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Senshuraku Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
With the yusho determined on Saturday, senshuraku was just a mop-up day, but there were still some points worth talking about. First and foremost, I was surprised to see the Association lower the man'in on-rei banners at the beginning of the broadcast. Everyone was a bit surprised because the arena was at 60% capacity on a good day, but I think the Sumo Association did not want to go an entire calendar year without lowering those banners at least once.

As the NHK cameras focused on the banners, Sanbe Announcer declared that all tickets were sold out (and he didn't say that with much conviction), and then he added, "This is also an expression of thanks to the fans for supporting sumo this calendar year." Now that second part was said with some confidence, and it was clear that this was a planned moment in the broadcast to focus on those banners. Before we leave the subject of attendance, the Kyushu basho was surprisingly well-attended in my opinion considering the much smaller population base from which they had to draw fans.

The last few days of the tournament has contained a lot of house-cleaning items like most wins in the calendar year (Terunofuji posted 77 wins) and a list of sansho winners this year, but the one graphic I never did see--and it's one of the most important figures in my opinion--is the new Makuuchi rikishi (called Shin-nyu-maku) during the calendar year.

Before looking the data up, I tried to recall in my mind the newcomers from Reiwa 3, and the only one I could come up with was Midorifuji who debuted in the division in January. After finding the list, the only other first-timer this year was Ichiyamamoto who made his debut in July.

I'm not sure what the average number of shin-nyu-maku rikishi is over the years, but I seem to recall it's around five or six. In Reiwa 2 we had five newcomers as follows: Kiribayama, Kotoshoho, Tobizaru, Hoshoryu, and Akua. If we review the last two years' worth of rookies and do a "Where Are They Now?" segment, it shapes up as follows:

Kiribayama: Komusubi this basho. Obvious player in the division who is held back because he's Mongolian. Defining wins over the faux-zeki in his career.

Kotoshoho: Mid-level Juryo guy this basho who went 8-7. A total of three Makuuchi wins this year. Big kid but hard to market.

Tobizaru: This poor man's Ura is a sideshow if there ever was one.

Hoshoryu: Player in the division along the caliber of Kiribayama. Tons of potential along with big Makuuchi wins but held back due to his nationality.

Akua: Floats between the bottom of Makuuchi and Juryo regularly

Midorifuji: One hit wonder whose said hit was fake "kata-sukashi" wins. 7-8 performance this basho from the J8 rank.

Ichiyamamoto: Shows potential. Two basho in Makuuchi and then a Juryo yusho performance this basho. Will be back in January. The brightest hope among the five Japanese rikishi.

So, if we go back the last two years and look at the new blood in sumo, we find two very good Mongolians who are better now than any Japanese rikishi on the banzuke. For obvious reasons, they cannot be hyped in the media, and so the fans are not buying tickets to see them.

I suppose Ichiyamamoto has the most star potential among the Japanese rikishi although you may remember Kisenosato's hyping of Kotoshoho early this year followed by Kotoshoho's quick Makuuchi demise.

Guys like Akua and Midorifuji are never going to amount to anything, and then Tobizaru is a complete sideshow.

The problem then is that there is no positive turnover feeding the division with new Makuuchi blood that the fans can get excited about. Konishiki hinted at this as well in his interview that I featured a few days ago. First and foremost, the gap between Terunofuji and the next 10 Japanese guys on the banzuke beneath him is so vast it can't be measured. Secondly, there are no new guys coming into the system who can close that gap whatsoever.

The result is this tired churn that shows no potential of getting better. The Association has to be very happy about attendance figures here in Fukuoka, but the problem is that it didn't provide enough revenue for the tournament to come out in the black. They'll always have NHK, which is in essence a government-funded institution that will always support sumo, but the sport can't make up the difference it needs to be profitable.

Speaking of NHK, I saw the viewership numbers in a Monday morning report, and they were not good. Average viewership the second hour of Day 14 was 15.5%. The first hour was just 8.6%. Because the yusho was determined a day early, ratings for senshuraku averaged 6.7% from the time NHK went on the air until 5 PM, and then after that the number bumped up to 11.5%.

An exceptional number historically is low 20's. I think when you get into the mid-20's you're talking all-time records. Average numbers I've seen the last few years have been in the 17% - 18% range for senshuraku, but they don't always post them.

A few points to take away from these numbers are 1) the overall popularity of sumo is dwindling, and 2) it makes a huge difference when the yusho is determined on senshuraku. The Sumo Association is absolutely aware of this, and it is imperative that they get yusho races down the stretch that involve Japanese rikishi, and so that's why we see quite a bit of manipulation in setting up the finishes.

The problem lately, however, is that the Japanese rikishi are proving incapable of sustaining a yusho race, and there are fewer of them coming into the Makuuchi division. The crop of Japanese rikishi the last two years has been anemic, and there are no signs of improvement in the near future.

There is no solution to this problem as well. You either encourage proper sumo and let the Mongolians run away with everything, which would disenchant the fans, or you continue to harbor this current system of rampant yaocho that keeps the old, boring blood in the division and discourages new blood from rising. The second choice is the better of the two options, and so the Sumo Association will continue to allow bout fixing to occur in the highest division in order to hold onto their current fan base for as long as possible (i.e. before they die in the next 10 years).

Moving to the bouts of interest on the day, the biggest curiosity was whether or not Yokozuna Terunofuji would choose to defeat Takakeisho and post his first ever zensho yusho performance. From the tachi-ai, Terunofuji reached for the left frontal belt grip but didn't demand it, and after the nice charge from both rikishi, Takakeisho was not going for his usual tsuppari attack seemingly resigned to his fate. Terunofuji didn't grab the faux-zeki and pull him in close, however, even though the bout looked to naturally go to hidari-yotsu. After a few seconds of inaction in the center of the ring, Takakeisho backed up a step, and as Terunofuji closed the gap, Takakeisho went for a defensive shove, and Terunofuji reacted by backing up close to the edge giving most in the crowd a stiffie. As Takakeisho charged forward, however, he really didn't try and finish the Yokozuna off opting to put his hands forward in a defensive posture.

That allowed Terunofuji to force the action back to the center of the ring where both rikishi socially distanced for a spell. To this point in the bout, there was very little significant contact from either party. With Terunofuji just daring Takakeisho to do something, the latter went for a right inashi and a left paw to the Terunofuji's throat, and Fuji let him hold it there briefly without bothering to fight it off, but in the end, as Takakeisho relented from that attack, Terunofuji just chased him out of the ring from there scoring the anticlimactic push out in the end.

This bout boiled down to Terunofuji's not attempting anything for the first 12 seconds or so and allowing Takakeisho to give the Yokozuna his best shots. Takakeisho did, and the Yokozuna wasn't fazed. Fuji the Terrible easily picked up the senshuraku win giving him his sixth career yusho and his first 15-0 performance. As for Takakeisho, he ends the fortnight at 12-3.

I talked a little bit in my Day 14 comments about the importance of the jun-yusho, and M15 Abi had a chance to steal the outright honors from Takakeisho. His only order of business was to defeat M2 Takanosho, a tall order if the M2 wanted to win. He did, and so he was able to easily withstand Abi's high tsuppari attack before getting up and under the M15 by swiping his arms away, and before could really set up a pull, Takanosho had him driven straight back and out. It wasn't even a contest as Abi falls to 12-3 while Takanosho picked up as quiet of a Kantosho as I've ever seen at 11-4.

Takanosho had a lousy 2-3 start, and then by the nature of his schedule where he faced the top rikishi up front, he was never involved in a meaningful bout in week 2. He did finish the basho 9-1 over the last 10 days highlighted by an easy win over Shodai to start that run. Takanosho is a guy that is growing on me of late. He definitely bought his way to Sekiwake early on in his career, but now that he's been forced to fight more straight up, he's learning well and doing well...similarly to Hoshoryu.

As for Abi, he is also awarded a predictable Kantosho for his efforts, and reality will hit this dude in January when he's ranked just outside of the jo'i.

Shodai has to take everything that's given to him, and so it wasn't a sacrifice for him to defer to Suckiwake Mitakeumi in their senshuraku bout, especially after the Kumamoto native was gifted an easy kachi-koshi after a rough start. The two hooked up in hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai where Mitakeumi was given the easy right outer grip, and as Mitakeumi looked to move Shodai back, Shodai flinched on a counter tsuki-otoshi with the right hand pressed against MiFakeUmi's side, but he pulled back from the sensible move before attempting a useless maki-kae with the right where he had no intention other than to provide Mitakeumi that final momentum shift with which to score the easy force-out. This was just lightweight silliness here as Mitakeumi is gifted an 11-4 record while Shodai settles for 9-6.

Mitakeumi let too many people down this basho for him to be considered a viable Ozeki candidate come January. You look at that finish above and his butt's up too high, he's on his tip toes, and that right arm is leaving him so vulnerable.  Judging by the sumo basics, this guy is as far away from Ozeki as one can be, but if he can somehow finagle the yusho with even 12 wins in January, they'd probably go back and say, "Well, he had 20 wins coming into the basho, so let's promote him." Such a scenario would solely be based on a number and not on actual sumo content, but we'll just have to wait for the pre-basho headlines in January to see what's gonna be hyped at the beginning of Reiwa 4.

I suppose we should mention M7 Ura since he was predictably awarded the Ginosho. Coming into the day on 10 wins, he was paired against M15 Chiyomaru who was coming into the day at 7-7 from the bottom of the banzuke, so you knew he was going to be hungry for the win. From the tachi-ai, Chiyomaru held up waiting for Ura to make a move, but Ura didn't want to get in too close for obvious reasons, and so the two both fired a series of defensive tsuppari before social distancing for a spell still in the center of the ring. Maru forced Ura to come to him, and so Ura finally ducked in looking to grab a stump for the ashi-tori win, but Chiyomaru just pivoted to his left and executed an easy pull that sent Ura flopping forward and down in short order.

When Ura does win by ashi-tori (I'm thinking the bouts against Aoiyama or Tamawashi), his opponent will just stand there and let him execute the move, but in a straight-up bout, it will be played exactly as Chiyomaru demonstrated today. I think it's sad that they have to use a gimmick rikishi like Ura to keep people's interest piqued, but if his presence raises the viewership by even a half percentage point, it's worth it to them. Ura ends up 10-5 with one legit win against Takayasu, and for that he's awarded a technical merit prize. As for Chiyomaru, he pockets kachi-koshi at 8-7 after the easy win.

I don't know that any other bouts need commentary. An interesting graphic that they flashed during the broadcast was the list of previous Yokozuna who won consecutive basho after being promoted to Yokozuna:



In looking at that chart, you'd have to say that it's a very short list. The last Yokozuna to accomplish the feat was Taiho, the sport's 48th Yokozuna who was promoted to Yokozuna in September 1961. Yes, it's been 60 years since a newly-promoted Yokozuna won his first two basho after promotion. The cause? I was just a twinkle in my old man's eye in 1961, but I can say in 2021 that there is no one else around who can yusho. I should clarify that a bit and say there are no Japanese rikishi who can yusho without buying wins in double digits or having Terunofuji fake an injury or something, and so we now find ourselves in a similar circumstance to Taiho's day when he was unmatched.

Taiho would go on to a record-setting career, and while Terunofuji is not young enough to break any of Hakuho's records or even Taiho's for that matter, this should be the start of a new dynasty unless Fuji the Terrible decides to fall entirely off the map again.

I suppose we can say that sumo weathered the Covid storm in 2021, but the closing numbers do not make the new year look promising.  We'll see everyone again in two months.

Day 14 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Japan's biggest sports-only news outlet, Nikkan Sports, published a piece the morning of Day 14 that featured former Ozeki Konishiki. Next year is the 40-year anniversary of Konishiki's entering professional sumo, and the dude is organizing a few events here and there in an effort to commemorate. A couple of quotes from the piece I thought were illustrative were 1) the gap between Terunofuji and everyone else is too wide, and 2) the current rikishi need to do more keiko, particularly de-geiko.

He was saying that there are too many restrictions in place these days about what the rikishi can and can't do and where and when they can leave the stable, and while he didn't use the word "soft," the implication was that the rikishi are a lot softer than in his day. It's true too. I was fortunate enough to make it to Japan at the height of Konishiki's career, and so it's easy for me to compare the atmosphere surrounding sumo then and now, and I completely concur with Konishiki. The current brand of rikishi ain't what they used to be.

I don't know that there's a solution to the problem either. Konishiki stated the obvious in that the sport needs some new stars to emerge, but I don't think the current environment allows for it. There's too much corruption within the sport, and the Japanese rikishi just don't have the hunger that they used to. And why would they? The norm decades ago was for rikishi to enter sumo out of junior high school. That is unheard of now as Japan has become such a wealthy nation with far too many options for kids to make it in the big cities without trying their hand at sumo.

Contrast that to Mongolia. Granted, I've never been to Mongolia, but professional sumo wrestling is a means for those kids to strike it big in one of the wealthiest nations on earth. It's no coincidence then that the current crop of Mongolian rikishi have the same hunger that the Japanese rikishi from decades ago displayed but is lacking atop the dohyo and in the keiko ring in twenty twenty-one.

I think it helps explain why things are the way they are now, and I thought it was worth bringing it up here. But...we apparently have a yusho race to attend to, so let's move to the day itself starting with NHK's version of the leaderboard that looked as follows:

13-0: Terunofuji
12-1: Abi
11-2: Takakeisho

That leaderboard's only purpose is to add Takakeisho to the list, and while he was mathematically still in the yusho race, his chances to yusho were lost when Abi soundly beat him yesterday.

So, playing along with the NHK leaderboard, let's start with Takakeisho who was paired against fellow faux-zeki, Shodai, today. Shodai took a page from Tamawashi's book yesterday and struck at the tachi-ai before moving to his right and backing up all the way to the tawara. In Tamawashi's case he had a kote grip, but Shodai ain't that good. Still, with very little pressure coming from Takakeisho, Shodai moved sideways and to the edge and just waited for that final thrust. It came in the form of a left tsuki that Takakeisho just held up in the air for a second or two afterward similarly to how a baseball player will stand at home plate and admire a homerun. Homerun sumo this wasn't from Takakeisho, but it looked swift and decisive, and that's what counts.

If you watch the slow motion replays from the tachi-ai, you can see that Takakeisho doesn't make significant contact that would warrant Shodai's movement to the right, and he really doesn't connect with an actual thrust until Shodai has his back against the straw with his arms wide open saying, "Come and get me, fella." With all that Shodai has been through this basho, it was the least he could do to get out of Takakeisho's way for this one. The result enabled NHK to flash the leaderboard again with Takakeisho's name now marked in yellow, but that was just a formality.

Everything depended on the final bout of the day, Yokozuna Terunofuji vs. M15 Abi. At the tachi-ai, Terunofuji reached for the left frontal belt grip, but Abi's busy tsuppari attack was good enough to deny it straightway, and so the Yokozuna shifted to his left going for a quick tsuki to the side in order to get closer to Abi's belt. As he did, Abi caught him with a very good tsuki to the throat that lifted Terunofuji up high near the edge, but that was Abi's best and only shot from there. Terunofuji looked to shore up his opponent with a right kote grip as he braced a foot dangerously into the toku-dawara, and when Abi couldn't push him any further, the M15 attempted to set up a kata-sukashi, but he stepped far too wide for his own good and just tripped over his own two feet as he looked to set up the move.

This was an ugly bout start to finish, especially one with such large yusho implications, but Abi showed well here and gave the Yokozuna the best shots of anyone this basho. Defeating a Yokozuna is kinda like shooting a birdie in golf on a Par 4 hole for us hackers. You have to hit a solid drive; you have to put the ball on the green with your iron shot; and then you have to sink the putt. Abi had a few good shots here but not enough to birdie the Yokozuna, and so the Kyushu Basho officially goes to Terunofuji who moves to 14-0 with the win while Abi falls to 12-2 alongside Takakeisho.

We'll see if Terunofuji decides to notch his first zensho-yusho tomorrow against Takakeisho. If the Yokozuna defers to Takakeisho, it may signal talk of a Takakeisho Yokozuna run if he can take the yusho in January. Even if Terunofuji does win tomorrow, they still may consider Takakeisho a Yokozuna candidate in January if he takes the jun-yusho. For that to happen, he needs Terunofuji to let up for him, and then he needs M2 Takanosho to defeat Abi. I actually think Takanosho is the better rikishi, and I'd favor him over Abi about 60-40. The reason is that Abi's tsuppari is and always has been too high for his own good. I think a guy like Takanosho can oil his way to the inside, and if T-Sho can force the bout to the belt, he's the heavy favorite.

If Terunofuji does choose to win tomorrow and Abi takes care of business, that would make Abi the lone jun-yusho winner, and I don't see how they could consider Takakeisho as a Yokozuna candidate at that point.

Enough of that speculation. Let's touch on a few other bouts of interest from the day. Sekiwake Meisei was paired against M7 Ura, and it was nice to see Meisei remind everyone what a straight-up bout that involves Ura looks like. Ura ducked down low at the tachi-ai, and Meisei rushed forward looking to get Ura in a headlock but Ura sensed the danger and backed up quickly attempting to move to his right, but Meisei caught him with simultaneous tsuppari and just sent him flying into the corner of the dohyo. The whole thing took about three seconds, and how does one explain Ura's win over Ichinojo the previous day when he could do absolutely nothing against a much smaller Meisei? It's just silly, and I don't think anyone actually believes Ura is a legit 10-4, but trust me...I've been there when your heart doesn't want to accept what common sense is telling you so. Meisei moves to 6-8 with the easy win while Ura will likely win a Ginosho regardless of what happens tomorrow. What a travesty.

