The Tadpoles

Nagoya Day 1 Preview

Bruce H Abi (阿炎), Aoiyama, Asanoyama (朝乃山), Chiyomaru, Chiyotairyū (千代大龍), Daieisho (大栄翔), Daishoho, Endo (遠藤), Enho, Gōeidō (豪栄道), Hakuho (白鵬), Hokutōfuji (北勝富士), Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Kagayaki (輝), Kaisei (魁聖), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kotoeko, Kotoshogiku (琴奨菊), Kotoyuki, Meisei, Mitakeumi(御嶽海), Myogiryu (妙義龍), Nagoya Basho 2019, Nishikigi, Okinoumi (隠岐の海), Ryuden (竜電), Sadanoumi (佐田の海), Shimanoumi, Shohozan, Shōdai (正代直也), Takagenji, Takakeishō (貴景勝), Takarafuji (宝富士), Takayasu (高安), Tamawashi (玉鷲), Terutsuyoshi, Tochinoshin (栃ノ心), Tochiozan (栃煌山), Tomokaze, Toyonoshima, Yago, Yoshikaze (嘉風), Ōnoshō (阿武咲) , , , , , , ,
Photo Courtesy Of The Japan Sumo Association’s Twitter Feed

After a long, very dry spell, its once again time for sumo! Earlier on Saturday, the Dohyo Matsuri was conducted, and everything is now ready for the first matches on Sunday morning. There is a somewhat clearer picture of who is genki and who is not as we count down the final hours to the start of the basho. Some headlines

  • Hakuho – The right arm is advertised to be back to full power, and he seems healthy and ready to go.
  • Kakuryu – His chronic back problems seem to have returned, so it may be a less than average performance from Big K
  • Goeido – No word at all. I am going to guess is has been practicing like a maniac as he always does.
  • Takayasu – Also reported to be having body issues, but Andy maintains we will see his best sumo ever this July.
  • Tochinoshin – Possibly jet lagged, some reports of injury, but I am going to expect him to be back to fighting like a bear that has the strength of two bears.
  • Takakeisho – Sitting out Nagoya, he will be Ozekiwake in September with a 10 win mountain to climb. A tough outcome for the most successful of the tadpole clan.
  • Yoshikaze – Injury to a ligament on his right knee, with a mandatory 2 month rest period. I would guess this is probably an intai situation, as he has a kabu and is going to make an outstanding sumo elder.
  • Enho – Shoulder, thigh, whatever – this guy is banged up but has enough heart to fight anyhow.

To fans new to Tachiai (and welcome, we are glad you are here!) – we tend to talk about any basho as a series of 3 acts, each of which are constructed to have specific tone and desired outcome. Each act lasts 5 days, and their job is to take us from a wide open field of eager, healthy competitors to a lone champion on day 15.

  • Act 1 – We knock the ring rust off of the rikishi and see who is genki and who is not. I expect a great deal of ring rust in the first 3 days.
  • Act 2 – We can finally start thinking about a leader board as we head into the middle weekend, and we start to sort the competitors from the survivors from the damned.
  • Act 3 – The intimate sumo test of endurance sorts the make/kachi koshi roster, pits the upper ranks against one another, and crowns a yusho winner.

With that, it’s on day 1!

What We Are Watching Day 1

Kotoyuki vs Terutsuyoshi – Mr 5 x 5 (so named because he is about as wide as he is tall) managed to wobble his way back to the top division. He starts the tournament against pixie salt-blaster Terutsuyoshi, who is at the bottom rung of Makuuchi with another chance to stay in the top division. After a great run in Juryo, Terutsuyoshi looked a notch less genki in May – will the heat of Nagoya bring him back to life?

Kaisei vs Yago – Is Kaisei healthy this time? His big body is more than adequate to just out-jumbo most rikishi in the bottom of Makuuchi. But I think we are going to see massive ring-rust this match, with both Kaisei and Yago likely looking clumsy, slow and uncertain.

Toyonoshima vs Enho – Welcome back to the top division once again to former sekiwake Toyonoshima, who refuses to give up and keeps fighting onward. His first match is against an injured Fire-Pixie Enho, who holds a 4-0 lead over Toyonoshima. This match will give fans some idea of how banged up Enho really is.

