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Senshuraku Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
Hakuho's tournament victory, his first of 2018, makes 13 consecutive years with at least one. At 41 yusho, he has left his closest competitor well in the dust: Taiho at 32. He looked great in many of his bouts too; his knocking out of Takayasu was probably his highlight match this tournament. His dispatching of Kaisei, Yutakyama, Tochinoshin, Goeido, and Kisenosato were all decisive as well, and I loved his final choke-out of Mitakeumi. I hope he gives us a similar display in November: it is fun to watch the best be the best.

On the one hand I think it was an okay tournament for the Sumo Association too as Kisenosato made a nominally "successful" return, appearing to hold his own and get double-digit wins. On the other hand, nobody managed to earn a sansho, or special prize, for the first time in the 72 years of the existence of the prizes: there was no standout performance to take the focus off of Kisenosato. The lack of any prizes leaves a sour air. And as for Kisenosato, in reality it was oh so shaky for him and got worse and worse as it went on. Where do they go from here? Everybody who knows sumo knows he didn't look good. I suppose we will have to have more of the same for a while from him.

Anyhoo.

J1 Aminishiki (6-8) vs. M14 Chiyomaru (6-8)
There was a time when you'd see tons of withdrawals on the last day; happily that has subsided a bit. However, here was one: Chiyomaru withdrew and ended 6-9. Just be grateful Aminishiki finished 7-8 and will not be making another farcical appearance in maku-uchi. Yet.

M12 Okinoumi (8-6) vs. M13 Takanoiwa (9-5)
I didn't see a lot of effort here from Okinoumi. Takanoiwa was busy, starting on the outside on his left, maki-kae'ing and getting onto the belt inside, then putting the hand up on the body in there. However, it was his right grip that was the key: he dragged Okinoumi down with it, uwate-dashi-nage. We'll see if the High Cliff (Takanoiwa) can keep up this pace next time. I think he probably can.

M10 Aoiyama (6-8) vs. M16 Kotoyuki (6-8)
Very little effort again by the loser, but the loser is so bad I'm not sure it was intentional. This was an attempted tsuki-battle, but neither guy was hitting hard or connecting: they mostly just had their arms extended. Aoiyama's game is more pull than push these days, so that is what he did: got Kotoyuki by the back of the neck and pulled him out while stepping aside, hataki-komi.

M13 Ryuden (9-5) vs. M9 Daishomaru (5-9)
Ryuden polished off an excellent tournament with a win. He stood Daishomaru up with a left arm inside underneath the pit, then barely needed to push with his right hand to finish off the yori-kiri victory.

M9 Hokutofuji (9-5) vs. M15 Yoshikaze (10-4)
Both guys went for the same strategy: push and scoop manfully up, pause, do it again. The problem for Hokutofuji was that on the third of these mutual uplifts Yoshikaze chose not to pause: he finished his scoop by glomming on to Hokutofuji's open body, both arms inside, and swiftly removed Hokutofuji from the ring, yori-kiri. Good concentration and focus by Yoshikaze, who will probably struggle for 8 next time--which should be more fun.

M12 Nishikigi (9-5) vs. M8 Kotoshogiku (7-7)
Much as I've enjoyed Kotoshogiku's honest efforts this tournament, I do think he's gotten used to being not resisted much, so it is fun to see what happens when guys do their best against him. This was a good match. Uluru (Kotoshogiku) got his left arm inside on the body, then went for a few gaburi shoves as usual, no doubt believing his opponent would wiggle to make a show of it a little but go out. Nothing doing. Chest to chest, Nishikigi barely moved, going all brick wall on Kotoshogiku. Kotoshogiku decided he'd better get more position, so wormed his left hand onto the belt. "There now!" Right? Nope. Nishikigi remained entirely unmovable. It went on for a while like that, until the younger guy tired he older guy out: it was Nishikigi who drove his foe out, using a powerful inside left of his own, yori-kiri. A very quiet 10-5 for him, and he'll be out of his accustomed depth next tournament higher up, but he's shown some signs of solid life lately, so I won't write him off out of hand just yet.

M8 Takarafuji (6-8) vs. M11 Sadanoumi (8-6)
Oh, Takarafuji. You are so boring. But you're not too bad. He was stronger here, I think. He basically leaned over, held lightly onto whatever Sadanoumi offered with a pincer-like movement from above and outside, and did his best to push a little. This worked just fine; Sad Man had the inside and low track to victory, but it wasn't doing anything for him. Takarafuji did a great job of keeping his feet apart and his powerful legs moving forward, and got the ineffectual Sadanoumi so discombobulated at the end that the final thrust out by Takarafuji earned a tsuki-dashi kimari-te. Sadanoumi keeps inching up the banzuke, but that will not end well for him: this bout was a preview of things to come.

M15 Chiyoshoma (8-6) vs. M7 Tochiohzan (7-7)
Chiyoshoma immediately give up dual inside position to Tochiohzan with a sloppy tachi-ai in which Chiyoshoma kind of oozed both arms up onto Tochiohzan like a slug coming out for an evening glide along your outside basement stairwell wall. After this Chiyoshoma became much more active, lurching this way and that and even going for a trip. However, as he'd given Tochiohzan his favored position, it was all academic; the messiness did lead, however, to a cool throw at the end where Tochiohzan used one hand to pull via a grip on the butt-button at the back of the belt and the other arm to sling Chiyoshoma's body around, shitate-hineri. And that folks, is how you get your kachi-koshi.

M7 Shohozan (6-8) vs. M14 Takanosho (8-6)
I thought Shohozan was too sloppy and was going to get beat, focusing too much hitting too hard and not enough on focusing or hitting more rapidly. He cat-slapped Takanosho at the tachi-ai, and jabbed him real good twice in the neck, but after the second time Takanosho darted away and got to the side of Shohozan. Rookie that he is, Takanosho failed to take advantage of it: when they re-engaged Shohozan started to pummel him again, eventually regaining momentum with a heavy left forearm slabbed into Takanosho's armpit. At this point it was too much; Takanosho had had his chance and flubbed it. Darth Hozan tsuki-dashi'ed him out. Yay!

M16 Ishiura (4-10) vs. M6 Onosho (3-11)
On the last day you get a bunch of match-ups of guys with pathetic tournaments because they try to pair guys with like records against each other. Here was our first of these. However bad Onosho's tournament has been, he did show that he is still way better than Ishiura. Ishiura did his odd submarine thing; ducking down but not otherwise moving at the tachi-ai, letting the other guy advance on top of him so that Ishiura's head was flush into Onosho's left armpit, yet with both of Ishiura's arms on top of Onosho's. This did nothing for him, and why would it: Onosho continued to drive him back and also had the option of crushing him flat. So Ishiura pulled out and tried to evade and mawari-komu. No dice: Onosho remained right on Ishiura and knocked him bodily over with two hands to the face, oshi-dashi. Ishiura crashed down hard on the edge of the dohyo; sometimes I'm amazed they don't just break in two.

