Shohozan

Kyushu Day 13 Preview

Bruce H Gōeidō (豪栄道), Hakuho (白鵬), Harumafuji (日馬富士), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kisenosato (稀勢の里), Kyushu Basho 2016, Takarafuji (宝富士) , , , , , ,

kakuryu

If you do not control your opponent, your opponent will control you

Book of Five Rings

Sumo fans could not ask for a more exiting final Friday of 2016. Across the two upper divisions (Juryo and Makuuchi), there is a mad scramble for the championship. With just a few bouts remaining, there is a broad group of rikishi that could claim the yusho. Recall that by this time during the Aki basho, we were very sure it was going to be Goeido, we just did not know if it would be a perfect record or not.

Going into day 13, no one remains with a perfect record, and the mightiest men in Sumo now face each other, as the Yokozuna will compete against both the upper Ozeki, and their fellow Yokozuna during the last three days. As each of these men are leading contenders for the championship, which sekitori has the lead in the yusho race to change moment by moment during the final bouts of each day.

The idea scenario for maximum drama would require Hakuho to beat Kakuryu, Harumafuji to beat Goeido, Kisenosato to beat Tochinoshin, and Ishiura to beat Arawashi. That would create a 4 way tie for the lead, with 2 days left.

Notable Matches

Ishiura vs Arawashi – Ishiura faced a very capable Ikioi on day 12, and Ikioi did not charge head-long into Ishiura’s mini-henke. Time to see if Arawashi learned this lesson as well. I expect Ishiura to face at least one more higher level rikishi before the end of the basho. Ishiura is very evenly matched against Arawashi, with a 2-3 record.

Sokokurai vs Takarafuji – Takarafuji is going for his kachi-koshi again today, this time against Sokokurai. Thus match will likely be a strength test between the two men, with a slight edge to Sokokurai.

Shohozan vs Ichinojo – Shohozan should pick up his kachi-koshi today, as Ichinojo is really struggling this tournament. To his credit, Ichinojo is at .500 with three days to go, and kachi-koshi is still possible for him. Slight advantage to Fukuoka home town favorite Shohozan.

Endo vs Okinoumi – It has been a surprising basho for both of these rikishi. Endo had a very strong start, and has faded as of late. He needs a win here against the injured Okinoumi to make a credible case for finishing the tournament with a winning record. Slight advantage to Endo on this one.

Tamawashi vs Terunofuji – Tamawashi will attempt to score a winning tournament record today against the man-mountain Terunofuji. Tamawashi has been doing well, and Terunofuji is injured – but Terunofuji also just beat Hakuho, so I would say Tamawashi won’t find his eighth win today.

Tochinoshin vs Kisenosato – In the strangest match up of day 13, Maegashira 6 Tochinoshin faces off against Yokozuna killer Kisenosato. Tochinoshin has been (in the past) sort of a one trick pony – he likes to lift people up and carry them around. That won’t work against Kisenosato in any reasonable scenario. One of two things (or both) are happening here. First, it could be that the schedules want to give Kisenosato an easy match to make sure he can play spoiler in any potential play-off. Second, it may be the case that they want to see if Tochinoshin can recuse himself well against a solid Ozeki. Worth watching, but my thought is that Kisenosato will take care of him without too much bother.

Hakuho vs Kakuryu – This is one of the two highly anticipated matches for day 13. Hakuho has to be smarting, having been handed a third loss by Terunofuji. I am going to expect that he is hungry for revenge. Kakuryu has been winning, but he has been reactive to my eye, rather than dominating his matches. Hakuho dominates matches, even in his injured state. I can’t wait to see how this one turns out. Historically, Hakuho has a huge advantage over Kakuryu.

Harumafuji vs Goeido – Harumafuji should be gunning for Goeido. The path to Goeido’s Aki yusho went through Harumafuji, and their match was won at the last moment when Goeido engaged a twisting throw at the edge. I have absolute confidence that the “Good” Goeido will be on the dohyo today. After the brutal “codpiece throw” that is part of the NHK intro, Goeido has a large supply of payback to throw at Harumafuji. This will be, in my mind, possibly the most exciting sumo of the day, even though the Hakuho match will go farther to determine the yusho race. Harumafuji has a huge lead in their career record, 29-10. Go boldly Goeido!

