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Natsu Basho Day 13 Comments
If you were to list the most popular Japanese rikishi in Sumo today based on number of headlines in the newspapers and number of bouts streamed on YouTube, the list would look like this:

Onosato
Takerufuji
Hakuohho
Ura
Kotozakura

If Asanoyama was back in the Juryo division, he'd probably be ranked at #5 and if he was in the Makuuchi division, he'd probably move up to #3.

If we now examine the stables that these rikishi hail from, the list looks like this:

Nishonoseki (Ichimon named after it)
Isegahama (Ichimon named after it)
Isegahama via the Miyagino-beya (Ichimon named after it)
Kise
Sadogatake (Stablemaster sits on the board of directors)

Ura is simply the court jester or opening act. That he's as popular as he is speaks more to the low quality of sumo and the increased need for theatrics atop the dohyo, so let's eliminate him from the list and replace him with Asanoyama.

The top three guys on the list hail from stables with Ichimon named after them as does Asanoyama. As for the Sadogatake-beya, they have produced more sekitori in my 30 years of watching sumo than any other stable. I don't know where their money comes from, but they've always had it, and that's why such an inept blob like Kotozakura can achieve the Ozeki rank. It also helps that Kotozakura's father, the former Kotonowaka, is one of the 10 directors on the board.

If we look at recent Japanese Yokozuna and Ozeki, this is what we find:

Shodai - Tokitsukaze-beya, one of the five Ichimon
Mitakeumi - Dewanoumi-beya, one of the five Ichimon
Asanoyama - Takasago-beya, one of the five Ichimon
Kotoshogiku - Sadogatake-beya
Kisenosato - Current Nishonoseki stablemaster, and Nishonoseki is one of the five Ichimon

Whose the most popular Juryo rikishi right now? Kusano. What stable does he fight from? Isegahama, one of the five Ichimon.

I've noticed that the hype around Kusano is identical to the hype that Onosato got when he was in Juryo. As such, I've been watching Kusano's bouts, and there is very little substance to his sumo. Like Onosato, he has difficulty winning the tachi-ai, his footwork is terrible, and he always seems to pull out the miracle win at the edge.

Whose in sole possession of first place in Juryo currently?  Of course it's Kusano.

None of the above-mentioned guys have a signature move in sumo nor are they known for really anything that has to do with sumo content.

So what is the common thread among them? Money, power, and influence from their Ichimon status and/or their oyakata sitting on the board of directors.

Have you ever wondered why they don't make stars out of guys who have legitimate game...guys who have demonstrable talent like Daieisho, Abi, or Nishikigi?

I suppose the answer is best formed in this question:  have you ever heard of the Oitekaze, Shikoroyama, or Isegaumi stables? Their collective stablemasters never did shiz in the division, and so they have very little money or power even though as rikishi they have very measurable sumo skills and a couple of nice yusho.

Is all of the information pointed out in my introduction a coincidence?

Day 13 began with NHK posting the leaderboard down to three loses, and I was like whatever. Everybody knows what's going on this basho, and it was a little bit galling to see our intelligence insulted like that.

Up first in the ring was M14 Kotoshoho who was paired against M15 Shonannoumi, and Kotoshoho was rather proactive with a medium tsuppari attack, but he got into a rhythm where Shonannoumi was able to read him, and so on the third volley or so, Shonannoumi darted right and timed a nice pull of his advancing foe. Kotoshoho falls to 6-7 in defeat, but after taking the first five days off of the basho, he only needs one more win to cement his place in the division. As for Shonannoumi, he improves to a dangerous 4-9 from his current rank.

M15 Ryuden put two hands into M12 Takanosho's neck at the tachi-ai and then promptly backed up not even bothering to go for a pull. As for Takanosho, he was along for the ride as he scored the cheap push out win where he didn't even need to push!!  He nabs kachi-koshi at 8-5 while Ryuden's make-koshi is sealed at 5-8.

M12 Atamifuji kept his feet aligned at the tachi-ai and arms wide open telling M16 Kayo "dozo." Kayo responded by getting the right arm inside, and Atamifuji did the rest from there backing over to the side and to his left while executing a pretty decent pull only after he had stepped out. That Kayo is now 7-6 after that horrific start is all you need to confirm that yaocho is alive and well in sumo, and this was another obviously fixed bout there. Atamifuji makes some cash in falling to 7-6.

Unfortunately, the fundraising effort for M18 Tochitaikai this basho wasn't as successful as his rookie counterpart.  Today against M11 Endoh, the rookie went for a pull from the get-go as he is wont to do, but Endoh survived it easily and forced his foe back a full step. With Tochitaikai now looking to lean back into the bout, Endoh said, "I'll show you a slapdown," and he did just that moving a bit left and slapping the rookie down to defeat and a 3-10 record. Endoh picks up kachi-koshi with the easy effort at 8-5.

M17 Tamashoho won the tachi-ai against M10 Shodai using a nice tsuppari attack that had Shodai upright and driven back two steps. Then all of a sudden, Tamashoho went into pull mode backing up laterally to his left and Shodai followed him out for the easy win. This one was yaocho as well as Tamashoho crushed Shodai the first half and then just let up the second half as both rikishi end the day at 4-9.

M14 Roga didn't even bother trying in his bout against M10 Meisei as Roga just backed up and to the side from the tachi-ai pretending to pull. Because Meisei didn't cause that retreat, he wasn't ready to pounce and so Roga moved back to the center of the ring and stood there with his arms extended, and Meisei grabbed the right arm and used it to tug hop along Cassidy over and out. Yet another fixed bout as Meisei buys his eighth win at 8-5 while Roga still has room to spare at 7-6.

Sheesh, now I realize why I wasn't very keen to do full daily reports this basho. And did I just use the word keen?

M16 Nishikigi had the clear path the get the right arm inside and then wrap M9 Midorifuji up from the outside with his left...or grab a left outer grip, but NG just stood there flatfooted and waited for Midorifuji to move right and execute a kata-sukashi. Problem was that Midorifuji couldn't pull off the move because Nishikigi was too damn big, and when Nishikigi realized he wasn't going down, he just waltzed over to the edge with Midorifuji's right arm still stuck in between Nishikigi's right armpit, and NG waited there with his back turned for Midorifuji to lightly tap him across okuri-dashi style. As if. Midorifuji buys this one at 4-9 while Nishikigi falls to 6-7.

M8 Kinbohzan just blistered M13 Sadanoumi off of the starting lines with a heavy tsuppari attack, and he had Sadanoumi completely out of sorts as the Sadamight escaped to his left. You watch Kinbohzan's footwork after Sadanoumi's lateral movement and see that he was following his foe perfectly, but then he just stopped that lethal charge and exposed his insides to an inside right from Sadanoumi. The two hooked up in gappuri-migi yotsu and traded places in the ring, and then Kinbohzan promptly let go of his left outside grip for no reason...well, no reason other than to throw the bout. From there, Sadanoumi began a force-out charge, and Kinbohzan just backed up with his foe in tow. Six of the first eight bouts were yaocho if you're scoring at home as Sadanoumi moves to a cheap 9-4 while Kinbohzan had plenty of room to sell in falling to 8-5.

M8 Onokatsu bullied M13 Tokihayate back from the starting lines with a nice shove attack, and with Tokihayate in trouble early, the bout looked to go to yotsu sumo, but Tokihayate realized he had no chance, and so he ran to the other side of the ring where Onokatsu finally caught him with the right inside and a left outer grip, and the force-out from there was academic. Onokatsu is one of those rikishi who is adept in a push contest or a fight at the belt as he moves to 9-4 while Tokihayate falls to 6-7.

M11 Shishi has a long way to go if he wants to succeed in this division (assuming he fights in straight up bouts). Today against M7 Churanoumi, he had multiple chances to get to the inside, but he couldn't make it stick, and so these two ran around and around the ring until Churanoumi was completely gassed, and just as you could see an exhausted Churanoumi let up, Shishi bulldozed him across and down to the venue floor below as Shishi collapsed into the 2nd row. Too bad there weren't any Jedi knights in the crowd to suspend the two in midair to break their fall, but maybe next year in Osaka??  I don't know if we can call this one a bout of sumo, but Shishi won whatever it was moving to just 3-10 while Churanoumi falls to the same mark.

Two dudes who briefly had their names on the leaderboard clashed next in M7 Hakuohho vs. M9 Aonishiki, and Hakuohho moved forward well at the tachi-ai, but he hardly made an impact. That allowed Aonishiki to stand his ground and sneak a left arm to the side of Hakuohho's belt, and once he had it, Aonishiki moved to his left and dragged Hakuohho over to the edge where he finished him off yori-kiri style for the dominating win. Hakuohho's lack of any real sumo skills or sheer power was exposed here as he falls to 8-5 while Aonishiki makes a decent statement in moving to 9-4.

M3 Tamawashi wasn't blazing out of his stance against M5 Chiyoshoma, and Chiyoshoma was coming forward hard wither. The result was TW whiffing on a tsuppari attempt and Chiyoshoma whiffing on getting an arm to the inside, and then just like that, Chiyoshoma backed up quickly to the edge and Tamawashi lightly forced him across from there. What a useless bout of sumo as Tamawashi moves to 5-8 while Chiyoshoma falls to 4-9.

M2 Gonoyama blasted M6 Tobizaru upright and back from the tachi-ai with a very nice tsuppari attack, and with Tobizaru backed up a full two steps, Gonoyama got his right arm inside and then used a left tsuki-otoshi to send Tobizaru sprawling down. Tobizaru (6-7) took a page out of Ura's book and exaggerated his fall, but this was still a dominating performance from Gonoyama who moves to 4-9.  I wish Gonoyama could be unleashed more but Goeido doesn't wield any power in the Association after breaking away from the Sakaigawa-beya.

And speaking of Goeido, he was a Japanese rikishi gifted the Ozeki rank and a yusho or two, and where does his former stablemaster, Ryogoku, sit within the Association? On the board of directors of course. What were the odds??

M2 Abi conveniently forgot about his tsuppari attack against M3 Hiradoumi and just stood there with arms wide open, and so Hiradoumi complied by getting the uncontested moro-zashi. Once he got it, the two danced over to the other side of the dohyo where Abi allowed himself to be forced across without even thinking of a counter move. Abi falls to 7-6 with room to sell while Hiradoumi oils his way to 6-7. Before we move on, how does a guy who won by force-out end up landing on the venue floor below? The answer is that there was zero counter force coming from his opponent. And yes, Abi was that mukiryoku.

M5 Ura ducked low and away from M1 Ohho at the tachi-ai, but Ohho watched his opponent well and connected on enough slaps and thrusts that Ura had nowhere to hide. As Ohho made the slapdown official, Ura kicked his legs up backwards and high as he usually does. Just go down, son, without the shenanigans please as Ohho moves to 5-8 with the win while Ura falls to 3-10.

M1 Wakamotoharu was paired against M4 Takerufuji, and Takerufuji had probably the best tachi-ai of his career as the crown of his head caught Wakamotoharu in the forehead, and that stood Wakamotoharu upright and likely dazed him a bit. Takerufuji rushed in getting the left arm inside, but he wasn't able to get the right outer grip. Still, he quickly began forcing Wakamotoharu back to the edge, but because Takerufuji didn't have WMH pulled in close on WMH's left side, Takerufuji was extremely vulnerable to a right tsuki-otoshi. Wakamotoharu flinched on the move, which would have worked, but he let up and purposefully stepped back and out before Takerufuji's hand touched down. As for Takerufuji, he fell down on both knees and the palms of his hands, which is very unorthodox when a dude wins by yori-kiri. Look, Wakamotoharu let up in this, but it was still decent sumo from Takerufuji. I loved the tachi-ai, and I loved his linear attack. His only mistake was hurrying his charge without having Wakamotoharu reeled in with a right outer grip or even a kote-nage grip. I'll take it as Takerufuji moves to 5-8 while Wakamotoharu falls to 6-7.

In the sanyaku ranks, Komusubi Wakatakakage was given a gift in M17 Asakoryu if he wanted it. And he did. The tachi-ai wasn't bruising from either dude as they hooked up in migi-yotsu, and there's no way that Asakoryu can win a bout like this and he knew it, and so he quickly moved left trying to surprise WTK with a pull, but the Komusubi wasn't having it and easily forced the compromised Asakoryu back and across in a flash. Wakatakakage prolly just sealed a Ginosho with the win in moving to 10-3 while Asakoryu falls to 9-4.

Komusubi Takayasu and M4 Ichiyamamoto looked as if they were trading shoves, but they really just had their arms extended in defensive mode. After changing places in the ring, Ichiyamamoto started faking a pull or two to leave himself vulnerable, but Takayasu was too hapless to take control, and so Ichiyamamoto got the left arm deep inside with Takayasu so upright that Ichiyamamoto really didn't even have to reach for a right outer grip. And he of course didn't grab it on purpose nor apply any yori pressure into Takayasu's body. The two hunkered down for about 15 seconds with IYM's right hand inches away from a grip as seen at left, but he kept the hand in no man's land. When the action finally resumed, Ichiyamamoto began choking Takayasu to the side, and he was really giving him the business, but he refused to usher Takayasu back and out. Finally, Takayasu managed to tap his foe in the side of the shoulder, and Ichiyamamoto dutifully flopped to the dirt. What a farce this one was as both rikishi end the day at 4-9.

Sekiwake Kirishima easily got the left arm inside against M6 Ohshoma and grabbed a right outer to boot, and the Sekiwake forced his gal back to the edge and then sent Ohshoma across and down after a brief tussle. This is the second day in a row where Kirishima has exhibited picture-perfect yotsu-zumo starting from the tachi-ai (his win over Hoshoryu was masterful), and it's nice to actually see sound sumo like this once in a while. You watch this and know what would happen if these Mongolians chose to fight like this every day. Kirishima moves to 10-3 with the win and with two more days to go, he can further pad his record in hopes for a return to the Ozeki rank before the end of the year. As for Ohshoma, he falls to 8-5 in defeat.