Chiyomaru vs Sadanoumi – I expect this match to be extra rusty, as both men tend to have slow starts to any tournament, historically the advantage goes to Chiyomaru (9-3), but big Chiyo is also typically one of the most rusty fellows on the banzuke.

Tochiozan vs Kagayaki – Both of these rikishi suffered terrible performance in May, and find themselves in the bottom third of Makuuchi for Nagoya. Both of them are technical rikishi, but Tochiozan’s vast experience and superior range of technique will probably prevail over Mr Fundamentals, Kagayaki.

Nishikigi vs Takagenji – Takagenji’s first match ranked in the top division. He’s had a tough fight to get here, but he’s ranked all the way up at M10 – a testament on how jumbled the promotion / demotion graph was at the end of Natsu. Nishikigi is still smiling and looking at photos of his magical holiday in the joi-jin, but his sumo seems to have faded a bit. This is their first ever match up.

Kotoeko vs Daishoho – After displaying Shodai level banzuke luck (he held M15W for 3 tournaments with losing records), he is finally ranked a bit further up the roster and finds himself in a test of who is ready to rumble against Daishoho. Two of a handful of lower Maegashira rikishi to kachi-koshi in May, Kotoeko and Daishoho get a chance to tune up on day 1.

Shohozan vs Okinoumi – By accounts on social media (thanks Melissa), Shohozan broke his phone this week, and the typically dour faced rikishi is possibly even more sour than ever. This is actually an interesting match as both rikishi are highly skilled veterans. Shohozan will try to keep things mobile, and Okinoumi will want to go chest to chest. With ring rust and the traditionally slippery Nagoya dohyo, it could be messy.

Onosho vs Tomokaze – Still no make-koshi for Tomokaze, who is now the senior ranked rikishi from Oguruma (Yoshikaze fans like myself note this with sadness). Now the lowest ranked tadpole, Onosho is still struggling to get his sumo back following an extensive kyujo for knee repairs, an even that his friend Takakeisho is sadly suffering now. I predict that both of these men will be in the joi-jin for September, and today is all about getting the ready for that duty in 60 days.

Myogiryu vs Shimanoumi – Shimanoumi had a slow start to his debut Makuuchi tournament, but rallied and finished strongly, earning him a Maegashira 6 slot. Myogiryu spent all of Natsu fighting well but losing, a sad form of sumo that sadly too many rikishi adopted in May. This is their first ever career match.

Chiyotairyu vs Takarafuji – If Takarafuji can keep the match going longer than 20 seconds, he can take Chiyotairyu down when he loses stamina. But of course we will see Chiyotairyu trend towards his canon ball tachiai. Mix with a liberal dusting of ring rust and it could make for some very sloppy sumo.

Kotoshogiku vs Ichinojo – I think a big question for a lot of sumo fans is what kind of state is Ichinojo in? The Mongolian Monster is hot or cold, and when he’s hot he’s not beatable without some kind of sorcery. We get our first peek today when Kotoshogiku is going to have to try something other than his traditional hug-n-chug. Ichinojo is just too enormous.

Meisei vs Daieisho – Daieisho followed the Myogiryu pattern of fighting well but losing during Natsu, while Meisei battled to a 10-5 win, and I expect that we may see Meisei pick up where he left off. He is not prone to ring rust, and I would guess he spent the intervening 8 weeks training hard and getting ready.

Shodai vs Tamawashi – I really want to see Tamawashi bundle, tape and Fedex Shodai back to Kumamoto for Monday AM delivery, but when Shodai gets in trouble with an oshi-zumo specialist, he turns on some kind of chaos-generation engine that causes all kinds of odd things to happen. I tend to call this Shodai’s “Cartoon Sumo”, and it means Tamawashi needs to be careful.

Mitakeumi vs Aoiyama – Aoiyama tends to get quite rusty, but so does Mitakeumi. We can be certain Mitakeumi will try to dodge the nodowa at the tachiai, and close the distance to Aoiyama’s enormous pasty chest in an effort to shut down the haymakers from Aoiyama. If he can get close enough, it’s Mitakeumi’s match.