Juryo Note

The Juryo-yusho race is every bit as wild as the one in Makuuchi. The sole leader, Seiro (10-2) faces off against Osunaarashi (9-3) early in the Juryo matches. Shortly afterwards, Satoyama (9-3) faces off against Sato (9-3). One of these rikishi is likely to be to Juryo tournament winner, and it’s great to see the schedule putting them head to head during the last few days.

Kyushu Day 11 Preview

Bruce H Gōeidō (豪栄道), Hakuho (白鵬), Harumafuji (日馬富士), Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kisenosato (稀勢の里), Kyushu Basho 2016, San'yaku (三役), Takarafuji (宝富士), Takayasu (高安) , , , , , , , , ,

ishura-day10

Finish Strong.

We now start the last 5 days of sumo for 2016. It’s fascinating that Harumafuji and Kisenosato are stilled tied at the top of total wins for 2016, a tie that will be broken soon, possibly on day 11. After watching Kisenosato dismantle Hakuho on the NHK highlight reel, the accomplishment is ever more impressive. Again, the sumo Kisenosato brought to day 10 was some of the best I have seen in some time, and I think the fans in Fukuoka and watching around the world were amazed.

To be fair, Kisenosato finally laid bare the extent of Hakuho’s recovery from surgery this past September. It is clear that the Boss has been artfully keeping the true extent of the remaining weakness in his foot and knee hidden through outstanding technique and clever tactics. But Kisenosato brought a full power maneuver battle to day 10, and in the end Hakuho lost.

But there are some really ugly questions left to resolve. First and foremost in my mind is how badly will this end for Takayasu. Mathematically, he cannot even reach 10 wins this basho. Had he gotten 10, his Ozeki run would have carried forward to Hatsu in January. But now the best he can hope for is 9, and that requires him defeating at least 2 Yokozuna. Realistically he is going make-koshi, and headed down in rank, at least to Komusubi for January. If he somehow manages 9, he remains Sekiwake – but his Ozeki count to 33 starts over again at zero.

Speaking of which, we can start to see who will advance, and who will be demoted for January. In short, it’s a Makuuchi blood bath:

  • Day 10 Makuuchi Kachi-koshi : Kakuryu, Harumafuji, Ishiura, Hakuho, Kisenosato, Arawashi
  • Day 10 Makuuchi Make-Koshi : Okinoumi, Yoshikaze, Sadanoumi, Hidenoumi, Aoiyama, Kyokushuho, Kaisei

For Juryo – There is a lot more bunched up int he middle, showing that for Kyushu, Juryo is much more balanced than the upper division Makuuchi

  • Day 10 Juryo Kachi-koshi : Osunaarashi, Seiro
  • Day 10 Juryo Make-koshi : Tokushoryu, Asasekiryu, Sadanofuji

There is still time to derail the Osunaarashi Juryo Yusho train, but that mighty Egyptian locomotive shows no sign of slowing down.

Notable Matches

Daishomaru vs Ichinojo – First time match up between these two, both of them in the middle of the pack pushing to exit Kyushu with a winning record. Both rikishi are at risk of demotion back to Juryo if they finish with losing records.

Chiyoshoma vs Sokokurai – Chiyoshoma bringing oshi-zumō vs Sokokurai’s yotsu-zumō. Their only prior meeting went to Chiyoshoma, but this is going to be an even match. I expect Sokokurai will prevail on this one.

Myogiryu vs Ishiura – Ishiura, please no mini-henka today. You are facing someone 6 steps up the banzuke, and everyone wants to see if you can handle the harder matches. The degree of your coming promotion is defined by the next 3 matches. This is the first match between these two.

Shohozan vs Takarafuji – These two are fairly even in Kyushu, but historically Takarafuji has yet to win against Shohozan in any of their prior 6 matches.

Ikioi vs Shodai – Winner is kachi-koshi from this bout. Slight edge to Shodai on this, they have only faced each other 3 times. They will be slapping each other around for a few seconds, grapple and figure out the winner.

