Wow, no audience at the Haru Basho in Osaka! How many things can change between two Basho. Sumo is only following the trend, the Japanese baseball league has decided to play the remaining 72 games without fans, watering down the home-team advantage. 8 years ago, the same Osaka was canceled, the first time a basho had been canceled in over 50 years, because of exposure of Yaocho.
Lots of action at the Curtain after the Hatsu Basho, only one newcomer to the silk mawashi, along with 4 returnees.
Ms2e Midorifuji (5-2) is a first-timer going into the Osaka Basho. Midorifuji-zeki belongs to, Isegahama-beya, hails from Shizuoka and is 23 years old. At 168 cm and 91 kg, he is one of the smaller rikishi in sumo. Rikishi under 100 kg tend to have strong fan followings since they come across as the underdog in each bout, not mention their speed, the main advantage they have, makes for very exciting sumo.
Ms3w Chiyonoumi (5-2) is back from behind the curtain for the 2nd time. He has spent the last two tourneys wearing a cotton mawashi. Chiyo is rikishi at the Kokonoe-beya, hence the Chiyo in his shikona, because the stablemaster of Kokonoe is famous Chiyonofuji. His home prefecture is Kochi-ken, and he has lots of sumo in front of him, he is only 27 years old.
Ms1w Wakamotoharu (6-1) has returned to the paid ranks for the 3rd time. Wakano is somewhat a social media star, he was cautioned by the Sumo Kyokai, along with Abi for a video they posted on Instagram. If you forget, in the video, they 2 use adhesive tape to tie the other's legs together and stick it on the mouth. Funny but the NSK did not agree. Wakano's home prefecture is Fukushima-ken. He is another young Turk at 26 years old. He is a member of Arashio stable. Interestingly, Arashio oyakata will be 65 years old by the time you read this and will have retired. Keep a lookout for his successor. The best bet is that Sokokurai will get the nod since he now has his Japanese citizenship. He hails from Inner Mongolia, China.
Ms4w Hakuyouzan (6-1) is also making his 3rd appearance in front of the curtain. His first time to wear the silk mawashi was back at Natsu Basho 2018.
Ms4e Akiseyama (4-3) just slipped into the paid ranks. It is his 7th time to put on the silk mawashi. You would think that it is some kind of record, yet he has only the 3rd most promotions to Juryo. Sumanofuji was promoted 8 times to the paid ranks, managing to stay sekitori for 19 tourneys, and never ranked higher than J9. The record-holder is Kizenryu, he was promoted 9 times over 9 basho in the silk mawashi. In his case, each time he reached Juryo, he got make-koshi the following tourney, and went back to Makushita! You can still find on the banzuke, he is ranked at ms11w this basho.
Lots of action at the Curtain after the Hatsu Basho, only one newcomer to the silk mawashi, along with 4 returnees.
Ms2e Midorifuji (5-2) is a first-timer going into the Osaka Basho. Midorifuji-zeki belongs to, Isegahama-beya, hails from Shizuoka and is 23 years old. At 168 cm and 91 kg, he is one of the smaller rikishi in sumo. Rikishi under 100 kg tend to have strong fan followings since they come across as the underdog in each bout, not mention their speed, the main advantage they have, makes for very exciting sumo.
Ms3w Chiyonoumi (5-2) is back from behind the curtain for the 2nd time. He has spent the last two tourneys wearing a cotton mawashi. Chiyo is rikishi at the Kokonoe-beya, hence the Chiyo in his shikona, because the stablemaster of Kokonoe is famous Chiyonofuji. His home prefecture is Kochi-ken, and he has lots of sumo in front of him, he is only 27 years old.
Ms1w Wakamotoharu (6-1) has returned to the paid ranks for the 3rd time. Wakano is somewhat a social media star, he was cautioned by the Sumo Kyokai, along with Abi for a video they posted on Instagram. If you forget, in the video, they 2 use adhesive tape to tie the other's legs together and stick it on the mouth. Funny but the NSK did not agree. Wakano's home prefecture is Fukushima-ken. He is another young Turk at 26 years old. He is a member of Arashio stable. Interestingly, Arashio oyakata will be 65 years old by the time you read this and will have retired. Keep a lookout for his successor. The best bet is that Sokokurai will get the nod since he now has his Japanese citizenship. He hails from Inner Mongolia, China.
Ms4w Hakuyouzan (6-1) is also making his 3rd appearance in front of the curtain. His first time to wear the silk mawashi was back at Natsu Basho 2018.
Ms4e Akiseyama (4-3) just slipped into the paid ranks. It is his 7th time to put on the silk mawashi. You would think that it is some kind of record, yet he has only the 3rd most promotions to Juryo. Sumanofuji was promoted 8 times to the paid ranks, managing to stay sekitori for 19 tourneys, and never ranked higher than J9. The record-holder is Kizenryu, he was promoted 9 times over 9 basho in the silk mawashi. In his case, each time he reached Juryo, he got make-koshi the following tourney, and went back to Makushita! You can still find on the banzuke, he is ranked at ms11w this basho.