In the same vein as Ura's false 10-4 record, Suckiwake Mitakeumi moved to that same mark thanks to an obvious fall by his opponent, M6 Tamawashi. When Mitakeumi wasn't able to do anything at the tachi-ai, Tamawashi slowly drove him back about two full steps just waiting for the Suckiwake to make a move. Mitakeumi finally went for a terrible pull near the edge, and Tamawashi just dropped onto all fours. What a silly bout here, and the crowd was like, "Are we supposed to applause for this?" The applause was light for sure as Mitakeumi is gifted a 10-4 record after some of the worst sumo from this rank in a long time. Tamawashi falls--literally--to 9-5 in gracious defeat.

Let's end the day's comments with the M13 Tochinoshin - M11 Kotonowaka bout. Tochinoshin used a rare moro-te-zuki tachi-ai to keep Kotonowaka upright and at bay before the two hooked up in migi-yotsu where neither had the left outer grip. Tochinoshin pressed in tight reaching for that left outer, but when it was clear he wouldn't get it, he quickly lifted upwards on Kotonowaka with his right inside belt grip and then executed a maki-kae with the left that succeeded in giving him moro-zashi, and from there, Baby Waka had no answer. This win was big for Tochinoshin because it pushed him to 6-8...a mark that should keep him in the division regardless of what he does tomorrow. If he fights with this same vigor every day next basho, he'll challenge Terunofuji for the yusho, but I highly doubt that's gonna happen. Too much money to be made out there. As for Kotonowaka, he falls to the same 6-8 mark.

I guess there's still a bit to sort out tomorrow, so we'll see what the day brings.

Day 13 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Early on in the basho it was clear that there were no substantial storylines forming, and then by Day 6 I commented on how it was already a race between just three rikishi...the current threesome who are still heading into the day on the leaderboard. The media were trying to fabricate items of interest like the nonsensical focus in week one on Takayasu's long bouts, and then prior to the basho Mitakeumi was receiving a ton of attention, but for what? As the basho began and it was clear that Mitakeumi was lifeless, the hype persisted, and what it really boiled down to was a lack of anything else to focus on.

It will likely be a short list to cover today because heading into the day, the only rikishi who had a shot at the yusho were:

12-0: Terunofuji
11-1: Takakeisho, Abi

The two one-loss rikishi met today, and so let's start there. Abi's tachi-ai was defensive as he put both hands forward to stave off Takakeisho, but Takakeisho wasn't landing any significant blows to knock Abi off of his craw, and so after spinning his wheels a bit, Abi realized he was the superior rikishi (didn't he read my comments yesterday?) and began a forward-moving tsuppari attack. Takakeisho felt the pressure and immediately began to move left looking for an opportunity to swipe, but Abi meant business and it showed with the M15 scoring on two consecutive simultaneous shoves that chased Takakeisho out of the dohyo and down to the first row.

I was a bit surprised that Abi didn't defer to the faux-zeki, but I wasn't surprised in the least that Abi handled Takakeisho so easily in a straight up bout. I mean, Takakeisho is probably the slowest rikishi in the division when forced to move laterally. You could see that he wanted to counter as he mawari-komu'ed around the ring, but he just couldn't plant himself and get his hands in position before he was thrust out. It also speaks volumes that you have a supposed Ozeki here, and then an M15 who hasn't competed in half a year who steps into the dohyo and wipes the floor with his phony opponent. Money buys a lot in sumo and the current crop of Ozeki are perfect examples of that.

Immediately after the bout and before Terunofuji even stepped into the ring, they flashed the new leaderboard down to two losses so they could still include Takakeisho. Whatever.

I guess it's time to move to the Yokozuna Terunofuji - Suckiwake Mitakeumi bout, and this one wasn't even a contest. I mean, Mitakeumi was so lethargic that even if Terunofuji wanted to make it appear close, the Suckiwake couldn't deliver. Terunofuji struck his opponent well coming away with frontal grips with both hands, and even though Mitakeumi's hands were to the inside of those grips, they were too shallow to call it moro-zashi. With Mitakeumi completely neutralized, Terunofuji just bulled his way forward lifting Mitakeumi completely upright and driving him across the straw in two seconds flat. The NHK announcer could only use one word to describe the bout: kansho, or completely dominant victory.

I don't know that there's anything else to say about this bout. Mitakeumi is not the rikishi everyone was making him up to be, and that was manifest here. The dude didn't even try as Terunofuji moves to 13-0 while Mitakeumi falls to 9-4.

They are actually pairing Fuji with Abi tomorrow instead of Shodai, and so the Yokozuna can clinch the yusho on Day 14 with a win. Whether or not he chooses to do so remains to be seen, but I just don't see a scenario where he'd let Abi win. I mean, Abi cannot defeat Terunofuji in a straight up bout, so we'll have to see what the Yokozuna decides to do. I think he's going to finish it off and take his fourth yusho this year, but we shall see.

Because the yusho hasn't been decided yet, here is our leaderboard as we head into Day 14:

13-0: Terunofuji
12-1: Abi
11-2: Takakeisho

As mentioned, Terunofuji draws Abi and the two faux-zeki clash in Takakeisho vs. Shodai. I've already talked about the Terunofuji - Abi matchup, and the Ozeki clash tomorrow is really up for grabs. It may be that Shodai will just let Takakeisho win, but if the bout is straight up, I think Shodai has the advantage simply because Takakeisho's balance is so bad.

Speaking of Shodai, he was paired against M6 Tamawashi today, and The Mawashi rushed forward at the tachi-ai, wrapped his right arm around Shodai's left, and then executed a quick kote-nage where he just dragged Shodai into his own body giving Tamawashi the excuse to step back and out in about two seconds flat. Sadogatake-oyakata who provide color on the day struggled a bit in an attempt to explain what happened, and he finally came up with "ozeki-rashii sumo" and "kangae-suginakatta." In other words, he used tired platitudes that had nothing to do with the sumo itself. Shodai was able to move forward because he didn't over think things? What? Both rikishi end the day at 9-4, and this bout was as fake as they come.

With the overall lack of excitement this entire basho, they are allowing Ura this fake run to try and generate headlines. Today they fed the M7 to Komusubi Ichinojo, and the Mongolith predictably threw the bout. Ichinojo stood straight up at the tachi-ai, and Ura walked straight towards him allowing Ichinojo to get the right arm inside. Instead of latching onto Ura from the top, he lamely pulled it back out and kept his arms out wide allowing Ura to burrow in close. Ura sorta had moro-zashi, but he didn't have the strength to bully the Komusubi back, so with Ichinojo just standing there, you knew the good ole kata-sukashi was coming. Everyone in the arena knew it including Ichinojo, so as soon as Ura moved right and hooked that right arm up and under Ichinojo's left shoulder, Ichinojo just put his right palm to the dirt in defeat. I've seen some doozies in my day, but this one was definitely near the top.

There was a large applause of course at the end of the bout, but it wasn't an excited applause or an emotional applause...the kind you get after a legitimate, heated bout when everyone can just feel it. This was just fluff in order to make everyone feel good about themselves as Ura moves to an impossible 10-3 while Ichinojo take the make-koshi bullet at 5-8.

Let's conclude with the M5 Takayasu - M9 Hidenoumi contest. Takayasu stayed low leading with his head at the tachi-ai, and that denied Hidenoumi the solid inside position, but Hidenoumi persisted moving forward due a lack of an offensive attack from Takayasu, and just as Hidenoumi flirted with the left arm to the inside, Takayasu went into pull mode, but before he could execute it, Hidenoumi pushed him across before it came to fruition. This was a straight up bout for sure, and as Takayasu walked down the hana-michi and through the back halls, they had a camera there panned in close, and the former Ozeki looked completely defeated. A couple of basho ago, they were actually mentioning Takayasu and Ozeki in the same sentence again, but how do you lose to Hidenoumi where you can't even cross your own starting lines? Takayasu's make-koshi is official now at 5-8 while Hidenoumi actually picks up kachi-koshi at 8-5.

We'll end there for today and pick things back up tomorrow where I expect Terunofuji to breeze his way to the yusho with a win over Abi.

Day 12 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
We're getting down to the nitty gritty where the Association has began pairing the "leaders" with each other, and so until Terunofuji loses a bout, the leaderboard is going to wane away fast. The Yokozuna was paired against Meisei today, a rikishi he purposefully lost to last basho, and that was really the theme as the Day 12 broadcast started...replays of their bout in September and talk of whether or not the Sekiwake could pull the upset again.

As is usually the case in week two, let's focus on the leaderboard and then a few other bouts of interest.

11-0: Terunofuji
10-1: Takakeisho, Abi
9-2: Mitakeumi, Tamawashi, Hokutofuji

First up on the board was M12 Hokutofuji, and he was paired against M7 Ura. Hokutofuji never had a chance to yusho to begin with, so why not score more points with the fans and pad Ura's record? From the tachi-ai, Hokutofuji stood upright and put his right hand softly against Ura's neck before Ura whiffed on a pull attempt backing himself up near the straw. That left the smaller Ura vulnerable to a Hokutofuji pull attempt, but Fuji stopped short never trying to actually pull Ura down although he went through the motions. As Ura darted to the other side of the ring, Hokutofuji gave chase only to have Ura sorta pull at Hokutofuji's left arm, and that was Hokutofuji's cue to just flop forward and put both palms to the dirt as he flew across the straw.

I think the most contact the entire bout was the tachi-ai, and that was extremely soft where neither dude went forward and basically stood straight up. This was just a puff bout of sumo put on display to excite the fans and give the funny papers another chance to hype Ura. Both rikishi end the day at 9-3, and what were sumo fans rooting for today: Hokutofuji to stay on the leaderboard or Ura to pick up another win? Easy yaocho call here as Hokutofuji is eliminated from the yusho race he was never a part of to begin with.

Moving in chronological order, next up was a two-loss M6 Tamawashi vs. M15 Abi, who has just one blemish on his record. I would pose the same question with this bout as the last bout. What was the most desirable outcome for the Japanese fans? In a very predictable bout, Tamawashi put his hands forward at the tachi-ai without actually thrusting, and Abi's arms were defensive as he shaded back despite any pressure from The Mawashi. As Abi leaned forward in defensive mode, he was very vulnerable to a Tamawashi tsuki-otoshi with the right hand to the back of Abi's shoulder, but Tamawashi didn't employ the move and stood straight up allowing Abi to finally get into defensive gear and tsuppari a defenseless Tamawashi clear across the dohyo and out.

You have to credit Abi for a nice forward moving attack the last half of the bout, but his tachi-ai was not effective, and Tamawashi could have easily bested him a few seconds in. But...this was a very predictable outcome as mentioned yesterday with Abi staying in prime shape at 11-1 and Tamawashi's falling off the leaderboard at 9-3.

It's kind of sad how much emphasis has been placed on Suckiwake Mitakeumi only to have him come out flat every single bout. Today he was paired against M4 Endoh, a rikishi who hasn't exactly impressed this basho but who let up for Takakeisho a few days ago. Endoh was able to easily latch onto Mitakeumi's belt with the left hand, and why not as Mitakeumi's tachi-ai has been non-existent the entire fortnight? Mitakeumi's right hand was pinned inwards to the extent he couldn't get it inside nor did he want to bring it to the outside, but he was trapped, and so with Endoh forcing Mitakeumi to make a move, the Suckiwake finally backed up trying to go for a pull, but he couldn't execute it, and that allowed Endoh to attack with what was now the left inside position, and the yori-kiri was swift and decisive from there.

It's unbelievable to me that Mitakeumi's record is just 9-3 even after this loss while Endoh moves to 6-6. I noticed yesterday in his column that Wakanohana has now changed his tune from hyping Mitakeumi to now hyping Abi. All this dude is doing is spewing PR for the Association and not giving actual sumo analysis, but I guess the main point here is that Mitakeumi has thankfully been knocked off of the leaderboard for good.

Our final one-loss rikishi on the day was Takakeisho who was paired against M5 Takayasu, and Takayasu delivered an early right hari-te that connected well and threw Takakeisho off of his tsuppari game, but Takayasu didn't follow up allowing Takakeisho to finally offer a face slap of his own with the left that barely glanced off of Takayasu's left cheek. From there, the two traded even pushes before Takayasu went for a left swipe, and Takakeisho wiped it away easily causing Takayasu to exaggeratedly do a 360 as if to escape. With Takayasu have moved himself clear to the edge, Takakeisho was there waiting for him as he squared back up easily pushing the compromised Takayasu across for the quick win.

My opinion was that Takayasu was mukiryoku here, but you still have to credit Takakeisho for a nice effort. I think it's also worth noting that Takakeisho was in control at the end, and that's why he was able to keep himself within the boundaries of the dohyo after the push-out win instead of crashing down to the corner of the dohyo or falling off the mound altogether. It was a good effort from the faux-zeki, but once again, I don't think Takayasu was trying to win this one. The end result is Takakeisho's moving to 11-1 (along with Abi) while Takayasu has dropped four straight in falling to 5-7.

At this point, NHK flashed the leaderboard down to just one loss as follows:

Undefeated: Terunofuji
One loss: Takakeisho, Abi

And that brings us to Yokozuna Terunofuji who was paired against Suckiwake Meisei. Meisei moved forward well at the tachi-ai against the Yokozuna who was content to stand his ground and reach for the left frontal belt grip, and Terunofuji actually gave up a step in exchange for that grip which morphed into the firm inside position. As Meisei looked to press forward with his own left to the inside and a right outer grip, Terunofuji lifted him clear off his feet in tsuri fashion. Meisei still had the right outer grip as he landed, but Terunofuji stood his ground and gathered his wits for a few seconds before unleashing a nice inside belt throw with the left. Meisei attempted to hook his right leg around Fuji's left, but the Yokozuna shook it away drawing the kake-nage kimari-te, but this was really just a nice inside belt throw from the Yokozuna.

Regardless of that, Terunofuji moves to 12-0 and is still in firm control of the festivities. Meisei did show well here in defeat as he falls to 5-7. With all of the two-loss rikishi coming into the day having lost, the yusho race is down to the following three rikishi:

12-0: Terunofuji
11-1: Takakeisho, Abi

In looking at the matchups tomorrow, Terunofuji draws Mitakeumi, and there is no reason for the Yokozuna to throw the bout. I don't think he will simply because we're guaranteed a one-loss rikishi at the end of the day tomorrow, and there's no reason to reward the lethargy we've seen from Mitakeumi all basho.

On the other hand, if they really want to hype Mitakeumi as the next Ozeki in order to fill the void left by Asanoyama, it's possible, but I get the sense that Terunofuji will choose to win tomorrow.

The only other bout that matters is the matchup between our one-loss rikishi in Abi vs. Takakeisho. Abi is the clear favorite in a straight-up bout as there is no way that Takakeisho can beat in a fair fight. If Abi does defer, it will be deferring to Takakeisho's rank, and I think we'll see Takakeisho come out on top just because it would be hard to hype a guy and the jun-yusho winner who is coming back from a scandal so to speak.

In other bouts of interest, Shodai officially purchased kachi-koshi today against Komusubi Kiribayama in a bout that looked to go to hidari-yotsu, but instead of going chest to chest, Kiribayama just backed up and to his left waiting for Shodai to rush in and finish him off with his own left arm to the inside. The NHK Announcer said, "Shodai no atsu-ryoku!" or "Shodai's power!" but there was none of that on display. This was Kiribayama's refusing to take things to the belt and just backing up to the edge to wait for Shodai to drive in that final nail. I will always give credit where it's due, but Shodai did nothing to dictate that movement from Kiribayama, and this bout was just three seconds of fluff. To the fans it looked great as Shodai moves to 8-4 after that lousy first week, and Kiribayama knows his place in falling to 4-8.

Let's finish with the first bout of the day: M13 Tochinoshin against M16 Sadanoumi. The Georgian came with his usual kachi-age tachi-ai and had Sadanoumi driven back two full steps, but instead of grabbing the left outer grip in their migi-yotsu affair, Tochinoshin just put his hand at Sadanoumi's upper thigh instead of grabbing a proper outer grip before wildly stepping over and out. Tochinoshin completely ran circles around Sadanoumi including graciously stepping out before the Sadamight knew what hit him. The loss sends Tochinoshin to make-koshi at 4-8. and from the M13 rank, he needs two more wins to stay in the division. Judging by the way he's moving the last few days, I think he can do it. As for Sadanoumi, he buys his way to kachi-koshi at 8-4, and the Kumamoto faithful all go home happy. I just thought I'd post this picture here because I've never seen anyone refuse the outer grip by groping the upper thigh before.

We'll call it a day here and pick it up again tomorrow. I expect Terunofuji to beat Mitakeumi tomorrow officially eliminating the three-loss rikishi and making this a two horse race heading into the weekend, but it's all up to the Isegahama camp.

