Behind the Curtain - November 2019

The year is coming to a close, and the last basho is held in Fukuoka.  At this tournament, we have two rikishi new to silk mawashi and one rikishi returning to the paid ranks.

Ms2e Akua (6-1) returned to Juryo after spending a year back behind the curtain.  Akua is a little long in the tooth, having debuted on the dohyo at Fukuoka 2010 basho.  He will be 30 next November, so now is the time to climb up while his body can still handle it.

Ms4w Kotoshoho (4-3) got the bare minimum of wins to break through the curtain and put on the silk mawashi.  He has had an impressive climb to sekitori.  He debuted 2 years ago at Fukuoka.  He has only had a losing record once, just once.  He turned 20 years this year, so he is all lined up to have a very fruitful career as a sekitori.  It will tough to win 8 his first time in Juryo but it is possible. 

Ms5e Hoshoryu (4-3) also only won 4 and just slipped in front of the curtain.  Like Kotoshoho, he has only had a losing record once.  And like Kotoshoho, his future as a sekitori is very bright indeed.  And he is somewhat of a celebrity already, since his uncle is Asashoryu.  The writer is very excited about seeing his nephew have a successful career in sumo, and wouldn’t it be wonderful if he could fight to a tsuna.  OK, premature though it is a nice scenario to dream about.

With 3 rikishi moving upward and becoming sekitori, we have 3 rikishi turning in their silk mawashi for the white cotton mawashi.

J5w Takanofuji (0-0-15) is having a brutal time of it because of his bad behavior in September.  He finds himself at Ms5w, and if he gets to compete for this basho, he can get back to the paid ranks at Kokugikan in 2020.  If you missed Takanofuji’s screw-up, here is an excerpt.

“Nihon Sumo Kyokai announced that Takanofuji, Juryo 5, committed an act of violence against his tsukebito, a Jonidan wrestler, and as a result would be absent from the Aki basho. Chiganoura Oyakata reported to the Kyokai that the incident occurred after returning to Chiganoura-beya following the August 31 Soken. The basho absence is not a punishment on the part of the Kyokai, but a voluntary decision by Chiganoura Oyakata.”

His oyakata made the right move, voluntarily staying out of the Aki basho, and it cost him his silk mawashi.  The writer has some difficulty with the crackdown.  There is some hazy in sumo and perhaps out of hand, yet it is the culture.  The writer does believe that this behavior does not align with today’s morals, yet one of the attractions of sumo is that it is not from this period.  It is one of the three Japanese subcultures that attempts to remain the way it has been for 300 years or more.

J11w Chiyonoumi (2-13) had a terrible record at Kokugikan and tumbles into Makushita.  It lands at Ms6e, which makes getting back in front of the curtain possible.  Notice that Hoshoryu reached sekitori winning just 4 bouts from Ms5e.

J14e Asagyokusei (5-10) fell from his highest rank in his entire career.  It only drops to Ms2e, well within striking ranging to start 2020 in the paid ranks.

So as we close 2019 with the Fukuoka basho, of the rikishi in Juryo from the good results at Kokugikan, will one of them reach sanyaku?  Could one of this rikishi become our next yokozuna?

Behind the Curtain - May 2019

It is the beginning of a new era, the Reiwa Era.  It is auspicious time to step out in front of the curtain, especially for the first time.  For the Natsu Basho, we have one rikishi who will have the honor of making his sekitori debut this tourney.  Along with him, we have two returnees to the paid ranks.  Our debutante is making his way into Juryo after exactly 12 years in sumo.

Irodori hails from Saitama prefecture.  He is a member of the Shikoroyama stable.  The stablemaster is none other ex-Sekiwake Terao.  Irodori has two sekitori stablemates, Seiro and Abi.  Seiro is making a return to the paid ranks this tournament.  Irodori has had a long climb up the banzuke to reach the Juryo division.  He made his Makushita debut 8 years ago!  Irodori was East Makushita #1 last Basho and won 5 and loss 2.  Sitting at the top tier of Makushita, winning the majority of your bouts pretty much guarantees getting to put on the silk mawashi.  Over the last 6 tourneys, Irodori has won over a quarter of his bouts using Tsukidashi, or lift out, fighting technique.

Seiro is one of our foreign rikishi from Mongolian.  He's also a member of the Shikoroyama stable.  He dropped behind the curtain after the 2019 Aki Basho, having only won a single bout.  At the last tourney, he was ranked at West Makushita #3.  He completed the tournament with 6 wins and only 1 loss.  This easily propelled him up to Juryo for the Natsu Basho.  Seiro is keen on Yorikiri, or frontal force out.  He prefers the belt oppose to pushing and shoving.  Over the past year, he has won a handful of bouts via Uwatedashinage, or pulling overarm throw. 