The two faux-zeki faced off next, and the tachi-ai here from both parties was good as they slammed bodies into each other. Kotozakura got the better of the exchange, however, coming away with a right chokehold that had Onosato upright (what's new there?), but then Kotozakura just relented on the choke, spread his arms out wide, and began backing up. In that pic at right, I can see 15 fingers all spread out, and I guarantee you Kotozakura's right hand wasn't trying to do any damage.  Onosato has seen his foe instantly give up like this before, and so he took advantage of Kotozakura's mukiryoku nature and rushed forward getting the right arm inside, and with Kotozakura voluntarily standing upright, Onosato gave him a gaburi nudge, and that was that with Kotozakura quickly retreating across the straw.

In watching the slow mo replays, you can really see how much Kotozakura dominated here. You can also see that when Kotozakura started to backpedal, it wasn't the result of anything Onosato did. Kotozakura simply threw the bout in Onosato's favor for political reasons.

And with that, Onosato has secured promotion to Yokozuna starting next basho. As my good bud Matthias DM'd me, now we have the next Yoko Ono. I don't know that anyone has ever come up with a better moniker than that, and I'm of course going to shamelessly steal it and use it all the time. Yoko Ono. Kinda takes the sting off of watching this fake Yokozuna run the last 13 days. As for Kotozakura, he graciously falls to 8-5 and that dude has also benefited from a ton of yaocho this basho and his entire career.

In the day's final affair, Sekiwake Daieisho looked to catch Yokozuna Hoshoryu with two hands up high, but just as quick, the Yokozuna moved right tugging at Daieisho's extended right arm to hard that the two traded places in the ring. As Daieisho looked to connect with more tsuppari, Hoshoryu kept his cool and finally got the right arm inside, and he used that to turn Daieisho back to the side he came from, and then he forced him back and down as swiftly as you please. Hoshoryu moves to 10-3 with the win while Daieisho falls to 9-4.

Daieisho is paired against Onosato tomorrow, and I was actually hoping that they'd feed Onosato to Kirishima. The Mongolians will play along with the politics because an easy life in Tokyo is much better than the plains of Mongolia, but from time to time they will send a subtle message and just go out and kick a supposed elite rikishi's ass. When a dude is vying for Yokozuna, don't you want him to go through all of the top-ranked rikishi? In this case they are clearly hiding him from Kirishima and hoping that Hoshoryu plays nice on Sunday.

Regarding the Daieisho - Onosato matchup, Daieisho can win that one easily if he wants to, but we'll see.

With the yusho in hand now on Day 13 for the first time in over 10 years (Hakuho last did it in January 2015), there's not much to play for the final two days. There are plenty of three-loss dudes who can qualify for the sansho, and then others will arrange kachi-koshi for this and that rikishi.

I may or may not comment on the weekend. We'll just see if there's anything worth saying.

Natsu Basho Day 11 Comments
Exactly a year ago for senshuraku of the Natsu basho, I ran some numbers that compared the speed at which Takerufuji and Onosato achieved their first yusho in the sport to some of the former greats like Takanohana and Asashoryu. Onosato picked up his first career yusho after just 7 basho in sumo while Takerufuji took 10 basho noting that Onosato began his career from the Makushita jo'i while Takerufuji worked his way up the entire banzuke.

By comparison, the previous record held for quickest yusho for dudes who worked their way up the entire banzuke were Takanohana and Asashoryu who were tied at 24. Takerufuji obliterated that record by more than half (10 vs. 24), but if you've watched sumo long enough to where you remember Takanohana and Asashoryu, there's no comparison in the sumo content between those two former Yokozuna and Takerufuji.

In the case of Onosato, he's on par to reach the Yokozuna rank after just 13 basho. The current record for a rikishi who began his career in Makushita was Wajima, who took 21 basho. It's not quite half, but it's so ridiculous to even think such a feat is possible, and that's not even considering the content of Onosato's sumo.

Two of the greatest Yokozuna of my time were Hakuho and Kitanoumi, and both of those guys took exactly 6 year or 36 basho to achieve the Yokozuna rank. It took Hakuho 22 basho to attain the Yokozuna rank from the time he fought from the Makushita Jo'i, and it took Kitanoumi 27 basho. And Onosato is going to do it in just 13?  It's simply implausible in a normal world.

The best tennis player in the world currently is hands down Carlos Alcaraz. He may or may not surpass some of the records set by Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic, but if he does, he's not going to break the records in half the time or more. Djokovic has the most majors with 24, so is it possible that Alcaraz is going to win 48?  No. 25...maybe, but 48?  It's just not possible, and yet, we're supposed to believe this nonsense from Takerufuji and Onosato are real?

What's most galling is the content of Takerufuji and Onosato's sumo is so predictably bad that it becomes insulting to see them obliterate the records set by the greats...the rikishi who truly struck the fear of the gods in their opponents.

In the interest of time, I'm tempted to just do a leaderboard report, which would mean covering exactly one bout, and that would be the Onosato - Komusubi Wakatakakage matchup.

Onosato placed a right hand at the side of Wakatakakage's head at the tachi-ai, but Onosato wasn't pushing, and so Wakatakakage easily got the right arm deep to the inside lifting Onosato up (more than he was after his usual upright tachi-ai). From there, Wakatakakage began backing up and to his left, but Onosato didn't cause that movement, so he certainly wasn't prepared to push WTK back. Instead, Onosato went for a pull tugging with a right outer grip of Wakatakakage's belt, and that allowed WTK to get moro-zashi and seize full control of the bout. Instead of forcing the backpedaling Onosato back and across, Wakatakakage set up what looked to be a nage-no-uchi-ai with his deep left inside grip against Onosato's right outside grip. Due to Wakatakakage's lower positioning, he could have easily hoisted Onosato over and down, but instead, Wakatakakage literally swung his inside leg back across the straw and landed on his bum. In other words, Wakatakakage went from that prime position seen in the pic at upper left to landing on his arse a second later.

It's just more of the same shullbit as the Wakatakakage camp does not want to spoil the big story in sumo this basho. Onosato is predictably handed another win as he moves to 11-0 while Wakatakakage falls to 8-3. I mean, Wakatakakage wasn't going to yusho anyway, but now at three losses it just sends one more guy off of the leaderboard who started the day at two losses.

The two other key dudes who entered the day with just two losses were Yokozuna Hoshoryu and M7 Hakuohho, and those two happened to be matched up against each other for the last bout of the day. The tachi-ai was neutral between the two, and then Hoshoryu started going for pulls as he moved around the edge of the ring to his left. Hakuohho attempted to keep up, but he couldn't take advantage of the self-compromised Yokozuna because he didn't cause the movement. After a half turn around the edge of the ring, Hoshoryu set himself up at the edge of the tawara on the west side, and then Hakuohho's right knee just buckled as Hoshoryu tackled him to the dirt. I mean, how does one even analyze bout like this?

What's happening with Hoshoryu this basho is 1) he's going to be the only guy on the leaderboard the last few days, so he's maintaining a comfortable two-loss pace behind Onosato, and 2) he's purposefully doing sloppy sumo so when Onosato is promoted to Yokozuna himself, the new standard for Yokozuna sumo is going to be exactly what we got with these last two bouts. Can't wait!!

Hoshoryu moves to 9-2 with the strange win while Hakuohho is knocked out of contention at 8-3.

With that, the leaderboard is still as follows:

11-0: Onosato

But NHK is going to post down to two losses, and so theirs will look like this:

11-0: Onosato
9-2: Hoshoryu

I said early on that they were going to be setting up a so-called rivalry between the two Yokozuna, and that's exactly what we're getting. It's still not going to be enough to make new fans, but whatever.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, Hoshoryu is paired against Kirishima, and I'm pretty sure that Kirishima will just roll over for the Yokozuna.

As for Onosato, he's paired against Hakuohho, and I actually think Onosato can win this one legitimately. I do see Hakuohho winning the tachi-ai, but can he finish the job off without panicking? I doubt it. I'm actually going to predict a straight up win for Onosato tomorrow, but who knows? The sumo content is so erratic these days that anything can happen.

I guess I forgot M9 Aonishiki who also entered the day at 8-2. He was paired against Kotozakura today, and the two traded nice tsuppari at the tachi-ai before Kotozakura started thinking pull. As he did, Aonishiki rushed in for moro-zashi, and he was on his way to the easy force-out win, but then he just stopped in his tracks. It's one thing to let Kotozakura back into the bout like that, but Zak still had zero momentum, and so it was up to Aonishiki to keep dictating the pace. Aonishiki next set up a nage-no-uchi-ai with his left inside scoop throw against Kotozakura's right kote-nage, and there really wasn't any force behind the throw from either party as Aonishiki quickly put his right elbow down first while also kicking up leg just to add emphasis to his fall. Remember what I said about a bout where the loser kicks his leg backwards up high? Yes, it's a clear sign that the dude just took a dive, and that's what happened here.

There was no sense in letting Aonishiki win this one just stay on the leaderboard. It was more important to help the Japanese Ozeki save face, and so that's what they did here in boosting Kotozakura to 7-4 while Aonishiki falls to 8-3.

M4 Takerufuji did not lose the tachi-ai against Sekiwake Daieisho, but Takerufuji's feet were so aligned and he was too upright for his own good, and so Daieisho was able to finally get in gear and drive the M4 back with a nice tsuppari attack. As Takerufuji looked to swipe his way back into the bout, Daieisho timed a perfect pull that sent Takerufuji down in the center of the ring. Daieisho picks up kachi-koshi with the nice win while Takerufuji falls to the brink at 4-7.

I'm running out of time today, and none of the other bouts really interest me, so we'll end here for today.

I may do a full report tomorrow; we'll just see how the day goes.

Natsu Basho Day 10 Comments
15 years ago, there was a major rift in the Sumo Association led by Takanohana prior to the general election for members of the board. The Sumo Association has 10 members of the board with two appointed from each of the five Ichimon. Up to that point, the elections were on par with elections held in North Korea meaning that the members of the board from each Ichimon were already predetermined, and so the voting was just for show. Then, in 2010 Takanohana broke protocol by declaring his candidacy for a position on the board, which took the number from the predetermined 10 candidates to 11 candidates.

Takanohana was advocating for major changes in the Association like the way tickets were sold, especially the suna-kaburi seats, and he also felt that former rikishi should be taken care of better by the Association once they retire. If I remember right, about a third of the oyakata were actually in favor of these changes, and I think five oyakata actually betrayed the system by voting for Takanohana. I remember that Onomatsu-oyakata was one of them, but I can't recall the others.

Anyway, the old guard were furious with Takanohana, and they wanted him excommunicated from the sport. That actually would happen a few years later after another strange scandal where it was reported that Harumafuji roughed up fellow Mongolian, Takanoiwa, who hailed from Takanohana's stable. That scandal was used to finally boot Takanohana out of sumo for good, and there hasn't been a disrupt in the rigged election system since.

The point of all this is to say that I don't think anybody wants to go against the number one agenda item for the Association right now, which is to force a Japanese rikishi back into the Yokozuna rank. With Onosato so close, all of his opponents look scared to defy the powers that be, and so at the expense of an exciting yusho race, it feels like everyone is on board with another farcical Yokozuna from Japan.

Let's just start from the bottom up beginning with...M14 Kotoshoho? When did that dude make his return to the tournament? Just goes to show how many of the bouts I haven't watched through the first nine days. KSH was paired against M18 Tochitaikai, who was looking pull from the tachi-ai. That sent the action over to the edge quickly where a nage-no-uchi-ai formed with Kotoshoho attempting a right kote-nage and the rookie using a left scoop throw motion to force his opponent down. Both dudes crashed across the straw at the same time so they ordered a do-over.

In the rematch, Tochitaikai was looking pull again from the start, and that enabled Kotoshoho to get the right arm inside. Tochitaikai countered with the left outer grip, but his inside positioning was weak, so after a pause for a few seconds, Kotoshoho began wrenching his foe upright and then he quickly switched gears going for a right scoop throw that sent the rookie down and out. Kotoshoho moves to 4-6 with the nice throw while Tochitaikai falls to 3-7.

It's been great not having to cover M13 Tokihayate for five days, and today he was paired against M15 Shonannoumi. At the tachi-ai, Tokihayate henka'd to his right trying to drag Shonannoumi out by the arm, but when SNNU survived that, the two would hook up in hidari-yotsu. Instead of going chest to chest, however, Tokihayate kept moving laterally, and he set up a kote-nage with the right arm that Shonannoumi failed to contest. Tokihayate moves to 5-5 with the evasive sumo start to finish while the lazy Shonannoumi falls to 3-7.

M17 Tamashoho put his hands at the back of M13 Sadanoumi's head at the tachi-ai and went for a dangerous pull. It was dangerous because he moved straight back instead of going to the side, and that allowed Sadanoumi to try a do-or-die push. This one was close, but replays showed that Tamashoho's left heel just did graze the sand beyond the straw before Sadanoumi touched down. It always pleases me when the dude who does the henka fails as Tamashoho falls to 4-6 while Sadanoumi improves to 7-3.

After a sheepish tachi-ai from M12 Atamifuji against M15 Ryuden, the two took about three seconds to settle into hidari-yotsu. That stance favors the experienced Ryuden, but he was passive from the start here, and so he stood there as Atamifuji tried a forward force-out charge that wasn't going anywhere. When Atami the Hutt realized that, he reversed gears and went for a bad pull that Ryuden could have totally exposed, but the bout was fixed, and so Ryuden put both palms to the dirt and kicked his right foot way up high for good measure. Whenever a dude kicks one or both feet up high as he's slapped down, the bout was fixed. Atamifuji begs his way to 7-3 with the cheap win while Ryuden falls to 4-6.

M17 Asakoryu came into the day at 7-2, and without having watched his last four or five bouts, I already know that his record was inflated due to yaocho. Today against M12 Takanosho, Takanosho easily caught Asakoryu with two shoves from the tachi-ai, and he had Asakoryu pushed back and across once, twice, three times a lady. I mean, Asakoryu was completely useless here in falling to 7-3 while Takanosho moves to 6-4 after the easy win.