Day 11 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
One aspect of this tournament that I haven't touched on yet is the attendance. I think Fukuoka is actually representing pretty well. The first Sunday is always good, and then the next couple of days early in the basho can be sparse, and that was the case here as well, but the fans have done well in my opinion over the last week. They have to have a reason to come out, and this current leaderboard is proving quite attractive to them. I'm not sure how long it can hold up, but all things considered, I think the Association is pleased with the turn out.

Yesterday was a holiday called Kinro Kansha no Hi otherwise known as Sumo Fan Appreciation Day. I've also heard people refer to it as Giving Thanks to Old Folks Day, but isn't that one and the same? After the Kaisei bout they were scanning the crowd, and I thought this little slice here was a great representation of the sumo fan base:



Who in their right mind would ever wear one of those green happi things out in public? Only in Japan would that happen when people believe in a cause. If any of those ladies were out doing lunch and then shopping at the local department store, there is no way they would pay money for one of those things let alone try it on, and even some of the men are wearing them. And yet, there they all proudly sit in one of the worst fashion statements I've ever seen. My guess is that this entire group is from Kumamoto because some of the members are wearing more drab happi's with the name "Shodai" running down each side, so those green happi's must be from some group or club in Kumamoto like the Kumamoto Castle Preservation Society or something.

What we can take from this picture are several relevant points. 1) The sumo fan base is aging and not getting younger, and 2) Anyone who could be convinced to dress like that in public can also be easily convinced that Ura was a legit 8-2 coming into the day.

I'm not here to spoil anyone's fun in watching this, but as stated from the very beginning, the goal of Sumotalk was and still is blogging about those things that go unsaid in the media.

And that brings me to my next slide from the Day 11 broadcast...the list of Nenkan Saitasho winners going back the lasts eight years.



I'm glad they went back that far because you can see at the top of the list Hakuho with 81 wins back in the calendar year 2014. The low 80's or the high 70's was the norm for decades, but then you can see a seismic shift starting in 2015.

Kotoshogiku, Kisenosato, and Goeido had been promoted to Ozeki by then, but they were still sputtering and really the laughing stock in the sport, and so someone somewhere made the decision that a radical change was necessary to keep the sport alive. Kisenosato received the award in 2016 and was shortly promoted to Yokozuna after that. When his tenure at Yokozuna failed miserably, Hakuho stepped in the next year but only posted 56 wins, and then we hit an all-time low last year with Takakeisho's 51 wins during the year.

Terunofuji is definitely an outlier this year with 72 wins coming into the day and a few more wins to come, but it's a perfect example of what sumo has been the last few years. When the foreign rikishi pull back in order to let the Japanese rikishi take the yusho, get promoted to elite ranks, or even win the award for most wins in the year, you see the quality of sumo go way down. When a legit guy like Terunofuji comes along and throws his weight around in the ring, you get back up to where the number should be...at least in the mid-70's.

As we watch each day of sumo, it's obvious who the real players are and who the pretenders are, but sumo has become this silly game where we pretend as if the Japanese wrestlers are on the same playing field as the current foreigners and even the Japanese greats of the past. In order to achieve this illusion, compromise has to be made everywhere, and it shows in the Nenkan Saitasho Award over the last decade.

With that said, lets turn to the action from the day focusing on the leaderboard which looked as follows heading into the day:

10-0: Terunofuji
9-1: Takakeisho, Abi
8-2: Mitakeumi, Tamawashi, Ura, Hokutofuji

Up first was M12 Hokutofuji who actually led off all of the bouts facing M15 Chiyomaru, and the tachi-ai was lackluster as Chiyomaru barely offered a few defensive tsuppari while Hokutofuji was his passive self. Early on it was clear that Maru was not going on the offensive, and he kept his hands up high as if to pull while Hokutofuji chased him around the ring and finally out. I mean, this was as soft a bout as you'd care to see and Hokutofuji certainly doesn't feel like a contender based on his sumo. He still picks up the win in moving to 9-2 while Chiyomaru playfully falls to 5-6.

I suppose the most anticipated bout of the day by everyone not named Mike Wesemann was the M15 Abi - M7 Ura matchup, so lets go there next. This was one of those bouts where you new Abi wasn't going to compromise himself, and it showed from the tachi-ai as he caught Ura with thrusts to the tops of the shoulders as Ura ducked low. The force (yes, someone was actually applying force to Ura today) quickly sent Ura back, and before he could gather his wits and reposition himself, Abi had him thrust back and down in seconds. No gimmicky cat and mouse games; no waiting for Ura to rush in and pick Abi up by the leg; this was simply honest sumo and Ura got his ass kicked in by tsuki-taoshi in less than three uneventful seconds. He thankfully falls off the leaderboard now at 8-3, but this dude is actually going to threaten the sanyaku on the next banzuke. If that's not a sign of compromised sumo, I don't know what is.

As for Abi, he moves to 10-1 with most of those wins achieved straight up, but he's not going to yusho. They are not going to let a guy hoist the cup who just came back from a suspension after he disobeyed orders to frequent the tittie bars. Tomorrow he draws Tamawashi, a rikishi he obviously cannot beat, but I think Tamawashi is going to play nice and let Abi win in order to continue to this faux yusho run.

Speaking of M6 Tamawashi, he fought M10 Chiyotairyu in the next bout so lets move there. Tamawashi went old school in this one (think Kyokutenho) where he let Chiyotairyu come out of the gate fast agreeing to back up as if Chiyotairyu's thrusts had any effect, but they didn't and so near the edge, Tamawashi easily ditched to his right and showed Chiyotairyu the trap door by felling him with an easy right tsuki-otoshi to Chiyotairyu's left side. This was another bout over nearly before it was done, and if we look at the three bouts to this point that involved the leaders, none of them were contested well by both rikishi. The result here is Tamawashi's improving to 9-2, but I think he'll defer to Abi tomorrow. If Tamawashi wants to win tomorrow, he has a 100% chance of doing so. As for Chiyotairyu, he falls to 5-6 in defeat.

Let's next move to Suckiwake Mitakeumi, a rikishi they are trying to drag across the finish line as an actual yusho contender. Mitakeumi also received quite a bit of hype going into the basho, and I'm afraid they are going to try and make him the next Ozeki in order to fill the void left by tittie bar sojourner, Asanoyama.

Today Mitakeumi was paired against M5 Takayasu, and Takayasu knocked the Suckiwake back from the tachi-ai with a decent tsuppari attack. Mitakeumi had no answer, but it was clear that Takayasu was letting up for him, and near the edge Mitakeumi skirted right (emphasis on "skirt") and went for a mediocre pull, but Takayasu played along stumbling towards the edge, and just as he turned around to square back up, Mitakeumi was there to gain moro-zashi and force him back that last step.

As the bout began, Yoshida Announcer who was calling the action for NHK said, "Moro-te de ikimashita, Mitakeumi," which refers to Mitakeumi's' putting both hands forward in a defensive posture, and then he mentioned Takayasu's tsuppari attack second, and to me that's a perfect example of a Freudian Slip. I would think one would always call out the attacker first and then move to the defender's response, but here they were rooting for Mitakeumi from the beginning, and so regardless of what was actually happening those first few seconds, it was all about Mitakeumi. With the gift, Mitakeumi moves to 9-2 while Takayasu falls to 5-6, and it's been clear that I am not enamored with Takayasu, but he let up in this one. I think it speaks volumes that the only thing Mitakeumi could do here is go for that lame pull.

Moving to the final one-loss rikishi, Takakeisho was paired against M4 Endoh, and Takakeisho's tachi-ai was weak leaving himself completely vulnerable to the inside, but Endoh just refused to move forward even though he was scoring more points with his defensive tsuppari. As for Takakeisho, he whiffed on a few downward swipes, and he was out of sorts with terrible footing, but after a few seconds Endoh went for a phantom pull that was just an excuse to back up all the way to the straw, and as Takakeisho moved forward for the kill, Endoh finally did what he could have done at the tachi-ai which was to grab the front of Takakeisho's belt.

Normally when you grab the front of someone's belt you do it to lift the guy upright and set up the inside position, but here Endoh just dragged Takakeisho towards him as he backed across the straw of his own volition. As is usually the case, Takakeisho ended up on his belly in the corner of the dohyo (at least he didn't fall to the venue floor), and that's a perfect sign of a guy not pushing his foe out of the ring; rather, he's pushing into thin air and his momentum causes him to flop across the straw. Watch a real pusher like Chiyotairyu or Tamawashi, and they are in full control when they win in linear fashion, but Takakeisho is not in control in these bouts, and it shows. Nevertheless, he's gifted a 10-1 record while Endoh gets paid to fall to 5-6.

And that brings us to Yokozuna Terunofuji who was paired against Komusubi Ichinojo today, and the two treated us to a pretty good bout of yotsu-zumo. Ichinojo reached for the frontal belt grip with the right at the tachi-ai, but he couldn't make it stick as the two behemoths hooked up in migi-yotsu. Ichinojo was able to grab the left outer grip first, but Terunofuji had his right shoulder up and under the Mongolith keeping him at bay. At this point, if Ichinojo wanted to attack, it would leave him vulnerable to giving Fuji a left outer of his own, so there was pause for a few seconds before Ichinojo attempted the force out waters. Fuji rebuffed him in short order and was finally able to gain a left outer of his own, and he used that to force Ichinojo across the dohyo before dashi-nage'ing back to the other side and wearing Ichinojo down to the point where the final force-out was academic.

Once again Yoshida Announcer let out a Freudian Slip during the bout signaling that he was rooting for Terunofuji to lose. After Fuji grabbed the left outer and forced Ichinojo to the other side of the dohyo, Yoshida Announcer let out a panicked "Ahhhhhh," thinking Ichinojo was doomed. Actually, Ichinojo was doomed once Fuji the Terrible grabbed the outer grip, but it's another sign of bias in the announcing that you can pick up on if you understand the Japanese. The result of the bout is Terunofuji's moving to a perfect 11-0 while Ichinojo falls to 4-7.

Before we move on, just contrast this last bout with the bouts involving Takakeisho and Mitakeumi. The angles, the pressure, the grips...just everything was correct in the Terunofuji - Ichinojo matchup while everything was just fluff and unorthodox in the other two bouts.

And that leads us to really the only other bout of interest, Shodai vs. Suckiwake Meisei. Meisei secured the more advantageous position from the tachi-ai getting the left arm inside and right outer grip, but he of course backed up instead of pressing forward as a normal attacker would do. That enabled Shodai to move forward, but he still had the weaker position in the yotsu-zumo bout, and so Meisei took his left arm and brought it to the outside giving Shodai moro-zashi at the edge, and once Shodai had both insides, he was able to send a willing Meisei across the straw. I'm sure most sheeple watching this one thought, "Wow, pretty good win for Shodai," when in reality if you watch what's actually going on, you see Meisei 1) win the tachi-ai, 2) come away with the better position, and 3) gift Shodai moro-zashi all in an effort to help Shodai win.

Once again, compare this bout with the two Mongolians who ended the day, and the contrast in sumo content and flow is huge and very noticeable The Kumamoto native moves to 7-4 with the win to the delight of the green happi people while Meisei graciously falls to 5-6.

The only casualty from the leaderboard today was Ura, and so as we head into Day 12, things shape up as follows:

11-0: Terunofuji
10-1: Takakeisho, Abi
9-2: Mitakeumi, Tamawashi, Hokutofuji

If Terunofuji starts dropping bouts, it will be against the Japanese rikishi, and he draws Meisei tomorrow. I don't think he'll defer to Meisei, but that's why they fight 'em.

Takakeisho draws Takayasu, and that one's a push in a straight up bout. We'll see how it goes.

Mitakeumi gets Endoh, and Endoh can easily get to the inside of Mitakeumi's weak tachi-ai. We'll see if he chooses to do so.

And then as mentioned previously, Abi draws Tamawashi in a match that Abi cannot win straight up.

Day 10 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Today's broadcast felt a bit like year-end house cleaning. Throughout the show, NHK flashed interesting graphics and lists that displayed the yusho winners this year, the rikishi who have managed to kachi-koshi each basho this year (there were only three), all of the sansho winners for the year, etc. The one graphic that I thought was most telling was the list of new sanyaku members in Reiwa 3. Surprisingly, that list also includes just three rikishi: Wakatakakage, Meisei, and Kiribayama.

Kiribayama has the tools to become an Ozeki, but it remains to be seen how far his camp will let him run. I say that because Tamawashi has the tools to become a Yokozuna, but his stable master isn't even allowing him to get a sniff of the Ozeki rank. Hoshoryu's another guy who has the tools to become an Ozeki, so we'll just have to see with him as well, but in the case of Kiribayama, whether or not he reaches Ozeki depends on factors beyond his control and not his actual sumo ability.

As for the other new sanyaku members this year, Meisei is 26 years old, but it feels as if he's older to me. He also hasn't impressed whatsoever from the Sekiwake rank, and it doesn't appear as if he's a rikishi the Sumo Association and media are trying to hype. In other words, he's really a non-story and does not generate fan interest in the sport.

Wakatakakage, on the other hand, could be a guy with some star potential. I think we've all noticed that he has some nice tools to work with, and he's got decent size. A few days ago I posted a pic of his executing a flawless yori-kiri, and I look for traits like that in assessing rikishi potential. Unfortunately for the kid, he doesn't come from a stable with any money behind it. The Arashio-beya has some decent rikishi in it, but it's run by Sokokurai...a foreigner who obviously has limits when it comes to fundraising.

I mean, do you think it's any coincidence that the three Japanese Ozeki (I'm counting Asanoyama) all come from big money stables? Both Shodai (Tokitsukaze) and Asanoyama (Takasago) come from stables with Ichimon named after them, and while Takakeisho seemingly comes from a no-name stable (Tokiwayama), he's got the Takanohana money behind him. The former Futagoyama-beya then turned Takanohana-beya then turned Tokiwayama-beya still has a lot of money funding it even though Takanohana's fall from grace disenfranchised some.

To truly understand sumo, you have to understand the politics behind it as well, and Wakatakakage is not on the same playing field as the three Ozeki mentioned above although he's already a much better rikishi than the three. Go figure, right?

Bringing this discussion full circle, the new sanyaku rikishi this calendar year signals a very poor turnover rate in terms of fresh blood constantly keeping things interesting. It feels like sumo is in a bit of a rut so much so that Kitanofuji actually wrote in his column yesterday, "We're seeing something rare this basho with Takakeisho and Mitakeumi challenging for the yusho." His point was that all too often the higher-ranked rikishi haven't been pulling their weight in terms of the yusho race, but this basho feels different.

A constant theme that I've been harping on the last few basho is the lack of excitement from the supporting cast. Theoretically, Yokozuna should win every basho, and the excitement truly comes when they are challenged--legitimately--by up and coming rikishi. On paper this basho, Terunofuji is being challenged by Takakeisho and Mitakeumi, but the sumo in the ring doesn't bear that out whatsoever, and that's where I think the real problem with sumo lies: the sheer absence of exciting and young Japanese guys. Wakatakakage is easily the best they've got right now, but as I mentioned before, dude ain't got the money behind him.

With that, lets turn our attention towards the bouts on Day 10. The broadcast for me started as Terunofuji was exiting the dohyo after his dohyo-iri, and then they went to a short break for NHK news. When the feed resumed, they didn't show a leaderboard, and so I had no idea if they were going to go down to one loss or two losses. The first "leader" on the day was M15 Abi who was paired against M8 Tobizaru, so lets start there.

Abi's footwork was not in alignment at the tachi-ai, and so he sputtered in his initial tsuppari attack, but Tobizaru was no real threat to him, and so he recovered well and began driving Tobizaru back a few seconds in. Still, it wasn't wham bam thank you ma'am sumo as Abi hesitated near the edge thinking about a pull, but he repented quickly and finished Tobizaru off with a forward push attack. Good but not great from Abi, and in two places during the bout you could see where he was questioning himself a bit. He still moves to 9-1 with the win against Tobizaru's 5-5, and it was at this point when NHK flashed the leaderboard for the first time (at last for my feed) as follows:

No losses: Terunofuji, Takakeisho
One loss: Mitakeumi, Abi

I wasn't surprised that they only went down to one loss, and I think you have to respect an undefeated Yokozuna, and so I thought that was the reasoning here, but then we got to the other one-loss rikishi, Suckiwake Mitakeumi.

Mitakeumi was paired against M4 Takarafuji, a rikishi coming into the day with just three wins, and from the tachi-ai, Mitakeumi kept his arms in tight getting the left inside and then flirting with the right inside as well. He didn't demand the position, however, and so Takarafuji forced the bout to straight up hidari-yotsu where neither dude had an outer grip. Still standing in the center of the ring, the two went chest to chest, a position that does not bode well for the Suckiwake in a straight up fight, and Takarafuji showed why barreling into Mitakeumi with the chest and forcing him back a step. With Mitakeumi unable to defend himself further, Takarafuji made one more push grabbing the right outer grip in the process, and at that point Kitanofuji who provided color on the day let out an audible "A-tto," or "Oh no," as Takarafuji forced Mitakeumi back and across without argument.

