Sumo!

[neil]

Yeah seems like it is a common thing for him to fail in the end, unfortunate as I like the hairy beast.

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Speaking of Murray Johnson he was particularly bad on commentary this time. I have no idea why, but every time there's a white person in a crowd shot at the srart of each show Murrary likes to remind us that visitors to Japan attend sumo. You'd think as a white man living in Japan with at least one white colleague (John Gunning, who doesn't do commentary but appears on the preview show every two months) he might be able to comprehend that not every white person is a "visitor"...

Maybe he is just trying to drive home the point so the gaijin can get better seats ? 

[Tamura]

Day 10 of 15 in the books, and things are definitely looking interesting. Onosato is hoping for promotion to yokozuna with a tournament win (or equally strong performance), he's currently 10-0 and has looked pretty much dominant throughout. Behind him there's four wrestlers at 8-2 including yokozuna Hoshoryu, who's recovered after a mini slump earlier in the tournament losing twice to rank and filers. Since Onosato will be fighting the other top guys (including Hoshoryu) in the closing days of the tournament he might need that two win buffer, but it would take a brave person to bet against him right now. Elsewhere Midorufuji finally picked up his first win of the tournament, the day after swapping back to the lucky black mawashi. Newcomer Kayo came in with a mild degree of fanfare and has dramatically underperformed, somehow he's at 4-6 but even when he won he's not looked remotely convincing despite him having the audacity to wear a gold mawashi. Staying on the subject of metallic coloured mawashi, Hokutofuji has retired. He dropped down the unsalaried lower divisions after being out injured in January followed by an underwhelming performance in the second highest juryo division in March. And just in case anyone wants to know exactly how fat sumo wrestlers really are, on day 9 Tamashoho was described as "tall and thin". That's Tamashoho who's 6 foot 2 and a half inches tall and weighing 19.7 stone, so hardly beanpole proportions....

Edited May 21, 2025 by Tamura

[neil]

Been meaning to post about the current tournament but been busy. Been a really good tournament so far I think, some really good matches, although the last couple days have been a bit flat.

Agree that Onosato looks very dominant - I feel like his performance just feels so much more yokozuna-like. I'm very confident he'll win this tournament and it will be exciting to have two yokozuna's in the mix. Insane to think that Onosato has only been in pro sumo for 2 years.

[Tamura]

Looks like we have a new yokozuka, subject to rubber stamping of course although I'd imagine there would be an unholy uproar if they passed him over from promotion. Onasato takes the championship on day 13 with a 13-0 record, leaviing everyone else in his wake.
 

On 5/21/2025 at 4:20 AM, neil said:

 it will be exciting to have two yokozuna's in the mix

It's something that's been sadly lacking for too long. The last time we had two yokozuna was in 2021 when Hakuho and Kakuryu were "active", although we went through several years when one or both were absent for the majority of a tournament. I remember doing a quick check and during 2019 and 2020 there were only three tournaments out of twelve that they both finished. Although Kakuryu can't really be blamed as he was up against the greatest of all time, Hakuho had a 44-8 record against him so not much of a rivalry to speak of. Then before that we had Kisenosato whose yokozuna run was so injury plagued he only completed two tournaments. Then before that we're way back into 2017 when Harumafuji retired. So it's definitely looking promising that we have two young, apparently fit, yokozuna, hopefully it will be a competitive rivalry.

[neil]

3 hours ago, Tamura said:

Onasato takes the championship on day 13 with a 13-0 record, leaviing everyone else in his wake

And just so impressively too. He's barely broken a sweat. I hope that Onosato getting the Y will take some pressure off of Hosh, who I like a lot in terms of his sumo, but I am super curious to see how their rivalry stacks up with them both being young (26 and 24) and hopefully staying healthy.

[neil]

Amazing end to the tournament with Onosato vs Hosh - love that Hosh won it too, really sets up their upcoming rivalry nicely and gives Hosh some redemption from people writing him off.

[Tamura]

Promoted! For anyone wondering what the deal with the fish is, it's one of Sumo's many quirky traditions.
 

17 hours ago, neil said:

love that Hosh won it too, really sets up their upcoming rivalry nicely and gives Hosh some redemption from people writing him off.

For all that Onosato has achieved so far and as dominant as he's been at times, Hoshoryu still seems to have his number. He's leading 6-2 in head to head matches, and one of Onosato's wins was by default when Hoshoryu was injured so really it's 6-1. Subject to them staying healthy, it's going to be a long rivalry and they'll be scheduled to fight on day 15 of every future tournament unless another yokozuna enters the fray.

[BigJag]

The Grand Sumo Tournament

Wed 15 – Sun 19 Oct

We have a limited number of tickets for The Grand Sumo Tournament going on sale this week!