I noticed at the start of Day 9 for NHK World, they were taking the leaderboard down to two-losses, but that's a joke at this point. Regardless of what the NHK leaderboard is, Asakoryu just fell off of it.

Watching the M16 Nishikigi - M11 Shishi bout reminded me of why these early bouts bug me for the most part. After a series of unnecessary false starts from both dudes, the two..um..charged, and with Shishi doing nothing, Nishikigi easily drove him back near the edge and then all of a sudden, Nishikigi dipped his left shoulder and hit the dirt without a single move from the Ukrainian. Shishi did his best to try and catch up with a wild left arm fishing for an outer grip, but Nishikigi was already in his fall and putting his left knee down as you can see in this pic at left. What a horribly thrown bout in Shishi's favor as they gift him 2-8 while Nishikigi should be ashamed of himself in falling to 5-5.

M8 Onokatsu came with his hands way too high at the tachi-ai gifting M16 Kayo moro-zashi, but the rookie was too hapless to know what to do with it, and so next thing you knew, Onokatsu got his right arm inside coupled with a left outer grip. I think what happened here is that Onokatsu was giving the rookie a chance at the start, but when he flubbed it, Onokatsu reeled the dude in like a trout hooked in the gut, and Onokatsu executed the beautiful yori-kiri from there after giving away the tachi-ai. Onokatsu moves to a quiet 6-4 while Kayo falls to 4-6 (how in the hell has this guy won 4 bouts? I'm sure I don't wanna know).

Two of my favorites met today in M14 Roga and M8 Kinbohzan, and it was the latter who bullied Roga back from the tachi-ai sending him to the straw with ease. Kinbohzan suddenly let up on the attack, however, and let Roga escape to his right, and so now with the action on the other side of the ring, Kinbohzan offered a few more lazy tsuppari with no lower body behind them, and Roga was somehow able to lightly tug at Kinbohzan's extended arm, and the Kazakhstani waltzed forward and out of the ring from there. Good grief as Roga moves to 7-3 while Kinbohzan showed some charity here in falling to 6-4.

M11 Endoh won the tachi-ai and had the clear path to the left arm inside against M7 Churanoumi, and Endoh could have even grabbed a right frontal belt grip as Churanoumi's hands were high from the start, but instead of locking his opponent in and going chest to chest, Endoh started backing over to the side of the ring and out with Churanoumi in tow. Endoh was completely mukiryoku here in falling to 5-5 while Churanoumi oils his way to just 2-8.

M6 Ohshoma reached for the right frontal grip against M10 Shodai, and coupled with the left inside, it would have put Shodai in a huge pickle, but Shodai was able to brush that initial attack away. Any tactical maneuvers from Shodai ended there, however, as Ohshoma was next able to go for a quick pull that turned Shodai around 180 degrees, and so the okuri-dashi in favor Ohshoma was academic from there. Ohshoma moves to 7-3 with the easy win while Shodai falls to 3-7.

M10 Meisei and M6 Tobizaru stuck in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai, which is rare for a Tobizaru bout as that dude is usually all over the place. Meisei would take it, however, and he grabbed the easy left outside grip and forced Tobizaru back and across easy as you please. Nice, easy win for Meisei who moves to 7-3 while Tobizaru falls to 5-5.

M9 Midorifuji henka'd to his right at the tachi-ai against M5 Chiyoshoma, but the move was quite lackluster, and Chiyoshoma could have easily pivoted on a dime as little contact came from his foe, but the bout was fixed and so Chiyoshoma dutifully put both palms to the dirt, and that was that. Midorifuji gets his first dose of charity in moving to 1-9 while Chiyoshoma falls to 2-8 and is padding his bank account.

M3 Tamawashi kept his hands high around M4 Takerufuji's shoulder area at the tachi-ai allowing Takerufuji to get to the inside, and despite the gift, Takerufuji couldn't make an impact after getting the inside left, and so Tamawashi faked a right kote-nage and used that as an excuse to just back out of the ring with his foe in tow. If there's anything from today to point out about Takerufuji's sumo, it was his poor footwork at the tachi-ai. He just shuffled his feet coming out of his stance, and if Tamawashi was really bringing the guns, he could have knocked Takerufuji back oshi-taoshi style in one fell swoop. Instead, we got a puff bout fixed in favor of Takerufuji who ekes his way to 4-6 while Tamawashi falls to 3-7.

M2 Abi caught M1 Wakamotoharu so fast at the tachi-ai with two hands to the neck that it sent WMH upright with his arms flailing to either side. From there Abi pushed his foe back to the brink, and as Wakamotoharu started to resist, Abi shifted gears and went for an ill-advised pull in my opinion because he had to cover the entire diameter of the ring, but he won the tachi-ai so handily, he got away with the pull and sent Wakamotoharu packing without a say in the matter. Abi moves to 6-4 with the win while Wakamotoharu falls to 4-6.

M2 Gonoyama looked to get to the inside of M1 Ohho at the tachi-ai, but the latter wouldn't hold still and went for a quick pull as he shaded laterally. That threw Gonoyama off of his plan to get to the belt, but he was able to connect on some nifty shoves including a wicked choke hold with the right to send Ohho over to the other side of the dohyo, and just as Gonoyama had his man upright and ready for the kill shot, Ohho all of a sudden became stiff as a board and fell right back towards the center of the ring. They ruled it oshi-taoshi, but there sure wasn't a shove that sent Ohho down in that direction. Everything looked legit until that fall, so who knows what was going on here?  I'm not going to pretend I know as both rikishi finish the day at 3-7, and Gonoyama showed once again how he can be a very potent rikishi when he's allowed to be.

Komusubi Takayasu connected on a decent right kachi-age into the throat area of M2 Hiradoumi at the tachi-ai, but Takayasu's legs were completely flat-footed, and so Hiradoumi was able to slip to the side and start firing off pull attempts. None of them were particularly dangerous, but they made Takayasu move laterally, something he doesn't want to do, and so Hiradoumi was able to pull and move and get Takayasu off balance to where he was spent allowing Hiradoumi to defeat him by tsuki-dashi of all things. This bout wasn't pretty, but Hiradoumi will take it, especially after losing the tachi-ai. He moves to 4-6 while Takayasu falls to 2-8.

Our first so-called leader, M9 Aonishiki, stepped into the ring to face Komusubi Wakatakakage, and the tachi-ai wasn't blistering from either party. Wakatakakage seemed passive, and Aonishiki left himself a bit exposed and was more upright than he wanted to be. The two traded quick slaps before Wakatakakage wormed his way into the right inside position, and as Aonishiki turned to defensive mode, WTK flinched on grabbing a left outer grip, but then he changed his mind on a dime and opted for a kata-sukashi instead. Wakatakakage was simply too fast for his opponent today, and he defeated Aonishiki rather easily leaving both dudes just on the outside looking in at 8-2.

The other one-loss rikishi coming into the day, M7 Hakuohho, was paired against Sekiwake Daieisho, and simply put, Daieisho wasn't bought off. That was a mistake as Daieisho halted Hakuohho in his tracks at the tachi-ai with his tsuppari attack, and once Hakuohho was neutralized, Daieisho began thrusting with his lower half fueling the charge, and he had Hakuohho pushed back against the edge in a jiffy.  The kill shot came in the form of a right paw to the neck that sent Hakuohho back and across in real tsuki-dashi style. Wow, I love a genuine tsuki-dashi bout, and we got one here as Daieisho simply overpowered his foe in moving to 7-3 while Hakuohho suffers a costly loss in terms of the yusho race in falling to 8-2.

And that brings us to the golden goose, Onosato, who's partner today was M4 Ichiyamamoto. Ichiyamamoto struck Onosato well at the tachi-ai standing him completely upright, but then IYM suddenly moved sideways to his left towards the edge. Because Onosato didn't cause that movement, he wasn't prepared to take advantage of it, and so Ichiyamamoto began moving across the dohyo in the other direction, and as he went, he turned his body 90 degrees and uselessly tugged at Onosato's extended left arm as he set himself up at the edge. Because Onosato had not been in control during this bout, he ended up knocking Ichiyamamoto who was already "dead" at the straw down backwards and head first to the floor below.

It just amazes me that guys are able to hop right back up after taking a backwards spill like that, but maybe Ichiyamamoto only landed on his head and so that's why he didn't get hurt. These hard falls are also the result of one dude being totally mukiryoku. Regardless, Ichiyamamoto's MO the entire way was to keep his body at a 90 degree angle to his opponent, and he succeeded for sure. As for Onosato, it's the typical template where he loses the tachi-ai and then relies on his opponent to do all the work. Yokozuna shmokozuna, but it looks like a done dill as we say in Utah at this point. Onosato moves to 10-0 with the gift and his closest competitor is now two losses behind. I just don't think anyone dares beat this guy, and so the consecutive winning continues. As for Ichiyamamoto, he falls to 4-6 with a new stash for his petty cash.

Sekiwake Kirishima and Kotozakura hooked up quickly in hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai, and Kirishima grabbed the early frontal belt grip with the right. He let it go almost as quick as he got it, which is a red flag. After a second or two, he next executed a maki-kae with the right getting moro-zashi, and it was stunning how Kotozakura was ill-prepared to respond to the maki-kae. Now in moro-zashi, Kirishima forced Zak back a step or two, but then he pulled out...of his moro-zashi that is, and it was a sign of the Sekiwake continuing to relieve the pressure against his opponent. With the two now ducked down, Kirishima grabbed the frontal belt grip again, and I think he realized it was a lost cause, and so he easily forced Kotozakura back and across to pick up the win. I mean, Kirishima kept giving the dude chances, but Kotozakura was so hapless it was good to see Kirishima win this in the end while moving to 7-3. As for Kotozakura, his fake run cools down a bit as he now stands at 6-4.

The final bout of the day featured Yokozuna Hoshoryu taking on M5 Ura, and the Yokozuna caught Ura with two hands to the top of the shoulders at the tachi-ai before going for a quick pull. That had Ura off balance a second or two in, and so Hoshoryu used another pull to turn Ura around before pushing him out of the ring altogether. Ura can never go quietly, so instead of just hopping down to the venue floor, he had to twist his body around and exaggerate his fall. Whatever. Hoshoryu moves to 8-2 with the easy win while Ura's make-koshi is official at 2-8.

Well, at the end of the day, the leaderboard looks like this:

10-0: Onosato

I could see that coming from about Day 4, but I think the Association will put up with it to ensure Onosato's promotion to Yokozuna. The dude can finish 2-3 and they'll still give it to him they're that desperate.

It's normally fun to prognosticate the bouts for the next day among the leaders, but what's the point??

The two-loss rikishi at the end of the day are Hoshoryu, Wakatakakage, Hakuohho, and Aonishiki, but it doesn't matter until someone's camp decides to rise up and challenge Onosato for real. I think to this point his only real win is against Ura.

Onosato gets Wakatakakage tomorrow, and WTK can easily get to the inside at the tachi-ai. He'll likely do that and then quickly back up and out.

Surprise me WTK.

Natsu Basho Day 9 Comments
If there was a single bout over the weekend that really exemplified sumo and this current basho, it was the Kotozakura - M2 Gonoyama matchup on Day 7. That bout was key because Gonoyama won the tachi-ai easily in the same exact fashion in which he won the tachi-ai the day before against Onosato. The difference on Day 7, however, was that Gonoyama continued his forward momentum and had Kotozakura forced back and across with little argument. That bout was important because it illustrated that Gonoyama simply had the choice in his sumo to continue his forward momentum or not. He chose to continue that momentum on day 7 and win the bout against Kotozakura, and he chose to abandon his momentum on Day 6 against Onosato and throw the bout for political reasons.

It really feels like sumo has come down to just that:  whether or not the superior rikishi is going to choose to win or choose to lose.

There are still legit bouts going on, and I'd say about half on any given day are fought straight up, but the current banzuke is entirely fictitious because it's based on fixed sumo. One has to merely analyze the content of the sumo to understand that, and so it's worth pointing out Gonoyama's sumo on Day 6 and Day 7 to show the contrast.

As we head into the second week, it doesn't even feel as if we have a yusho race. The top two tiers of the leaderboard at the beginning of Day 9 were as follows:

8-0: Onosato (74k)
7-1: Wakatakakage (28K), Hakuohho (22K), Aonishiki (12K)

I put the number of views streamed from the Sumo Association's official website after each rikishi in parenthesis, and this is how many people watched their bout online from Day 9 as of 14 hours or so after the fact. I haven't been tracking these numbers long enough to really compare it to previous basho and comment on any trends I've noticed, but these numbers fall in line I think with the sense I've gotten early on this basho that nobody is really paying attention to a yusho race.

If you look at the number for the rikishi from the one-loss tier, only 37% of the people who watched Onosato's bout also watched Wakatakakage fight. That number drops to about 30% for Hakuohho, and then only 16% of the people who watched Onosato's bout also watched Aonishiki. That tells me that nobody is really following the yusho race, and they're just watching the bouts from the dudes with name-recognition.

Let's examine the leaderboard first today since I don't have time to do all of the bouts.

Going in chronological order, M7 Hakuohho was paired against M10 Shodai, and Shodai didn't bother doing anything here. From the tachi-ai, he stood straight up keeping his insides exposed, and so Hakuohho got moro-zashi leading with the left arm, and Shodai backed to the side and out just as fast as Hakuohho was forcing him back. The direction that Shodai was "forced" back and to the side would have suggested that Hakuohho was leading with his right arm, but it was actually Hakuohho's left arm that was the lead arm in this contest, and so Shodai's lateral movement to his right and Hakuohho's attack with the left didn't exactly jive assuming a straight up bout. I can't help but notice such details in every bout of sumo I watch. The end result here was that Shodai (3-6) made it very easy for Hakuohho to pick up kachi-koshi today at 8-1 and stay in the yusho race.

If these two guys fight straight up, Hakuohho should be able to win six or seven times, but Shodai didn't even try today, and it was evident from the tachi-ai.