You could just feel any air of excitement leave the arena, and Kitanofuji couldn't even contain his bias mid-bout, and the reason is that a lot of the media have been banking on Mitakeumi this basho. He's been the centerpiece of Wakanohana's columns, and he's one of the three rikishi to have scored kachi-koshi every basho this year along with Terunofuji and Meisei. The problem is that the hype surrounding Mitakeumi has been based on his name and his history, not his actual sumo content. He was beat today in every facet by a three-win rikishi coming into the day, and so I understand the disappointment from everyone, but if you base everything on the actual sumo, this shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. It's also clear that the Mitakeumi camp started to buy into their own hype thinking they didn't need to pay off the Takarafuji (4-6) camp today. Oops.

I never took Mitakeumi seriously as a yusho candidate, but as soon as he dropped to 8-2 at the end of the day, the NHK leaderboard suddenly changed dipping down to the two-loss rikishi. I have never seen that before mid-broadcast where they change up the leaderboard to accommodate someone who has just lost. I've seen it at the end of the broadcast for sure, but never directly after a Suckiwake loses. They are really grasping when they have to do that, but we'll play along and consider the leaderboard down to two losses now.

M12 Hokutofuji has been having a decent basho down deep in the rank and file, and he was paired against M16 Sadanoumi today. Hokutofuji resorted to his usual right hand to the throat left hand to the side tachi-ai as he shades left, and Sadanoumi just plowed forward oblivious to what Hokutofuji was doing, and so Hokutofuji backed up immediately moving back to his right pulling Sadanoumi forward and down about two seconds into the bout. Sadanoumi made no move whatsoever to respond to his opponent, and I believe it was likely intentional as Hokutofuji breezes to 8-2 while The Sadamight falls to 6-4.

Of Hokutofuji's sumo Kitanofuji said, "He moved well." I've been hearing that phrase more and more this basho, so add it to the list along with "gaman" for words and phrases used to cover for the lack of substantive sumo.

Up next was M7 Ura (and this is when I let out a biased sigh mid-bout) matched up against M11 Kotonowaka, and the two were not in sync at the tachi-ai, but they gave them the go-ahead anyway. After slapping downwards uselessly with one hand, Kotonowaka waited for Ura to attack, and the smaller Ura looked to duck in deep, but as he moved forward, Kotonowaka pivoted to his right and got his hand at the back of Ura's belt with the smaller Ura hunched over. Curtains right? Of course not. Kotonowaka let him out of the hold and then kept his hands high and wide ultimately gifting Ura moro-zashi. You knew at this point that Ura wasn't going to score the force-out win, and so the only tactic left was kata-sukashi, and Kotonowaka just played along as Ura moved out right and used his right arm hooked up and under Baby Waka's left to fell a willing Kotonowaka down and out. Kotonowaka added some theatrics at the end of the fall rolling off the dohyo altogether, but the fans bought it so no harm no foul I suppose.

This bout was obviously fixed, and to me the key telling point was Ura's lack of fear or hesitance to get to the inside and go chest to chest. Normally he'd avoid that like the plague but he kept burrowing back inside against a huge dude, and in a straight-up affair, he would have stayed on the fringes playing defense and looking for a sneak counter attack. The fans got what they wanted, however, as Ura stays on the leaderboard I guess at 8-2 while Kotonowaka falls to a willing 3-7.

The final two-loss rikishi coming into the day was M6 Tamawashi who battled M9 Aoiyama, and the Mongolian easily stood the Happy Bulgar up at the tachi-ai and executed a perfect tsuppari attack fueled by the lower body, and Aoiyama's only answer was to try and shade right, but he didn't even have time to counter as Tamawashi knocked him back and across tsuki-dashi style. I think it's also worth noting here that Tamawashi didn't come close to stepping out of the ring not to mention falling off the dohyo. When a guy's in complete control and he wins by oshi-dashi, he never ends up on the arena floor below as we frequently see from Takakeisho. Tamawashi moves to 8-2 with the nice win while Aoiyama falls to 3-7.

With all two-loss rikishi all holding serve, let's head back up the banzuke starting with the Ozeki ranks. Up first were Shodai and M5 Takayasu, and Shodai looked to take the bout to the belt fishing for the inside right and then the left. Takayasu briefly had his right hand on the side of Shodai's belt to the outside, but then he switched to tsuppari knocking Shodai upright. Because Takayasu wasn't driving with the lower body, Shodai was able to move left and then right trying to time a pull as he moved around the perimeter of the ring. Takayasu was persistent with his tsuppari, but it was all upper body and so Shodai frustrated him enough playing defense that Takayasu finally went for a pull, and as he did, Shodai rushed forward scoring on a do-or-die pushout knocking Takayasu off of the dohyo before Shodai crashed down to the dirt.

This one was close and may have warranted a mono-ii, but whatever. It was a very sloppy bout of sumo where all of the basics went out the window, but it was entertaining for the sheeple, and that's what counts I suppose. In looking for an aspect of Shodai's sumo to praise as they watched the replays, Kitanofuji said, "He's really good when he has to mawari-komu around the ring." Yeah, that's what I look for too in a good rikishi...someone who is getting his ass kicked constantly to the extent that he is always fleeing around the ring. Shodai inches closer to kachi-koshi now at 6-4 while Takayasu has slipped to 5-5.

Up next was Takakeisho vs. Suckiwake Meisei and this was another bout light on pure basics. Meisei came out of the gate first with a thrust attack, but he wasn't driving forward with his legs, and so that allowed Takakeisho to move forward with pushes of his own. As he did, Meisei backed up to his right going for a short pull that threw a wrench into Takakeisho's plans. Takakeisho was so slow to react to the move that he couldn't resume a tsuppari attack even though it was Meisei moving backwards, and so Meisei gathered his wits and began another thrust attack, and this time it was Takakeisho's turn to back up and to his left, but he completely sputtered in the attempt so much so that Meisei was able to rush in and send the faux-zeki two rows deep before Meisei crashed down himself.

This was close like the previous bout, but Meisei was the legit winner handing Takakeisho his first loss. The sumo was all around ugly here, but the key point in the whole bout was Takakeisho's inability to adjust in the ring. He couldn't take advantage of Meisei's first failed pull attempt, and then when he went for a pull of his own, he couldn't get out of the way allowing Meisei to just bulldoze him across and down. Takakeisho's sumo is so different in a straight up fight, and it showed here today. When he knows the bout is not compromised, he turns into a desperate fighter. In fact, you can watch the slow motion replays and not see a single thrust that really scored any points against his opponent. The sumo was ugly, but Takakeisho was dominated as he falls to 9-1 while Meisei evens things up at 5-5.

The question now was would Yokozuna Terunofuji take a loss to try and keep things interesting. The easy answer is he didn't have to take a loss this early as there's still a lot of sumo to go, and so today against M5 Hoshoryu he fought straight up countering an early left belt grip from Hoshoryu by just wrapping around the outside of the M5's arms, and before Hoshoryu could really get anything going, Terunofuji wrenched him around using the kime position like a lion whose caught his prey in his jaws, and Hoshoryu could not defend himself as the Yokozuna scored the forceful kime-dashi win. It's also worth noting how Terunofuji's butt was low at the point he knocked Hoshoryu across the straw, and that resembles the proper suri-ashi stance these guys should be in when executing a force-out and even a proper oshi-dashi.

Good stuff all around from the Yokozuna who can dismantle every rikishi on the banzuke in this manner except for Tamawashi. The Yokozuna is the sole leader at 10-0 while Hoshoryu falls to 4-6. At the end of this bout, NHK reshuffled their leaderboard, so this is what we're working with as we head into Day 11:

10-0: Terunofuji
9-1: Takakeisho, Abi
8-2: Mitakeumi, Tamawashi, Ura, Hokutofuji

I don't know that there really were any other bouts of interest. M1 Wakatakakage's henka of M1 Daieisho was weak and Komusubi Kiribayama's dramatic fall a second into his bout with M2 Onosho drew a snot bubble, but other than that, I think we're good calling it a day here.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. I don't anticipate Terunofuji throwing a bout to a fellow Mongolian (he has Ichinojo tomorrow), but we'll see what happens if his lead grows to two losses.

Day 9 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
The weekend was rather vanilla in terms of the sumo, but the Day 8 broadcast itself was pure gold. Former Yokozuna Hakuho was in the booth offering color, and the first half of the broadcast focused on his storied career. It got to the point where the sumo became a nuisance, and it was like, "Just keep showing this Hakuho stuff." I wish I had the time to go through it all blow by blow, but for those of you who were able to watch the broadcast in Japanese and understand it, the entertainment value will never get better than that.

The most telling piece of data from all of the pictures, videos, and graphics that they showed was the following chart detailing Hakuho's rise from the Juryo ranks to Yokozuna.

Promotion to Juryo: 18 years 9 months

Promotion to Makuuchi: 19 years 1 month

Promotion to the Sanyaku: 19 years 9 months

Promotion to Ozeki: 21 years old

Promotion to Yokozuna: 22 years 2 months


What makes this chart so remarkable is that Hakuho did this among a difficult banzuke that runs circles around any banzuke we've seen in the last few years. With Chiyonofuji as the lone exception, the truly great Yokozuna of the past all achieved the rank in their early twenties, and Hakuho fit that mold perfectly as well.

Gone are the days of a true Yokozuna emerging by the age of 22, and so it was quite special to watch the Day 8 broadcast and bask in the past.

Other points of interest that I thought would be worth noting are:

Men still do wear read Chico shirts. Oh, and I think that tall skinny dude in the middle is Hakuho. This is when he first came to Japan looking to be recruited. I wonder how many stables passed on him before Miyagino-oyakata took him in?



This was a still shot from a video they showed of Hakuho defeating then Hagiwara (who became Kisenosato) in the Makushita division. It was a very good bout, and I had to remind myself that Kisenosato was once upon a time a very legit rikishi.



This next pic is of Asashoryu forcing Hakuho to do pushups with his legs crossed, and you can just tell from Hakuho's face that he isn't afraid of anything. It's also been awhile since I've seen Kokkai's hairy chest and is that former North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il taking a picture just to the right of Kokkai's left teet?



The final pic needs no introduction. 33 seemed like so long ago.



Moving to the present namely the basho at hand, let's cover each of the Day 9 bouts in chronological order.

M14 Kagayaki and M16 Akua hooked up in hidari-yotsu where Akua held a right outer grip, but he wasn't pressing chest to chest and so Kagayaki executed a lazy maki-kae with the right, and that was Akua's cue to go for a kake-nage using the right leg to the inside of Kagayaki's left to trip him up and over. A mukiryoku Kagayaki went along with the whole thing including twisting over and down giving Akua the ill-gotten win, but it was still a nice effort from Akua. If Kagayaki (3-6) wanted to win this one, he would have applied pressure from the tachi-ai. Akua moves to 5-4 with the rare waza.

M13 Tochinoshin came with a lazy left kachi-age from the tachi-ai against M17 Shohozan, and with Shin keeping that left arm high for a few seconds, Shohozan was able to wrangle his way into moro-zashi. Tochinoshin held on with two outer grips of his own, and both dudes tested the force-out and counter waters. A healthy Tochinoshin whose intention was also to win would have scored the easy tsuri-dashi here, but instead we got a drawn out bout where Shohozan was finally able to wrench Shin over to the side, and the Georgian carelessly and intentionally allowed his left heel to touch just beyond the straw before forcing Shohozan across with his two outers. They ruled in favor of Tochinoshin, but a mono-ii was called where they didn't miss the left heel grazing the dirt, so the decision was reversed and Shohozan picked up the cheap win at 2-7. Tochinoshin falls to the same mark.

M13 Yutakayama pulverized M16 Sadanoumi from the tachi-ai using a nice tsuppari attack to stand his foe upright, and from there Yutakayama used a left inashi to slightly turn Sadanoumi to the side and a right choke hold to send Sadanoumi off the dohyo altogether into a heap at the floor below. Sadanoumi tried an ushiro-motare move at the edge, but the force applied from Yutakayama was so strong that Sadanoumi didn't have a chance here. He falls now to 6-3 and is having a tough time piling up wins that aren't compromised. As for Yutakayama, he moves to 3-6 with the nice display.

M12 Hokutofuji used his typical tachi-ai striking with the right and moving a bit left against a listless M17 Kaisei, and with Hokutofuji holding his right arm up high in choke position, Kaisei could have easily gotten to the inside, but that wasn't his intent, and so he stood there like a bump on a log refusing to take advantage of a poor pull attempt from Hokutofuji mid bout. With Kaisei doing absolutely nothing, Hokutofuji was able to finally wrangle him over and across on his way to a cheap 7-2. Kaisei was clearly mukiryoku in this one was he falls to 4-5.

Oh brother, M14 Chiyonokuni executed one of the worst tachi-ai of the basho aligning both of his feet and standing perfectly upright. When M11 Terutsuyoshi not only didn't take advantage by charging forward but also kept his arms in the C3P0 stance, it was evident which way this bout would go. In a silly affair, Terutsuyoshi just stood there like Rocky Balboa taking blow after blow to the head. Perhaps "blow" isn't the right term as Kuni's jabs were quite light, but he stayed busy while Terutsuyoshi circled around the ring finally setting himself up for the push-out loss. They actually ruled this one tsuki-dashi, which is sacrilegious if you ask me, but whatever. Chiyonokuni bought one here in moving to 5-4 while Terutsuyoshi sinks to 3-6.

M15 Abi continues to pad his record, but his sumo hasn't been anything to write home about the last five days or so. In a fixed bout against M10 Chiyotairyu today, Abi was in pull mode from the beginning, and Chiyotairyu played along striking lightly from the initial charge and then shuffling his feet as he moved forward just asking Abi to pull him down. It didn't take much from Abi for Chiyotairyu to hit the dirt, and this was just a silly, light affair that lasted about two seconds. Abi picks up kachi-koshi at 8-1, but it's meaningless when this is the kind of sumo he needs to make it happen. As for Chiyotairyu, he had plenty of room to sell in falling to 5-4.

M15 Chiyomaru fired a few tsuppari M8 Tobizaru's way before using a nice kote grip with the right and the left inside position to pull Tobizaru in chest to chest. Tobizaru attempted a maki-kae with the right hand, but he couldn't pull it off, and the momentum shift allowed Chiyomaru to send him off the dohyo in short order. At least it was real as both rikishi finish the day at 5-4.

M8 Kotoeko henka'd back a bit and to his right against M12 Ishiura, but it was a bad move that didn't fool the M12. Still, Ishiura's response was to go for a deep pull of his own as Kotoeko looked to square back up, so from the beginning the bout felt very disjointed. Once the dust settled, both rikishi looked for more pulls until Ishiura was able to secure the left inside, and that caused Kotoeko to counter with a right kote grip, but Kotoeko wasn't planted to the dohyo sufficiently, and so Ishiura was able to force him over and out easily surviving a counter kake-nage attempt from Kotoeko. Ishiura moves to 5-4 with the win while Kotoeko falls to 1-8.

M7 Chiyoshoma took full advantage against M11 Kotonowaka gaining moro-zashi against the flat-footed Baby Waka at the tachi-ai, and the Mongolian drove the kid straight back to the edge. Kotonowaka looked to counter first with a quick right kote-nage and then the same throw with the left, but before he could position his feet correctly, Chiyoshoma used his left hand to trip at the back of Kotonowaka's right leg causing him to step out before he could sufficiently counter. Nice watashi-komi win for Chiyoshoma who moves to 5-4 while Kotonowaka falls to 3-6.

M9 Aoiyama put both hands outward against M7 Ura at the tachi-ai easily allowing Ura to duck underneath and get the right arm to the inside. Ura coulda also gotten moro-zashi, but that stance isn't very attractive against a behemoth like Aoiyama, and so he danced right trying to set up a kata-sukashi but he could barely budge his foe. Didn't matter, however, as Aoiyama played along and put both palms to the dirt with no other part of his body touching (and no, surprisingly his boobs did not touch the dirt either!). This was just plain silliness, but the Fukuoka faithful seemed to buy it hook line and sinker. Ura buys yet another win in moving to 7-2, and he's just a sideshow here until we can sort out the yusho race. As for Aoiyama, he falls to 3-6.

M6 Tamawashi caught M9 Hidenoumi with a right paw to the neck from the tachi-ai, and his legs were already driving forward full bore, and Hidenoumi had no answer. Didn't even take three seconds for The Mawashi to do his craft, and if he wanna, he can do this to every other rikishi on the banzuke. For now he moves to 7-2 while Hidenoumi is humbled at 5-4.

M4 Takarafuji was lethargic at the tachi-ai keeping his arms wide and just gifting M6 Shimanoumi moro-zashi. Takarafuji did at least attempt a soft right paw to the throat, but I knew the instant from the tachi-ai that he was mukiryoku, and that was the case as he put up little fight in allowing Shimanoumi (4-5) to drive him back in linear fashion and to a 3-6 record.

M3 Myogiryu and M2 Takanosho traded jabs into each other's throats from the tachi-ai, and then Myogiryu just backed up a bit to his right and didn't stop until his left his foot stepped sloppily way out of bounds. And this was all due to no pressure from Takanosho. To add insult to yaocho, Myogiryu also put both palms to the dirt even though he was already a meter out of the ring adding to the unorthodox performance. Not that anyone cares as Takanosho moves to a quiet 6-3 while Myogiryu falls to 2-7.