M6 Kagayaki (7-7) vs. M10 Daieisho (7-7)
Daieisho slapped high, Kagayaki thrust low. Normally, given that set up, I'd take my chances with Kagayaki. However, it was all Daieisho. Daieisho got a lot of those slaps in on the throat, a good place to hit, and then drew his aim down a notch, striking against Kagayaki's body and pushing him out, oshi-dashi. I think Kagayaki got done in here by Daieisho's lower center of gravity, but it wouldn't have mattered if Daieisho hadn't also outworked and out fighting-spirited him. The bottom line on these two wrestlers is that Daieisho does a lot with a little, and Kagayaki a little with a lot.

M2 Yutakayama (2-12) vs. M4 Chiyonokuni (4-10)
Here was our second match up of blech. I wanted Yutakayama to absolutely kill Chiyonokuni, and think he normally could, but he's been a bit lamed and so I had it as about even. Chiyonokuni did his damnedest. He struck Yutakayama very hard at the tachi-ai, knocking him upright with a series of wicked blows. Chiyonokuni then went all in with a series of pulls and had Yutakayama stumbling around. Chiyonokuni tried to finish it off with more blasting strikes, but all of this is a prelude to confirming that Chiyonokuni doesn't have the power to bully bigger, better wrestlers around: none of it felled Yutakayama. Instead, though he was as woozy as a Weeble who wobbles but won't fall down, Yutakayama had enough to spin at the straw and pull on the surging Chiyonokuni's head, knocking him down hataki-komi. There is no doubt Yutakayama has talent to go with his size; expect him to bounce back strongly in Kyushu.

M3 Shodai (6-8) vs. M1 Kaisei (7-7)
Kaisei is a clear step below the second tier of elite foreigners like Tochinoshin and Tamawashi. However, he showed he is clear step above Vanilla Softcream (Shodai). His grips off the solid, chest-bumping tachi-ai looked like tenuous finger holds, and they both were on the "outside," giving Shodai both arms inside. However, Kaisei's grips were also close to frontal mawashi grips, meaning there was no room in there for Shodai, who was stood up straight and squeezed back and couldn't get any belt at all. From there Kaisei smashed him bodily out, yori-kiri, like a lumber truck coming off the road and crushing a fawn that happened to be munching clover there.

M1 Ikioi (3-11) vs. M2 Chiyotairyu (4-10)
The third of our "who had a more horrible tournament" duels. And the answer is: Ikioi! Chiyotairyu didn't try either of his favored techniques: 1) explosive, forceful tachi-ai or, 2) foolish pull. He gave all that up in favor of a weakly henka that wasn't even really a henka, just some tachi-ai evasion. As they went into a grappling match off that, with Ikioi wrapping up Chiyotairyu's left arm from above, it should have been all Ikioi. Lo! It wasn't. Chiyotairyu stayed low, his ass well back, and drove in with his head, pushing the hapless Ikioi out, oshi-dashi. I think it is fair to say July was Ikioi's most promising tournament as a maku-uchi rikishi, finally getting a kachi-koshi while ranked in the jo'i. Hence this tournament was all the more disappointing, as he was manifestly unable to capitalize on it. Back to the yo-yo routine for him.

M5 Asanoyama (7-7) vs. K Takakeisho (8-6)
Takakeisho was uncharacteristically static: there was no pushing and backing up, or even pulling. Instead, they stuck against each other cautiously, never getting on the belts and settling in for an arms-against-each-other's-shoulders resting point. They stayed that way for a while. Then it was Asanoyama who aggressed, but Takakeisho mawari-komu'ed around the edge of the ring. When Asanoyama tried to change things up with a quick pull, he ended up stepping messily out as they both spun around along the edge: simply put, Takakeisho stayed in and Asanoyama didn't. So, Takakeisho gets the oshi-dashi victory, and expectations for him will continue to rise. He'll be under serious pressure next time around: going 9-6 from Komusubi means you are in the thick of it, and you will have to do this every time if you are going to be somebody.

K Tamawashi (3-11) vs. M3 Endo (3-11)
Bad tournament vs. bad tournament, match-up #4. What a mismatch in skills, though. I hoped my evergreen hope of wild slaughter. Indeed, Tamawashi thrust willfully at Endo while Endo tried to hold on to Tamawashi's head first, then grab onto his hands later. That won't work, Endo! Tamawashi's final body blow sent Endo five rows into the crowd, oshi-dashi. Should have been tsuki-dashi. In fact, that should be Tamawashi's nickname: Tsukiwashi? Tamadashi? Or maybe simply, Badass.

M5 Myogiryu (8-6) vs. S Ichinojo (7-7)
How on earth did Myogiryu get a kachi-koshi at M5? He was once pretty good, but it has been a while. I expect bones to dust in Kyushu. Meanwhile, this one was all soft contours and low effort. The Mongolians benefit from mukiryoku often too, folks. It was just too easy, and odd: Ichinojo advanced a little, then got pushed all the way back on a drive by Myogiryu. At the edge Ichinojo stepped matter-of-factly to the side with a little twisty love tap, and Myogiryu plopped to the clay, tsuki-otoshi. And that is how you keep your Sekiwake rank.

S Mitakeumi (8-6) vs. M4 Abi (6-8)
Around and around they went, dancing and slapping and thrusting. Mitakeumi had a little scoop-up in his, while Abi's arms were extended longer, higher, and straighter. But Abi was running away. Their angle around the edge tightened to a double-helix dual whirling Dervish spin right at the end, and Abi fell down, hataki-komi. Um, this was a really bad tournament for Mitakeumi.

O Tochinoshin (8-6) vs. O Takayasu (11-3)
With not much on the line record-wise, I'm sure Tochinoshin wanted to show he is the better wrestler. He arm-barred Takayasu at the tachi-ai, then kept his feet beautifully apart while pressing firmly into Takayasu's gut meat with his right hand. This pressure pivoted Takayasu around backwards, and Tochinoshin okuri-dashi'ed him out. The bear eats another salmon.

Y Kisenosato (10-4) vs. O Goeido (11-3)
Hoo, boy. I'm used to guys like Tamawashi deciding, "okay, I'm just going to beat Kisenosato today" and doing it. Of course! However, I didn't realize even Goeido can do the same. Frankly, Goeido has looked pretty good some days this tournament, and today Kisenosato made him look great. Goeido lunged in aggressively and got low position against Kisenosato, left arm inside and high, right arm outside and low (though the only thing he had a grip on was Kisenosato's sagari). Goeido then employed gaburi belly-humps, and this looked to be working; Kisenosato was using all his weight and height to lean in and resist, but was inching backwards. Goeido then smartly changed it up and lurched quickly to the side, letting Kisenosato tumble forward as Goeido gave a little yanking flick to the sagari: this had the poetic effect of making it look like he threw the Yokozuna by a passel of dangling threads. The result was a tsuki-otoshi emphatic victory for Goeido. I suppose Goeido thought, "I'll show you; it could just as easily have been me at Yokozuna!" Yes, perhaps you could have.

And so, here we are: a shaky and half-undeserved ten wins felt like a miracle success for Kisenosato. It could have gone much worse for him--or for us. Frankly, I'm glad there was enough frustration with him to allow five losses to pile up on him. Should have been more, but under the terms of the Hokutoumi Revolution, it also could have been less. It was quite a show.