Up next was M9 Aonishiki taking on M5 Chiyoshoma and the two rikishi traded stiff-arm tsuppari where neither dude was using the lower body, and so they did this for a second or two before Chiyoshoma started going into pull mode. He didn't actually attempt a pull as he was merely backing his way to the edge, and when Aonishiki finally pounced for the force-out kill, Chiyoshoma went with the flow gifting the Ukrainian the easy win. As I alluded to previously, the bouts involving the leaders aren't hotly contested, and so it doesn't feel like there's any drama here. Aonishiki buys his way to 8-1 while Chiyoshoma falls to 2-7 without a care in the world.

The final one-loss rikishi was Komusubi Wakatakakage who was paired against M2 Abi, and Abi easily got both hands around the side of Wakatakakage's melon, and he just squeezed in while twisting him sideways and down by the head less than two seconds into the bout. You'd think a dude on a run would be able to perform better than Wakatakakage did today, but Wakatakakage's "run" up to this point has been largely manufactured. Abi fails to be bought off today in moving to 5-4 while Wakatakakage falls to 7-2 and off the leaderboard.

And that brings us to Onosato, who was paired with M5 Ura today, and Onosato came with a right kachi-age at the tachi-ai, which I thought was a smart move just to keep the pesky Ura from getting to the inside. And I don't know how hellbent Ura really was to do any damage today; it certainly didn't look like it. When Ura is trying to win a straight up bout, he always moves laterally out of necessity, but he opted to stay in front of Onosato from the tachi-ai, so when Onosato went for a few pulls, Ura just walked into them and waltzed sideways out of the dohyo. Onosato really didn't make any significant contact until Ura had already walked himself to the straw and he was standing with his back to the center of the ring, and so Onosato gave him a nice push into the front row for good measure.  In that pic at left, notice how over-extended Onosato is.  He's in catch-up mode rather than bully-stick mode

I think if these two fight straight up, Onosato wins 80% of the time, but it didn't look here as if Ura had any urgency to his sumo. Onosato also didn't really push the dude around. I mean, you go for a slapdown and your opponent slips away easily and sets himself up at the edge with his back turned...

Onosato moves to 9-0 with the win today, and we'll credit him for not losing the tachi-ai. As for Ura, he falls to 2-7 in defeat.

With the leaderboard reshuffled, this is how things look heading into Day 10:

9-0: Onosato
8-1: Hakuohho, Aonishiki

That's a sorry sac leaderboard if I've ever seen one, and believe me, I've seen one!!

The next popular guy right now after Onosato in terms of fan interest is Takerufuji, and about 2/3 of the fans who watch Onosato are also tuning into TFJ's bouts. What's interesting is that Takerufuji only had three wins going into the day, so you can see that people are interested in the rikishi they're told to root for, and they really have no cognizance of the yusho race.

Speaking of M4 Takerufuji, he fought Sekiwake Kirishima today, and Kirishima kept his arms high and wide at the tachi-ai exposing himself somewhat to his opponent. Instead of standing upright, however, Kirishima began faking pulls as he moved left, and so Takerufuji got the left arm inside sending the bout to hidari-yotsu, but it was Kirishima who was dictating all the movement. With Kirishima having circled nearly a full turn around the dohyo, he thought about a quick right kote-nage but then changed that to a kubi-nage with the right, and he was able to strong arm Takerufuji down to the dirt before Takerufuji's left inside scoop throw could take any real effect. I'm not sure why they called a mono-ii here because it wasn't that close. Kirishima left himself vulnerable, but he also had to do all the work, and in the end, Takerufuji really didn't have a say in the bout and was along for the ride. Unfortunately for him...and the fans, Kirishima decided to beat him in the end. Kirishima moves to 6-3 with the win while Takerufuji is now 3-6 having lost six bouts in a row.

On some of the days, I'm noticing that the Sumo Association isn't even posting Yokozuna Hoshoryu's bouts on their YouTube site, and that's a little disrespect that nobody cares about. Today, the Yokozuna was paired against M4 Ichiyamamoto, and Hoshoryu saw his opponent and his tsuppari attack well at the tachi-ai, and with Ichiyamamoto not really connecting on a thrust, Hoshoryu was able to time a tug of his arm to send him off balance before the Yokozuna slapped him down a few seconds in. Hoshoryu moves to 7-2, and after giving up those two early losses, he really has no choice but to keep winning in order to keep himself in the confines of the leaderboard. You really do need name recognition for the yusho race, and he's the best they got besides Onosato, so expect him to keep on lurking. As for Ichiyamamoto, he harmlessly falls to 4-5 in defeat.

Kotozakura drew Komusubi Takayasu today, and this one looked to be about as scripted as you can get a bout. From the tachi-ai, Takayasu didn't even bother with his usual tsuppari. He just ducked low and dipped that left shoulder as Kotozakura moved to his right, got a grip of the back of Takayasu's belt with the right hand, and then bowled him over in one fell swooped. In my opinion, the majority of fixed bouts are impromptu, but this one literally looked as if both guys new exactly what the other would do. Kotozakura moves to 6-3 with the gift while Takayasu is a hapless 2-7.

Sekiwake Daieisho's hot streak has faded quickly. Today against M3 Tamawashi, Daieisho brought his A game, but Tamawashi easily absorbed the thrust attack and stood his ground well. Besides firing counter tsuppari, Tamawashi was also able to dislodge Daieisho with some swipes to the upper arm, and frustrated, Daieisho finally went into pull mode, but as he compromised his body by moving backwards, Tamawashi swooped in for the push out kill just like that. Daieisho is now 6-3 after that fast 5-0 start while Tamawashi improves to 3-6.

Easily the best fought bout of the day featured two dudes who the Association would love to see promoted to Ozeki sooner rather than later in M1 Wakamotoharu and M1 Ohho. From the tachi-ai, Ohho used a hesitant tsuppari attack to throw jabs Wakamotoharu's way, but Wakamotoharu frustrated him by threatening to move left and time a swipe each time Ohho went for a shove. Ohho got frustrated and finally went for a pull, and when he did, Wakamotoharu immediately forced the bout to hidari-yotsu where he grabbed a right outer grip. Wakamotoharu has the advantage at the belt between these two, and it showed. With Wakamotoharu making his move, Ohho panicked and went for a late maki-kae with the right that sorta succeeded, but WMH already had the momentum and drove Ohho back and across for the great win.

Can you imagine if every bout of every day was contested like this??  Wakamotoharu moves to 4-5 with the great win while Ohho falls to 3-6.

Let's next move to the M8 Kinbohzan - M6 Ohshoma contest. Remember Kinbohzan's yusho run in January?  Not only did the dude keep winning day after day, but you could see from his actual sumo that the run was legit. The question was whether or not Hoshoryu would be able to track him down and pull ahead, but you could see from the content of Kinbohzan's sumo in January that the run was for real.

Such sumo content is blatantly missing from the four yayhoos currently on the leaderboard, and I feel like the contrast is worth pointing out.

Getting to Kinbohzan's bout itself, he easily won the tachi-ai connecting on some very potent thrusts into Ohshoma's body, but then all of a sudden Ohshoma moved a bit right and Kinbohzan's reaction was to continue to move forward while wrapping his left arm backwards around his opponent's body. Wow...a lotta good that did as Kinbohzan throws this contest and ended up a few rows deep after being pushed out from behind in falling to 6-3 while Ohshoma begs the win here in moving to the same 6-3 mark.

And finally, it's obvious that the Association thinks they have something with this Kusano fellow in Juryo. The dude belongs to a power-stable, the Isegahama-beya, and I keep seeing the Sumo Association posting his bouts along with the main Makuuchi bouts. I decided to watch his contest today against fellow Juryo rikishi, Hitoshi, and this Kusano dude is like the second coming of Onosato. His footwork his terrible, and he needed his opponent to stay light and go for pulls as the two danced around the ring. You can tell they're trying to make this dude a star, but his sumo content is not all that. Just watch his bouts and look at his poor footwork. His 8-1 record is only consequential because it guarantees him promotion to Makuuchi for next basho, and you know he's going to be the hot topic.

In fact, the Sumo Association posts 12 bouts a day, and Kusano's bout was the only Juryo bout they posted, and even with this dude still being in Juryo, his bout ranked #8 out of 12 in terms of popularity. I feel like this guy will surpass the Hakuohho project soon, and then along with stablemate Takerufuji, those two should quickly become the most popular rikishi behind Onosato. And isn't it interesting that none of this will be accomplished with real sumo.

I'll try and get to a full report tomorrow, so I don't overlook the smaller details like how fake Asakoryu's 7-2 start has been.

N'ja.

Natsu Basho Day 6 Comments
When I get up in the morning, it's roughly 10 PM Japan time, and the only outlet that has any bouts posted online at that time that I'm aware of is the Sumo Association itself. They post 12 or 13 bouts from the day on their official YouTube page, and then you can see how many views each of the bouts has. I presume that this is where NHK would get it's top three bouts streamed from the previous day chart, and the numbers from Day 6 in terms of popularity are:

#1 Kotozakura vs. Takerufuji
#2 Onosato vs. Gonoyama
#3 Hoshoryu vs. Tamawashi

The fourth most popular bout had less than half of the views of number one, so there was a huge gap in between third place and fourth place. #4 was Abi vs. Ohho with #5 Ura vs. Hakuohho coming in a close fifth place, and then there was a huge drop off from there.

I was quite surprised that Onosato was not #1, and it really wasn't that close. At the time of this writing, there was a 10K difference in views between #1 and #2, and at the time I wrote this about 14 hours after the end of the previous day, #1 had 76K total views.

I think it's got to be a bit concerning for the Association that Onosato is not running away with the most views, and I'd be interested to see what happens if Asanoyama ever makes it back to the Juryo division let alone Makuuchi (he's currently ranked at MS14). I really don't have a good explanation as to why Onosato is not the most popular rikishi, but I think it's worth noting that he is not sticking so well in terms of fan admiration.

With that, let's cover all of the bouts that the Sumo Association posted on their official YouTube site, which means we'll hit about 2/3 of the total.

To begin the day, M16 Nishikigi practically conducted a bout of butsukari-geiko for M17 Asakoryu. NG kept his left arm wide at the tachi-ai as the two looked to hook up in migi-yotsu, and due to the sheer size difference it was natural that Nishikigi began to body Asakoryu back, but near the edge, Nishikigi took that right arm and brought it up high as if to pull, and from there, he simply kept both arms wide just as they do in butsukari-geiko. That was Asakoryu's sign to just start pushing hard into Nishikigi's breasts, and Nishikigi dutifully began moving backwards until Asakoryu had him pushed across. This was simply a matter of Nishikigi starting to take himself out of the yusho race as both dudes end the day at 5-1.

M10 Meisei got the right arm inside early at the tachi-ai against M12 Atamifuji, and it looked as if Meisei could insert the left as well for moro-zashi, but he held up a bit and let Atamifuji gather his wits. With Meisei now completely aligning his feet--on purpose, Atamifuji was ready to make his move and so he used the left arm to get a kote-nage grip, and he used that to drive Meisei back kime-dashi style at first, but then he switched gears near the edge and hoisted a very willing Meisei over and down with that left kote-nage. It was such a matter of fact yaocho for both rikishi as Atamifuji moves to 4-2 while Meisei settles for 3-3.

M9 Aonishiki put a right paw to M10 Shodai's throat at the tachi-ai that kept Shodai upright enough to where the Ukrainian also got the left inside position, and as Aonishiki began bodying Shodai over to the edge while looking for the right outer grip, Shodai executed a very nice counter move that was half kote-nage half tottari with the right arm against Aonishiki's inside left, and it caused the youngster to stumble a bit, but that was Shodai's best shot, and once Aonishiki recovered, he chased Shodai to the other side of the dohyo and pushed him down with a right grip at the back of Shodai's belt. Aonishiki is a quite 5-1 with the win while Shodai falls to 2-4.

M8 Kinbohzan put two paws around M11 Endoh's face at the tachi-ai, but the Kazakhstani was holding up just a bit. That allowed Endoh to get the right arm inside briefly, but then Kinbohzan began his methodic tsuppari charge, and he had Endoh pushed back and across with ease even while letting up a bit. Both of these rikishi stand at 4-2.

M5 Ura and M7 Hakuohho hooked up in a straight-forward hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai, and it's very rare for Ura to be involved in such a straight-up contest. The two jockeyed a bit and traded places in the ring, and when the dust settled, Ura had the much lower stance to where he could have grabbed a right outer grip or even a frontal belt grip for a dangerous moro-zashi. When he didn't even attempt to grab anything with that right hand and instead kept the arm in no man's land, I knew he was throwing the bout, and sure enough, he let Hakuohho execute a very methodic yori charge, and all Ura did to counter was to uselessly arch his back at the edge. At least no one got hurt here as Hakuohho is unblemished but only on paper at 6-0 while Ura falls to 1-5.

M2 Abi easily won the tachi-ai against M1 Ohho pushing both hands into Ohho's neck for moro-te-zuki. Ohho held his ground and used a left hand at the back of Abi's right armpit to throw Abi off balance a bit, and after the two traded places in the ring, Abi went for a quick pull as they hooked back up, and Ohho went down and out rather easily as Abi flopped to the other side of the dohyo for no reason after his pull attempt. When we see such theatrics, the bout is usually fixed as both rikishi finish the day at 3-3.

Komusubi Takayasu came with a pretty nice kachi-age with the right arm against fellow Komusubi Wakatakakage, but it wasn't into WTK's chest, and so Wakatakakage was able to slip to his left and hook his left arm behind Takayasu's extended right, and Wakatakakage had enough leverage on the move that he was able to send Takayasu stumbling forward near the edge, and the push out from behind was academic from there. Pretty nifty move from Wakatakakage has he moves to 5-1. I also liked Takayasu's effort at the tachi-ai as he falls now to just 1-5.