M3 Okinoumi completely neutralized M1 Daieisho at the tachi-ai threatening a left arm to the inside with good position on the right side as well. Daieisho realized half a second in that his tsuppari attack was useless, and so after a few defensive jabs, he backed up fishing for a pull opportunity, but Okinoumi pounced and beat Daieisho handily at his own game winning by oshi-dashi. Okinoumi dominated here in moving to just 3-6 while Daieisho falls to the same mark.

Komusubi Kiribayama and M1 Wakatakakage quickly traded slaps at the tachi-ai before Kiribayama shaded right grabbing Wakatakakage in the kote grip, and before WTK could really react, Kiribayama had him lifted up and thrown down kake-nage style about three seconds in. This was a real kake-nage as opposed to Akua's amateur effort earlier in the day as the Komusubi moves to 3-6 while WTK falls to 2-7.

The biggest laugher from the weekend was Komusubi Ichinojo's intentional hair pull of Takakeisho. This was the first time I've ever seen a hair pull that wasn't part of a slap down attempt or uwate-nage attempt (where the other hand pushes at the back of the head). Mid-bout, Ichinojo used his left hand to pull at the side of Takakeisho's mage, and the move served zero purpose other than to make sure the judges saw it. I mean, the Mongolith held the pose for three seconds or so before resuming the bout as if nothing had happened. He of course dominated the rest of the bout in defeating Takakeisho, but they called the mono-ii and disqualified Ichinojo for the blatant hair pull. I thought I had seen it all until yesterday.

Today against M2 Onosho, Ichinojo put both hands over the top of M2 Onosho's head as if he missed on a pull attempt, but he was just leaving himself high and dry for an easy Onosho push out. I mean, Onosho beating Ichinojo at oshi-zumo in under three seconds? Improbable in a straight up bout. Ichinojo is easier to read these days than Romaji as both dudes end the day at 3-6.

Suckiwake Mitakeumi was flat-footed and missed his target from the tachi-ai against fellow Suckiwake Meisei, but instead of making him pay, Meisei actually back-pedaled as if he was being pushed that way. When he finally stood his ground at the straw, Mitakeumi panicked and went for a dumb pull that caused the action flow back to the other side of the ring, but Meisei didn't make him pay and continued useless movements while keeping his arms to the outside. The two finally hooked up in a light migi-yotsu position where Meisei gifted Mitakeumi the outer grip, and from there Mitakeumi executed a very top-heavy yori-kiri against the defenseless Meisei. Mitakeumi is gifted kachi-koshi at 8-1 while Meisei settles for 4-5.

M5 Hoshoryu and Takakeisho traded tsuppari at the tachi-ai a second or two before Takakeisho went for his wild left inashi. The move had little effect, but Hoshoryu played along exaggerating a move back towards the straw. Takakeisho couldn't finish him off, however, and so Hoshoryu moved a bit right still waiting for the final blow. Takakeisho couldn't deliver it, and so Hoshoryu grabbed a frontal belt grip with the right that could have caused serious damage if he was trying, but he wasn't and so he allowed Takakeisho to kote-nage him over to the edge, but not quite out. Takakeisho needed a final push attempt, and as Hoshoryu leaned back across the straw and down, Takakeisho also fell down to the arena floor on all fours...something that should never happen after an oshi-dashi win. Takakeisho's flying off the dohyo like that was due to Hoshoryu's failure to apply any counter pressure, and so it provided for the awkward ending where Takakeisho was not in control. Ne'ertheless, he moves to 9-0 with the gift while Hoshoryu knows his place at 4-5.

Shodai continues to unimpress along the same lines as Mitakeumi and Takakeisho, but unfortunately he doesn't have the money backing him this basho. Today against M4 Endoh, the struck lightly at the tachi-ai before Endoh shaded to his right and went for an inashi move that felled the befuddled Shodai to the dohyo with ease about three seconds in. Hooboy. An Ozeki is supposed to fight with power, but Shodai ain't got no power these days. He falls to 5-4 while Endoh improves to the same mark after the easy win.

In the day's final affair, they tried to make something of M5 Takayasu's head to head advantage of Yokozuna Terunofuji, but anybody watching the content from these two knows how farcical that is. From the tachi-ai, Terunofuji halted Takayasu in his tracks and got the left arm inside followed by the right outer grip. This was a good example of how Takayasu cannot defend his left side and then a rikishi actually taking advantage of the circumstance instead of refraining. Takayasu tried to move his hips and wrench Fuji out of the right outer, but it was to no avail as Fuji dug in for about eight seconds before he executed the textbook yori-kiri. I think it's worth pointing out that Terunofuji's force-out charge was fueled by the lower body as you could see him hop, hop, hop until his foe was out. In a fake bout like the Mitakeumi affair, the Suckiwake was upright and his knees were practically locked.  I'm posting side by side pictures here of the two so you can see Fuji's stance vs. Mitakeumi's upright and locked stance.  Think suri-ashi.

Terunofuji moves to 9-0 with the easy win, and credit Takayasu for putting up a decent fight here in defeat as he falls to 5-4.

I was curious when NHK didn't flash a leaderboard at the end of the day, so I won't either. It's all gonna come down to whether or not a few camps will shell out the dough to keep pace with the Yokozuna.

Day 6 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Six days into the tournament, and we're already down to just three rikishi who are in a position to generate any headlines moving into the second week: Terunofuji, Takakeisho, and Abi. I'll stop short of calling it a race among these three because Abi does not have chance to yusho, but they'll try and make something of his comeback story complete with a special prize. That leaves the yusho between Terunofuji and Takakeisho, and of course Terunofuji holds all the cards, but what the Association does not want to happen is to have one guy run away with this thing even if Takakeisho ends up buying his way to the cup.

Furthermore, the longer we have these three rikishi stay undefeated, the more it whittles away the pretenders that always inflate the leaderboard the second week, and so just through the first Friday already, the potential headlines are dwindling. My point here is not to suggest that things would really get interesting if one of the leaders lost; rather, it's to point out the overall lack of excitement from anybody on the banzuke. The whole Ura thing already feels old, and when you have the up and comers lose early on in the name of politics, it just dampens the potential for a good basho down the stretch.

Starting the day was M15 Chiyomaru vs. M17 Kaisei, and Maru came with his hands high as if to push, but Kaisei was too bulky to budge for Maru, and so Kaisei got the left arm to the inside easily and didn't even need full moro-zashi before forcing Chiyomaru back and across in short order. Kaisei evens things up at 3-3 while Chiyomaru falls to 2-4.

M15 Abi was proactive against M16 Sadanoumi from the tachi-ai trusting in his tsuppari attack, but it didn't just knock The Sadamight silly, and so Sadanoumi was able to grab the extended right arm from Abi and yank him dangerously close to the edge. Abi kept his balance and then braced his foot against the tawara before moving right and committing on a pull of Sadanoumi clear across the dohyo and down. Abi moves to 6-0 with the win, but it was interesting to see how quickly he panicked at the first sign of adversity. Abi's confidence looks to me as if it's dwindling a bit, so we'll see what happens when he's paired with better competition. As for Sadanoumi, he falls to 4-2.

M17 Shohozan looks as if he peaks in his bouts at one second in. He was able to neutralize M14 Kagayaki at the tachi-ai scoring on a quick right slap, but once the two went toe to toe trading thrusts, Kagayaki's size and skill and youth easily won the day as he pushed Shohozan back and across with little argument. Kagayaki breezes to 3-3 while Shohozan falls to 1-5.

M14 Chiyonokuni and M13 Tochinoshin struck at the tachi-ai, and it was clear from the get-go that Tochinoshin was only looking to pull. And that makes sense because when a guy has a bad lower back, you do not want to bend forward or move forward...two keys to successful sumo. Shin gave it an effort, but when Kuni pulled him forward by the arm early, it only added to Tochinoshin's desire to pull, and Chiyonokuni was able to get inside, push Tochinoshin upright, and then move him across the straw. Kuni did what he had to do here in moving to 3-3 while Tochinoshin should just withdraw, recuperate, and come back in January even if it is from the Juryo division.

M12 Ishiura henka'd to his left, and M16 Akua was not ready for it, and so the ugly bout was over in a half second as Ishiura scored the quick and dirty pull down. I never like to see this in sumo as Ishiura moves to 3-3 while Akua falls to 2-4.

M10 Chiyotairyu knocked M13 Yutakayama back a step or two and kept him upright with a dominant thrust attack, and with Yutakayama looking to lean back into the bout, Chiyotairyu switched gears and pulled him forward and down about two seconds in. Classic Chiyotairyu here as he moves to 4-2 while Yutakayama is the inverse at 2-4.

M11 Kotonowaka henka'd a bit to his right against M9 Aoiyama, but the Bulgarian wasn't fooled and easily squared back up as the two engaged in a tsuppari affair. It was clear that Aoiyama was not looking to move forward and wield the beating stick. If you had to describe Kotonowaka's style, you'd call him a yotsu guy, and Aoiyama is clearly a thruster, so to see Aoiyama "struggle" against a weak Kotonowaka thrust attack was laughable. Aoiyama didn't struggle for sure. Rather, he was mukiryoku as he allowed Kotonowaka to methodically work him back and across with little argument. Kotonowaka limps to 2-4 while Aoiyama is a cool 3-3.

M9 Hidenoumi took advantage of M12 Hokutofuji's tachi-ai where the latter likes to strike and then retreat a bit because Hidenoumi moved forward well nearly scoring on a quick pull, but Hokutofuji kept his feet and reconnected as the two sorta went to the belt. Hidenoumi looked to get a left arm inside, but instead of moving forward and going chest to chest, he was really looking to set up a pull, and I think Hokutofuji could sense what was going on, but instead of taking advantage of a passive Hidenoumi, Hokutofuji just went with the flow as Hidenoumi backed up to the edge and pulled Hokutofuji down for good. My opinion here was that Hokutofuji could have easily scored the push-out win if he wanna, but he let Hidenoumi win. Both rikishi end the day at 4-2, and Hokutofuji's quick 4-0 start is erased just like that.

In a silly affair, M11 Terutsuyoshi and M8 Tobizaru both stayed low putting hands against each other's arms, and two seconds in Tobizaru went for a quick pull that was very ineffective, but Terutsuyoshi still just moved forward a step and turned his back to his opponent as if to say "Do me now." And Tobizaru did easily pushing his self-compromised foe across the dohyo and out with the okuri-dashi win. Tobizaru is a quiet 4-2 while Terutsuyoshi falls to 3-3.

M6 Shimanoumi and M8 Kotoeko were even at the tachi-ai as Shimanoumi looked to control the flow of the bout with a few shoves, and then he looked to take the action to the belt briefly getting his left hand to the front of Kotoeko's mawashi. Kotoeko pushed that hand away as the two then circled around with Kotoeko maintaining a weak left outer grip, but Shimanoumi kept moving left firing a tsuki into Kotoeko's right side, and Kotoeko went down far too easily from that light poke. Shimanoumi picked up his first win at 1-5 while Eko is still winless at 0-6.

The problem with hyping M5 Takayasu's penchant for long sumo is that long sumo is not a merit in any way. It puts a focus on a guy for the wrong reason, and then when he steps into the ring against M7 Ura and struggles, the whole aura fades as fast as a toot in the wind. Takayasu was cautious at the tachi-ai not knowing what was coming from Ura, and Ura was cautious as well which is what happens when his bouts are not rigged. The result was two guys pushing into each other with one stiff arm apiece as the bout stalled quickly. Every five seconds, Ura would retreat a bit forcing Takayasu to move closer, and then about 20 seconds into the bout, Ura backed up putting a foot against the tawara, and Takayasu's response was to go for a quick hari-te, but the slap missed and provided Ura the opening to rush in and grab Takayasu right leg, and the former Ozeki was unable to counter as Ura lifted him up and dumped him to the clay in the center of the ring ashi-tori style. It is very rare when we see a legit Ura win, but this was one of them...which really speaks to how hapless Takayasu has become. Ura moves to 5-1 while Takayasu takes another hit at 4-2.

M7 Chiyoshoma put two hands at M5 Hoshoryu's neck from the tachi-ai, but Hoshoryu shook it off and forced the bout to hidari-yotsu where the youngster grabbed a right outer grip, and he used it early to dashi-nage Shoma and possibly set up a trip. Chiyoshoma survived the first volley and forced the action back to the center of the ring, but Hoshoryu still had the upper hand in that right outer. After gathering his wits for a few seconds, Hoshoryu attacked again this time using another dashi-nage to set up a beautifully executed kiri-kaeshi with the right leg tripping against Chiyoshoma's left. We rarely see two Mongolians go at it with both trying to win, but that was the case here, and you could tell by the overall quality of the bout. Very entertaining stuff here as Hoshoryu moves to 2-4 while Chiyoshoma falls to 3-3.

M6 Tamawashi won the tachi-ai with a nice thrust into M4 Endoh's left side, and with Endoh forced to move laterally a bit, Tamawashi rushed in and pushed him across and out the other side of the dohyo. Tamawashi fully dominated here in moving to 5-1 while Endoh falls to 3-3.

M2 Onosho struck well at the tachi-ai against M1 Wakatakakage forcing the M1 upright, but Onosho wasn't driving with the legs, and so Wakatakakage was able duck back into the bout, and as he did so, Onosho went for an ill-advised pull that Wakatakakage could have taken advantage of, but he refrained...on purpose. From there, Wakatakakage did Onosho another favor by setting up for a pull that never really came, and that was Onosho's opening to score the push-out in the end. Onosho buys his first win at 1-5 while Wakatakakage falls to 2-4.

The two Komusubi faced off today in Ichinojo and Kiribayama, and the latter threw a small change up into things shading to the left at the tachi-ai and coming away with the left outer grip. Ichinojo quickly countered with the right inside as he leaned into his foe reaching for a left outer grip of his own. Kiribayama kept is can back away from it, but that posture also discouraged him from a frontal attack. The two dug in from here for about 30 seconds jockeying for position, and just as Ichinojo went for a left outer grip of his own, Kiribayama pushed him upright and then quickly went for a dashi-nage again that sent Ichinojo crumpling to the dirt. Pretty good offensive attack from Kiribayama here as he picks up his first win at 1-5 while Ichinojo falls to 2-4.

Sekiwake Mitakeumi henka'd to his left against M3 Myogiryu looking to grab the cheap left outer grip, but he couldn't quite latch on. Myogiryu stumbled enough after the henka that as the two squared back up, it was even steven in a bout that was trying to go to migi-yotsu, but the problem was neither dude wanted to go chest to chest. A few seconds later, Mitakeumi confirmed that fact going for another pull across the entire length of the dohyo, and he was just able to pull Myogiryu down before Mitakeumi was forced across the straw. Mitakeumi moves to 5-1 with the win here, but you could see his confidence wane in a straight up bout as he wasn't thinking about forward-moving sumo the entire time. As for Myogiryu, he falls to a harmless 2-4.

M1 Daieisho had his right arm way too wide at the tachi-ai against Sekiwake Meisei, but he did catch his foe with a nice left paw to the throat. Still, with just the one arm he wasn't able to knock Meisei back, and so he began to set up a pull that Meisei anticipated too quickly, and Meisei just hit the dirt leading with his elbow before Daieisho actually employed a move. Not sure what was behind Meisei's fall there as both rikishi end the day at 3-3.

M2 Takanosho caught Shodai with a nice right choke hold from the tachi-ai as he drove his foe back, but at the edge, Shodai moved right attempting a desperate counter tsuki-otoshi that knocked Takanosho down to the dirt. They ruled in favor of Takanosho because he dominated the flow of the bout, but to the surprise of everyone including Miwa Announcer and Kitanoumi in the booth, they called a mono-ii. Replays showed that Shodai's right foot and Takanosho's left elbow touched down around the same time, and so they ordered a do-over. I think if you really got technical, Takanosho touched down first, but the flow of the bout definitely had something to do with the call.

In the do over, Takanosho connected on that same right choke hold against Shodai, but he was more cautious in his charge as Shodai stood pat. Takanosho next used a right tsuki to force the action to the other side where both dudes dug in for about 10 seconds as Shodai denied Takanosho anything to the inside. From this stalemate, Shodai grabbed a left outer in order to set up a throw, but Takanosho countered with a right inside belt throw and the ugly nage-no-uchi-ai was on. Instead of going for a true outer belt throw, Shodai moved to his left as if to drag Takanosho across, but Takanosho barely connected on a right forearm sending Shodai below the plane of the dohyo before Takanosho touched down. Gunbai to Takanosho and this one stood as the former Sekiwake picks up a nice win here in moving to 3-3. Shodai falls to the same mark and was on defense the entire way in both bouts.

M4 Takarafuji kept both arms wide at the tachi-ai and just absorbed Takakeisho's shoves (if you can call them that) backing up and playing along. As Takarafuji shaded back doing nothing, Takakeisho was in hot pursuit firing shoves along the way, and it was over in under three seconds. There was little impact made here from Takakeisho, and Takakeisho's basho so far reminds me a lot of that tourney where they let Kotoshogiku take the yusho. Nobody has challenged Takakeisho this basho, and everyone has been keeping their arms away and just backing up in short order. The applause was mild after this one because it definitely wasn't chikara-zumo, but nonetheless Takakeisho is 6-0 while Takarafuji dutifully falls to 3-3.

