has been one of the most successful foreign wrestlers, reaching the level of Ozeki largely through the brute force of what sumo fans knew as his “sky-crane.” He was particularly known for his rivalry with Ichinojo, with whom he fought several epic bouts, including the famous water-break bout. It seems that many wrestlers have had spectacular comebacks from injury lately, and Tochinoshin’s career is certainly notable for how he overcame a knee injury, dropped out of the professional ranks, and clawed his way back past his previous best rank to reach Ozeki.
A long list of sumo dignitaries took turns with the scissors, taking a snip of his topknot, including Asashoryu, Hakuho, Terunofuji, and his compatriots, Kokkai and Gagamaru. Former stablemate Tochiozan was also in attendance but, as mentioned above, kyujo Aoiyama was not.
Tochinoshin will not continue his career in the sumo association. He has been working with wine makers of his native Georgia to help promote Georgian wine. If one thinks that there are only two major types of wine, red and white, you likely have not had an opportunity to enjoy a Georgian “Amber.” Georgia is famous for being the birthplace of wine — no, not Italy or France. Yes, they have red and white wine, as well. But not many wines from the region (of any variety) find themselves in our shops or restaurants, so there is certainly lots of work ahead for Mr. Sky Crane.