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2015 Haru Post-basho Report
We
usually don't see a whole lot of surprises in sumo, especially over the last few
years, but the sport now finds itself in a very precarious situation: another
foreign rikishi on the brink of promotion to an elite rank while Japan has zero
prospects in the pipeline. Once Goeido was safely promoted following the 2014
Nagoya basho, the next major milestone in sumo was Hakuho's breaking Taiho's
record for all-time yusho. In between that, we had the Ichinojo phenomenon at
the Aki basho, but that was quickly overshadowed by his lackluster 8-7 at the
Kyushu basho and then a disastrous 6-9 at the Hatsu basho.
With the novelty of Ichinojo wearing off in January, Hakuho promptly went out
and broke Taiho's record before stirring up a hornet's nest with his honest
comments about racial bias in sumo. That story alone carried us from the end of
the Hatsu basho all the way through Osaka, and now that Hakuho has demonstrated
in his two formal pre/post basho press conferences in Osaka that he considers
the matter over, I wonder: where do we go from here?
Terunofuji was of course the biggest story in the ring in Osaka, but as I
checked the Tuesday morning headlines after the basho, of the 20 articles from
various news agencies listed on the front page of the wires, Terunofuji's
shikona was listed only twice. Furthermore, he was only mentioned in a
secondhand nature with one article stating Asashoryu loves to root for Endoh and
Terunofuji, and then the second article mentioned that the Yokozuna Deliberation
Council praised both Hakuho and Terunofuji's efforts. The day after the basho,
the headlines are going to be ripe with coverage of the yusho rikishi and then
obligatory mentions of the sansho rikishi, and then towards Monday evening you
start seeing coverage of the yusho rikishi press conference, and so I'm always
curious as to what the Tuesday headlines are going to be because that
signals the focus of the media during the off season. In the case of Osaka 2015,
Terunofuji is hardly getting a sniff.
I am purely speculating here, but I'm wondering if the media is deferring their
attention away from Terunofuji because he is making what used to a be a
conventional run to the Ozeki rank, and when you compare that to the way in
which the current Ozeki achieved their rank, the contrast is too stark and
uncomfortable for the Japanese people to swallow. I am really grasping at straws
on this one, but Terunofuji's perceived sudden rise to this point is not unlike
Ichinojo's back in September, so why such a big difference in the way the two
were covered after their breakout basho?
The lack of attention directed towards Terunofuji is as much a mystery to me as
to what goes through Hakuho's mind, and so with no real clear direction
following the Haru basho, let's focus on the key rikishi who played roles in the
Spring tournament starting with the champion, Yokozuna Hakuho who picked up
career yusho #34 as easy as you please. It goes without saying that the beating
Hakuho took in the press prior to the tournament would have been a distraction
for most rikishi, but I was confident coming in that it would have zero effect
on his sumo. Had Hakuho dropped a few bouts early on, he had a built-in excuse
in place, but thankfully it was business as usual for the Yokozuna save his day
13 bout against Terunofuji. Early in week 2, I speculated that Hakuho was out to
send a message, and I even raised the possibility that he could be gunning for
the only record he doesn't own, but bowing to Terunofuji as he did is an
indication that he's going to support Terunofuji in his rise to the Ozeki ranks
in the same manner that he supported Harumafuji and Kakuryu. And you know...he
even showed that same willingness to assist the Japanese rikishi in their climb
to the Ozeki rank, so he was not breaking precedent this basho in his behavior.
There's really not a whole lot more we can break down about Hakuho. His list of
winning techniques this basho was haphazard again, but that's just been the way
he's chosen to fight the last couple of years. There is no doubt in my mind that
Hakuho could gain the inside grip and dominate everyone of his opponents in a
linear fashion day in and day out if he so chose, but I think he lets up here
and there to provide openings to rikishi and also project the appearance that
the other rikishi are much closer to the Yokozuna ability-wise than is actually
the case. And hey, if it fools most of the gaijin population, it will definitely
fool the Japanese people. My parting shot on Hakuho is the same thing that I've
been saying for years about him: he controls all of the cards at the hon-basho,
and he determines the outcome of each tournament.
Let's next briefly touch on Yokozuna Harumafuji, who finished 10-5...a mark that
is normally disastrous for a Yokozuna, but have you ever wondered why that
useless body, the Yokozuna Deliberation Council, no longer criticizes these
Yokozuna when they finish with just 10 or 11 wins? The reason is quite simple.
How can they criticize the Yokozuna for just 10 or 11 wins when the Japanese
Ozeki barely win eight? If you look at Harumafuji's sumo this basho, I think he
was beaten legitimately by Ichinojo, Tochinoshin, Toyonoshima, and of course
Hakuho. I should add, however, that I believe Harumafuji like Hakuho is fighting
in a manner so as to create opportunities for his opponents, and so guys with
decent game will catch him more often than they can take advantage of Hakuho. I
thought the Goeido bout was a great example of this where Harumafuji let the
bout turn to a solid bout of o-zumo when in reality, he could usually do to most
guys what he did to Kisenosato the very next day when he grabbed the Ozeki by
the throat from the tachi-ai and sent him into the fetal position in two seconds
flat. Just ask yourself these obvious questions: Why doesn't Harumafuji use that
effective choke-hold tachi-ai everyday? And, if Goeido gave Harumafuji such a
good fight at the belt, why can't Goeido fight like that everyday against lesser
competition? The answer to those questions illustrates the point I'm trying to
make about these Yokozuna in that they are giving guys openings to create a
semblance of parity among the elite ranks when nothing is further from the
truth.