Endo vs Tochinoshin – I expect Tochinoshin to be extra rusty, as he traveled back to Georgia during the break, and I think he’s not quite a tuned up as he would normally be. This is dangerous when facing Endo, who is an extremely technical rikishi who likes to pre-visualize his matches. Tochinoshin will go left hard at the tachiai, and I expect Endo to use this to his advantage.

Hokutofuji vs Takayasu – We will get an early read on how healthy Takayasu is, when he takes on the highly maneuverable Hokutofuji on day 1. These two are evenly matched, and their 4-4 career records underscores that. If Takayasu wants to win his first yusho, he needs to rack up the white stars week 1 against his lower ranked opponents.

Goeido vs Asanoyama – As stated above, Goeido’s condition is unknown, and presumed genki. Meanwhile we know Asanoyama suffered a concussion during a training session with Yokozuna Hakuho. This either left him somewhat impaired in action speed and reflex, or really motivated him apply maximum beat-down on everyone. I expect Asanoyama will go for the mawashi early, but I am sure Goeido knows that, and I think he will go for a frontal (mae-mitsu) grip during the tachiai.

Abi vs Hakuho – I am sure Abi is coming into this one excited to take on the dai-Yokozuna. I am also sure that this is the absolute best chance anyone is going to have to drop Hakuho. While Abi-zumo is not going to do much to phase Hakuho, with an extended kyujo, I expect Hakuho’s reflexes to be off. Good luck Abi.

Kakuryu vs Ryuden – A first look at Kakuryu, and to what extent (if any) his back is going to impact his performance. If we se him moving in reverse, it’s going to be a short basho for sumo’s other Yokozuna.

Takakeisho Ozeki Promotion Video

Bruce H Haru Basho 2019 (Osaka), Takakeishō (貴景勝), Ōzeki (大関) ,
Takakeisho Promotion – Courtesy of NHK’s Twitter Feed

Through the magic of the internet, we bring you a brief clip courtesy of NHK of the actual ceremony where the sumo elders delivered the good news that Takakeisho had been promoted to Ozeki. Rather than deliver any kind of yojijukugo acceptance phrase, Takakeisho stuck to literal Japanese to express is commitment to sumo, to his new rank, and his stable. As per Herouth’s translation:

  • “Not to shame the title of Ozeki”
  • “Respect the spirit of Bushido”
  • “Always remember to be thankful and considerate”

While not compact, pithy and represented by 4 lovely characters, I do like the intent of his words. I hope he reigns well and long as an Ozeki, and extracts a never ending stream of white stars from everyone around him.

Folks are already wondering if he is on track for some kind of Yokozuna billet, and I will just say that these discussions are extremely premature. While I truly enjoy Takakeisho’s sumo, and I think the whole tadpole concept is interesting, he need to greatly diversify his sumo to be able to be a dominant Ozeki, let alone consider advancement.

Necessity being the mother of invention, I am keen to see what he comes up with. I think Takakeisho would very much like to try for higher rank, and he may find ways to surprise us.

Takakeisho – Ozeki Denied (For Now)

Bruce H Kisenosato (稀勢の里), Takakeishō (貴景勝), Tamawashi (玉鷲), Ōzeki (大関) , ,

Rising star Takakeisho pressed hard during the Hatsu basho to make the case that he should be promoted to Ozeki. Among sumo fandom, a general guideline is thought to be 33 wins for consideration by the NSK for promotion. To be clear, it’s not a standard of “win 33 over 3 basho and you get promoted”; reality shows that is the minimum for consideration. [It’s not even a minimum: Kisenosato and Goeido were both famously promoted with only 32 wins, and further back in time there were promotions with even lower totals. -lksumo] On the road to his 33rd win, Takakeisho has won a yusho, a jun-yusho, and shown that he can beat Yokozuna and Ozeki. For most fans, it was almost a foregone conclusion that his bid would be approved.

But following the Hatsu basho, the NSK committee of sumo elders concluded that in spite of winning a tournament, and nearly winning a second consecutive tournament, his performance was insufficient to qualify for promotion to Ozeki at this time. They encouraged him to try harder (?) at Osaka. Part of their citation was his loss to Ozeki Goeido on day 15, where the struggling Goeido overpowered Takakeisho and quickly ejected him from the dohyo. Later we learned that in the course of this match, Takakeisho suffered a foot injury.

