Behind the Curtain - July 2021

 Good news!  The July basho will be held in Nagoya.  The rijicho said "We will hold the Nagoya basho and it will be a success. We will make sure that the sumo culture will not be forgotten around the country." It will be the first time in a year and four months that a local basho will be held. It was held in March 2020 in Osaka but with no spectators. It will be the first local basho with fans since November 2019. The number of spectators will be limited to 3800, half the capacity in Nagoya. "All Kyokai members will undergo PCR tests and only negative people will be allowed to travel to Nagoya. Stringent measures similar to the Kokugikan will be taken at the venue to prevent infection. As a general rule, going out from the lodgings will be strictly forbidden, " summed Hakkaku rijicho.

What does this mean?  The lucky rikishi stepping from behind the curtain will step on the Nagoya dohyo and not the dohyo in Kokugikan.  Who are these lucky rikishi?  We have one new face entering Juryo and 3 returnees to sekitori.

Kotoukuzan (ms 1e) racked up a 5 - 2 record to move upwards.  Koto is interesting since he from the Philippines.  His name is Jasper Kenneth.  His mother is Catherine and his father is Japanese.  His father was the one who encouraged Jasper to join sumo.  He lived in the Philippines until he was 12 years old.  He entered sumo at 15 years old.  He debuted in makushita at 20 years old.  He is a pusher-thruster who models himself after Mitakeumi and Chiyotaikai.  Interestingly his least favorite class in school was Japanese.  Also, his least favorite food is natto.  Thanks to his mom, who sometimes brings Filipino food to the heya, so he is not homesick for Filpino food.   

Abi (ms 7e ) scored 7 - 0 to take the makushita yusho and thereby putting on the silk mawashi back on.  Abi was stuck behind the curtain for 4 basho since his demotion.  You may recall that a year ago, 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.   This lead to his suspension, which ended with a demotion to makushita.

Yago (ms 4w) managed a 4 - 3 to step out from the curtain after wearing a cotton mawashi for the last 2 basho.  Yago was a college sumo champion who entered sumo at makushita tsukedashi 15.  He hails from Hokkaido.

Kaishou (ms 2w) notched a 6 - 1 to get his silk mawashi back after 18 months.