Sekiwake Daieisho welcomed M3 Hiradoumi, and Daieisho put both hands forward from the tachi-ai only to see Hiradoumi quickly move left and swipe down at Daieisho's extended arms sending the Sekiwake down half a second into the bout. That's not exactly the way you want to see an undefeated rikishi suffer his first loss as Daieisho falls to 5-1 while Hiradoumi is even steven again at 3-3.

M1 Wakamotoharu was half-assed at the tachi-ai against Sekiwake Kirishima standing completely upright and keeping his right arm extended, and so Kirishima rushed in taking the left inside position. With Wakamotoharu barely playing defense, Kirishima began a light force-out charge, and Wakamotoharu's footwork was so poor that Kirishima found his left leg next to Wakamotoharu's right, and so he put that leg behind WMH's stump and easily tripped him over soto-gake style.

You could see Kirishima apologizing to his foe, which suggests this bout was predetermined because you are not supposed to rough the other guy up in an arranged bout, and executing a soto-gake could be a risky move. Wakamotoharu seemed just fine, and while I don't see him as a rikishi with high sumo skills, I felt like he was half-assed on purpose today so as to return a favor. He's just 1-5 now while Kirishima better be careful at 4-2 so he doesn't find himself on the leaderboard.

M2 Gonoyama was a beast at the tachi-ai against Onosato catching him with a right paw to the throat and a left hazu shove to Onosato's right side, and the Yokozuna candidate was looking at the rafters in an instant. Gonoyama kept this pressure up for two to three seconds, and there was nothing that Onosato could do to shake it, but instead of driving forward and sending Onosato back, Gonoyama switched gears on a dime, went for a phantom swipe, and backed his way all the way out of the dohyo. That quick momentum shift caused Onosato to stumble forward, and he instinctively outstretched his arms as if to push, but he had nothing to do with Gonoyama's exit stage West.

Sumo's problem right now is two-fold. The lesser issue regards this basho only where they don't have a yusho race forming with high-ranking dudes, and so the only bout the nightly news shows can rerun is Onosato's bout because it's the only story. And that leads to the bigger problem. When savvy, free-thinking people watch this bout, what are they going to see? On one hand, they're being told that this is a Yokozuna candidate, and he's coming into the day 5-0 while his rank and file opponent is 0-5, and then they watch Gonoyama really kick his opponent's ass from the tachi-ai and then suddenly back his way out of the ring.  I've been talking a lot about the clickbait phenomenon, but another big trend I'm seeing with the pictures is they're showing a lot of pics for Onosato bouts like the one at right because they can't find good action pics during the bout.

I did find exactly one action pic from this bout and it's the one below.  Look at that reach from Onosato! That's the position a dude finds himself in when he's about to be pulled down to defeat; it's not the stance of a dude kicking ass and taking names.

I can tell you they're not converting fair weather fans with this crap, and you really have to be obtuse to believe this is real.  Maybe it's constant bouts like this that prevent Onosato from being the #1 dude whose streamed after the fact.  Watching Onosato get his ass handed to him day after day after day like a broken record only to score the puff comeback win in the end is getting tiresome.

And it didn't get any better for the Association with the next bout that saw M4 Takerufuji easily best Kotozakura at the tachi-ai getting the right arm inside without issue and coupling that with a left outer grip, and the youngster had Kotozakura completely upright and very vulnerable. I think at this point Takerufuji was actually surprised by how little resistance or pressure was coming from his opponent because he would body Kotozakura back a sukoshi and then hold up, body him back again a sukoshi and then hold up, and it went like this for about six seconds, and then all of a sudden, Takerufuji put his right hand at the back of Kotozakura's dome and started backpedaling while dragging Kotozakura into his own body. The problem was that there was way too much real estate to cover to get to the straw on the other side, and so Takerufuji just collapsed lamely as if Kotozakura had thrown him down first as the result of a nage-no-uchi-ai. I watched this finish and I was simply incredulous. I mean, I really have no words other than to say even I'm embarrassed for the Sumo Association for allowing sumo like this to occur on a daily basis, especially so late in the broadcast.

When it comes to pictures, I did see one outlet, the SupoNichi Annex, who used the pic below to depict Kotozakura's bout.  It makes Zak actually look like a man towering over his defeated opponent, but what this really was was Kotozakura getting up off of the dohyo faster than Takerufuji:

Kotozakura flounders his way to victory and a 4-2 record while Takerufuji was the ultimate pawn today in the hands of Isegahama-oyakata in falling to 3-3.

After watching those two lame bouts that involved the faux-zeki, you would have liked to have seen Yokozuna Hoshoryu put a stamp on things in the day's final bout. The problem was he was paired against M3 Tamawashi, and you never get good, straight-up bouts from the Mongolians. Tamawashi moved a shade left at the tachi-ai putting his left hand into Hoshoryu's right side, but instead of pushing and causing damage, which he could have done, he just stood there while Hoshoryu squared back up, knocked his opponent upright, and pushed him back with no resistance. This was a typical puff bout between two Mongolian's where they always give the guy the win who needs it more. In this case, Tamawashi deferred to the higher ranked Hoshoryu, who moves to 4-2 with the easy contest while Tamawashi falls to 2-4.

I dunno, what do you show on the nightly news to make an impression with the public at large? It's dangerous to show those bouts with Onosato and Kotozakura because the yaocho was so painfully obvious, so I'm glad it's not my problem. I'm just here to analyze it all.

Natsu Basho Day 5 Comments
I was kinda getting sick of watching all the bouts on NHK World the first four days. First of all, the quality is not high definition. I mean, in this day and age is it too much to ask for a broadcast to be in hi def?? Secondly, the English announcers are handcuffed in their analysis, and it sounds for the most part that they are reading off of a prepared script. And thirdly, the only supplemental information you get are these random "Bout of the day" graphics. Anyway, I found the Abema stream online  today and watched the Day 5 bouts there, and in between contests, they were scanning the arena, and they focused in on this section in the cheap seats:



I was looking at that and noticed that there weren't any Japanese people in the pictures. Okay, there is one Japanese person...the lady at far upper right on her phone who is obviously the tour guide of this group (note how everyone as the cute stickers on their shirts from the tour).

Back when I had the NHK general feed, they loved to pan in close to foreigner attendees, and they were all over the place, and so it got me thinking...how many foreign tourists and students attend the sumos each day? The students will not attend on weekends of course, and they don't need to because more fans will show up on the weekends, but how many fans on weekdays are there because it's part of a tour or a foreigner in general on vacation in Japan who wants to check out the sumos or you're a student and your school is making you go?

I think there's at least 500 students in attendance each day, and there are probably at least that many foreign visitors as well. The Association is working hard to get the arena full every day, and then they've been working overtime this year to try and appeal to online fans by planting all of those clickbait articles. I've been reading sumo articles in the Japanese newspapers for 30 years, and so trust me when I say this whole clickbait business is new.

A year ago, for example, if the NHK general broadcast invited gold medalist wrestler, Akari Fujinami, to join a weekend broadcast, you would see headlines in some of the dailies, and they'd read something like this:

Gold Medalist Fujinami Akari Joins the NHK Broadcast

Now they are writing the headlines like this:

You'll never guess which Olympic gold medalist joined the NHK Broadcast on Day 8!!

As I watch the bouts day after day, I have a really hard time believing that the Association is winning fans over based on the sumo content. They have the die-hards for sure, and they'll have them until they...well...die, but the Sumo Association is really scrambling to stay relevant in my opinion, and their formula for success the last decade or so has been to morph away from traditional sumo wrestling and more into professional wrestling.

Sure, they'll likely get their next Japanese Yokozuna after this basho, but at what cost to the integrity of the sport?

The day began with M18 Tochitaikai drawing a whole lotta bulk in M16 Nishikigi, and the rookie actually did well to catch Nishikigi with an early nodowa, or paw to the throat. Nishikigi brushed it aside rather easily, however, and got the right arm inside, and once Nishikigi started to press forward, the rookie's only hope was to pull, but he was already so far gone at that point the result was a very easy win for Nishikigi who moves to a perfect 5-0 while Tochitaikai falls to 3-2. Even in defeat, that nodowa from Tochitaikai was the most positive thing I've seen from the kid since his proactive Day 1 victory over Asakoryu.

M16 Kayo welcomed Takarafuji up from the J3 rank, and this was a puff piece of sumo if I've ever seen one. Kayo came with two shoves from the tachi-ai, which was good, but he had no lower body behind it, and the shoves were out of sync. Because that tachi-ai made no impact, the two traded places in the dohyo, and Takarafuji was just standing there with his insides exposed, and the rookie thought briefly about getting the left arm inside, but he panicked and moved left. At this point, Takarafuji could have easily just shoved Kayo across the straw, but the bout was obviously fixed, and so with Kayo moving awkwardly back to the straw, Takarafuji just walked into a very poorly executed pull down. It was poorly executed because Kayo moved from Takarafuji's left side over to the right side all while attempting a pull, and normally that squares a dude up to be pushed out by his opponent. Because this was full blown yaocho, Takarafuji never once made a move to win, and so Kayo magically picks up win number 1 by purchasing it.

I saw in the headlines afterwards that Kayo's stable master, Yoshikaze, also picked up his first Makuuchi win on Day 5. What were the odds?!!

M17 Asakoryu put a weak stiff arm towards M15 Shonannoumi from the tachi-ai, and curiously, SNNU didn't even try and swipe it away. After this awkward start, Shonannoumi lamely feigned a right kote-nage, but you could see he was applying zero pressure, so when Asakoryu attempted a left belt drag, Shonannoumi just put two palms to the dirt and that was that. Asakoryu is an ill-gotten 4-1 now while Shonannoumi falls to 1-4 a richer dude.

M17 Tamashoho came with a desperate tsuppari attack against M14 Roga from the tachi-ai, and by desperate I mean that Tamashoho was reaching on those thrusts and not really planting his lower body. Roga watched this all take place for two or three seconds and then he just pounced forward into moro-zashi and had TSH forced back and across without argument. This reminded me of a chameleon watching a bug on the same leaf and then instantly extending his sticky tongue and reeling his prey in towards a certain death. Roga moves to 4-1 with the easy win while Tamashoho falls to 1-4.

M15 Ryuden grabbed a quick right outer grip against a listless M13 Tokihayate from the tachi-ai, and then he worked his left arm into the inside position, and once he obtained the position of full dominance, he forced Tokihayate back and across with ease. Tokihayate was like a trout hooked in the gut here. No matter how much he squirmed, he was doomed as doom can be in falling to 2-3 while Ryuden one ups him at 3-2.

M12 Atamifuji was extremely timid at the tachi-ai against M13 Sadanoumi as the two hooked up in hidari-yotsu, and by design Atamifuji just stayed upright gifting Sadanoumi the easy left outer grip, and as the Sadamight began his force out charge, Atamifuji was all too willing to backpedal in tandem instead of really digging in and using his girth to counter. I mean, Atamifuji had a left outer of his own, and he could have easily used his size advantage to stand his ground, but I could see from the tachi-ai that he was gifting this one to his opponent. The end result is both dudes finishing at 3-2.

M11 Endoh neutralized M12 Takanosho at the tachi-ai quite well as he slammed his way forward looking for the inside, but Takanosho gave this little hop to his right that threw Endoh out of sorts just enough to where the two buckled in and grappled for any advantage. The dudes weren't chest to chest and it was more of Endoh driving the top of his head into Takanosho's neck area, but Takanosho kept Endoh away from the inside position and/or belt, and about 20 seconds into the fray, Takanosho moved left executing a nifty pull that sent Endoh off balance, and before Endoh could fully recover, Takanosho pounced and drove Endoh across the ring and out. I thought this was one of the better fought bouts the entire five days as Endoh suffers his first defeat at 4-1 while Takanosho moves to 3-2.

M10 Meisei struck M11 Shishi well from the tachi-ai moving in quickly and taking advantage of Shishi's arms, which where in a defensive posture with the elbows extended, and at the two second mark, Meisei slipped a bit right and fired a right tsuki into Shishi's left side felling him just like that. Meisei moves to 3-2 with the easy win while Shishi falls to 0-5.

M9 Aonishiki looked to drive M9 Midorifuji back from the tachi-ai with a tsuppari attack, but the punches just weren't connecting, and a few seconds in, Midorifuji was able to assume a legit moro-zashi position. Shishi countered with a left uwate, but Midorifuji was in the prime position to execute the kata-sukashi. Curiously, he didn't even think about it, and I knew the bout was fixed at that point, and sure enough, Midorifuji just let up by backing out of moro-zashi altogether for no reason other than to throw the bout, so when a very weak uchi-muso attempt came from Shishi's right hand that really didn't even connect, Midorifuji dutifully flopped over and down. For the record, when a dude is defeated by a real uchi-muso, he falls forward, not backwards.  Aonishiki is gifted 4-1 here while Midorifuji falls to 0-5, and I'm sure Midorifuji's got a few debts he needs to pay contributing to his 0-5 start.

M8 Kinbohzan was going very easy against M10 Shodai from the tachi-ai using a nice tsuppari attack, but Kinbohzan was not going all out in an effort not to hurt Shodai. I mean, Shodai should have retired long ago, and a huge, powerful dude like Kinbohzan could really hurt him if he wanted to, but he was respectful here using light tsuppari before the two hooked up in gappuri migi-yotsu. Kinbohzan actually let Shodai force him back near the edge giving the crowd a huge stiffie, but the Kazakhstani planted his foot nicely and turned the tables at the edge swinging Shodai harmlessly across the straw for the easy win. I'd say the fans got their money's worth here as Kinbohzan moves to 3-2 while Shodai falls to 2-3.

Before we move on, there's all this talk about Onosato and his Yokozuna candidacy, but how does Onosato's sumo content and ability compare to Kinbohzan?  Answer:  it doesn't.