Takakeisho, at 22 years of age, represents the next generation of rikishi who have been pressing hard to dislodge the old guard, and take their place in sumo’s top ranks. Young, strong, lacking chronic injuries that never quite healed, the rise of both the Tadpole and Freshman cohorts is part of the natural evolution of sumo that Tachiai has been forecasting for the past two years.

But it’s quite likely that western fans felt the young fellow was robbed by the curmudgeons in the NSK, who as of late have been working in increasingly mysterious ways. I was not, however, surprised that the NSK had decided to make young Takakeisho work a bit longer before he became Ozeki. It’s clear he is on an ascendant path, and with his youth, strength and quality of sumo, he will be Ozeki no matter what if he can keep from getting hurt. It is undeniable that the drama around both Sekiwake coming from recent yusho, and both working to make a valid Ozeki bid, will bring a lot of attention to the Osaka tournament, and with the Japanese Yokozuna now retired, the NSK needs compelling stories to keep the public engaged.

Kyushu 2018 Final Day

Bruce H Abi (阿炎), Aoiyama, Chiyoshoma, Chiyotairyū (千代大龍), Daieisho (大栄翔), Hokutōfuji (北勝富士), Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Kagayaki (輝), Kotoshogiku (琴奨菊), Kyushu Basho 2018, Meisei, Mitakeumi(御嶽海), Myogiryu (妙義龍), Nishikigi, Okinoumi (隠岐の海), Ryuden (竜電), Shohozan, Shōdai (正代直也), Takakeishō (貴景勝), Takanosho, Takayasu (高安), Tamawashi (玉鷲), Tochinoshin (栃ノ心), Tochiozan (栃煌山), Yoshikaze (嘉風), Yutakayama, Yūshō (優勝), Ōnoshō (阿武咲) , ,

Victory Fish Madai 5

Personally, I was worried that once again the special prize committee would rule that “no one deserves a special prize” as they did at Aki. That decision was not popular in my circle of sumo fans, but as an outsider (which I assure you I am), you just shrug and go about your business. For Kyushu, the special prizes were a tadpole sweep:

Takakeisho: Shukun-sho & Kanto-sho
Onosho: Kanto-sho

I do wonder about consideration for Aoiyama and Okinoumi, who performed very well indeed. Then there is Nishikigi, who defied expectations and actually was able to put together 8 wins at a rank far above anything he has ever held before. Some additional information if you want to pick through he kanji here.

The final result is quite the signal for the road ahead. With Takakeisho winning the Kyushu yusho, we have 2 tadpole yusho this year (Mitakeumi and Takakeisho). Interestingly enough, it was Mitakeumi who sealed the deal with his win over Takayasu in the final match of the tournament. For Takayasu, he is forming a record surprisingly like his senpai, consistent good scores, but no Yusho to show for it. This is his 4th Jun-Yusho, all with a 12-3 finish.

At 22 years old, yusho winner Takakeisho continues on his meteoric rise. Over the past 3 basho he has racked 32 wins, over the past 4 that number goes to 42. In the past year he has honed his trademark attack, that we have taken to calling “Wave Action Tsuppari”. Where most rikishi land blows and thrusts in an alternating left / right arm cycle, Takakeisho works to set up a period group of double arm thrusts that arrive in waves. The net result is visually obvious, his opponent has just enough time to react just a bit before the next wave arrives. In many cases that reaction is to either escape or counter attack, and almost always leaves the opponent on less than excellent footing. If he can stay healthy, young Takakeisho has a lot to offer the sumo world.

Notable Matches

Onosho defeats Yutakayama – Onosho picks up the Kanto-sho, and blasts Yutakayama out directly. Yutakayama finishes 5-10, and is in dire need of repair to his body. At one time a promising member of the Freshmen cohort, he has suffered greatly since posting to Maegashira 2 at Aki.

Kotoshogiku defeats Meisei – No special prize here, but it’s great to see Kotoshogiku shine again. Meisei’s hopes of double digits bit the clay with his first trip on the hug-n-chug Kyushu Bulldozer. Kotoshogiku is probably looking at a big lift in rank for January, and I am curious to see what he can do with it.