In the day's final bout, Yokozuna Terunofuji kept both arms in close looking to get the left arm inside against M3 Okinoumi while wrapping up his foe's left arm from the outside. The two grappled for about eight seconds before Terunofuji muscled his way onto a right outer grip near the front of Okinoumi's belt, and once he had that, he gathered his wits and forced Okinoumi straight back and across. Terunofuji stays on top at 6-0 while Okinoumi falls to 2-4.

We'll see what they conjure up over the weekend. They usually bring in celebrity guests or revisit memory lane, and they need to do something besides relying solely on the sumo.

Day 5 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
As I was scanning the headlines from last night's sumo, I saw a picture of Asashoryu with the accompanying quote regarding the Makuuchi rikishi: "Sumo with no applause." That's a direct translation of the headline, and a more correct nuanced translation would be "Sumo that deserves no applause." Asashoryu is exactly right, and it's the reason that he was so disliked by the Japanese media. You take that statement from Asashoryu and then Hakuho's statement from that documentary I mentioned in my Day 1 and Day 2 comments about being unable to picture any way to beat Shodai in a straight up fight, and you can see who is playing the word game, and who never did.

Asashoryu did throw bouts here and there, and I think he did it under immense pressure from the Sumo Association filtered down through his stable master, but Asashoryu hated doing it. He wanted everything to be straight up, and he was ruthless in the ring. Remember the tsuri-otoshi of Kotomitsuki? Hakuho flexed his muscles for sure, but he did it in a very polite way. He often made it look like his opponent had a chance in the ring when he really didn't, and of course Hakuho threw a lot of bouts, especially at the end of his career.

Asashoryu was a savage and Hakuho was a gentleman, and that's why Hakuho was able to extend his career so long with relatively favorable media coverage. Asashoryu is right, however. The sumo these days is crap, and the former Yokozuna isn't afraid to say it. What I didn't see in the media or hear mentioned on the Day 5 broadcast was anybody rebutting Asashoryu's claims because everyone knows it's true. Only a few are willing to say it.

Up first today was M15 Abi vs. M16 Akua, and Abi didn't look so confident today at the tachi-ai. Instead of moving forward with a tsuppari attack, he put his hands high near Akua's shoulders as if to pull. This allowed Akua to move Abi back from the get go, but Akua isn't an oshi guy, and so Abi was able to repent from his mistakes and then use a forearm to drive Akua back across the dohyo and down as Akua (2-3) looked to evade. This was ugly from Abi, but he'll take the win and that 5-0 start. After the gift from Kaisei yesterday and this shaky performance today, the bloom is off the rose a bit for this guy.

M17 Shohozan connected on a quick hari-te against M15 Chiyomaru, but there was no sashi attempt, and that was as good as Shohozan would get. Maru struck well himself and then went for a quick swipe that sent Shohozan stumbling forward and over to the edge, and just as he squared back up, Chiyomaru caught him with a nice forearm to the neck to keep him upright until he could shove him across for good. This wasn't textbook sumo, but Chiyomaru dominated here in improving to 2-3 while Shohozan is the abandoned hometown kid at 1-4.

M16 Sadanoumi was lethargic at the tachi-ai allowing M14 Chiyonokuni to quickly push him back two steps, and Sadanoumi finally woke up at that point moving left and coming away with the right inside, but Kuni responded well moving left himself circling around to the side of the Sadamight and pushing him down quickly with a nice tsuki-otoshi. Kuni carelessly stepped out, however, just as Sadanoumi crashed down, so they ordered a do-over.

In the do-over, Sadanoumi looked hesitant again at the tachi-ai as Kuni tsuppari'ed him upright before going for an effective pull that sent Sadanoumi moving forward, and as he looked to square back up, Chiyonokuni secured the deep right inside position and the left outer grip, and he frankly roughed Sadanoumi up as he forced him sideways and across the straw. The contrast in today's lethargy from Sadanoumi compared to his first four days was stark, and the difference was simply that Sadanoumi didn't pay for a compromised bout. Sucks for him as he gets his ass kicked in falling to 4-1 while Chiyonokuni moves to 2-3.

M13 Tochinoshin made his debut today after suddenly withdrawing before the start of the tournament with a lower back injury, and he was paired against M14 Kagayaki. Tochinoshin came with dual kachi-age from the tachi-ai before pulling with the left arm wrapped around Kagayaki's head while getting the right inside. Fortunately for Tochinoshin, Kagayaki wasn't trying to win here including grabbing a left outer grip that was open to him, and with Kagayaki voluntarily upright, Tochinoshin easily worked him over to the edge and out. Kagayaki made Shin work a bit here, but he never once tried to win the bout himself despite some glaring mistakes from the Private. Tochinoshin gets on the board at 1-4 while Kagayaki sells one here at 2-3.

M13 Yutakayama put both hands against M17 Kaisei at the tachi-ai in a defensive posture (think a lazy Chiyotairyu tachi-ai), and that allowed Kaisei to burrow in and get the right arm inside forcing the bout to migi-yotsu. Both rikishi grabbed left outer grips qualifying the bout as gappuri-migi-yotsu, and the larger, better Kaisei easily maneuvered Yutakayama back and across from there. Both dudes end the day at 2-3.

M10 Chiyotairyu was not lazy with his tachi-ai today, and he smelled blood against M12 Hokutofuji catching him by the neck with both hands and churning his legs hard in tandem with his shoves. Because Hokutofuji is generally passive at the tachi-ai, that combination led to a dominating performance from Chiyotairyu where he just bulldozed Hokutofuji back and across without argument. Wow, sometimes it's good to have a bout like this to see just how powerful Chiyotairyu can be. The reason he doesn't fight like this every day is the same reason Kagayaki and Okinoumi don't fight at full strength everyday. They are selling bouts because they can. They are all good enough to keep themselves in the division while selling 6 or 7 bouts a tournament.

And this concept isn't something that I've just conjured out of thin air. It was all brilliantly laid out by a former wrestler if you care to look it up. A compromised Makuuchi bout costs a million yen for the victor so do the math on how profitable it can be to sell. Why do you think that guys like Chiyotairyu or Kagayaki or Okinoumi never win sansho even though you see them just demolish a decent guy like Hokutofuji today with perfect sumo? Chiyotairyu was an army with banners in moving to 3-2, but we are unfortunately not going to see this type of sumo every day, which sucks for us and guys like Asashoryu who crave real sumo. As for Hokutofuji, he suffers his first loss at 4-1. Very telling and instructional bout here.

M12 Ishiura shaded a bit left at the tachi-ai against M9 Hidenoumi, but Hidenoumi wasn't fooled a bit, and so he got the right arm firmly inside while grabbing a stifling left outer grip, and as Ishiura tried to wriggle out, Hidenoumi carried him over to the edge and pushed him out from behind easy as you please. Good stuff from Hidenoumi here as he moves to 3-2 while Ishiura falls to 2-3.

M9 Aoiyama stood upright and was flat-footed against M11 Terutsuyoshi in his tsuppari attack, and that's a telling sign from the Bulgarian. As for Terutsuyoshi, he wasn't moving forward at all and so Aoiyama moved forward slowly firing quick tsuppari that had no effect because his legs and body weren't into it. The two circled the ring a bit as they grappled and the key point here is that Aoiyama refused to use his size advantage to just reel Terutsuyoshi in and smother him out. The problem was that Terutsuyoshi was so overmatched he couldn't get in and attack, and so the two finally hooked up in yotsu-zumo with Aoiyama gaining a left outer grip to Terutsuyoshi's right inside position. Despite having the mammoth advantage in every facet, Aoiyama didn't attempt an outer belt throw and instead just waited for Terutsuyoshi to make a move. Still waiting and waiting, Terutsuyoshi finally went for a very weak inside belt throw using his right leg to help trip Aoiyama over, and the Bulgarian just played along flopping to the dirt in improbable fashion.

Of course there was no nage-no-uchi-ai because Aoiyama wasn't looking to win, and after the bout Terutsuyoshi went to the wrong side of the dohyo and just bent over at the waist completely worn out. To think that the much larger Aoiyama could not have taken advantage of a gassed Terutsuyoshi is just silly. Easy yaocho call here as both rikishi end the day at 3-2.

M8 Tobizaru henka'd right against M11 Kotonowaka, and Baby Waka was completely fooled stumbling forward out of control allowing Tobizaru to push him out with easy less than two seconds in. No applause here as Tobizaru oils his way to 3-2 while Kotonowaka falls to 1-4.

M7 Ura started a full step behind his starting line against M7 Chiyoshoma, and as Chiyoshoma moved forward he touched Ura at the base of his neck with both hands as Ura ducked low. When the dust settled, the bout could have gone to hidari-yotsu with Shoma taking full control, but the Mongolian refused to grab it. Instead he backed up, but Ura still couldn't take advantage, and so the two moved back to the center of the ring with Chiyoshoma still refusing to latch on. With Chiyoshoma just standing there, Ura looked to set up an arm pull against Chiyoshoma's left, but the Mongolian anticipated it too quickly and touched his left knee down before Ura could finish the move. Very unnatural finish here, which is what happens in compromised bouts, and Chiyoshoma obviously did nothing to win here in deferring to the crowd favorite. Ura moves to as fake'a 4-1 as you'd care to see while Chiyoshoma falls to a harmless 3-2.

M6 Tamawashi meant bidness against M8 Kotoeko from the tachi-ai standing him upright and then muscling him back and out with a beautiful tsuppari attack that needed maybe three seconds. I guess you can throw Tamawashi into the list of dudes who never win sansho but who can obviously dominate their opponents whenever they please. The Mawashi moves to 4-1 while Kotoeko is hapless at 0-5.

M5 Takayasu and M5 Hoshoryu hooked up in hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai where Hoshoryu refused to grab an open right outer grip. Instead of attacking, Hoshoryu just stood upright and backed himself up to the edge and was completely vulnerable, but Takayasu still couldn't finish him off after the gift. As a result, Hoshoryu moved around the edge of the dohyo to the left and then just stepped out of his own volition before Takayasu did anything to knock him across. Hoshoryu had so many options throughout this bout to attack or counter, but he did neither opting to just back himself up to the edge and then step out when Takayasu couldn't properly apply pressure. I have no idea what the hard on is for Takayasu, but this guy is so hapless as he moves to 4-1. As for Hoshoryu, he'll take the cash here as he drops to a harmless 1-4.

M4 Endoh put two hands forward in a defensive posture against M6 Shimanoumi at the tachi-ai, and the latter's first reaction was to backpedal a bit, but with Endoh applying no pressure, Shimanoumi began a forward charge pushing Endoh back across the dohyo and off the clay mound altogether. It looked like a dominating win for Shimanoumi, but they called a mono-ii since Shimanoumi crashed down as Endoh was sent out of the ring. Video replay showed that Shimanoumi's hand touched down just inside the toku-dawara before Endoh's feet touched out, so they reversed the call and rewarded Endoh with the ugly win. He moves to 3-2 while Shimanoumi falls to 0-5. Ouch!

M4 Takarafuji was lazy at the tachi-ai allowing M2 Onosho to execute a mediocre attack that looked to drive Takarafuji back. The problem was that Onosho wasn't applying sufficient pressure, and so Takarafuji moved to his left and baited Onosho into a tsuki-otoshi at the edge. One of the oldest tricks in the book as the veteran Takarafuji boom de ayes his way to 3-2 while Onosho falls to 0-5.

Komusubi Ichinojo agreed to a tsuppari clash against M1 Daieisho although Ichinojo wasn't really looking to use his size advantage and plow forward. Daieisho wasn't big enough or strong enough to budge the Mongolith, and so Ichinojo for no reason other than to throw the bout began retreating back and to his right. Daieisho followed his retreating foe and was able to fire enough tsuppari into his torso to knock him across the straw although Ichinojo was not going to cross that tawara unless he wanted to. He agreed to the fix here as both rikishi end the day at 2-3.

Komusubi Kiribayama and Sekiwake Meisei engaged in a wild tsuppari affair with plenty of bark but no bite. I should clarify that Kiribayama could have gotten to the inside if he wanna, but he didn't and was obviously letting up for the Sekiwake. Still, Meisei could get nothing going and was knocked back close to the straw, and the Komusubi had Meisei dead to rights, but instead of just finishing him off, Kiribayama awkwardly stepped his left foot forward and then began leaning to his right. Meisei managed to slap a right paw at Kiribayama's side, but it was not strong enough to cause Kiribayama to just roll over to the other side of the dohyo; the Mongolian did that all on his own. You have a 300 lb guy who you need to knock over against his will, the type of contact we saw from Meisei isn't going to produce that result. This was just a silly bout of sumo where Kiribayama was in full control start to finish including that exaggerated dive at the end. Unbelievable as Meisei limps to 3-2 while Kiribayama knows his place at 0-5.

The buzzword or phrase surrounding Suckiwake Mitakeumi's "hot" start is that he's moving well. What the hell does that even mean??  He moved so well today against M1 Wakatakakage that the M1 stopped him in his tracks at the tachi-ai and demanded the left frontal grip to go along with the right inside position. As Wakatakakage looked to dig in, Mitakeumi nudged him a bit back near the edge, but WTK was never in trouble as he was just shoring up his grips. Once ready, he dashi-nage'd Mitakeumi back to the center of the ring, raised him upright, and then scored the textbook yori-kiri. Mitakeumi was at Wakatakakage's bidding the entire way, and the M1 showed good patience in executing here and setting up the very good force-out win. It's worth noting that WTK is assuming the perfect posture after a yori-kiri win.  Hakuho had this little squat going all the time in his straight forward yori-kiri bouts because his sumo was sound.  It's the position the rikishi start out in when doing suri-ashi, and it's a very basic position in sumo. 

That you never see guys like Shodai or Mitakeumi or Takayasu win like this in yori-kiri bouts tells you how unorthodox their sumo is.  it's a lost art in some ways, and so that's why I wanted to point it out.  Wakatakakage ekes his way to 2-3 while Mitakeumi suffers his first loss at 4-1. I guess I should clarify and say Mitakeumi was involved in his first straight up bout of the tournament, and he got his ass handed to him.

M3 Myogiryu and Takakeisho were even at the tachi-ai with both guys aligning their feet, but Myogiryu began shading back and then he turned his right shoulder inwards exposing that side to a left swipe that we usually see from Takakeisho. Instead of the swipe, Takakeisho used a left ottsuke to push Myogiryu upright and across the straw in fairly short order. Takakeisho definitely took what was given to him here, but this was mostly Myogiryu shading back and then dipping that shoulder inwards for no reason other than to give his opponent complete control. Takakeisho fans should be satisfied with today's performance although it was clear he knew the bout was fixed going in because there weren't any panicked swipes downward or even the wild left arm swing. Takakeisho moves to 5-0 with the gift while Myogiryu falls to 2-3.

Shodai was hapless at the tachi-ai allowing M2 Okinoumi to rush in and demand the left inside position followed by the right outer grip, and Shodai was had at this point as Okinoumi wrenched him upright and over scoring the easy win in about four seconds. Okinoumi's performance here falls right in line with earlier comments about how the truly top Japanese guys can turn it on against their fellow countrymen at will. There was nothing Shodai could do here, and there's nothing about Shodai's sumo that suggests he's an Ozeki. He falls to 3-2 now in defeat while Okinoumi ekes up a notch to 2-3.

Yokozuna Terunofuji wrapped up early around M2 Takanosho's right arm from the tachi-ai, so it was a matter of gaining the inside right. Takanosho did well to move right and attempt to apply pressure with a scoop throw, but the Yokozuna easily kept his footing and took advantage of the momentum shift to get the right arm inside, and once secured, he forced Takanosho over to the edge. Takanosho tried one last counter scoop throw with the right, but the Yokozuna's position was better now, so it barely phased him, and Fuji the Terrible's answer was a left outer belt throw of his own that sent Takanosho down and out. The throws didn't come in tandem, so it wasn't a nage-no-uchi-ai, but it's the kind of action you expect at the edge of the ring. Takanosho gave it his best shot here as he falls to 2-3 while Terunofuji skates to 5-0.

At one point during the bout early when Takanosho moved right and then circled in the ring, the NHK Announcer said, "Kurushii Terunofuji," or Terunofuji's struggling, but that was a misguided statement. I think it comes from everyone's desire in wanting Terunofuji to be in trouble, but he was in full control here throughout.

At the end of the Jobansen, Terunofuji and Takakeisho stand alone at 5-0 with a host of recognizable names one off the pace at 4-1, but if you don't look at anything on paper and just absorb the content of the sumo in the ring, who really stands out? Daieisho has probably been the most consistent, but he's only 2-3. That's the way sumo these days goes, however. Actually sumo substance means very little, and that's why it's hard for Asashoryu to give his applause.

Day 4 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Yesterday I commented on how this basho really didn't have any storylines to follow, and I think NHK News 9 noticed that as well because to lead off their sports segment tonight, the theme was "Takayasu's amazingly long bouts." They had the chart out that showed his bout length the last two days, and then they excitedly reported (as if it was something to get excited about) that Takayasu was involved in another long bout today!! They surmised at the end that this was how Takayasu prepared for the basho all along in the keiko ring...to do gaman sumo. Uh, I've seen thousands and thousands of keiko bouts, and the purpose in that practice ring is not to just stand there for two minutes doing nothing.