Churanoumi is from the sunny beaches of Okinawa.  He is a member of Kise stable.  He fell down the banzuke to the third division after the Nagoya Basho last year, having on managed 5 wins.  At Osaka Basho, ranked at East Makushita #5, he notched a perfect record of 7-0, making him the Makushita Division Champion.  Remember, a perfect record when a rikishi is ranked Makushita 15 or above, is automatic promotion to the paid ranks.  Churanoumi has been favoring Oshidashi, or frontal push out, the past 6 tournaments.  He loves winning with the belt!

Three rikishi step back behind the curtain, making slots available for Irodori, Seiro, and Churanoumi.  The three rikishi had just one tournment visit to the paid ranks this time around.  It has been over a year since we have seen that. 

Takanofuji and Wakamotoharu looked good in Osaka, yet have to give back their silk mawashi for black cotton ones.  They are young, 21-years-old and 25-years-old respectively, so we will see them back in front of the curtain before long, probably this year.  Wakamotoharu is now at West Makushita #1 for Natsu Basho, so 4 wins gets him back in the paid ranks.  Takanofuji is at West Makushita #2 this tourney, so 4 wins might do it, 5 wins would make it more likely he gets back up to Juryo.

Daiseido had an awful tourney in Osaka, winning only 3 bouts.  He has taken a big fall down into Makushita, all the way down to East Makushita #7.  He will be hard-pressed to get back to Juryo for Nagoya Basho.

It is great to have Irodori, Seiro, and Churanoumi as sekitori for the Natsu Basho.  However it looks like it will be a tough time for all three of them.  It is always hard stepping in front of the curtain and then actually staying in front of it.  As rikishi will tell you, this is the toughest part of the banzuke.  Being near the cutoff point, between unpaid and paid, between cottone mawashi and silk mawashi, between being a tsukebito and having tsukebito.  

Behind the Curtain - March 2019

The cherry blossom viewing parties are right around the corner.  When it is hanami season in Japan, it is time for sumo in Osaka.  The Haru basho is hosted at the Edion Arena Osaka, also known as the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasiumin, in the Namba neighborhood.  At this tournament, we have two rikishi new to silk mawashi and two rikishi returning to the paid ranks. 

Ms3w Wakamotoharu (7-0) clinched his second makushita yusho with a perfect score.  Any rikishi ranked at Makushita 15 or higher automatically gets promoted to Juryo with a perfect record (7-0).  Wakamotoharu’s first Makushita yusho was way back at Nagoya 2013, less than two years from his maezumo or sumo debut.  His maezumo was at Fukuoka basho in 2011.  He had one more non-sekitori yusho, which interestingly was his second basho ever, at Hatsu 2012, where he yusho the Jonokuchi division, the 6th and lowest division in sumo. 

With Wakamotoharu’s promotion to the paid ranks, we now have two Onami brothers that are sekitori at the same time.  Both of them belong to Arashio beya.   Watakakage was promoted after last year’s Osaka basho.  They are the 20th pair of brothers who have been active sekitori at the same time.  Their grandfather is none other than komusubi Wakabayama, who had a 19-year career in sumo, retiring in 1961.  Hopefully, we will see one of these brothers take their grandfather’s shikona one day. 

The brothers hail from Fukushima city in Fukushima prefecture.  You may recall that when Wakakakage got the silk mawashi last year, he promised to do his best on behalf of his home prefecture, which suffered during the 2011 Tohoku disaster. 

Ms1w Kiribayama (4-3) is the other rikishi who will wear a silk mawashi for the first time this March.  He is the first sekitori at Michinoku beya since 2011, when Toyozakura retired from sumo.  He will be the only sekitori from Michinoku beya this tournament.  Oyakata Michinoku, ex-Ozeki Kirishima, must be very proud of having a sekitori in his heya.

Ms1e Daiseido (4-3) is our first returnee for this tourney.  It was a tough journey back to the paid ranks of Daiseido.  Starting so very close to the curtain, at Makushita 2 East, just third slots from Juryo, he posted three consecutive 4-3 results in 3 basho to finally break through the curtain.

Ms3e Takanofuji is our last rikishi going up to the paid ranks in Osaka. Whereas Daiseido posted three 4-3 records in a row, Takanofuji finished 5-2 in 3 consecutive tourneys to returned to the paid ranks within just one year.

For rikishi to step out in front of the curtain, other sekitori must go back behind it.  At the end of the Hatsu Basho, we had 3 retirements; Kisenosato, Takanoiwa, and Takekaze.  Finally, J13w Jokoryu managed a 5-9-1 record and that result has sent him back to Makushita.  Jokoryu has been in sumo for almost 8 years, and this is his second time failing from the paid ranks and back to wearing a white cotton mawashi.  Jokoryu reached the 4th highest rank in sumo, Komusubi, at the Aki basho 2014.  At this stage, it seems doubtful he will reach those heights again.  Let’s hope that Jokoryu is back in front of the curtain for the Natsu Basho in Tokyo.