M7 Hakuohho came in too high against M7 Churanoumi at the tachi-ai, and Hakuohho's hands whiffed on making any significant contact with Churanoumi's body. That allowed Churanoumi to get the left arm firmly inside, and now the question was...what to do with the right. He had the path to the outer grip, and he even had the pathway to a frontal grip, which would have spelled certain doom, and twice he grabbed for the front of the belt and let it go (see pic at right). It was clear at this point that Churanoumi was in charge, but his intent was not to win the bout, so when no pressure came from Hakuohho, Churanoumi started backing up putting his hands up high as if to pull, and of course the pull never came resulting in the cheap, yori-kiri win for Hakuohho. What a surprise! Hakuohho purchases yet another bout in moving to 5-0 while Churanoumi falls to 1-4.

That previous bout right there is everything that's wrong with sumo wrestling these days. You have two dudes both ranked M7, and one is clearly superior than the other one, and yet, the rikishi with the far lesser skills is 5-0 while the superior rikishi is 1-4.

M6 Tobizaru went for a quick slap around M8 Onokatsu's head at the tachi-ai, and the effect was similar to a neko-damashi where it threw Onokatsu off guard just a bit. Tobizaru next shaded right getting that arm to the inside while Onokatsu countered with his own inside right, and before Tobizaru knew it, he had given up the firm left outer grip to Onokatsu. Tobizaru tried to wriggle free, but Onokatsu had him hooked, and he executed the textbook yori-kiri from there keeping TZ in place with the outside grip while forcing him across with the right inside and the body. Beautiful finish here as both rikishi end the day at 3-2.

M5 Chiyoshoma came with a very light hari-zashi tachi-ai against M5 Ura slapping with the right and sorta getting the left arm inside, and I knew at that point that he was letting up. As Ura ducked down, Chiyoshoma could have grabbed an easy right outer grip to go along with his left inside, but he immediately backed up near the straw and purposefully grazed his right foot along the outside edge of the straw giving Ura the immediate cheap win at that point. Shame, shame, everyone knows your name as Chiyoshoma makes it too obvious in gifting Ura his first win at 1-4 while Chiyoshoma graciously takes the bagel at 0-5.

M4 Ichiyamamoto was very proactive in his tsuppari attack against M6 Ohshoma from the tachi-ai, and IYM's charge was effective enough to send Ohshoma into pull mode, and so Ichiyamamoto chased his foe around the ring for a bit before pushing him out altogether. Pretty good stuff from Ichiyamamoto although the sumo was anything but electric. We'll still take it as IYM moves to 3-2 while Ohshoma falls to 2-3.

M2 Abi caught M4 Takerufuji with both hands to the jaw at the tachi-ai and began applying force as Takerufuji tried to move right, but Abi stayed focused on that headshot and had Takerufuji toppled over and down on all fours about two seconds in. Two things were evident here. 1) Takerufuji has a glass jaw, and 2) Takerufuji can't defend himself at the tachi-ai. Abi moves to 2-3 with the easy win while Takerufuji falls to 3-2.

In the sanyaku, Komusubi Takayasu was paired against M1 Wakamotoharu, and Takayasu brought his hands way too high at the tachi-ai allowing Wakamotoharu to get to the inside, and Takayasu knew he was had at that point, so he backed outta the ring just as fast as Wakamotoharu could force him back. This may have been scripted but it's too hard to tell. Takayasu is an old geezer these days with a bad back, and he may have been trying to avoid injury here. The Technician finally gets on the board at 1-4 while Takayasu falls to the same mark, and if sumo had a Senior Tour, this bout would have fit right in.

Sekiwake Kirishima faced Komusubi Wakatakakage, and Kirishima caught WTK with a nice jab from the tachi-ai keeping Wakatakakage upright and away from the belt, but then Kirishima wasted that start by putting his hands high as if to pull. The problem was that Wakatakakage was doing nothing, and so Kirishima accidentally found himself in a deep moro-zashi, and it goes without saying that he could have easily forced Wakatakakage out from there. Kirishima did force the action to the edge, but then he waited for Wakatakakage to counter, and said move was this awful kubi-nage attempt from WTK. In order to succeed on a true kubi-nage, you need to use your waist or a leg inside of your opponent as a fulcrum to assist in the throw, but Wakatakakage made no such contact. Instead, it was Kirishima who just dove down of his own volition dragging Wakatakakage along with him for the ride with a left grip at the back of WTK's belt. What a farcical but this was, but in today's brand of sumo, a guy can pick up a win for doing absolutely nothing but being inept. That happens more than anyone wants to admit as Wakatakakage is an improbable 4-1 while Kirishima settles for 3-2.

The next bout featured Sekiwake Daieisho vs. M1 Ohho, and Daieisho dominated here catching Ohho with nice tsuppari to the chest from the tachi-ai standing Ohho upright and putting him back on his heels, and Daieisho "saw his opponent" well as they say using very nice thrusts fueled by the lower body to knock Ohho back and across once, twice, three times a lady. Daieisho moves to 5-0 if you need him while Ohho falls to 3-2.

M3 Hiradoumi paid a visit to Kotozakura, and Hiradoumi had his choice of moro-zashi or the right inside and left outer grip at the front of Kotozakura's belt that would have cut off Zak's right arm completely, but Hiradoumi chose neither option and moved half a step left instead and ducked his body down so low, he was begging Kotozakura to slap him down. It took about three seconds after that for Kotozakura to clue in, but once he did, Hiradoumi just put his right elbow to the dirt and that was that. Kotozakura can only win by yaocho these days it seems, and that was definitely the case here as he moves to 3-2 while Hiradoumi humbly takes his spot at 2-3.

Onosato was paired against M3 Tamawashi, the best rikishi on the banzuke in my opinion, and as expected, Tamawashi kept his left arm out wide and then used his right arm to "push" high around Onosato's jaw, but that hand conveniently ended up pointing straight up in the air, so with Tamawashi having extended himself vertically as much as was humanly possible, Onosato began a cheap oshi charge, and The Mawashi went with the flow backing up in kind. It took maybe two seconds, and I think the fans clapped more in relief than anything. What a joke this all is as Onosato now moves to 5-0 while Tamawashi knows his place in this sport more than anyone at 2-3.

In the day's final bout, Yokozuna Hoshoryu was pitted against M2 Gonoyama, and this was a lame bout that saw Hoshoryu go for nothing at the tachi-ai while Gonoyama attempted a few pushes without purpose. The lack of clarity from the start resulted in both guys moving around the dohyo with Gonoyama primarily going for wild shoves and Hoshoryu playing defense. About five seconds into the affair, Hoshoryu got the right arm inside and the left outer grip, and he yanked Gonoyama into the center of the ring and dumped him from there uwate-dashi-nage style. Gonoyama went down pretty easily, and I'm not sure if the bout was arranged or if Gonoyama knew he was doomed and went down before he could be thrown. Hoshoryu moves to 3-2 with the nonchalant win while Gonoyama falls to 0-5.

I think it's a given that Onosato will yusho at this point, and I can see Hoshoryu actually being allowed to beat Onosato on senshuraku with the yusho already in hand for Onosato, and that will help create the fake narrative moving forward of a new Yokozuna rivalry between the two.

As I was going through my Natsu Basho folder from last year, I came across this picture of Hoshoryu executing a magnificent throw of Onosato:



It's wouldn't be a rivalry unless Onosato could return the favor with a similar throw. I don't think Onosato could even throw Tobizaru like that if he tried.

Natsu Basho Day 4 Comments
In between days, I was thinking about how unprepared all of these guys are when they enter the Makuuchi division. I can't even remember the last time a dude was a rookie who really threw his weight around and made an impression. Just over a year ago, they allowed a rookie to yusho in Takerufuji, but his sumo was awful then, and it's still awful now. It feels like in other sports, there's a fine line between the athletes who compete in the elite divisions versus the athletes ready to break into the big time, but with sumo, everything feels and looks so random in terms of new guys coming into the division.

Case in point is M16 Kayo who put two hands forward at the tachi-ai against M17 Asakoryu, but it was purely a defensive posture. If you outweigh your opponent as the rookie did here, why do you need to be so defensive? Asakoryu skirted laterally causing Kayo to fumble his way forward to the edge, and as he turned around, Asakoryu got the right inside deep enough to where he was able to force Kayo across before the rookie could slap him down. Asakoryu moves to 3-1 with the win while Kayo falls to 0-4, and this dude is so unprepared to fight in the division, it's ridiculous.

Unfortunately for Kayo, he hails from a dirt poor stable, and so they aren't able to buy wins for him unlike most of the other rookies we see...like Tochitaikai.  Ever heard of the Nakamura-beya? Nuff said.

Moving right along, M16 Nishikigi did battle with Fujiseiun visiting from the J2 slot, and Nishikigi was quite nonchalant at the tachi-ai allowing Fujiseiun to get to the inside--although not deep--and force Nishikigi to the edge. The Juryo rikishi didn't have quite enough oomph on the move, however, and so Nishikigi was able to work his right arm up and under Fuji's own right and hoist him back and down all the while with Nishikigi also moving backwards. I thought it was an ushiro-motare, but they ruled it ami-uchi as Nishikigi moves to 4-0 with the lazy, comeback win.

M15 Ryuden and M17 Tamashoho hooked up in hidari-yotsu with TSH grabbing the early right outer grip, and so Ryuden tried to shake him off with a quick left inside belt throw that caused both dudes to trade places in the ring. Tamashoho still had that pesky right, but he wasn't big enough to muscle Ryuden back with it, and so he went for a quick maki-kae getting moro-zashi. His arms weren't deep enough to lift Ryuden up high enough, however, and so the towering Ryuden slowly worked Tamashoho back to the edge and across kime-dashi style. Ryuden evens things up at 2-2 while Tamashoho falls to 1-3.

M18 Tochitaikai met M15 Shonannoumi and the two traded tsuppari for two seconds before they sorta hooked up in hidari-yotsu. I say "sorta" because they weren't going chest to chest, and you could tell from the start that this was a fluff bout. Around the ring they went a few spells before Shonannoumi leaned forward near the edge allowing Tochitaikai to pull him forward and down. This was the first fixed bout of the day, and you could totally tell. And just as I was thinking how much better today's start was from a technical perspective...

Tochitaikai is a cheap 3-1 with the gift while Shonannoumi falls to 1-3.

M13 Tokihayate and M13 Sadanoumi hooked up in hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai, and it was Sadanoumi demanding the right outer grip, and once he got it, he made mince meat of Tokihayate forcing him back and across without argument. It was good to get back on track with a legit bout of sumo here as both rikishi end the day at 2-2.

M14 Roga and M12 Takanosho struck lightly at the tachi-ai, and as Roga let Takanosho move forward, Roga darted to his left and used a left tsuki at the back of Takanosho's right shoulder to force him down tsuki-otoshi style in under two seconds. Roga moves to 3-1 here, and I would have loved to have seen him win moving forward. As for Takanosho, he was shown the trapdoor in falling to 2-2.

M11 Endo moved to his right henka'ing M11 Shishi at the tachi-ai, but Endoh was unable to grab the outer grip, and so with Endoh standing near the edge exposed a bit, Shishi rushed forward to try and push him out. As he did so, Endoh moved to his right again causing Shishi to put on the brakes, but Shishi's right foot barely grazed the sand across the straw as he stopped his momentum. The Chief Judge, who I think was Musoyama...I could only see the back of his head, immediately raised his right hand, but the ref didn't notice, and the two combatants played on. Shishi would eventually win the bout by yori-kiri, but Musoyama forced the mono-ii, and the slow mo replays did show that Shishi grazed the sand beyond the straw. Too bad. You never like to see a guy win who evades the whole time as Endoh did today in moving to 4-0. As for Shishi, he's still winless at 0-4.

M12 Atamifuji was cautious with his tachi-ai against M10 Shodai because Shodai can't beat Atamifuji straight up, and so why not hedge your bets by suspecting shenanigans from your opponent? Shodai didn't try anything sneaky, but he did move left rather quickly trying to fish for a pull attempt, but the movement was so slow and so old that Atamifuji was able to cruise forward and get that left arm inside, which he used to force Shodai back and across in uncontested fashion. Atamifuji moves to 3-1 with the easy win while Shodai falls to 2-2.

M9 Aonishiki was matched up against M10 Meisei, and the two really weren't unleashing shoves and they really weren't looking to get at the belt, so there was a lot of light grappling here before Meisei faked a left kote-nage, and I don't think he even made contact on the throw. Aonishiki rushed forward to the edge as if he was off balance, but he suddenly turned to the side near the edge and pushed Meisei down and out from behind with a right paw. This one was likely scripted. What I know is that it wasn't well-contested from either party with sound sumo as Aonishiki moves to 3-1 while Meisei falls to 2-2. I was shocked to find this pic on the wires, but I think it speaks for the lack of any real news so far this basho.

M9 Midorifuji henka'd to his right against M8 Kinbohzan, but he couldn't grab the side of Kinbohzan's belt or tug him off balance. Once Kinbohzan recovered and got the tsuppari attack going, Midorifuji's only hope was to run and hide, but Kinbohzan simply had too much length on his jabs, and he finally caught Midorifuji in the chest sending him upright and into the second row on the mukou-joumen side. I always enjoy a good ass-kicking like that, especially when the dude who henka'd is the loser. Kinbohzan throws his weight around here in moving to 2-2 while Midorifuji is still winless at 0-4.

M8 Onokatsu announced himself as C3P0, human-cyborg relations at the tachi-ai against M7 Hakuohho and promptly kept those arms outstretched and high gifting Hakuohho moro-zashi. The problem was that Hakuohho hadn't gained moro-zashi with a good tachi-ai, and so his feet were slip-sliding around. No matter as Onokatsu merely backed his way to the edge and across as he feigned setting up a pull. We've seen this bad movie a million times as Hakuohho undeservedly moves to 4-0 while Onokatsu graciously falls to 2-2.



I snapped this pic at the end of the bout. Does that look like a guy who just won by yori-kiri with moro-zashi?  Why was Hakuohho hopping his way into the corner after a win with his back to the crowd??  The dude in control of this entire bout was the one who was already in the ring ready to bow to his opponent.