Y Kakuryu (10-4) vs. Y Hakuho (15-0)
Good match until a bad ending, but these Mongolian Yokozuna duels are always suspicious. They got right at it, going chest to chest with dual right inside, left outside belt grips. Kakuryu had the momentum off the tachi-ai and got Hakuho pretty far back, but Hakuho turned the line of the match, and they settled in for a lengthy belt contest. Hakuho was more consistently close to the straw, so it looked good for Kakuryu. Then again, this is Hakuho. Eventually Kakuryu tried a throw that didn't work, and Hakuho spun him around, breaking off his own right grip, and prepared to try to push him out sideways with the left hand still on the belt. However, at this point, though he was still a meter away from the straw, Kakuryu gave up, turned his back on Hakuho, and started to walk out, with a look on his face of "oh, okay, I give up" or "I'm tired; uncle." Hakuho shoved him gently to finish off the okuri-dashi win, but the real kimari-te should have been "aite-akirame:" other-guy-gave-up. Hakuho looked peeved. Whether they'd worked out a winner or no, I'm sure Hakuho would have preferred to go ahead and finish the fifteen wins with his own move rather than have Kakuryu walk out voluntarily.

No matter; as I said in the intro, there were plenty of dynamite victories along the way, and what will stand out is the 15-0 record, at the… crusty old age of… 33?

Age 33? He's still not very old. Some guys go until near 40. Go for 50 yusho, man! Go for 50.

See you in November.

Day 14 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
It's been a long time since the yusho race this late in a basho has come down within the final three bouts of the day on two consecutive days. On the surface, that means that the Yokozuna and Ozeki are doing their jobs, but if you actually observe the content of the sumo the last little while, that certainly hasn't been the case. If you take the Japanese rikishi from those elite ranks, what has Kisenosato given us the last little while? Nothing. What has Goeido given us the last little while? Nothing. How about Takayasu? The same exact answer.

As I eluded to on day 12, Goeido and Takayasu had suddenly found themselves in the yusho race, but they hadn't received an ounce of hype the entire basho as the focus was politically-based on a coupla other rikishi. The reason the two Ozeki weren't hyped is because they weren't doing anything legitimate in the ring, and so as we come down to these last few days, it stands to reason that we're still not going to get anything legitimate from these two as we work out this "yusho race."

At the beginning of the day, Yokozuna Hakuho was going to have to do a helluva lotta work not to take the yusho as the leaderboard read like this:

13-0: Hakuho
11-2: Goeido, Takayasu

Moving in chronological order, Takayasu had an interesting matchup today against Sekiwake Mitakeumi (speaking of politics...). Mitakeumi's feet were aligned at the tachi-ai allowing Takayasu to move forward and flirt with the left arm to the inside. Mitakeumi shaded a bit right and had his right arm right next to Takayasu's belt, but instead of grabbing the right outer grip, he braced it into Takayasu's side and kept moving right denying Takayasu anything inside. With Mitakeumi not mounting an offensive attack, Takayasu was able to work the Suckiwake close to the tawara and establish the firm left inside. The Ozeki bodied Mitakeumi back to the edge, but he couldn't (wouldn't?) finish him off. As the two appeared to struggle at the straw, Mitakeumi finally moved right and fired a tsuki into Takayasu's side that wasn't very strong, but Takayasu just hopped off of the dohyo altogether.

Because Takayasu didn't touch anything until his hands hit the arena floor below, they called a mono-ii to check Mitakeumi's feet. It looked to me as if his left foot stayed on the edge until Takayasu had safely touched down, so I'm not sure what all the hullabaloo was about. I suspect that Takayasu was letting Mitakeumi win here, but the Ozeki hasn't exactly given us a measuring stick by which to gauge his sumo this basho. Regardless, the biggest point I took from this bout is that no one looked as if they were really trying to win. It wasn't a chess match of strength; rather, it was a handful of opportunities lost. Why didn't Mitakeumi grab that right outer grip? Did he not have the confidence to go chest to chest? On the other side, why didn't Takayasu press at the edge when he had Mitakeumi's back to the straw and the firm left inside position?

My fat gut tells me that Takayasu let Mitakeumi win here as the Ozeki was knocked out of the yusho race officially falling to 11-3. As for Mitakeumi, he picked up kachi-koshi today finishing at 8-6, and his senshuraku opponent his Abi, so expect him to finish 9-6.  Word is that Ozeki talk will continue into next basho, so with 13 wins last tourney and nine here in Aki, he still needs 11 magical wins in Kyushu with the emphasis on magic.

With Takayasu taken care of, we needed to wait for the Yokozuna Kakuryu - Kisenosato matchup to finish, so let's touch on that one next. Every time that Kisenosato has lost this basho, the commentary after his losses has always been, "He wasn't able to do anything in the loss" or "There's weren't any positive aspects to his sumo." The ironic thing is that when he's "won," the commentary hasn't been anything that praised his sumo. Rather, they keep using that word kihaku, and then they'll point out the turning point of the bout, but no one has ever talked about his positive sumo. That's because there's nothing to focus on let alone praise. And yet, here he was again doing battle with a legitimate Yokozuna in Kakuryu.

The two hooked up in hidari-yotsu where Kakuryu immediately grabbed the right outer grip. His normal sumo instincts told him to shore up that grip and shade right keeping his left side away from an outer grip by his opponent on the other side. From this position, Kisenosato hasn't shown us in at least three years that he can do anything to stop his opponents charge or counter with a move of his own, and yet, Kakuryu just stood still keeping the two in the center of the ring. Kakuryu slowly nudged Kisenosato back to the mukou-joumen side of the ring with Kyujo unable to defend himself, but once they came close to the edge, Kakuryu just dragged the action back across the starting lines with Kisenosato not having employed a single waza. At this point the crowd was still getting excited while the single word used to describe Kisenosato's sumo was "shinogu," or he's still hanging in there. Yeah...hanging in there by doing what or applying counter pressure where? Nowhere actually. With the crowd really bubbling at this point, Kakuryu finally made a move feigning an outer belt grip, but he let go of the grip as let Kisenosato sorta fired a scoop throw with the left. Normally, this bout should have been a nage-no-uchi-ai at the edge, but Kisenosato couldn't comply, and so Kakuryu just kept his right arm up high after letting go of the throw and allowed Kisenosato to nudge him sideways and out leading with that left inside.  If you look at the two pics below, they were taken about a second apart, so you go from the nage-no-uchi-ai to Kakuryu's just giving up completely.



This was obviously phony just as all of Kisenosato's 10 wins have been this tournament, so nobody should have been surprised here. As for Kakuryu, he falls to the same 10-4 mark, and there you have it...a Mongolian keeping pace with Kisenosato to make them appear as equals. Before we move on, I never did hear what the final count of kensho would be for Kisenosato's bouts alone, but the other day when Chiyotairyu accidentally beat him, the tally was 41. If you average 40 per day over the 15 days, we're talking about $180,000 USD in unmarked cash just floating around the venue for Kisenosato to play with. I think it's pretty obvious where most of that filthy lucre is used.