Don't miss the chance to see over 40 of Japan's elite maku-uchi rikishi (wrestlers) compete across five days. Every step, bow, and clash is a rare opportunity to experience one of the most extraordinary spectacles in sport. 

Tickets go on sale 10am, Friday 25 July. 

https://tickets.royalalberthall.com/production/92547?emailsource=91619

Could be a small opportunity to grab some tickets on Friday.

Edited July 22, 2025 by BigJag

[Tamura]

Didn't feel like staying up after a night shift for two extra hours to sit in a queue for another who knows how long in order to find out all that's left are hospitality packages that I can't afford. So I was presently surprised that just now I was able to get what seems like a decent seat for a possibly reasonable price. It was probably more than I'd have liked to spend if I'm being honest, but this seems like the only chance I'll have to see sumo (unless I finally make a trip to Japan some time in the next few years) in my lifetime.

Day 13 of this basho is in the books. There's currently four potential winners, with Aonishiki from Ukraine one of two co-leaders at 11-2. He's had a strong tournament so far, beating most of the top rankers with the notable exception of new yokozuna Onosato, who's had a torrid time losing four times to rank and filers - the most ever by a new yokozuna. As each one means a kinboshi (gold star) and pay increase for the wrestler who earns it, the Sumo Association can't be too pleased, especially as Hoshoryu also gave up three before pulling out on day five.

Edited July 25, 2025 by Tamura

[neil]

This tournament has been amazing so far. Absolutely loving the breakout performance of Aonishiki in this, I thought he'd struggle at this new high rank but damn if he isn't making himself look real special.

Onosato seems to be struggling more and more, I feel like mentally more than anything. His mindset doesn't seem quite right and is getting picked apart at the moment.

Generally all the way down the card has had some really good matches. For those that watch the "sumo food" youtube channel, Mita is having an amazing tournament in Juyro, currently tied at the top at 10-3 and tonights match for him will decide if he goes ahead or not. Would be incredible if he wins out!

[Tamura]

On 7/25/2025 at 9:45 PM, neil said:

Onosato seems to be struggling more and more, I feel like mentally more than anything. His mindset doesn't seem quite right and is getting picked apart at the moment.

From what I remember of his pre-yokozuna career his occasional losses often tended to be when he decided to try and pull when going backwards (anyone who listens to the commentary will know that's generally a bad idea). He seemed to have got out of that habit in the last two tournaments (probably on the advice of his stablemaster), but he seems to have slipped back into it now whenever his momentum stalls at the tachi-ai. 

[Tamura]

Two days to go in the September basho. Yokozuna Hoshoryu was the sole leader for most of the tournament and was undefeated after eleven days, before losing on back-to-back days to leave him 11-2. Onosato, the other yokozuna, is now sole leader on 12-1 after losing on day 4. Hoshoryu fights sekiwake (third highest rank) Wakatakage tomorrow, while Onosato fights ozeki (second highest rank) Kotozakura who's fresh off a win over Hoshoryu today. Since Hoshoryu and Onosato fight each other on the last day you'd expect there to be various championship impications, unless of course Onosato wins tomorrow and Hoshoryu loses. Third placed Takanosho is on 10-3 and could sneak into a three way playoff, but that's unlikely I think.

[neil]

Damn that was a hell of a tournament! Won't post more just now to avoid spoilers, but definitely worth watching the last couple of days.

[Tamura]

I thought day 14 was a bit of a damp squib, at least as far as the title race went. Obviously we got the ideal situation of Hoshoryu needing to beat Onosato on day 15 to force a playoff rematch, but with Kotozakura pulling out (hopefully he's back for next week) and Hoshoryu winning by henka (not the way yokozuna are supposed to win) it was a bit meh. Various people seem to be gushing over Aonishiki and whether he'll make yokozuna. Seems a bit premature to me since he's not even managed to win one tournament yet never mind two in a row, and on top of that he's not even an ozeki yet anyway. With two seemingly healthy, strong yokozuna he might be waiting a while for promotion to yokozuna.

Anyone else going next week? I've got a ticket for the first day.

[neil]

When Kotozakura pulled out I was pretty annoyed because I felt like it really gifted Onosato the cup, which is why I had no problem with the henka from Hoshoryu. I don't really care about the whole Yokozuna doing henkas thing anyway, but given Hosh was also injured and this would allow him to actually fight Onosato I see it as a win for everyone.

Agree on Aonishiki - the hype is too much. He is doing phenominally but lets see how he does even getting ozeki, he's going to have to do two more 11-4 tournaments or better as a minimum. It's a huge ask, nevermind the yokozuna talk.