Behind the Curtain - July 2023

It is time to journey to Nagoya for the July Basho.  We have five rikishi stepping out from behind the curtain this tourney.

 

Ms1e Shiden (4-3) got a kachikoshi from the first slot of Makushita to guarantee his wearing of the silk mawashi this basho.  This is his second time getting promoted to the paid ranks.  However, the last time, he didn’t get to do one bout at Juryo because he reprimanded from the Kyokai for going gambling and did not even gamble, but got suspended by his Oyakata, causing him to drop back to Makushita, again, without having a single bout.

 

Shiden was born in Machida, Tokyo.  His grandfather loved sumo and influenced him to join a local sumo dojo at a very young age. He attended Oyamada-minami Elementary School where he won a local child sumo tournament in the fourth grade. He went on to attend Machida Shiritsu Oyamada Junior High School where he wrestled in multiple national competitions. After graduating junior high school, he studied abroad at Saitama Sakae High School and was a member of the school's prestigous sumo club. During his third year, he won the national group sumo championship with his school and also notched a strong record in the individual competitions. Upon graduating from high school, he enrolled at Nihon University's College of Commerce and was also a member of the university's sumo club. However, he did not win any major titles during his time in collegiate-level sumo. Nevertheless, he opted to turn professional upon graduation from college.

 

Ms1w Kawazoe (5-2) put up 5 wins to get promoted to Juryo.  He was born in Uto, Kumamoto, and he began sumo wrestling during his time at Hanazono Elementary School. In his third year at Uto Kakujo Junior High School, Kawazoe won both the National Junior High School Sumo Championship Lightweight Class and the Hakuho Cup. For high school, Kawazoe attended Buntoku Gakuen Gymnasium where he performed well on the national stage. After graduating, he enrolled at Nihon University's College of Humanities and Sciences where he studied physical education. During his college career, Kawazoe won a total of four titles, including the National Student Sumo Championship which made him eligible for makushita tsukedashi. Upon graduating, Kawazoe joined Miyagino stable.

 

Ms2w Shishi (6-1) had a near perfect record to be able to step in front of the curtain.  Sergey Sokolovsky was born in Ukraine and grew up in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. He began wrestling at the age of 6 and won many amateur tournaments. He transitioned to sumo at the age of fifteen and won the European championship. He was runner-up in the 2018 World Sumo Championships. He joined Irumagawa stable in November 2019 but did not make his debut until March 2020.

 

Ms3w Chiyonoumi (4-3) managed to get moved up the banzuke to the paid ranks with a simple kachikoshi.  He was born in Kuroshia, a small town in Kochi Prefecture. He attended Kochi Prefectural Sukumo High School and belonged to their sumo club. He enrolled in Nippon Sport Science University and joined their sumo club. His most memorable college match was against Endo, a future makuuchi division wrestler, who he beat in a team competition. Endo was a 4th year student (senior), and Hamamachi was only a 2nd year student (sophomore). As a senior, Hamamichi was team captain in the National Student Sumo Championship tournament and led them to a team championship.

 

Ms5e Yuma (5-2) managed to get the open slot in Juryo to get to wear a silk mawashi this basho. He was born the second of three sons in Hirakata, Osaka, Japan. He started sumo wrestling during his fifth year of elementary school and participated at the National Wanpaku Sumo Tournament later that year. 

He attended Hirakata Municipal Nakamiya Junior High School, however, from his second year the school's sumo club was suspended, so he continued his training at Kindai University High School's sumo club. After graduating junior high school, Nakao was introduced to Onomatsu stable by the director of Kindai University High School's sumo club.

 

To make space in the paid ranks for these rikishi the following changes took place.  J5e Tochinoshin retired. His intai and Ichinojo’s create two openings in the second division. Two more slots will be vacated by winless veteran J9w Chiyonokuni (0-10-5), who may be next on the intai watch, and Juryo debutant J14e Tokihayate (6-9).

Behind the Curtain - May 2023

 The cherry blossoms left us after the Haru basho, and now after the Golden Week holidays we get to the Natsu basho.  Who is stepping in front of the curtain this tourney?