Neither M7 Churanoumi nor M6 Tobizaru were committed to straight up bout of sumo and it showed as little contact was made with both dudes dancing and darting around the ring. After five or six seconds of pure fluff, Tobizaru tapped Churanoumi by the back to the shoulder, and down Churanoumi went. What a waste of time as Tobizaru moves to 3-1 with Churanoumi falling to 1-3.

M6 Ohshoma was cautious from the tachi-ai against M5 Ura threatening pulls and using his length advantage to keep Ura from getting to the inside. The two circled the ring a time or two with Ohshoma playing defense, and Ohshoma was finally able to push Ura's head low enough to where he pounced and fired a tsuki into Ura's left side sending him down. Of course, Ura couldn't just go down, so he somersaulted his way off the dohyo scoring a nice dismount on two feet on the venue floor below. Ohshoma moves to 2-2 with the well-played win while Ura always has to clown around as he falls to 0-4.

M5 Chiyoshoma failed to take advantage of multiple offensive maneuvers that were wide open against M4 Ichiyamamoto, and so the two stood in the center of the ring for at least 30 seconds with Chiyoshoma waiting for IYM to make a move so Shoma could flop down. Ichiyamamoto was clueless, however, and so Chiyoshoma finally had to pretend he was setting up a pull attempt, and it was really an excuse for him to move to edge and literally do the splits across the straw. As if. Chiyoshoma had a few kata-sukashi moves completely open, and he coulda gotten to IYM's belt at will, but his intent was the to throw the bout, and it was obvious. Ichiyamamoto is an ill-gotten 2-2 while Chiyoshoma fakes his way to 0-4.

M3 Tamawashi and M2 Gonoyama traded tsuppari from the tachi-ai, but neither dude looked like he was really into the bout. There was a lot of bark and little bite throughout, and even near the end when the two were in the clinch, they weren't chest to chest with belt grips or proper inside positioning. In the end, Gonoyama anticipated a slapdown that really didn't come, and so Gonoyama flopped to the dirt and kicked up his heels...a true sign of yaocho. I mean, why would a rikishi ever need to kick up his heels for any reason as he's falling forward? They do it to add emphasis to the fall...as if we couldn't already tell the bout was fake. This was a big whatever as Tamawashi moves to 2-2 with Gonoyama falling to 0-4.

In the sanyaku ranks, Komusubi Wakatakakage welcomed M4 Takerufuji, and Takerufuji was completely exposed at the tachi-ai (what's new?) as he reached for a left outer grip. With Takerufuji moving to his left and exposed, Wakatakakage was able to pivot and come away with moro-zashi, and there was nothing Takerufuji could do to counter it. As he flinched on a pull attempt, it just gave Wakatakakage that much more momentum to force Takerufuji back and across with some oomph.

To me, the real highlight of this bout was at the end when an old guy in the front row tried to cop a feel of Takerufuji's butt cheeks. Now I know why they pay the big bucks for those front row seats.

Prior to the bout, Ross Mihara on the call today really jarred me out of my haze when he announced of these two yayhoos who finished the day at 3-1 that they were former yusho winners. It took a minute for me to register the fact that yes, both of these dudes have actually been awarded the yusho. My how far we've fallen!

Sekiwake Daieisho stood his ground well against Komusubi Takayasu who really doesn't have anything from the tachi-ai, and so once Daieisho actually got his tsuppari attack going, Takayasu could only back up slowly and look for a pull. It would never form, however, as Daieisho connected well on too many thrusts, and this was a lopsided affair in favor of Daieisho who picked up his best win of the tournament in moving to 4-0. As for Takayasu, he's floundering around at 1-3. These guys in the sanyaku and above can't really afford to show Takayasu any charity; thus the bad start.

Sekiwake Kirishima apparently had a date with a hot chick tonight because he came balls to the wall against M3 Hiradoumi and had him thrust back and across in less than two seconds. I've never seen the dude in such a hurry, but Kirishima showed here just how potent he can be when he wanna in improving to 3-1 while Hiradoumi never stood a chance in falling to 2-2.

It feels like they are priming M1 Ohho to take over an Ozeki slot once Onosato is promoted to Yokozuna as these two key chess pieces were matched up today. Ohho connected nicely with two shoves up high into Onosato from the tachi-ai, and Ohho had his gal upright from the start, but instead of moving forward, Ohho started backpedaling with his arms still stretched forward and high, and as Onosato advanced, Ohho merely turned to the side and stepped out of the ring before Onosato made any decisive contact. This reminded me of a drill in tackle football where they go through the motions but don't actually engage in contact so as to not injure the quarterback. Anyway, this was clearly fixed in favor of Onosato, and it felt like everyone knew it as Onosato loses the tachi-ai yet again but oils his way to 4-0 while Ohho takes one for the team in falling to 3-1.

M1 Wakamotoharu connected on a hari-zashi tachi-ai against Kotozakura that set up the inside left and right outer grip for WMH, and with Wakamotoharu's head buried beneath Kotozakura's jaw, the latter was extremely uncomfortable with just a shallow left inside. Wakamotoharu's dominance would last just a few seconds, however, because right on cue he began backing up of his own volition, and that allowed Kotozakura to finally gain some forward momentum and look as if he scored the force-out win. Kotozakura applied zero force in that one as Wakamotoharu simply followed the script in falling to 0-4 while Kotozakura is gifted 2-2 with two beg wins.

Yokozuna Hoshoryu kept his hands completely wide at the tachi-ai allowing M2 Abi to put two hands to the Yokozuna's neck, and with Hoshoryu just standing there, Abi went for a quick swipe, and Hoshoryu played along kicking his heels up for added emphasis as he flopped to the dohyo. Hoshoryu is now 2-2 after two fake falls, and it looks as if his camp has no intention of having the Yokozuna interfere with Onosato's Yokozuna candidacy. As for Abi, he picks up his first win with a gift at 1-3.

It's too bad that they don't have any Jedi masters sitting ringside in Tokyo with their brown vests because Abi clearly used the Force today to make Hoshoryu levitate in thin air before magically defeating him.

At the end of the day, it sure feels like all the other stables are afraid to hand Onosato a loss, so if the dude ends up running away with this thing, it will make for an uneventful Week 2.

Natsu Basho Day 3 Comments
I feel like three days into the tournament that we really haven't had a great bout of sumo where both dudes were trying their best, and the action went back and forth with both guys having a chance to win. The sumo has felt quite bland, and I don't like that the only drama right now is wondering whether or not they'll fix enough bouts in Onosato's favor to make him Yokozuna. In reading the headlines in between days, the most emphasis is being placed on this celebrity or that celebrity spotted at the sumos, and it's actually quite telling when they have to sell celebrities in the house instead of showing off great sumo.

The day began with rookie M18 Tochitaikai matched up against M17 Asakoryu, and in a straight up match, this would be a very good gauge of how good Tochitaikai is. We got the straight up match, and it was Asakoryu who dictated start to finish reaching for a left outer grip at the tachi-ai before pulling the rookie over to the edge, and Asakoryu simply cuffed and stuffed his foe to where Tochitaikai could barely attempt a pull before Asakoryu had him dispatched across in about three seconds. Both rikishi end the day at 2-1 and this was not a good look for the rookie.

M17 Tamashoho welcomed Hidenoumi up from the J2 slot, and Hidenoumi was a bit lackadaisical at the tachi-ai, and that allowed Tamashoho to force the bout to migi-yotsu where he enjoyed a left outer grip, and this was a very sound contest where Tamashoho's left outer proved the difference. Tamashoho picks up his first win at 1-2.

M16 Kayo was paired against M15 Shonannoumi, and the rookie barely did anything at the tachi-ai before quickly backing up as if to pull, but even his pull attempt was awful, and so Shonannoumi just plowed forward and easily knocked Kayo back and across. I mean, you watch Kayo's sumo the first three days, and you're like, "How did he even get out of Juryo in the first place?" I think there are a lot of shenanigans going on down there, so these guys make it to Makuuchi, and they are very unprepared. Kayo falls to 0-3 in defeat while Shonannoumi picks up his first win at 1-2.

M15 Ryuden and M16 Nishikigi hooked up in hidari-yotsu where Nishikigi gained the early right outer grip, and I felt like Ryuden wasn't going 100% here. Perhaps he let up a bit after giving up that early right outer, but his tachi-ai was passive as well. This was a methodic force-out win for Nishikigi who moves to 3-0 while Ryuden falls to 1-2.

M14 Roga stood his ground well at the tachi-ai against M13 Tokihayate, and Roga's left arm was firmly against Tokihayate's belt for a second or two, but he curiously didn't grab it, and that signaled his intentions. When Tokihayate finally got something going, Roga moved both arms up high and backed up to the edge where Tokihayate lightly nudged him across. Roga (2-1) had room to sell after his 2-0 start while Tokihayate oils his way to 2-1.

M12 Takanosho connected on a very good right paw to M13 Sadanoumi's throat at the tachi-ai, and that had the Sadamight out of sorts from the start. His only hope was to fish for a pull as he moved right, but Takanosho (2-1) had all the momentum, and he easily went with the flow pushing Sadanoumi (1-2) back and across with ease.

M11 Endoh got the right arm inside nicely against M12 Atamifuji at the tachi-ai, but Atami the Hutt is too big of a load for Endoh to handle at the belt, and so Endoh quickly backed up going for a dangerous kata-sukashi while Atamifuji attempted a do or die shove as he was pulled to the dirt. Endoh was just able to keep that left foot from touching out as Atamifuji's hand slapped the dirt first propelling Endoh to 3-0 while Atamifuji falls to 2-1. Next time these guys fight and the bout is not arranged, Atamifuji needs to remember that Endoh cannot beat him straight up at the belt under any circumstances.

M11 Shishi and M10 Shodai sorta connected in hidari-yotsu at the tachi-ai, but when Shishi didn't force the bout chest to chest, you knew something was up. After a second or two of light contact sumo, Shishi prematurely went into his dive as if he was pulled, and so Shodai quickly tried to catch up by slapping Shishi's left butt cheek as he fell, but this was a simple belly flop on the part of the Ukrainian, Shishi (0-3), as Shodai cheaply moves to 2-1.

M8 Kinbohzan was jabbing M10 Meisei's way from the tachi-ai nicely, but Kinbohzan was NOT using the lower body to fuel the attack, and so I knew at that point it was just for show. Kinbohzan had numerous attempts to dispatch Meisei with that shove attack, and all Meisei could muster was a half-assed kote-nage with the left, but there wasn't enough substance there to warrant a Kinbohzan dive, and so back to the center of the ring they went where Kinbohzan stood there and allowed Meisei to get a left outer grip. From there, Kinbohzan wrapped both arms around Meisei's right and simply dragged Meisei into his body as Kinbohzan backed across on his own. Easy yaocho call here as Kinbohzan falls to 1-2 while Meisei is a sheepish 2-1.

What in the hell was NHK World doing declaring the M8 Onokatsu - M9 Aonishiki matchup the "bout of the day"? As the two traded tsuppari at the tachi-ai, I could see that Onokatsu's heart wasn't into it, and so after a few lazy slaps, he let Aonishiki get the left arm inside.  Instead of countering with his own left inside, Onokatsu kept his hands high and then eventually faked a pull, which was an excuse for him to move to the other side of the dohyo, and he simply waited for Aonishiki to charge forward and inside, and Onokatsu backed his way out with the Ukrainian in tow. Ho hum as both rikishi end the day at 2-1.

M7 Churanoumi moved M9 Midorifuji back quickly from the tachi-ai with a single push, but he didn't have enough force on the move to finish Midorifuji off straightway, and so MFJ circled to his right grabbing an outer grip, but because Midorifuji wasn't grounded, Churanoumi was able to counter with the left arm inside. At this point, Churanoumi finally had his gal reeled in snug, and so Churanoumi's inside left position easily bested Midorifuji's outside right. This wasn't overpowering stuff from Churanoumi (1-2), but it didn't need to be as Midorifuji starts out a paltry 0-3.

M6 Ohshoma and M6 Tobizaru both awkwardly stood straight up at the tachi-ai, and the bout lost all momentum at that point. The two slapped and grappled for a bit as Ohshoma looked to press with his size advantage, but all of Ohshoma's pushes were light, and that enabled Tobizaru to get the right arm inside. After a brief stalemate, Tobizaru went for a quick ke-kaeshi (inside leg swipe) and then moved outside attempting a right do-or-die kote-nage. The ending here was spectacular and not necessarily because of o-zumo, and with Tobizaru flying off the dohyo, Ohshoma's right hand clearly slapped the dohyo first. They ruled in favor of Ohshoma but called a mono-ii where they ordered a rematch for some reason (Tobizaru was the clear victor).

The rematch was a complete dud as Ohshoma persistently looked for weak slap attempts until Tobizaru could finally get inside and push his self-compromised opponent across. Tobizaru moves to 2-1 in victory while Ohshoma falls to the opposite 1-2.

M5 Chiyoshoma went through the hari-zashi motions against M7 Hakuohho at the tachi-ai slapping wildly with the left, but you could tell he wasn't trying to do damage. He was able to get the left arm inside as Hakuohho countered with the outside right, and Chiyoshoma went for a quick inside belt throw that he stopped short, and you knew at that point he was throwing the bout. With Hakuohho out of sorts, Chiyoshoma grabbed a right outer and then let it go and then got it again as he was in complete control, but the only thing Chiyoshoma wasn't doing was trying to force Hakuohho across. Finally, Hakuohho went for a left inside throw of his own, and Chiyoshoma simply carouseled himself over and across the straw in sloppy fashion. Chiyoshoma is throwing bouts left and right so far as he falls to 0-3 while Hakuohho has been buying his wins at 3-0.

M4 Ichiyamamoto came with his hands high against M4 Takerufuji making sure to do no damage, and with Takerufuji doing nothing from the initial charge, Ichiyamamoto simply backed his way out of the dohyo as quickly as he could while Takerufuji tried to keep up and score on a push or two. This bout was an obvious yaocho as Takerufuji did nothing to force Ichiyamamoto's backwards momentum, and so Takerufuji finds himself at a cheap 3-0 while Ichiyamamoto falls to 1-2 and adds to his petty cash in the process.