With that nonsense out of the way, the crowd began their chant of "Go-ei-do! Go-ei-do" as the Ozeki and Yokozuna Hakuho stepped into the ring. I think the chant was rather spontaneous, but it signaled that everyone was clearly rooting for the Japanese rikishi. And I don't blame them for doing it, but the reason sumo has thrived these past few years is because the Sumo Association has actually been granting the sheep their wishes by means we don't need to rehash here. It's really no more complicated than that.

Anyway, the bout would prove anti-climactic from the tachi-ai as the Incredible Hulkuho easily got the right arm inside at the tachi-ai followed by the left outer grip, and once he had that outer secured, he just pivoted on a dime and threw Goeido over and out of the ring to the West. At that moment Hakuho picked up his 41st career yusho and coincidentally his 1,000 win in the Makuuchi division. Most dudes can't even hit 1,000 win in their careers let alone the top division, but it's just another sign of Hakuho's dominance and greatness. I had to chortle when watching NHK's Saturday Sports news program when they said that Hakuho has been battling injuries all year. He has?? It just amazes me how much people believe what they're told, and it goes way beyond just sumo.

In other bouts of interest, Ozeki Tochinoshin came into the day still looking for that eighth win that would officially remove his kadoban status. Facing M4 Abi, he didn't have his work cut out for him. Abi came in with his usual high tsuppari, so the Ozeki just reached underneath them establishing the right arm inside and latching onto the left outer grip. With Abi struggling like a fish out of water, Tochinoshin reaffirmed his positioning and then just dumped Abi to the clay without argument. Tochinoshin moves to 8-6 with the win, and it was nice to see the crowd giving him a hearty applause for picking up that eighth. As for Abi, he falls to 6-8 in defeat.

We'll see if Sekiwake Ichinojo can pull a rabbit out of his mage and actually pick up kachi-koshi after a 3-6 start with plenty of favors given away. Today against M3 Shodai, the Mongolith simply needed to make a choice, and he came hard looking to get his right arm to the inside, but Shodai wanted no part of a chest to chest encounter, and can you really blame him? With Ichinojo in hot pursuit and Shodai moving laterally towards the edge, Ichinojo kept up the pressure forcing Shodai to brace both feet against the tawara and lean forward with arms extended. Instead of going for the yori-kiri, Ichinojo switched gears on a dime and slapped Shodai silly not mention forward and down to the dirt back in the center of the ring. This is how a guy ends up losing by hataki-komi when the bout is real, and with the easy win, Ichinojo moves to a cool 7-7. Unfortunately for Shodai, he falls to 6-8 with the loss, but don't be surprised to see him get even more love next basho as they travel to his home island of Kyushu.

Rounding out the sanyaku, M5 Myogiryu held up for Komusubi Takakeisho keeping his arms high and wide at the tachi-ai, and when the first sign of a pull came, Myogiryu just tapped the deck with both palms and then stood right back. I don't think either rikishi broke a sweat in this obviously thrown bout, and don't look now, but Takakeisho has been gifted a kachi-koshi at 8-6. NHK pointed out how this was his first kachi-koshi from the sanyaku, and I can't wait for more it was so thrilling. Or not.

Due to time restraints, let just focus on one more bout on the day, the M14 Takanosho - M10 Daieisho matchup. Takanosho was the lone rookie this basho, but the dude hasn't shown anything. All of the wins that I've been paying attention to have been fake, and it was no different today against Daieisho, who came with his usual tsuppari attack minus the de-ashi as the rookie just stood there completely upright with feet aligned (he's the dude on the right in the pic).  Normally, you'd get your ass kicked after such a tachi-ai if your opponent was trying to win, but Daieisho obviously wasn't. At the slightest move from the rookie, which came in the form of a feeble right hand pushing against Daieisho's left armpit ever so tenderly, Daieisho just flopped over and down in about two whole seconds. With the win, Takanosho picks up his eighth win, so we get to put up with his nonsense for a few more basho. The rookie showed us exactly nothing, but he's proof positive as to just how easy it is to buy a kachi-koshi in the division. Daieisho falls to a harmless 7-7 with the loss from the M10 rank.

With the yusho secure, Harvye will wrap things up for us tomorrow and give us his final takes of the basho.

Day 13 Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
For the first third of the tournament, the theme was "no upsets." Over the second third and down the stretch that morphed into a tournament that consistently is defying my expectations, mostly in a good way. Hakuho? I thought he would be taking losses, giving this one away at some point, continuing his sunset mild-mannered generosity. Instead, The Storyteller seems intent on adding another triumphant chapter to his already very long book. It is fun to have him back. Kakuryu? I pegged him to cruise to a quiet championship. Instead he's faded off the pace at two losses. Kisenosato? He remains the story of the basho and is still the most compelling story each day out. His tournament has been an enigma. Not the triumphant march many would wish for, not the farewell wilt I was expecting, but something in the middle. "Chuu to hanpa," a good Japanese phrase meaning something like "neither here nor there," "neither fish nor flesh," or "a little of this and a little of that make not much of anything." Mitakeumi? There I was on Day 5 guaranteeing his Ozeki promotion. Since then he is 1-6, and is not getting promoted. Technically he needed 11 wins, and I thought they'd give it to him with 10, but he'll get neither.

We had something of a barnburner of a yusho race, with all the high ranked guys in it: Hakuho, Kakuryu, Kisenosato, Takayasu, Goeido, and, early on, Mitakeumi and Tochinoshin. That's all three Yokozuna, all three Ozeki, and last tournament's winner. We don't see that that often. There were only a few of those guys left as Friday afternoon rolled around, and let's get right to them.

CONTENDERS

M4 Abi (6-6) vs. O Takayasu (10-2)
This was a battle of thrusting and slapping, and as that is Abi's forte, he had Takayasu going backwards. As for Takayasu, does he have a forte? Anyhoo, once he'd been forced back a bit, Takayasu kind of patiently waited for Abi to get closer to him, then ducked neatly out to the side. When Abi turned to face Takayasu, he found himself with his back to oblivion. Takayasu got his slappity thrustity on, quickly got the win with it, and was even awarded the tsuki-dashi "thrust out" kimari-te. That normally signals a destructive mulching of your foe, but this sure didn't look like that. No matter for most watchers: this win meant Takayasu could not be eliminated today, regardless of the outcome of Hakuho's bout.

Y Kisenosato (9-3) vs. Y Hakuho (12-0)
Here it was: the big one. Can you think of any bout with more portent in the tournament than this one? What story would the storyteller tell? The theme of the tournament had settled into "quiet return for Hakuho, respectable outing for Kisenosato," and either outcome--a Hakuho win or Kisenosato win--would have fit into that narrative. So I wasn't sure which way the winds would swing. However, my feeling was that Kisenosato had done well enough, but that Hakuho wanted this tournament, so I felt Hakuho would dispatch Kisenosato. It has been a "something for you, something for me" tournament, with no need to give away the whole store. Then again, with a two match lead, Hakuho had room to do it... Portent! Suspense! A form of drama.