Day 11 Battle of the Sanyaku Fleet

Goeido vs Terunofuji – First, a resurgent Terunofuji facing a very inconsistent Goeido. Goeido was back to his winning ways, and in good form on day 10. Terunofuji, though still injured, seems to be in very competitive form. Terunofuji, once he gets set, is very tough to move. He has legs like tree trunks and a back that could lift an ox. To win, Goeido needs to take him off balance in the first few seconds before he can get his stance planted, and his attack underway.

Harumafuji vs Kotoshogiku – Kotoshogiku make-koshi today. I am hoping that Harumafuji uses him to practice the kind of sumo he deployed on day 10. Statistically a slight edge to Kotoshogiku, with history showing a 33-27 lifetime between the two. But let’s get serious, Kotoshogiku is going make-kochi, and will once again be kadoban.

Hakuho vs Takayasu – Chances are very small that Takayasu can rally and defeat Hakuho, in spite of the fact that Kisenosato showed his stable mate Takayasu the recipe. Takayasu is still very capable, but he is likely going back to Komusubi with a 7-8 record.

Kisenosato vs Kakuryu – Likely the highlight match of the day. Career statistics, it’s advantage Kisenosato, 30-17. Kakuryu would love to go Zensho Yusho for the last match of 2016, and everyone is hoping that he can suffer at least one loss to open up the yusho race. Kakuryu will have watched the Hakuho match multiple times, and will be studying this new fearsome, mobile Kisenosato.

山: Mountain (with a side of Hokusai)

Andy Japanese Language , , , , , ,

WP_20160419_18_22_45_ProIt’s been a while since I posted about kanji. A great example to mention when it comes to sumo is 山 because it’s used in so many shikona. There’s two basic readings for this kanji, yama and –san. Either way, it means mountain and accurately reflects the girth of guys like Aoiyama (碧山). After some characters the s-sound is changed to a z, like in Tochiozan (栃煌山) and Shohozan (松鳳山).　Other makuuchi warriors with related shikona are Satoyama – perhaps with a touch of irony – and Akiseyama (otherwise known as the body of Kim Jong-Un).

Mount Fuji, or Fuji-san, is an important symbol in Japanese culture. Many works of art feature the mountain, the most famous being Hokusai’s “36 Views of Mount Fuji.” I’ve posted a picture of one of them that I have at home, “The Kazusa Province Sea Route” (上総の海路). In this picture, you can just make out Fuji-san on the horizon near the full sail.

A few years ago, the whole collection toured at the Smithsonian Museum here in DC. Some great blog posts here: http://bento.si.edu/tag/thirty-six-views/. If anyone has a chance to visit Washington, DC, I would encourage stopping by the Freer and Sackler Galleries. They’ve got great works from all over Asia, including frequent exhibitions from masters like Hokusai.

November 2015, Day 14: Harumafuji Goes for Yusho

Andy November Tournament 2015 , ,

Harumafuji hit Kakuryu with the same fierceness he displayed against Hakuho…and Kakuryu bumbled as he did against Terunofuji. With Hakuho’s iffy loss to Terunofuji, Harumafuji leads alone. Hakuho met Terunofuji at the tachiai rather softly and then they leaned against each other for a long while before Terunofuji drove Hakuho out. Terunofuji secured kachi-koshi with that win and I expect him to pull out, giving Kotoyuki a 9th win tomorrow.

Ikioi will fly up into sanyaku, likely taking over the komusubi slot which will be vacated by Tochinoshin. Yoshikaze’s impressive win over Goeido will likely bring promotion into sekiwake. If Goeido loses tomorrow, he could take the sekiwake slot away from Yoshikaze but I think it’s highly unlikely. He fights Tochiozan, who already has his kachi-koshi and thus little incentive to do anything but keep himself from getting injured. However, if Tochiozan wants to start another ozeki run, 9 wins could be helpful.

Osunaarashi is out, injured, as is Kotoshogiku. Endo should be resting. He’s obviously hurt and will likely be little challenge tomorrow for Myogiryu, who’s been woeful with a weakened ankle.