Getting back to the Yokozuna and his sumo, Harumafuji's loss to Kotoshogiku on
day 14 was undisputed yaocho, and the YDC will also withhold criticism of the
Yokozuna for 10 or 11 wins when they can clearly see how instrumental they are
in giving the Japanese Ozeki their kachi-koshi. It's just hard these days to
break down the sumo of Harumafuji and Hakuho because these two dudes are not
going all out evey day of the tournament, and so I'm going to spend the majority
of my comments focusing on the political side of their sumo rather than their
actual technical abilities in the ring.
Let's next move to Sekiwake Terunofuji, who was the star of this tournament with
his 13-2 breakout performance. His victory over Hakuho was a gift, but that's
canceled out by his deferring to Kisenosato on day 8, so his only other loss was
to Kaisei on day 11. We know that Terunofuji was paralyzed on day 11 by a
serious case'a the runs, and Kotoyuki actually withdrew from the tournament for
a single day due to severe diarrhea, so credit Terunofuji for at least giving it
a go on day 11, but the point I want to make is 1) Terunofuji's sumo was worthy
and on par with a 14-1 performance, and 2) the Sumo Association should invest in
some hand sanitizer for their locker rooms.
After the tournament, an official from the judging committee stated for the
record that Terunofuji could secure promotion to Ozeki with 14 wins in May.
Personally, I think it's a bit too soon to already crown him an Ozeki. Whatever
happened to the 33 wins over three basho from the sanyaku rule? Well, I know
what happened; they had to seriously lower the bar for the Japanese rikishi, so
in Terunofuji's case, I'd really like to see them go back to the traditional way
of promoting an Ozeki just so people new to the sport can see how it's supposed
to be done. If you've started watching sumo in the lasts two years, the three
yayhoos at the rank there now are Ozeki in name only. They didn't deserve the
rank, and they certainly don't fight like traditional Ozeki, and so I think it's
good for fans to see what an actual run to Ozeki looks like with no politics
involved. It's also refreshing to have a guy knocking on the Ozeki door with a
brand of sumo that one can actually define. There is no question that Fuji the
Terrible is going to reach the rank; the only question now is will they let him
run wild for two more basho?
Some of Terunofuji's more defining wins came against the likes of Ichinojo,
Tochinoshin, and Tochiohzan. Otherwise, the only other guy on the banzuke he
needed to worry about this basho was Hakuho. When you step back and take a look
at the 15 guys he faced this basho, there's not that much competition. Having
Kakuryu gone weakened the field, and so it then comes down to how he's going to
choose to fare against the Ozeki. I already talked about the traditional method
of a run to Ozeki, and something else we are starting see from the past is an
actual alliance forming within the jo'i among rikishi from the same stable, in
this case the Isegahama-beya with Harumafuji, Terunofuji, and Takarafuji. We
used to see dominant stables in the past with multiple rikishi among the jo'i
like the Futagoyama-beya of old, the Musashigawa-beya, and even the
Sadogatake-beya, but with the weakening of the banzuke in general, these
dominant stables are now few and far between. In the case of Terunofuji, not
only does he not have to face HowDow and Takarafuji at a hon-basho, but look who
he gets to spar with every day prior to the basho. You have the quick, finesse
rikishi with mad game in Harumafuji, and then you have the conventional belt
fighter in Takarafuji. No wonder Terunofuji's defensive skills and counter sumo
game are already so polished. There's only upside for Fuji the Terrible, and
that's why I say his run to Ozeki is now just a matter of choice.
A final comment on Terunofuji before we move on...I'm still perplexed as to why
the Japanese media isn't glomming onto him the way they did Ichinojo. I've
already speculated as to one reason, so it's something that will just have to
watch play out in May and July.
I don't see a real need to beat a dead horse with the three Ozeki. Even with a
Yokozuna out, a Sekiwake out, and a lame Komusubi in Tamawashi, the Ozeki were
only able to muster 25 wins among them. Contrast that with Hakuho and Terunofuji
(27 wins), Hakuho and Harumafuji (24 wins), and or even Harumafuji and
Terunofuji (23 wins) because if you reverse that day 14 bout between Harumafuji
and Kotoshogiku, they're even steven at 24 wins. So, not only are two elite
rikishi able to match the same output as the three Ozeki every basho, but the
Ozeki are receiving serious help even to reach 25 wins among them. I know that
some of you think my comments are skewed, but it's actually the Ozeki skewing
the results of sumo these days, and I seriously don't know how anyone can watch
the huge contrasts that occur on the dohyo and deduct otherwise.