Hakuho slapped Kisenosato hard in the face, moved fast, kept his feet apart, clutched his arms around the perennially-open-at-the-tachi-ai-body of Kisenosato, and worked to win. Hakuho juddered a bit on his feet, trying to gaburi-shake his blubbery, doughy foe out of the dohyo. There was a moment of danger for Hakuho: as all wrestlers will and should, Kisenosato moved to the side when he got too close to the edge. He retreated in that moment as well, and there was a split second where, with move decisive backwards movement and harder downing action with his arms, Kisenosato could perhaps have dragged Hakuho down. However, I've always thought his in-ring strategy and instincts to be bad, and indeed he did not seem to think to turn his defensive move into an offensive one: he was just trying to survive. That he did, but Hakuho went with him, firmed up his grips by getting both arms way inside now, drove Kisenosato to the bales, and beat him there, yori-kiri. And in effect, that's your tournament. It's Indian Summer, and Hakuho is picking raspberries in the meadow at golden hour.

Y Kakuryu (10-2) vs. O Goeido (10-2)
With Hakuho's win, the loser of this one was eliminated, while the winner hung on by a thread, joining Takayasu in hoping Hakuho might lose twice and an Ozeki would win twice to force a playoff. Vain hope, but stranger things have happened. Well, ol' Kakuryu fell prey to his "pull habit." After a weak tachi-ai with light contact, Kakuryu rushed backwards out of there with Goeido trailing after him, and Goeido managed to stay on his feet and push Kakuryu, who didn't put enough "mawaru" into his "komu" (he went too straight back and didn't circle enough) out, oshi-dashi. Yeesh.

That left us with undefeated Hakuho challenged only by the two Japanese Ozeki, Takayasu and Goeido, each with two losses, with two days to go. I'm not sure if Hakuho pulls the trigger tomorrow against Goeido or Sunday against Kakuryu, but he's winning this tournament on one of those two days. I say he takes it Saturday.

AND SO FORTH

J2 Yago (8-4) vs. M14 Chiyomaru (5-7)
Yago. Makes me think of a goat. Let's see here: 187 centimeters, 172 kilograms, 24 years old. There's some potential there. He a twitch old to be a young break-out guy, and I'd want him to be a little taller to have a chance at domination, but let's see how he did in the ring. Not very well--he couldn't finish anything against Round Ball (Chiyomaru), despite Maru deploying a bunch of styles one after the other indecisively. Maru went through stiff armed tsuki thrusts, then some pulling, then settled in at the belt, where he should have been toast. However, he tossed Yago to the ground with surprising ease, sukui-nage. Guess that's life in the big city, kid.

M11 Sadanoumi (6-6) vs. M16 Ishiura (3-9)
Ishiura has been getting pretty thoroughly beat around this tournament, so Sad Man (Sadanoumi) undoubtedly felt he could go ahead and try the same. He was right. He started out with some big windmill pull-down attempts. When that didn't work, he drove Ishiura back, getting all over his body. Ishiura jerked like a fresh fish at Tsukiji market just at the end that buckled Sadanoumi and caused him a moment of danger, but not before Sadanoumi drove Ishiura definitively out, yori-kiri.

M10 Aoiyama (4-8) vs. M14 Takanosho (7-5)
Speaking of defying expectations, Takanosho has put together a solid tournament after a rough first few days: as Mike said, he's found his sea legs in the division. However, he is still a rookie, and Aoiyama pushed him once before immediately jerking him down by the head, hataki-komi. Takanosho probably thought he was going to have to struggle mightily with a giant--he did not expect to be stung sharply by a bee.

M15 Yoshikaze (8-4) vs. M9 Daishomaru (5-7)
Daishomaru and Yoshikaze both wanted to pull in this one, so we had one of those moments of them staring at each other across the dirt. However, Daishomaru didn't seem to want to win much, as he stood there and took it when Yoshikaze opted back in and battered at him, so Yoshikaze knocked him manfully out, oshi-dashi.

M9 Hokutofuji (8-4) vs. M12 Nishikigi (7-5)
Hokutofuji shaded to the right at the tachi-ai, then stuck a long arm in there for a neck hold. This gave him control of the match and he would hold onto that for most of the duration. However, he never looked strong, didn't aggress much, and was forced back to the straw by Nishikigi. Hokutofuji almost pulled off a lovely, table-turning twist-and-throw at the edge while falling backwards, and indeed the gyoji gave him the win. However, the judges noted, probably correctly, that Hokutofuji's left heel just barely pressed into the dirt outside the straw first, giving the yori-kiri win to Nishikigi. 8-5 at M9? Yes, I'm afraid that's pretty much what Hokutofuji is. This match, with its lack of decisive forward motion or confident action, was pretty typical for day-to-day Hokutofuji.

M13 Ryuden (8-4) vs. M8 Kotoshogiku (6-6)
You know what? I like Kotoshogiku at this level. Yeah, he was embarrassing at Ozeki for a long time, and often looked overmatched in the high Maegashira ranks. But down here, to my surprise, he's sometimes looked dominant. His strength and stability are very good, and you can see the veteran experience. I don't think his 6-6 at M8 is a mirage: there is no particular reason for guys to let up for him here. These two rammed their heads together satisfyingly at the tachi-ai, and Ryuden came away with a nice outside left and inside right. He used that dominant position to drive Kotoshogiku to the straw, then dosed him with his own medicine--belly-humping shoves--and knocked him out yori-kiri. Both men showed strength and focus. This was good stuff.

M8 Takarafuji (6-6) vs. M15 Chiyoshoma (7-5)
Chiyoshoma was briefly a favorite of mine: kinetic, strong, interestingly wily. Now he pretty much just shows as wily, and his sumo is so unreliable, sloppy, and mukiryoku-ridden that he's approaching Daishomaru territory for me: every time I see him out there I feel my lips start to curl up in disdain. Too bad: such a waste. Chiyoshoma demonstrated what he can do in this one a little bit, though. Bumped Takarafuji upright with a good body strike at the tachi-ai, then used a powerful stiff arm to Takarafuji's tiny neck to slide him back. From there it was back to the pulls, but Chiyoshoma had earned the pulls this time, and tumbled Mr. Boring (Takarafuji) down, tsuki-otoshi. One wants to say, "if only he'd do this every time." But he won't.

M16 Kotoyuki (5-7) vs. M7 Tochiohzan (5-7)
Chiyomaru is still the king of it, but you know what? Kotoyuki has a pretty good shelf-gut too. There: I paid him a compliment. Now let's get back to slagging him. He stared pridefully (though patiently) across the lines while Tochiohzan eased down into his starting position. Then Kotoyuki, as is his want, deployed some wicked looking strikes to the face in the bout, but had nothing else. So I hope he felt pretty good about those. Because Tochiohzan stepped to the side and rolled him to the soil, hataki-komi.