Chiyoshoma defeats Abi – Is it reasonable to consider the dominance of Abi-zumo is past its peak? Chiyoshoma dismantles the obligatory double arm attack and makes fairly easy work of Abi. Fans know Abi has a lot of potential, and are wondering when the next evolutionary stage will hit. Not that I think he will (or should) abandon the double arm attack, just as Tochinoshin will never abandon the lift and shift when he can get there. But we know Abi has more in his sumo book.

Aoiyama defeats Yoshikaze – Aoiyama has really gotten his sumo together this basho. He typically does quite well in the Maegashira 12-9 rank, but seems to falter more the closer he gets to the top. With a 11-4 finish, he’s headed for the joi-jin, and he will have another chance to demonstrate if his sumo is effective against the top rikishi. Yoshikaze make-koshi on the final day, he could not get close enough to the man-mountain to produce an effective offense.

Ryuden defeats Daieisho – Deeply make-koshi, Ryuden never the less continues to work on his sumo, and battles for every win. The guy’s work ethic seems solid, and at Maegashira 3, he was out-matched, even in a nokazuna tournament like Kyushu. All of the freshmen were make-koshi this time out, so it’s time for them to heal up and get ready for 2019. They are about 18-24 months behind the tadpoles in their evolution, so we should see them start to contend in a serious way late next year, early into 2020.

Okinoumi defeats Tamawashi – Matching his 11-4 from Kyushu last year (at about the same rank), Okinoumi seems to really improve in the western basho, and then pays for it in January. While I am sure Tamawashi would have rather closed with 10 wins, he is still in solid shape to return to the San’yaku for the New Years basho.

Shodai defeats Tochiozan – Tochiozan ends Kyushu with a kachi-koshi, but he certainly faded after a blistering start. Tochiozan opened the match in good position, but Shodai was able to break contact and recover, gaining the inside pushing position and focusing his force center-mass. Solid defense-offense change up combo from Shodai to pull a kachi-koshi out at the last minute.

Hokutofuji defeats Takanosho – I kind of feel for Takanosho, he got his head handed to him this basho, but kept his positive outlook. He’s going back to Juryo for January, but first he had the honor of being Takakeisho’s standard bearer for the yusho parade. I am going to guess that Takakesiho will have a happy, willing new Kouhai for his future career at Chiganoura. Hokutofuji finishes 7-8, and may get a chance to face more named ranked rikishi in January.

Myogiryu defeats Chiyotairyu – The Darwin match, where only one survives. After Chiyotairyu launches early and a matta is called, his primary offensive gambit, the cannon ball Tachiai, is defused and Myogiryu makes quick work of him.

Takakeisho defeats Nishikigi – For a brief moment, Takakeisho found himself perilously off balance as he yet again lost his footing near the edge. Nishikigi was not fast enough to put him away, and Takakeisho showed why he’s a force in sumo by rallying and taking the fight back to Nishikigi.

Kagayaki defeats Ichinojo – What should have been a gimme match for Ichinojo turns into a one-sided battle, with Kagayaki taking control and making surprisingly easy work of the ex-Sekiwake. A healthy Ichinojo is to be feared, sadly this Ichinojo needs recuperation.

Shohozan defeats Tochinoshin – One of the poorest run matches in memory, I have to wonder if the NSK is really going to promote Kandayu in 2019 after that mess. Tochinoshin spent his stamina in the first match, and maybe a bit more in the second. Shohozan had something left in reserve, and battled through a cut lip to win the 3rd and final attempt. Tough to describe the level of nonsense here, so please watch it via NHK, Jason or Kintamayama.

Mitakeumi defeats Takayasu – After some lackluster matches out of the future Ozeki, he rallies and brings his “A” sumo to Takayasu for the final match of the basho. When the match went to a leading contest, I thought it was Takayasu’s for sure, as he seems to have an almost inhuman endurance and can carry out a contest like this for a good long time. But Mitakeumi wore him down, and was able to find his time and make his move. My heart goes out to Takayasu, as a win at Kyushu would have been an important step towards supplanting Kisenosato, who may not be in sumo much longer. But that is for another day.

Thank to all our readers who spent part of their time enjoying the Kyushu basho with us. These nokazuna tournaments make for interesting contests, and November delivered an excellent fortnight of sumo. We count down the 49 days to Hatsu, and hope you will join us again when you think of sumo.