Chiyosakae Eita Ms 2w (5-2) posted a strong result to put on the silk mawashi for the 2nd time.  He spent half of 2022 in a silk mawashi.  Chiyo is from Fukuchiyama, Kyoto.  He debuted in January 2009.  He is a member of the Kokonoe-Beya.

Chiyosakae was born in the town of Kasuga (currently the city of Tamba) in Hyogo prefecture. Chiyosakae began practicing judo at the age of 3 and attended judo classes while in elementary school. During his fifth year of elementary school, Chiyosakae began attending judo classes in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, and would use this as his official birthplace when joining professional sumo. He attended Sanda Municipal Ai Junior High School in Sanda, Hyogo, before transferring to Fukuchiyama Municipal Nisshin Junior High School in Kyoto during his second year. During his time in school, Kishi won many prefectural judo tournaments. After graduating from Kyoto Kyoei Gakuen High School, the director of Kishi's high school judo club recommended that he join professional sumo since he was a fan of ozeki Chiyotaikai. Chiyosakae agreed and subsequently joined Kokonoe stable.

Fujiseiun Tatsuki Ms 2e (4-3) just cleared the hurdle of a kachikoshi result to make it to the paid ranks for the first time.  Fuji is from Kumamoto City, Kumamoto-ken.  He debuted in March 2021.  He is a member of the Fujishima-beya.  

Fujiseiun started sumo wrestling during his first year at Kawachi Elementary School, but stopped sumo wrestling in his third year and played baseball from his fourth year to sixth year. He then attended Kumamoto Shiritsu Kawachi Junior High School where he was a member of the judo club. He went on to attend Buntoku Gakuen Gymnasium and was a member of the school's sumo club. He continued his sumo career at Meiji University where he made top 32 at the Kokutai Sumo Tournament.

After graduating university in 2020, Fujiseiun got a job with Toppan, a printing company, and was planning to work at a factory in Saitama prefecture while simultaneously continuing his sumo career at the corporate level. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic he could not participate in training or tournaments so he decided to go pro instead.

Tokihayate Hideki Ms 3e (4-3) got his 4th win to secure a visit in front of the curtain.  He is from Kurihara, Miyagi-ken.  He made his debut in March 2019.  He is a wrestler from Tokitsukaze-beya.

Tokihayate began sumo wrestling during his second year of elementary school because he was bigger than most of his other classmates. In addition to sumo, he also participated in soccer and volleyball, but after entering junior high school, Tokihayate solely focused on sumo. For high school, he attended Miyagiken Kogotanorinkoto School where he finished third at the National High School Sumo Championship during his third year.

Behind the Curtain - March 2023

The cherry blossoms are on their way coming up Honshu from the south and may reach Osaka in time for the basho. This basho we have 4 rikishi stepping in front of the curtain, 2 returnees, and 2 newcomers. 

Tokyushoryu Ms2w (4-3) finished his one basho visit to the unpaid ranks and is our first returnee. 

Tomokaze Ms2e (4-3) is a former Maegashira 3 but suffered a terrible leg injury in 2019, dropping him behind the curtain. He is our second returnee of this basho.

Tamashoho Ms1e (4-3) is a Mongolian rikishi who is the brother-in-law and stablemate of Tamawashi. After 11 years in sumo, he is making his sekitori debut this basho. He beat Asanoyama in November to secure the Makushita Yusho at that basho.

Ochiai Ms15 TD (tsukedashi) (7-0) won the Makushita Yusho. Being ranked in the top 15 slots, means automatic promotion to the paid ranks, though there was some question of this rule applying to him. In a previous Ms15 TD zensho, the rikishi was not promoted to Juryo, due probably to a lack of open slots. Since he started sumo at Ms15 TD, he will be a sekitori in only his second tourney, and without a chomage but a crew cut.

For these 4 rikishi to step in front of the curtain, four rikishi have to trade their silk mawashi for cotton and get behind the curtain.

One of the four slots opened when Okinoumi retired from sumo, becoming an oyakata. The other 3 slots were opened by rikishi that managed 5-10 records at the Tokyo basho; J12w Kaisho, J11e Chiyosakae, and J10w Terutsuyoshi.