I'm just amazed at the narratives the media comes up with all in an effort to explain away what we aren't seeing in the dohyo: solid sumo. Oh, we do see it at times, but we're lucky if we get three bouts a day where both combatants put on a nice display of genuine sumo.

With that in mind, let's see what Day 4 would deliver starting with M16 Chiyo..er..Akua vs. M17 Shohozan. The two were not in sync at the tachi-ai, but the ref yelled "Go!" and so they went. Akua easily brushed off Shohozan's soft tsuppari attempt at the tachi-ai forcing the bout to hidari-yotsu, and from there Akua used his bulk to demand a right outer grip. Shohozan was defenseless at this point although he seemed to try for moro-zashi, but that just gave Akua the momentum shift he needed to fell Shohozan over and down with a right outer belt throw. Akua evens things up at 2-2 while Shohozan falls to 1-3, and you know things are getting bleak when you're fighting in your hometown basho and no one will pony up the cash to buy you a few wins. Sucks for Shohozan

J2 Daiamami came a'courtin' from Juryo to face M16 Sadanoumi, and this bout was just laughable. The two hooked up in migi-yotsu, and Daiamami's sheer size kept The Sadamight far away from a left outer, but then Daiamami just turned his right side inwards gifting Sadanoumi the coveted grip. Once you saw that, you knew Daiamami would offer no resistance to Sadanoumi's force-out attempt, and that was the case as Daiamami just crumbled out of the ring and off the dohyo before Sadanoumi could really attempt a legit throw. A successful uwate-nage does not see the victor slide out of the dohyo on top of his opponent and somersault to the floor, but that's what happened here because Daiamami was so mukiryoku. Sadanoumi moves to 4-0, and all four of his wins have been purchased. As for Daiamami, he'll easily trade that loss for a stack'a cash.

M14 Abi received his first real test of the basho against M17 Kaisei, and you could see Abi struggling to move Kaisei around with his tsuppari attack. With Abi's feet slipping a bit, Kaisei had the clear path to the inside right, but instead of securing it and taking the bout to yotsu-zumo, he used the right hand to senselessly fight off Abi's mediocre thrusts. Kaisei stood pat for about eight seconds without trying a single offensive maneuver, and Abi was finally able to get under Kaisei enough to push him back and across. Kaisei was not looking to win here, and it was obvious. This was Abi's first compromised bout on his way to 4-0 while Kaisei takes the cash at 1-3.

M14 Kagayaki knocked M15 Chiyomaru off of his perch at the tachi-ai using a very good tsuppari attack to force Maru to evade laterally to his left in an attempt to catch Kagayaki off balance, but Kagayaki wasn't having any of it as the M14 stayed square and executed flawless tsuppari that drove Chiyomaru around the ring and out. At M14, Kagayaki needs kachi-koshi this basho to still work his craft in future tournaments, so he moves to a safe 2-2 with the win while Chiyomaru falls to 1-3.

M13 Yutakayama clearly called in a favor he gave to M14 Chiyonokuni last basho as part of Kuni's "hot" start in September. From the tachi-ai, Chiyonokuni put his left hand to Yutakayama's throat and then just leaned to his right plopping over and down before Yutakayama could really catch up. They ruled it hataki-komi, but this was yaocho through and through as Yutakayama moves to 2-2 while Chiyonokuni falls to 1-3.

M11 Kotonowaka was upright at the tachi-ai gifting M12 Ishiura moro-zashi, and even though the smaller Ishiura got both arms inside, he didn't look comfortable. As for Kotonowaka, he grabbed a right outer grip to counter, but before he could use his bulk to do anything, Ishiura tripped him using the left leg to the right inside of Baby Waka, and that threw Kotonowaka off just enough to where Ishiura was able to score the shaky force-out win and move to 2-2 in the process. As for Kotonowaka, he falls to 1-3 in defeat and prolly should have tried to kime downwards on Ishiura as Oguruma-oyakata also suggested from the booth instead of grab that outer grip.

M12 Hokutofuji and M11 Terutsuyoshi both looked to pull from the tachi-ai the first 10 seconds or so of their contest, and it provided for an ugly start to the bout. Finally, Hokutofuji was able to get the right arm inside, and that facilitated a left outer grip, and so Terutsuyoshi countered with the right inside belt grip, and now the good bout of sumo was on. Hokutofuji tested the waters a bit, but T-Yoshi stood pat with his inside position, and so the two stood there for a full minute considering Plan B. Terutsuyoshi struck first with an uchi-gake trip attempt, but he didn't have the right angle to succeed, and so Hokutofuji was able to use the momentum shift and finally swing his foe over to the edge and push him out for good. Bad start good finish here as Hokutofuji moves to 4-0 while Terutsuyoshi falls to 2-2.

M9 Aoiyama and M10 Chiyotairyu traded light tsuppari from the tachi-ai with Aoiyama completely upright, and when Chiyotairyu went for a light pull, Aoiyama just flopped forward and down going into a safe roll across the dirt. They tried to make this appear as a heavyweight bout, but it was too heavy on yaocho for my liking. Aoiyama dives to his first loss at 3-1 while Chiyotairyu pulls even at 2-2.

M8 Kotoeko won the tachi-ai against M9 Hidenoumi getting his right arm inside deep while Hidenoumi's own right was out of position. On the other side, Kotoeko had the clear path to the left outer grip, but he refused to take it, and you could just see that Eko was half-assing it. Hidenoumi finally did something in the form of mawari-komu-ing to his right going for a weaker than weak left tsuki-otoshi with a fist, and Kotoeko just slumped over putting his left knee down giving Hidenoumi the cheap win. Kotoeko (0-4) did all the work here in defeat while Hidenoumi pulled even at 2-2 after buying one here.

M7 Ura started a step behind the shikiri-sen against M8 Tobizaru, and the result was an awkward tachi-ai and even more awkward bout as both dudes hunkered low fishing for pull attempts. Making little to no relevant contact, Tobizaru eventually raised Ura upright a bit before attempting a light swipe at Ura's arm, and that sent Ura into a full on somersault across the dohyo. I have no idea what was going on here; I just know it wasn't sumo. Who would ever pay to see this nonsense as Ura falls to 3-1 while Tobizaru "improves" to 2-2.

M7 Chiyoshoma offered a quick right hari-te at the tachi-ai as M6 Tamawashi moved to his own right creating for a very awkward start, and the bout never recovered from there. Kiribayama did come out of the fray with the left arm inside, but he wasn't looking to shore anything up, and so he moved here and there as Tamawashi gave chase and ultimately pushed Chiyoshoma back and across for good. As usual, we don't get a hotly contested bout between two Mongolians with both dudes now resting at 3-1.

And that brings us to what we hope for every day...long sumo featuring M5 Takayasu who looked to take charge from the tachi-ai with a decent thrust attack against M6 Shimanoumi, but Takayasu's thrusts were focused way too high, and so Shimanoumi was able to move to his right at the edge and make Takayasu give chase. Takayasu's answer was to start undressing Shimanoumi right there in the center of the ring ripping off Shimanoumi's sagari and then unraveling his belt. My interest was piqued at this point thinking I'd be getting long sumo and a bit of soft porn between two men, but I was disappointed when they settled in at the center of the ring pushing into each other's shoulders as they ducked down. After a full minute of inaction, Shimanoumi made the first move by darting right, and he had his head ducked lower than Takayasu with his right hand positioned perfectly for the right outer grip...which he of course refused to grab (pictured at right). After about 20 seconds of Shimanoumi's not grabbing the uwate, he finally backed out of the stance leaving things even steven until well past the three minute mark.

You could see in the background Chiyotaikai flashing three fingers in the air and looking over at Tosanoumi to his left to call for a mizu-iri, and just as Chiyotaikai lamely raised his arm (hey, kinda like his tsuppari attack as an active rikishi), Takayasu got the left arm sorta inside and a right outer grip, and Shimanoumi just dutifully walked into a weak outer belt throw. Good night this is treacherous stuff, and I can't believe they're making long sumo from Takayasu a topic of this basho. To me it's unwatchable and it's obvious yaocho. As is usually the case, Shimanoumi coulda grabbed his own right outer during the contest but he refused as Takayasu is gifted yet another win in moving to 3-1. As for Shimanoumi, he accepts the cash and an 0-4 start.

M5 Hoshoryu and M4 Endoh grabbed at each other's arms at the tachi-ai as they circled the ring, and eventually the bout went to hidari-yotsu although Hoshoryu never looked to use that inside position for leverage. Once Endoh was settled with his own inside left, Hoshoryu went for a powerful kote-nage with the right that sent Endoh over landing squarely on the top of his head, but as he made the throw, Hoshoryu purposefully put his right knee to the dirt as if to gain leverage for the throw. As for Endoh, the move totally caught him off guard and they ruled it shitate-nage although you can clearly see from this pic that Endoh does not have a hold on Hoshoryu's belt, but whatever. Hoshoryu (1-3) obviously throws this one in favor of Endoh (2-2).

M3 Okinoumi and M4 Takarafuji hooked up in hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai, and Okinoumi made the obligatory attempts to grab the right outer, but he came up short on purpose. With Takarafuji really posing no threat, Okinoumi next just leaned forward into Takarafuji letting his feet slide backwards, and so Takarafuji moved forward and forced Okinoumi upright and then across. In a normal bout, Okinoumi would have moved to his right and at least attempted a counter tsuki-otoshi, but Okinoumi agreed to be forced across in linear fashion. I don't know what the politics were behind this one, but Okinoumi deferred start to finish in falling to 1-3. As for Takarafuji, he moves to 2-2 with the gift.

Komusubi Kiribayama was hot from the tachi-ai striking M2 Takanosho with a right thrust while positioning his left hand at the front of Takanosho's belt, but instead of grabbing it, he fired a few more effective shoves Takanosho's way and then for no reason stood upright, aligned his feet perfectly, put a hand at the back of Takanosho's head, and then said, "Do me now." And Takanosho did. This was one of those bouts where Kiribayama (0-4) just kicked ass at the tachi-ai and then suddenly gave up...on purpose. Takanosho moves to 2-2 with the gift.

Suckiwake Mitakeumi is starting to garner a bit of attention in the press, and today he faced an insurmountable foe in Komusubi Ichinojo. Unless the Komusubi was willing of course, and he was. Ichinojo actually briefly took control from the start with some light tsuppari that knocked Mitakeumi back, but he let the Suckiwake evade laterally to his left. When the dust settled, Mitakeumi was pressed against the Mongolith near the edge, and Ichinojo could have easily secured the right arm inside, but he refused. Mitakeumi still couldn't push him across, and so Ichinojo moved to the center of the ring and then to the other side just walking out as Mitakeumi gave chase. You watch this blow by blow and there is nothing that Mitakeumi did to dictate Ichinojo's movement the entire way. Doesn't matter as yaocho rules the day here propelling Mitakeumi to 4-0 while Ichinojo settles for 2-2.

Sekiwake Meisei knocked M3 Myogiryu upright with some nice thrusts at the tachi-ai, but Meisei's hands were quite high for his own good. Myogiryu failed to even attempt to take advantage, however, and when Meisei went for a very light left kote-nage, Myogiryu just dutifully hit the dirt forward and down landing on both palms. This Meisei at Sekiwake thing is getting a bit stale as both rikishi finish the day at 2-2.

M1 Wakatakakage struck Shodai well at the tachi-ai with extended hands, but then he just backed up to his right as if to pull and stepped out all with Shodai in tow. If you watch the slow-mo replay, you can actually see Shodai wanting to take this thing to migi-yotsu, and it's all Wakatakakage backing up and moving to the side until he's across the straw. It's only at the edge that Shodai catches up with a meager thrust, but that's the call: oshi-dashi. Shodai doesn't score on a single offensive maneuver in this quickie that sends him cheaply to 3-1 while Wakatakakage falls to 1-3.

In a similar bout, M1 Daieisho did most of the work against Takakeisho striking him with hands extended at the tachi-ai and scoring on six paws to the face to Takakeisho's two meaningless downward swipes. The difference though was that Daieisho was shading backwards as he attacked, and yet Takakeisho still couldn't score on a decent punch. Next, Daieisho had to fake a pull giving him an excuse to literally jump back to the edge and Takakeisho still couldn't put him away because he had no forward momentum created from his sumo. Still having to do the lion's share of the work, Daieisho moved right as if to fire a counter tsuki but he missed on purpose and moved back to the center of the ring. Finally, Takakeisho swung on a weak left sideways blow and that was Daieisho's cue to put both palms to the dirt and nothing else. Obvious yaocho here as Takakeisho moves to 4-0 while Daieisho has repented sufficiently at 1-3 for beating Shodai on Day 1.

Ending the day was Yokozuna Terunofuji who was paired against M2 Onosho, and Onosho was busy from the tachi-ai shoving Terunofuji's direction, but the blows weren't having an effect. Terunofuji was patient as he waited for an opening using enough defensive tsuppari to keep Onosho at bay. Onosho finally moved in close sorta getting moro-zashi, but Terunofuji cut him off at the elbows, twisted Onosho over to the side, and then picked his spot for the final pushout. They ruled it kime-dashi, but this was more the kime technique being used to send Onosho to the edge setting up the final push. The announcers and the crowd enjoyed a brief stiffie here when it looked as if Onosho had a chance, but he never did. Terunofuji easily moves to 4-0 while Onosho falls to the opposite 0-4.

Through four days it's pretty much status quo. One thing this basho already lacks is a dark horse....a rikishi from outside of the sanyaku making legitimate noise. The Yokozuna and Ozeki are expected to win as is Mitakeumi, but you can't highlight their sumo as it lacks actual substance. They use phrases like "he's moving well in the ring." What does that really mean? If they put me in the ring against one of those guys, you can beat I'd move extremely well in the ring in an effort not to get my ass kicked. "He's looking strong" is another one. Takakeisho is looking strong based on what? What waza is he employing with effectiveness this basho?

If you really scrutinize the tape, there is little substance out there from the rikishi who Japan wants to matter. So...it's status quo for at least the next week even if Terunofuji chooses to lose here and there.
 

Day 3 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
In Hakuho's absence, it feels as if the basho lacks any real storylines. Terunofuji's no longer a new Yokozuna, and none of the Ozeki are kadoban. I actually read a headline that suggested Mitakeumi is the next Ozeki hopeful (just what the sport doesn't need), but that dude is only coming in with 17 wins the previous two basho. Tochinoshin's withdrawal due to lower back issues fueled headlines for half a day, but there's really nothing to grab anyone's attention. Even the fake Ura start doesn't seem to be catching hold as his Day 2 bout was not on the list of top three streamed bouts from yesterday.

To me the solution to everything is hard-nosed sumo, but the last time that was tried, we had even more empty seats in the stands than we do now without a global pandemic. We'll just see if they can manufacture something to keep people's attention in the end because sumo didn't even lead off the NHK News 9 sports segment.

Turning our attention to the dohyo, M17 Kaisei and J1 Wakamotoharu hooked up immediately in hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai, and Kaisei had the accordion fingers going as he faked an attempt to grab the J1's belt with a right outer. I mean, the hand was there and Kaisei had the strength to grab it, but he just relented in all phases of his sumo and allowed Wakamotoharu to easily force him straight back and across. Kaisei falls to 1-2 a bit richer while Wakamotoharu moves to 2-1.

One item of news I failed to mention in my comments yesterday was the return of M15 Abi who was forced to sit out half a year due to breaking Covid-19 protocols (i.e. he got caught visiting the tittie bars). The dude fell down to the Makushita ranks but has quickly worked his way back up to the higher pay grade. What's been interesting too the first three days is that he's fighting straight up and thus destroying his opponents. This dude when he fell from grace was probably a legit M5 - M6 guy, so he's under-ranked here for sure. He showed why today against M17 Shohozan leading with a kachi-age followed by a fierce tsuppari attack, and Shohozan couldn't answer the call whatsoever. I mean, Abi's head was lowered properly, he was driving with his legs, and his tsuppari were focused square into Shohozan's torso. It lasted about three seconds giving Abi the deserved 3-0 start while Shohozan falls to 1-2.

Before we move on, guys like Takakeisho, Shodai, Mitakeumi, and Takayasu are simply incapable of performing the kind of sumo that Abi exhibited today. All of the basics were there and executed to perfection. I can easily root for this kind of sumo.

A trend you often see in sumo is a stable or a fan club building up the local rikishi for their basho away from Tokyo. Sadanoumi is from nearby Kumamoto (same as Shodai), and so the Sadanoumi camp is clearly making sure this guy has a nice tournament. Today against M15 Chiyomaru, Sadanoumi's tachi-ai had no effect, and so Maru kept him at bay with some early tsuppari. Chiyomaru was not moving forward, however, and instead faked a weak pull whose only intent was to give Sadanoumi the belt (Maru's a push guy and Umi's a belt guy). After turning the bout to a style that favors his opponent, Chiyomaru just stood there going through the migi-yotsu motions as he let Sadanoumi get an easy left outer grip and then force Maru back with nary a struggle. As if. Sadanoumi buys his way to 3-0 while Chiyomaru pockets some cash here in falling to 1-2.

If you're wondering why Chiyomaru seems to be fighting twice a day in Kyushu, it's because he and M16 Akua apparently texted each other prior to the basho and said, "Let's be best girlfriends this tournament and wear matching lime green mawashi." And so they did.

