Behind the Curtain - September 2020

 COVID-19 is still part of our day to day lives, but at least sumo keeps going, and we have another basho with butts in seats, although with limited attendance. After all this time, semi self-isolating, it is a treat to have sumo to watch for 15 days. We have a couple of newcomers to the sekitori ranks, along with two returnees.

Kitaharima Ms3w (5-2) is coming out from behind the curtain after dropping out of Juryo back in 2017. He made his professional debut in March 2002. To date, his highest rank has been maegashira 15. He wrestles for Yamahibiki stable, which is run by ex-yokozuna Kitanoumi. Interestingly enough, He is a member of the generation born between April 1986 and April 1987 (Showa 61) known as the "Flower of 61" that also includes yokozuna Kisenosato, ōzeki Gōeidō, and sekiwake Myōgiryū.

Chiyonokuni Ms12w (7-0) got the Makushita yusho with his perfect record. As you may know, if you get a perfect record ranked Makushita 15 or above, it is just about guaranteed you get to step out from behind the curtain.  He fights for Kokonoe beya, run by ex-yokozuna Chiyonofuji. He has the highest rank of maegashira 1. He got hurt and fell all the way down to Sandanme in 2015. This time around, he is returning to Juryo after stepping behind the curtain last year. Interesting story, when sumo took a black eye from the baseball gambling scandal, that uncovered a match-fixing scandal, Chiyonokuni, along with many other upper makushita wrestlers was promoted to salaried ranks of jūryō for July 2011 though his actual performance so far would have not merited promotion. Chiyonokuni had very mixed feelings about the scandal and admitted it felt surreal to be promoted to jūryō under such strange circumstances. Chiyonokuni did however exceed expectations and about recorded three strong winning tournaments in a row to earn promotion to the top makuuchi division in January 2012.

Ouki Ms2w (5-2) will wear a silk mawashi for the first time! He hails from Shikoroyama beya. This stable is the center of some drama because sekitori Abi stepped out for a night out during the last basho, when there are strict orders not to do so, particularly with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Ouki promotion may be a small consolation for Shikoroyama oyakata, ex-sekiwake Terao, who established this stable in February 2004. I am pretty sure it is kitty-corner from the Denny’s in Morishita.

Nishikifuji Ms3e (5-2) is the first time visiting the paid ranks this basho. His promotion was a big deal back home in Aomori, where many great rikishi have hailed from. Usually, rikishi from the unpaid ranks do not have lots of freedom to travel, yet his oyakata escorted him back home for the big celebration, where Nishikifuji reported his jury promotion in person the mayor of Towada, which is Nishikifuji hometown. Fun fact pointed out by some online sumo pundits, we know have sekitori that shares the exact same kanji characters, only in a different order, called 錦富士 and 富士錦.

Behind the Curtain - March 2020

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.