M7 Shohozan (6-6) vs. M12 Okinoumi (6-6)
Ooh. This is why Mike likes Okinoumi: he's big, he's strong, and when he's on, can be very good. Darth Hozan hopped inside against him, but Okinoumi countered swiftly, wrapping up both of Shohozan's arms from the outside, shutting Shohozan down then moving his own feet and body steadily forward while smothering down against Shohozan to take advantage of their size differential. In this way Okinoumi turned initial weak position into a dominant-looking yori-kiri win.

M6 Kagayaki (6-6) vs. M13 Takanoiwa (9-3)
Kagayaki was hot today, keeping the dangerous Takanoiwa off him by using long-armed shoves to the face. He then got his body in there against and knocked Takanoiwa out of the ring, oshi-dashi. Takanoiwa has got to do better than this, and I think he can. We'll see next basho, when they should have about the same rank.

M10 Daieisho (6-6) vs. M5 Asanoyama (7-5)
Two guys going in opposite directions. Daieisho has recovered from a weak start to compile a workmanlike 6-6, while Asanoyama has looked good but has found it isn't always so easy up here: he has fallen victim to a henka and the like. The bout was messy but entertaining. Shades of Kakizoe: Daieisho waited patiently to start, both fists on the dirt. He then pummeled into Asanoyama hard and knocked him well back; Daieisho almost won it as a linear force out. Asanoyama had the presence of mind to employ a defensive throw and escape to side, and back to the center of the ring went the match. However, Asanoyama continued to let Daieisho dictate the pace and style: all thrusting aggression, no belts. Daieisho did this very well, focusing to put his hands in the right place: he kept bending Asanoyama's head back. You had the feeling Asanoyama was the better wrestler and would eventually grab Daieisho and beat him, but it never happened: Daieisho kept the pressure on and never allowed him to. In the end Daieisho knocked Asanoyama bodily into the air, across the bales, and down to defeat, yori-taoshi, in a nice display of his trademark aggressive, forward moving sumo. Asanoyama will be fine; this is good for him.

M6 Onosho (3-9) vs. M3 Endo (1-11)
Possibly the two worst tournaments this go-round belong to these two. I expected a sad mess and got it. Onosho lunged forward and pushed, Endo retreated and pulled, and Onosho flopped bodily to the dirt while Endo flew way, way out. Is it possible to give a loss to both guys? In the end the news from the judges was that Onosho had sprawled down first. Desperate and unsatisfying hataki-komi victory for Endo.

M4 Chiyonokuni (3-9) vs. M1 Kaisei (5-7)
I so wanted Kaisei to envelope Chiyonokuni in the folds of his belly and smother him. Instead, Chiyonokuni thrust at him like a little flea, and Kaisei kept trying to grab him. "Where is my fly swatter?" Kaisei got Chiyonokuni's arms once, but Chiyonokuni escaped. More thrusting ensued. Kaisei then shoved Chiyonokuni way off and back, lumbered after him and got him by the back of the belt, and crushed him out, yori-kiri. Nice win for what seems like a very nice guy.

M1 Ikioi (2-10) vs. M2 Yutakayama (1-11)
These two went for face pushing. Yutakayama stayed strong and stable, let Ikioi get in close, stepped to the side, put his big arm on Ikioi's back, and slapped him into the dirt, tsuki-otoshi.

K Tamawashi (3-9) vs. K Takakeisho (6-6)
Two of the hardest hitters in the division. Don't think of Takakeisho that way, perchance? Watch. Yes, there is usually pulling and sometimes too much pausing. But when he strikes, Takakeisho strikes hard, and guys move backwards. Tamawashi you know about: he is the division's number one puncher. Well, in this one Takakeisho struck as hard as he could, drove forward with his body and his feet, and flung Tamawashi out, tsuki-dashi. Not everybody can do that, but Takakeisho convincingly did.

M2 Chiyotairyu (4-8) vs. S Ichinojo (5-7)
Speaking of hitting hard, here is Chiyotairyu. What happens when you hit a mattress full of goose feathers? Nothing much. And what happens when the mattress hits back? Oy, you're surprised. Chiyotairyu's explosive tachi-ai was a nothing here, easily neutralized by Ichinojo, who then flicked him backwards as easy as thinking. Ichinojo cautiously advanced and had no trouble methodically oshi-dashi'ing Chiyotairyu out. I still think Chiyotairyu is capable of challenging Ichinojo on his better days, but this was all Mongolith.

S Mitakeumi (6-6) vs. M5 Myogiryu (8-4)
So, Mitakeumi, now you've got a lesser guy to fight. Can you recover? It took a bit. Myogiryu shoved him pretty far back, though Myogiryu is not that big. Mitakeumi shoved mightily back in return, got back in it, and they went for arm grappling with their faces on each other's shoulders. Myogiryu knew he couldn't push Mitakeumi out, so he opted for the pull, and Mitakeumi moved in on him off the move, putting both arms around Myogiryu's body on the inside and ushering him swiftly out, oshi-dashi. Not a great match for him by any means, but Mitakeumi really needed this one and will take it.

M3 Shodai (5-7) vs. O Tochinonshin (7-5)
Tochinoshin tried an armbar off the tachi-ai, but couldn't get to the belt. Shodai kept his can back, and at least twice when Tochinoshin got on the belt Shodai shook him off. Tochinoshin ended up standing up too tall, and wrenching up on Shodai's right arm while trying to reach in blindly on the other side. This almost worked: he did get Shodai to the edge. But there, Shodai did what wrestlers are supposed to do: threw and moved, getting out of the way, twirling on one foot next to the bales: and down fell Tochinoshin, sukui-nage. This is as good as I've seen Shodai fight.

And here I thought Shodai would throw it for Tochinoshin. Honor his sempai status, help him out of his kadoban troubles. No, Tochinoshin wouldn't necessarily need it, but yes, it happens in favor of, not just against, foreign rikishi sometimes too. Just not here today. I give you that to think about. What kind of fan are you? What do you expect? It isn't simple, and seeing yaocho vs. seeing blue skies is just a starting point.

Tomorrow Mike gives you some more things to think about.

Day 12 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
For the first time this basho, the NHK News 9 program did not lead off with sumo in their sports segment opting for professional baseball instead. It's quite hard to get people excited about Kisenosato coming off of a loss to a three-win rikishi where the commentary after the bout was, "All he could do was go backwards." As for Mitakeumi, his suffering a fifth loss in six days has turned him into a dull story, and it just doesn't make sense to preempt baseball--a much more popular sport with the masses--in favor of two rikishi who need obvious assistance to win in the ring. Another problem with the Kisenosato/Mitakeumi hype through the first 10 days or so is that it took the focus off of everyone else, namely Takayasu and Goeido. And I know...both of those guys also rely almost exclusively on fixed bouts to pad their records, but when we get into the nitty gritty of the yusho race, it's really hard to switch gears now to Takayasu and Goeido when they haven't been the focus from the start.

And that belies the problem of fake sumo. The focus is always on what the Sumo Association wants to be and not really what is. I guess it worked out last basho as Mitakeumi was continually buoyed up all the way to the yusho, but it also required withdrawals from heavyweights Hakuho, Kakuryu, and Tochinoshin. It's one thing for Mitakeumi to supposedly be kicking ass and taking names against Japanese guys, but orchestrating three fake bouts against the foreign Yokozuna and Ozeki (not to mention guys like Ichinojo and Tamawashi) is just too tall of an order. This basho with Kisenosato around, no one has felt obligated to withdraw, and so there's just too much foreign gridlock on the banzuke for anyone to try and guess which Japanese rikishi will be competing towards the end.