Chiyomaru II a.k.a. M16 Akua stepped into the ring against M14 Chiyonokuni. Akua used his bulk to crush Chiyonokuni at the tachi-ai and demand a right frontal belt grip, and as he pressed forward well, Kuni's only reaction was to try and slip to his left and go for a pull. It would never materialize, however, as Akua had him forced back and across in short order. Good stuff here as Akua picks up his first win as both dudes end the day at 1-2. It's also nice to see the Chiyonokuni camp NOT buy this guy a stupid 8-0 start.

I'm not yet used to seeing M12 Hokutofuji fighting this low on the banzuke as he was matched up with M14 Kagayaki...a guy who frequently fights this low because he's so busy selling bouts. I mean, Kagayaki is a top three Japanese guy in my opinion, but he's just playing the game and getting fat in the process. The two hooked up in a light version of hidari-yotsu not really going chest to chest, but it was yotsu-zumo nonetheless. With Kagayaki keeping his arms in a static position, Hokutofuji worked his opponent this way and that before scoring the uncontested force-out win. More cash for Kagayaki who falls to 1-2 while Hokutofuji is off to a nice 3-0 start I suppose.

M12 Ishiura henka'd to his left against M13 Yutakayama grabbing the cheap outer grip, and while he attempted to spin Yutakayama around, the larger Yutakayama had enough room to dig in with the right arm inside. He didn't, however, and instead pulled that left arm out leaving it up high, and with Yutakayama fully exposing himself like this, it was no wonder that Ishiura pushed him halfway up the hana-michi. As if. Yutakayama was clearly mukiryoku here giving Ishiura his first win and leaving both guys at 1-2.

M10 Chiyotairyu kept his hands up high against M11 Terutsuyoshi at the tachi-ai as if to pull, but that wasn't his intent. He was really just leaving himself exposed to a Terutsuyoshi push attack, and as T-Yoshi mounted his offensive, Chiyotairyu just held that fake pull position as Terutsuyoshi pushed him around the ring and out. If you want to throw a bout to your opponent, leaving the hands up high like this is a great way to do it, and Chiyotairyu is good at it as he falls to 1-2. As for Terutsuyoshi, he worms his way to a 2-1 start.

M11 Kotonowaka and M9 Hidenoumi bounced off of each other as they moved laterally in tandem looking to go chest to chest. It took four or five seconds, but they finally settled into migi-yotsu where Hidenoumi had the left outer grip. Hidenoumi not only used that grip to attack, but he did so in a way that cut off Kotonowaka's right inside position. Kotonowaka survied the first yotsu charge from his foe, but it gave Hidenoumi an even lower stance that kept Kotonowaka far away from a counter right outer of his own, and you could just see that Kotonowaka was out of options at this point. After gathering his wits, Hidenoumi mounted his second force-out charge, and Kotonowaka couldn't answer as he was forced across after the best bout of sumo fought on the day.

What frustrates me is you see these two guys fight like this, and you know they are capable of it day in and day out, but they are so caught up in the bout fixing mess that we rarely get to see bouts like this. It's also worth noting that Takayasu seems to always find himself in the same position that Kotonowaka found himself today...completely out of options. And yet, Takayasu is always able to pull the rabbit out of the hat due to a fake fall or twist from his opponent. The contrast is so noticeable and real if you have eyes to see it. Kotonowaka and Hidenoumi end the day at 1-2.

M9 Aoiyama struck with his usual tsuppari attack at the tachi-ai against M8 Kotoeko, and when Aoiyama moved across the starting lines, you could tell he was posturing to win the bout. Kotoeko's only play was to agree to retreat and attempt to set up a counter pull, and that briefly invited Aoiyama to try and pull himself, but Kotoeko wasn't leaning forward, and so Aoiyama repented of his ways resuming the tsuppari attack and knocking Kotoeko back and across for good tsuki-dashi style. Aoiyama is a cool 3-0 if you need him while Kotoeko is the opposite at 0-3. I read where Aoiyama and his wife just welcomed a new baby girl but the article unfortunately did not mention which parent would take the lead in nursing the baby.

M8 Tobizaru and M7 Chiyoshoma traded tsuppari up high as if each was looking for an opportunity to pull first, and so the two circled the ring for 8 seconds before hooking up in hidari-yotsu. From this position, Tobizaru was there for the taking, and Chiyoshoma took using a right ottsuke to keep Tobizaru at bay before ultimately grabbing a right outer grip, and that was the final nail in the coffin. Chiyoshoma could be setting himself up for a sanyaku run here as he moves 3-0, and as they pointed out on the broadcast, this was the first time in three years that Chiyoshoma has posted a 3-0 start. As for Tobizaru, he falls to 1-2.

I still can't get over how fake that Day 1 bout was between Ura and M6 Tamawashi. Unlike that bout, Tamawashi exhibited the perfect blueprint to win today against M6 Shimanoumi lowering his head at the tachi-ai and striking hard into Shimanoumi's body giving Umi nowhere to hide as Tamawashi scored the wham bam thank you ma'am win. This was pure textbook sumo, and something that Tamawashi is capable of every bout, so when you don't see this type of attack from Tamawashi--the best rikishi on the banzuke I dare say, you know he's mukiryoku. He crushed Shimanoumi today in moving to 2-1 while Shimanoumi is still winless.

Speaking of M7 Ura, he was paired against M5 Hoshoryu today, a rikishi Ura cannot beat in a straight up fight. From the tachi-ai, Hoshoryu hopped forward strangely with his right leg, and that's all you needed to see to know how this would end. Hoshoryu's next move was to his left with his hands sorta in position to pull, but all he did was stand himself straight up and then duck down into a pull attempt from Ura. Problem was Ura wasn't setting up a pull, and so he had to react to Hoshoryu's quick movements, and just about the time Hoshoryu fist hit the dirt, Ura caught up sorta scoring the pull down win. As for Hoshoryu, he just crab-walked forward a few steps across the dohyo and then stood right back up. The whole debacle took less than three seconds, and I just shake my head as I watch this stuff. Not because I can't believe they're doing fake sumo like this but because so many people out there believe it. Ura is 3-0 while Hoshoryu voluntarily falls to 1-2.

M4 Takarafuji has deferred to his first two opponents of the basho, so it was nice to see him put up a fight against M4 Endoh. From the tachi-ai, Endoh put two hands forward before moving right looking to grab Takarafuji's belt from the outside. As Takarafuji adjusted, Endoh's right outer quest became the right inside position while Takarafuji dug in with his left arm wrapped around Endoh's right. Endoh quickly tested the force out waters, but Takarafuji was able to move laterally near the edge with each attempt befuddling Endoh and tiring him out. That allowed Takarafuji to slap Endoh away from the inside altogether and get his own left arm to the inside. With Endoh clearly gassed, he could only attempt a weak counter pull as Takarafuji went for his own force-out charge, but that just left Endoh even more vulnerable as Takara Boom De Ay sent him flying off the dohyo with some oomph. Takarafuji picks up his first win as both dudes end the day at 1-2.

M3 Myogiryu and M5 Takayasu went chest to chest at the tachi-ai with Myogiryu getting the early left inside, so of course Takayasu's entire right side was exposed, and of course Myogiryu refused to grab the right outer grip. I mean look at this ridiculous pose Myogiryu started out in at right. He ultimately moved that right arm to the inside of Takayasu's left hand, and the two held hands/wrists right there in the middle of the ring for more than a minute. During this entire time nothing was stopping Myogiryu from grabbing the right outer grip except Myogiryu himself. The bout got so boring even Mainoumi started talking during the bout from the mukou-joumen chair, something that rarely happens. Finally at the 1:40 mark, Myogiryu went for a force-out charge leading with a right kote grip and then a right inashi, and with the two at the edge, it looked to me as if Myogiryu was waiting for Takayasu to counter with a left inside to Myogiryu's limp right position, but Takayasu had no strength and just plopped across the straw. Takayasu is a dumpster fire these days, and he's easily the most hapless dude in the division. I'm not sure what Myogiryu's intentions were here because he could have dispatched his foe in mere seconds, but the end result is both dudes standing at 2-1. And you have to ask yourself after watching Takayasu (note how I didn't say "Takayasu's sumo" because it non-existent), how is this guy 2-1??

The only positive from this bout was that it gave us our first real good Brokeback moment at ring's edge:



Komusubi Ichinojo looked to get the right arm inside at the tachi-ai against M2 Takanosho, but with the M2 lower than he should have been, Itchy and Scratchy moved to his left and just slapped Takanosho down with a beefy paw to the back. This was over in about two seconds, and I'm sure this was just Ichinojo's calling in the favor after he let up for Takanosho in their September bout. No harm no foul as Ichinojo moves to 2-1 while Takanosho is 1-2.

Sekiwake Meisei charged with extended arms against M3 Okinoumi who was completely upright and nonchalant, and that allowed Meisei to abandon the oshi-zumo and get the left arm deep to the inside. He used it to scoop Okinoumi over to the other side of the dohyo, but Okinoumi survived using a kote grip with the right and the stifling inside position with the left. In fact, Okinoumi was in prime position to use his height and strength advantage to turn the tables at the edge, but instead of firing on a counter throw or tsuki-otoshi, he just stayed upright as Meisei played footsie with him in an attempt to trip him backwards. No trip was necessary as Okinoumi just walked across on his own. This was a silly bout where Meisei scored his first win in eight tries (on paper) against Okinoumi leaving both fellas at 1-2.

M1 Daieisho used his tsuppari attack at the tachi-ai against Suckiwake Mitakeumi, but he wasn't driving forward with his legs, so you knew right then he was going to defer to his foe. While Daieisho's thrust sumo was all upper body, it was still better than anything Mitakeumi had, and it showed as Mitakeumi was forced to retreat a bit four or five seconds after the initial charge. Daieisho faked a pull to take away his own momentum and then as Mitakeumi looked to nudge him to the other side of the dohyo, Daieisho spun to his left as if tripping over his own feet, and then before Mitakeumi could even catch up, Daieisho twisted himself over down with little to no contact coming from the Suckiwake. What terrible acting this was on the part of Daieisho, but the dude wouldn't have needed to act like that if Mitakeumi had applied any sort of pressure. He didn't and so the result was this obvious twisting dive from Daieisho where he put his hand down prematurely. Good grief. Mitakeumi is the worst 3-0 I've ever seen (wait...Takakeisho is also 3-0) while Daieisho agrees to a 1-2 start.

Said Takakeisho was paired against Komusubi Kiribayama, and the two grappled for about a second at the tachi-ai before Kiribayama just leaned forward into Takakeisho asking him to swing that wild left arm. It did come, and that was Kiribayama's cue to stumble forward and put both palms to the dirt before quickly standing right back up. These two didn't even need to shower after this one it was so light and non-combative as Takakeisho is gifted 3-0 while Kiribayama knows his place at 0-3.

M2 Onosho kept his arms high and wide again at the tachi-ai against Shodai before shading right and purposefully whiffing on a wild left scoop throw, but with Shodai still unable to apply pressure, Onosho ducked his head down and slowly moved forward asking Shodai to pull him down. Not even Shodai could screw this up as he scored the cheap win in maybe three seconds and Onosho contorted his body on the way down for added emphasis. Just great as Shodai is gifted his second win while Onosho will be compensated for his cooperation at 0-3.

In the day's final bout, Yokozuna Terunofuji owned the center of the dohyo against M1 Wakatakakage, and instead of staying high and leaving himself vulnerable as he did the first two days, Fuji stayed low and pivoted well as WTK looked to move laterally. The two never really did hook up as Fuji was cautious and WTK didn't want anything at the chest, so after about four seconds, Terunofuji pounced and scored the easy push out win against his defensive opponent. Terunofuji moves to 3-0 after the easy win while Wakatakakage falls to 1-2.

Day 1 and Day 2 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Getting excited about an upcoming basho is like trying to start a 15 year-old small gas engine that's been sitting in the shed all winter. Seeing the backdrop of the Fukuoka landscape on the broadcast has brought back a lot of positive memories, but those were different times when I had a different understanding for sure. The big news of course as we head into the basho is still the retirement announcement from Hakuho a few days after the Aki basho, and NHK led with Hakuho as part of the Day 1 broadcast.

Hakuho had been largely tuned out of sumo for the last few years for whatever reason, so it was no surprise when he made the announcement. Until the Association officially recognized the retirement and granted him the oyakata name of Magaki, I was surprised at the negative slant in the media regarding the former Yokozuna. People were complaining that this was too sudden and that Hakuho had just come off a zensho basho the previous tournament. People weren't happy with how nonchalant and casual the Yokozuna's attitude was the last few years regarding the tournaments, and there were even some voices who said he should be denied a share of oyakata stock.

In the end, once cooler heads prevailed and the Sumo Association granted his retirement and the name of Magaki, people began to realize that the curtain had just come down on the greatest wrestler in the history of the sport. A few weeks after it was official, NHK produced a one-hour special on Hakuho, and they used Asashoryu and Kisenosato as commentators through much of the documentary in an effort to frame it as the three-headed monster in sumo the last two decades comprised of Asashoryu, Hakuho, and Kisenosato. Uh, two-headed monster for sure.

As part of the documentary, they were talking about Hakuho and asking him about his Day 14 bout against Shodai at the Nagoya basho. That was the bout where Hakuho lined up clear back at the edge of the tawara instead of the usual shikiri-sen. Of that tactic, Hakuho explained in the documentary, "The night before the bout I was going over things in my head, and I just couldn't picture a scenario where I could beat Shodai with a straight-up tachi-ai, and so I resorted to that tactic." I mean, I've blown some snot bubbles in my time watching sumo, but that was one of the biggest. And yet...that's who Hakuho was. He towed the party line his entire career and said all the right things at the right times. He also gave up a ton of losses just to help keep a balance in the force. In fact, I can't remember the last time Hakuho was beat legitimately, but you'd have to go back more than 10 years in my opinion.

In order for professional wrestling to succeed, it has to have the bad guys or the heels, and the same holds true for sumo wrestling. Once the foreigners began to dominate with guys like Konishiki and then Akebono on the scene, the foreigners became the natural heels, and the Japanese wrestlers were all the good guys. And so it stands today with Terunofuji providing the necessary heel status while the Association desperately tries to make guys like Takakeisho and Shodai seem legit.

And that's the current backdrop as we head into the Kyushu basho. It's Terunofuji vs. everyone else. Through two days, Terunofuji has already shown a willingness to make the Japanese rikishi look better. The biggest bout from Day 1 was undoubtedly Daieisho's crushing defeat of Shodai. To make up for it on Day 2, Terunofuji did nothing at the tachi-ai against Daieisho ultimately giving him the deep arm inside as he backed up to the edge, but Daieisho is a pusher and not a belt dude, and so Fuji dispatched him in the end with a sukui-nage that you will never see the likes of Shodai or Takakeisho or Takayasu perform.  Never. That helped take the sting off of Shodai's Day 1 defeat because now people will think, "Damn near got Terunofuji as well."

And then of course Ichinojo refused to grab an easy left outer grip against Shodai on Day 2 before brining his right arm from the potent inside position to the back of Shodai's head, and without executing a pull, he allowed Shodai to force him out with no resistance. This is all in an effort to save face for Shodai. Kyushu is his home basho since he hails from Kumamoto just to the south, so the heels let him right back into the basho.  If a picture says a thousand words, just look at Ichinojo's hands here.

Besides Terunofuji's 2-0 start, you have Takakeisho who was gifted to easy wins two days in a row. On Day 1 Wakatakakage was busy but never moved forward keeping his hands away from his opponent until Takakeisho went for a weak swipe...which was of course WTK's cue to just put both palms to the dirt. On Day 2, Onosho kept his hands high and wide and made sure he was moving any direction but forward, and so Takakeisho was easily able to dispatch him in short order moving him to an ill-gotten 2-0 start.  Do you see the pattern in the last two bouts with the losers' hands?

As I watched the Day 2 broadcast, they showed the most streamed bouts from Day 1 and this was the order:

1. Takakeisho - Wakatakakage
2. Ura - Tamawashi
3. Terunofuji - Kiribayama

Yes, good ole Ura supposedly toppled Tamawashi on Day 1 where the Mongolian allowed him to easily duck in and grab a stump, and with Tamawashi not looking to latch on, Ura started to lift that leg. He needed help executing the move for sure, and so Tamawashi just turned to the side and put his other knee to the dohyo. On Day 2, Kotoeko kept his hands up high faking a few tsuppari as he allowed Ura to "push" him back and across in short order. Ura winning by oshi-dashi? In a fake bout anything is possible. I guess they need Ura to provide some excitement here because nobody else really is.

Other notable rikishi who have been gifted..er..uh..who have achieved 2-0 starts are Mitakeumi and Takayasu. On Day 2, Takayasu was involved in a complete laugher against Takarafuji. Fuji kept groping the outer grip but never taking it, but when Takayasu proved hapless, he finally had no choice but to grab it, and then the two fought for like three minutes after that. I guess fought isn't the correct word. It was more of Takarafuji standing around waiting for Takayasu to make a move, but the M5 was completely hapless and so in the end Takarafuji just turned around and dove to the dirt.

It's been a rough start to the basho for sure, and we'll see how everything shapes up. I'm committed to covering all of the Day 3 bouts tomorrow, so more comments on all of the rikishi then.