M3 Hiradoumi alternated slaps and pulls from the tachi-ai against M5 Ura, and with Ura unable to create any momentum, Hiradoumi finally worked his way into moro-zashi. Now in trouble, Ura quickly retreated going for a counter kote-nage with the right while pulling at Hiradoumi's neck with the left, but Hiradoumi had just enough mustard on his left inside force down attempt to send Ura down before Hiradoumi crashed out himself. Hiradoumi survives here to move to 2-1 while Ura falls to 0-3.

In the sanyaku ranks, Komusubi Takayasu did battle with M2 Gonoyama, and Gonoyama threw his weight around with a nice tsuppari attack that pushed Takayasu back to the edge, but Gonoyama suddenly stopped and refused to finish Takayasu off that last step, and so you knew what was coming. Gonoyama's letting up allowed Takayasu to skirt left and Takayasu was moving laterally whiffing on all kinds of pull attempts, but Gonoyama was going through the motions at this point, and all of a sudden, Gonoyama anticipated a swipe that didn't come turning his body 180 degrees, and that allowed Takayasu to finally catch up and push Gonoyama out from behind. As if. Gonoyama needs to rethink his acting skills because these yaocho are way too obvious as Takayasu is gifted his first win at 1-2 while Gonoyama falls to 0-3.

Sekiwake Kirishima welcomed M3 Tamawashi and both dudes stood straight up at the tachi-ai faking their way through the motions with neither dude even thinking about using the lower body. After a few seconds of useless grappling, Kirishima got the right arm inside, and with Tamawashi as upright as he could possibly stand, Kirishima scored the easy force-out. The only thing going on here was these two were trying not to get injured as Kirishima is gifted the puff win at 2-1 while Tamawashi hasn't got a care in the world at 1-2.

Sekiwake Daieisho fought M1 Wakamotoharu, and the Sekiwake connected on a few good thrusts from the tachi-ai standing WMH upright, but Daieisho was not using his lower body well. That allowed Wakamotoharu to fish for something to the inside, and just as he looked to get the left inside established, Daieisho darted to his right going for a slap that sent Wakamotoharu to the dirt. I mean, if you're Wakamotoharu, you can't allow yourself to be spilled to the dohyo with such a weak attempt from the Sekiwake, but it's indicative of how weak Wakamotoharu (0-3) really is. Daieisho doesn't exactly have a red cape and a bold S on his chest either as he moves to 3-0 with very shaky sumo.

Kotozakura was matched up against Komusubi Wakatakakage, and Wakatakakage moved forward well at the tachi-ai getting the right arm firmly inside and keeping Kotozakura upright. From there, WTK was able to wrangle a left outer grip as well, but there's such a size difference between these two, Wakatakakage's getting the left outer didn't exactly sill the dill. Luckily for the Komusubi, Kotozakura doesn't have any sumo skills because Wakatakakage would have been vulnerable to a counter attack, but when Kotozakura couldn't muster anything, Wakatakakage was finally able to force the beast across. This was one of the best executed bouts of Wakatakakage's career as he moves to 2-1 with the nice scalp while Kotozakura falls to 1-2.

Onosato drew M2 Abi today, and Abi showed just how easily it is to dismantle the Yokozuna-hopeful from the start as Abi came with a wicked right paw to Onosato's throat that had him looking up into the rafters. Abi quickly moved Onosato back two steps, but then he suddenly stopped and you knew what was coming. With Onosato still completely out of sorts, Abi turned his body 90 degrees to his left and put his right arm on top of Onosato's right shoulder meaning that Onosato had sort of a sideways moro-zashi against his opponent, and from there, Onosato easily forced Abi over and across picking up another cheap win, especially after getting his ass kicked at the tachi-ai. We've seen this template before, and there's no sense rehashing it again. Onosato was beaten soundly from the start but was still gifted the political win as he now stands at 3-0 while Abi allowed himself to be paid off again in falling to 0-3.

In the final bout of the day, Yokozuna Hoshoryu and M1 Ohho clashed well at the tachi-ai, but when the Yokozuna failed to get inside against a wide open Ohho and instead ducked his head low, I knew something was up. And it was. As soon as Ohho put two hands to the back of Hoshoryu's neck, the Yokozuna started twisting his way laterally before flopping over and down into the corner of the dohyo. Had Ohho actually executed a slap or pull down with two hands at the back of Hoshoryu's head, Hoshoryu would have been slapped down in the center of the ring, and the only way the Yokozuna found himself in the corner of the dohyo was because he stopped, dropped, and rolled all of his own volition.

I mean, this was such an obvious dive, and it really sucks that you have two bouts back to back with really bad yaocho that put Onosato in the yusho lead now at 3-0. It's not a foregone conclusion whatsoever that Onosato will be crowned Yokozuna because the dude literally needs to buy 9 or 10 more bouts, but we'll see. What's obvious is all the rampant yaocho implemented to try and keep this thing interesting for the Japanese fans.

Natsu Basho Day 1 / Day 2 Comments
As is usually the case, I'm going into this basho cold turkey meaning I haven't been following any sumo news in between basho. Without a doubt the biggest storyline going into the fortnight is the possibility of Onosato's promotion to Yokozuna. As I watched NHK World's Day 1 highlights, Raja Don't Call Me Buraja Pradhan was quick to point out that should Onosato be promoted to Yokozuna after this basho, it would be the fastest a dude has ever earned the rank.

I don't have any feeling whether or not they'll make it happen at this point, but it would be a travesty if they allowed it to happen. What a slap in the face it would be to greats like Kitanoumi and Hakuho and a host of other legit Yokozuna who actually earned the rank in their early twenties.

Sumo can and will do what it thinks is necessary, but making Onosato the fastest Yokozuna ever will be about as meaningful as Takerufuji's becoming the first rookie to "yusho" in 100 years. They milked that headline for one break in between basho, and now a year later, everyone watches Takerufuji and thinks, "This dude really sucks."

And it's the same for Onosato. The dude has no substance to his sumo, but if they feel it's necessary, they'll make it happen.

I noticed there are two newcomers this basho in Tochitaikai and Kayo. Can you imagine Tochitaikai's delight when he found himself paired against Mitakeumi (who was demoted to Juryo this basho) on Day 1?  It's been a while since a rookie has legitimately beaten his opponent on Day 1, but Tochitaikai did just that. It would have been nice to see him do it without quickly resorting to a pull as pictured at right, but still...the tachi-ai was decent and the win was legit.

Unfortunately, the pull sumo from the rookie was a harbinger of the bad sumo to come on Day 2 where his opponent, Tamashoho, charged early at the tachi-ai, and when they didn't call a false start, Tamashoho moved to the other side of the dohyo and then just stepped out with Tochitaikai standing upright wondering what the hell was going on. Hiro Morita, who called the action on Day 2, correctly called the tachi-ai "awkward," and then things went quickly downhill from there. I think it's safe to say that Tochitaikai is yet another lipoma on the shoulder of sumo meaning he's there for sure, but he serves no purpose.

As for Kayo's Day 1 matchup against Ryuden, NHK World actually designated it as a marquee bout on the Day 1, and I was like, "Did I miss something with this guy as he rose up the ranks?" After watching his sumo, I was relieved to find out that I had not missed anything legit with him. He was looking pull from the tachi-ai and didn't even bother to try and stand his ground, and once Ryuden cornered him along the edge, Kayo just gave up and backed out.

On Day 2, Kayo was paired against Nishikigi, and his sumo consisted of grabbing Nishikigi's right arm while backing straight up to the edge, and Nishikigi was able to push Kayo down by the gut before he could execute the arm tug or whatever he was trying to do. The only thing that Kayo has going for him is that Laffy Taffy banana mawashi.

I thought it was nice to see guys like Takanosho, Atamifuji, and Tobizaru fighting lower in the ranks. The jo'i was sure getting stale with those three hanging around although I doubt they've been replaced by anyone more exciting.

I thought it was telling on Day 1 how Hakuohho was unable to bully Tobizaru around in a chest to chest hidari-yotsu contest. It got so bad that Tobizaru had to finally fake a right kote-nage, and just move to the edge and fall backwards on his widdle bum. That pic at left shows what an awkward finish it was.  I frequently comment on Hakuohho's matches because Hakuohho, Takerufuji, and Onosato have been touted equally as sumo's "Next," and yet, all three are as worthless as tits on a boar.

On Day 2 prior to Hakuohho's bout against Ohshoma (thrown in favor of Hakuohho), Hiro Morita said of Hakuohho, "Could a big breakout moment be on the horizon?" The reason I keep commenting on Hakuohho is because they keep trying to make him a thing. Unfortunately, the Thing ain't got no sumo skills to speak of to this point.

Prior to the Day 1 matchup between Takerufuji and Hiradoumi, Raja Pradhan actually said of the two, "These ferocious pushers and thrusters..." and I was like, "I better call my satellite provider because audio is at least two minutes ahead of the video." Of course, there wasn't a single push or thrust in the bout as Hiradoumi easily got moro-zashi and drove Takerufuji back a step before suddenly going limp and overreacting to a slight push from an off balance Takerufuji into the side of Hiradoumi's neck. Ferocious my arse.

On Day 2, Ura did all the work against Takerufuji putting on a useless show that saw Ura flail himself outta the ring and into the first row giving Takerufuji the cheap 2-0 start.

It was nice to see Tamawashi completely dismantle Takayasu on Day 1 and expose the extent of Takayasu's 12-3 fraud in March. Of course, Tamawashi repented of his ways quickly on Day 2 by dominating Wakatakakage before taking a dive at the ring's edge leaving both rikishi 1-1.

The Sumo Association likes to create a marquee matchup on Day 1 that they can hype during the broadcast, and that matchup this basho was between Ohho and Kotozakura, two grandsons of former Yokozuna. Raja Pradhan referred to them as two thoroughbreds once again proving that my audio and video were not in sync. I mean, Ohho is kinda a thoroughbred I guess, but Kotozakura is proving himself more useless than Takakeisho.

Speaking of Takakeisho, I'm seeing those click bait articles all over the web again during the basho.  Hey, did you see that celebrity in the second row at the sumos?!!

One of the clickbait articles claimed that an image of Takakeisho (currently serving as an oyakata) set the net on fire because of how much weight Takakeisho has lost.  Here was the pic:

He looks as ugly as ever if you ask me, and the current method of click bait articles the Sumo Association is pushing is as old as flip phone.  What's next?  A sports website consisting of only html code and no css?  Oh, wait...

Getting back to the Kotozakura - Ohho matchup, in a long drawn-out bout where Ohho could have taken charge early, he tried to let Kotozakura get in some licks, but the faux-zeki was hapless and found himself on his gut beyond the straw after a lengthy bout with little action.

On Day 2, Kirishima let up for Ohho promptly giving the fruit of Taiho's loins a 2-0 start.

As for Kotozakura, he was paired against Abi on Day 2, and I'm still trying to figure out the most obvious dive on Day 2.  Was it Abi putting his hand down and suddenly falling to his knee for no reason after three seconds of action? Or was it Gonoyama flipping over and down after a phantom slap from Daieisho? Gonoyama's flop wins by a nose although the Abi fake fall did make the funny papers as seen at right.

Onosato's Day 1 opponent was Wakamotoharu, and the latter has been so hapless that I think I may have favored Onosato in a straight up bout. At the tachi-ai, Wakamotoharu found himself a half step to Onosato's right side, and he could have easily fired a tsuki into the back of Onosato's right shoulder, but WMH actually moved back to his own right to square himself up with the faux-zeki, and from there, Wakamotoharu backed out of the ring as fast as Onosato could move forward. What bugged me more than the fact that this bout was fixed was Raja Pradhan's referring to Wakamotoharu as the Technician through the segment. What?

On Day 2, Onosato was paired against Takayasu, and Takayasu largely stood there from the tachi-ai allowing Onosato to fish for a pull, and when it finally came, Takayasu flopped over to his right away from direction of the pull. Whatever. Onosato starts off an uncontested 2-0 while Takayasu is already out of the yusho picture at 0-2.

Yokozuna Hoshoryu destroyed Wakatakakage in the final bout of Day 1, but it doesn't mean anything as Hoshoryu will throw future bouts on a dime when asked. On Day 2 against the Technician, the Yokozuna got moro-zashi easy as you please and forced Wakamotoharu to the side before felling hi via yori-taoshi. It serves the yusho well to have Hoshoryu and Onosato both start out at 0-2. As for Wakamotoharu, I promise that when I actually see something technical from the Technician, I'll be sure to point it out. PS:  he Technician is the one at left being thrown viscously onto his back.

Finally, early on Day 2 a fellow from Juryo, Kusano, showed up with his hair down unable to tie it yet in a top-knot, and he really gave Asakoryu the business (who doesn't when they're trying?). Pictured at right is Kusano hoisting Asakoryu across the straw with ease.  It turns out that Kusano took the Juryo yusho last basho with a 14-1 record in his Juryo debut.

Before you get too excited about Kusano, however, he aligned his feet at the tachi-ai and kept his feet aligned throughout most of the bout. The fact that the win against Asakoryu was so decisive speaks more to the fact of how bad Asakoryu is and less to how technically sound Kusano's sumo is.  Just sayin'.

In the ICYMI department, the internet was set on fire when sumo fans discovered that baseball legend (yes, they made sure to use the word legend) Norihiro Akahoshi was spotted in the suna-kaburi for Day 1 of the sumos.

Akahoshi played for the Hanshin Tigers, and he is currently a color commentator for the Tigers, who are based in Osaka.  And yet...he conveniently made sure on his day off to buy an expensive ticket not available to the general public for the sumos in Tokyo when the Tigers weren't even playing the Giants.

Here is the pic of the legend himself, and if you ask me, he's more interested on eyeing that hot chick to his left and asking for her number than he is in watching anything that's taking place on the dohyo:

 

And those are my quick thoughts and observations from the first two days. I'll likely do a full report starting tomorrow.