The result is Hakuho unblemished as we enter the day, and two Japanese hopefuls two losses back in Takayasu and Goeido. Takayasu was simply embarrassing yesterday against Hakuho, so how can you hype that? You just can't, and so that leaves Goeido also  two losses back but having yet to fight either Kakuryu or Hakuho. Stranger things have been orchestrated (just look at the Yokozuna rank to find Kisenosato's name there), but heading into day 12, there is no one that NHK is able to hype as the focus turns to the yusho race.

Until Hakuho chooses to lose, I think it's unnecessary to even go two losses deep, but for drama's sake, here you go...

11-0: Hakuho
10-1: Kakuryu
9-2: Takayasu, Goeido, Takanoiwa

Let's start with M13 Takanoiwa who looked to do battle with M7 Shohozan in the first half bouts. Takanoiwa kept his left arm wide at the tachi-ai and seemed to focus on that as Shohozan came with his usual tsuppari. The horrible tachi-ai was a red flag, but then when Takanoiwa put that arm up high in pull fashion, it was obvious what his intentions were. As Shohozan rushed forward, Takanoiwa sloppily let his foot slip well beyond the tawara with little actual contact from his foe. This was such an obvious yaocho, and my guess is that Takanohana is choosing to take the high road and remove this foreigner from the yusho race. I could be wrong about that, but I'm not wrong in my assessment that Takanoiwa was intentionally mukiryoku here. The result sends Takanoiwa to 9-3 while Shohozan moves to 6-6.

Ozeki Goeido had a small task ahead of him in M4 Abi, but the Ozeki still needed help. Abi met Goeido with two hands to the neck and shoulder area before backing up as if to pull. A serious pull never came, however, as Goeido stood there completely clueless and off balance on one leg. Had Abi wanted to take him at this point, he could have easily knocked him offer with a nice tsuki, but he waited for Goeido to regain his balance and then he just extended his arms forward inviting a pull attempt from Goeido. The Ozeki made a motion to pull, but there was little contact.  It didn't matter. Abi knew his job today, and he just flopped forward and down to the dirt gifting Goeido the win. You switch gears into yusho mode these last few days, and then you find yourself having to put up with a bout like this??  I think I'll go watch a replay of Takanoiwa as Goeido stumbles his way to 10-2 while Abi falls to 6-6.

Our final two-loss rikishi in Ozeki Takayasu took on our one-loss rikishi in Yokozuna Kakuryu, and the Yokozuna looked great for exactly one second securing the left inside at the tachi-ai while groping the front of Takayasu's belt with the right. Had the Yokozuna chosen to latch onto that right frontal, Takayasu would have been at his bidding, but he pulled that arm away and went for a senseless maki-kae...senseless in the fact that he had Takayasu's left arm pinched in tight, so he let go of that in exchange for the moro-zashi position. While he did have moro-zashi, his intent wasn't to attack with it, and so he waited for the first sign of effort from the Ozeki that came in the form of a mediocre left outer belt throw, but what a throw it turned out to be!!  With Takayasu's positioning absolutely horrible for the throw, Kakuryu just played along hopping on one foot before flipping himself over at the edge in front of the chief judge.  In a true throw at this location in the dohyo, Kakuryu's right leg and Takayasu's left leg would be to the inside and mirroring each other.  Here, Kakuryu just wildly flipped that leg outside as he tumbled over and onto his back.  The Yokozuna obviously deferred here as both rikishi finished the day at 10-2.

Moving to our only undefeated rikishi, Yokozuna Hakuho stayed unblemished against Ozeki Tochinoshin today working his way to the inside with the right as Tochinoshin largely just stood there. I don't think this was as much of a fixed bout as it was Chiyotairyu syndrome where guys step into the ring against superior opponents and think, "What's the point?" Hakuho didn't even bother with the left arm moving a bit right and then firing on a light scoop throw that sent Tochinoshin to the dirt with ease. Shin just didn't give this one any effort, and by my tally, not a single bout from one of our leaders featured two guys going head to head with full effort.

With no dust to settle after these lame bouts, the leaderboard heading into Day 13 reads as follows:

12-0:  Hakuho
10-2:  Kakuryu, Goeido, Takayasu

Hakuho draws Kisenosato tomorrow, and anything can happen there. Kakuryu and Goeido face off with each other, and anything can happen in that bout as well. Finally, Takayasu draws the softie, Abi. It's all up to Hakuho at this point.

In other bouts of interest, today was the long awaiting Kisenosato - Sekiwake Mitakeumi matchup and boy was it a treat. Kisenosato offered a quick face slap that barely had any effect as Mitakeumi charged in forcing the bout to hidari-yotsu. With Kisenosato incapable of playing defense, Mitakeumi grabbed an easy right outer grip that had Kisenosato's arm pinched in quite a bit. However, instead of dispatching Kyujonosato in short order, Mitakeumi just spun him round and round in the center of the ring leading with that right outer grip. It reminded me of that old Mötley Crüe tune on their first album titled Merry Go Round only in this case the more apt description would have been Mary go round and round. After a couple of rotations in the ring, Kisenosato attempted a weak scoop throw with the left, but he couldn't break Mitakeumi's grip, so Mitakeumi just let go of his grip leaving the two to trade tsuppari in the center of the ring. Mitakeumi's intentions were obvious at this point and despite finding himself back in hidari-yotsu with the right outer grip, he just let that outer go again, and it was at this point that Queen Mary finally clued in and mounted a force out attack against Mitakeumi leading with the left arm inside. Mitakeumi was straight up and just walked back and out doing his best C3P0 impression with his right arm.  He put as much effort into a counter move as he did in his attack (i.e. zilch). The end result was Kisenosato's being gifted his ninth win of the basho (against 3 losses) while Mitakeumi graciously falls to 6-6.

Sekiwake Ichinojo and M1 Kaisei hooked up in migi-yotsu with Ichinojo grabbing an early left outer grip. Kaisei had his left hand grazing the front of Ichinojo's belt, but the Mongolith moved left out of harm's way shoring up his outer grip while keeping Kaisei as far away as possible. From this point, Ichinojo was able to use his usual strategy of just standing there and tiring his foe out, but about 20 seconds in, he must have felt something give with Kaisei because he fired an outer belt throw that sent the Brasilian down and out. Okay bout here as both guys end the day at 5-7, and we'll see if any of them can get to kachi-koshi.

In the Komusubi ranks, Takakeisho took advantage of M3 Shodai's arms out wide at the tachi-ai by just firing shove after shove into Shodai's chest until he was driven back and out. Shodai didn't make much of an effort to do anything here, but it's really hard to tell what his intentions were because there's so much yaocho going on anyway. One thing that does have me concerned is that Takakeisho never went for a single pull, so I'm guessing he knew there'd be no resistance. Who knows as Takakeisho suddenly finds himself at 6-6 after a horrific start while Shodai falls to 5-7.

Komusubi Tamawashi and M2 Chiyotairyu met with dual tsuppari attacks, but Tamawashi had his feet aligned and was standing completely upright, and so Chiyotairyu took a half step laterally going for a pull that sent Tamawashi willingly down with ease. As is usually the case in a Tamawashi thrown bout, he touched both palms down to the dirt but nothing else. Saves the cost of taking a bath afterwards ya know. Tamawashi graciously slips to 3-9 while Chiyotairyu is only one better at 4-8.

M1 Ikioi came with a right kachi-age against M3 Endoh as Endoh looked to fend him off with weak tsuppari as he slowly retreated. Ikioi never did catch Endoh with a sharp shove, but as Endoh skirted left going for a last ditch pull, his foot stepped out a split second before Ikioi crashed down as a result of the pull. I was happy to see Ikioi get another win at 2-10 while Endoh falls to 1-11. Is Endoh a has-been now in the division meaning nobody feels any obligation to lose to him anymore?

Isn't it interesting how some rikishi change their style when they fight an injured rikishi? Case in point today was M7 Tochiohzan charging forward and using a tsuppari attack against hobbled M2 Yutakayama. Yutakayama did his best, but he couldn't stand his ground with the injured lower body, and so Oh had him pushed back and out once, twice, three times a lady. I can't fault someone for taking advantage of an injured rikishi, but I wish guys would look to fight straight forward all the time. Tochiohzan is barely alive at 5-7 while Yutakayama is a hard-luck 1-11.

M4 Chiyonokuni focused on a left choke hold of M8 Takarafuji driving him back a step or two, but with Kuni so extended with that left tsuki, Takarafuji had plenty of room to slip to his left and pull Chiyonokuni down by that arm and a swipe behind his right shoulder. Nice veteran move from Takarafuji who evens things up at 6-6 while Chiyonokuni falls to 3-9.

M5 Asanoyama and M11 Sadanoumi hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai where Asanoyama used his length to reach for a left outer grip, but instead of shoring up his position, Asanoyama attempted a hurried yori charge, and I guess I can't blame the guy for being proactive, but he wasn't applying sufficient pressure to his foe, and so Sadanoumi was able to move right at the edge and counter with the right arm inside executing a perfect scoop throw that wrenched Asanoyama over and down before Sadanoumi hit the deck. This was a pretty entertaining bout as Sadanoumi picks up the nifty win moving to 6-6 while Asanoyama falls to 7-5.

After a sloppy bout between M5 Myogiryu and M9 Hokutofuji that ended in a tie when both dudes were just looking for the pull, they redid things where both dudes came out just looking for the pull again starting with Hokutofuji's moving left at the tachi-ai and Myogiryu's not wanting to come forward and get to the inside. Long story short, Myogiryu was able to tip-toe the tawara after executing what else...a pull that sent Hokutofuji down before he could shove Myogiryu out with a last-ditch effort. You have two guys here that finish the day at 8-4, so they're having a good basho, but in a straight-up bout, the only thing they care about is scoring on a pull-down technique.

I think that M12 Okinoumi sensed that M6 Onosho was not going to come forward at the tachi-ai because he opted for cautious tsuppari instead of trying to get to the inside in yotsu fashion. He was correct as Onosho focused on a retreat shading back and to his left, but Okinoumi's long right arm of the law connected sufficiently to send Onosho back beyond the straw before the latter could score on a pull attempt. Okinoumi moves to 6-6 and guarantees a place in the dance for Kyushu while Onosho has simply been awful falling to 3-9.

M6 Kagayaki failed to fire a single thrust at the tachi-ai against M14 Takanosho, and it was pretty obvious how this bout would end. With Takanosho doing nothing, Kagayaki moved forward flirting with his left arm inside, and he also had the clear path to the right inside had he wanted moro-zashi. He of course didn't, so he abandoned that stellar position opting to kinda wrap his left arm around Takanosho's right in kote fashion, but more than executing a throw, he just walked himself backwards as the rookie happily moved in for the yori-kiri kill. This was one of those bouts where the winner did nothing to set anything up, and yet, it's an easy peasy Japanesey win in the end. Takanosho is a fraud at 7-5 while Kagayaki quietly falls to 6-6.

Two beauties hooked up today in M15 Yoshikaze vs. Kotoshogiku in a bout that saw Yoshikaze get the left arm up and under Kotoshogiku's side as he went for a right frontal grip with the left. Kotoshogiku seemed to focus on a useless kote grip of his own with his right arm, and the lack of defense gave Yoshikaze the easy moro-zashi. From there, the yori-kiri was a given as Yoshikaze walked the Geeku back and across. Don't look now, but Yoshikaze picked up his eighth win against four losses. What a crock, and that has to be one of the ugliest--and most predictable--kachi-koshi I've ever seen. As for Kotoshogiku, he falls to 6-6 with the loss, but from the M8 ranks, it's still all gravy from here.

Wow, what an ugly tachi-ai between M14 Chiyomaru and M9 Daishomaru. I was focused on Maru as I thought he'd be proactive, but he was completely flat-footed and vulnerable. Luckily for him, Daishomaru's start was just as bad as he too stood upright and shaded left. Chiyomaru recovered quickly and began firing some elbows up and under Daishomaru's neck driving him back to the straw, and at the edge, Chiyomaru sucked Daishomaru in close with the left inside position and right outer grip, and Daishomaru could do nothing from there as Chiyomaru scored a rare yori-kiri win leaving both dudes at 5-7.

M13 Ryuden came forward proactively against M10 Daieisho trying to lift up and under Daieisho's extended tsuppari, but before Ryuden could make sufficient contact, Daieisho was able to scoot right and go for just enough of a pull that Ryuden stumbled to the edge where his right foot slipped across the tawara before he could replant inside the ring. This was quite an anti-climactic bout where Ryuden now falls to 8-4 after a spirited start. As for Daieisho, he moves to 6-6 with the nice win.

M16 Ishiura henka'd left against M10 Aoiyama causing the Bulgarian to stumble forward but not out. As he squared back up, Ishiura was able to worm into moro-zashi, but Aoiyama wanted to win here, so he just started moving his body forward, which drove Ishiura back to the straw, and then Aoiyama finished off his bidness with a two-handed push to the face of Ishiura. Aoiyama moves to 4-8 and needs one more win to stick in the division. As for Ishiura, he falls to 3-9.

The M12 Nishikigi - M16 Kotoyuki matchup was just awful. Kotoyuki's tsuppari attack was weak, and Nishikigi was fully upright yet still able to dodge Yuki's attack. As Kotoyuki inched forward, Nishikigi moved left attempting to grab the back of Kotoyuki's belt, but he never got it. Still, he was able to usher Kotoyuki out of the ring with a semi-kote-nage throw with the left that rendered Kotoyuki off balance and the easy push-out fodder. Why I covered this bout I don't know, but Nishikigi moves to 7-5 while Kotoyuki falls to 5-7.

And finally M15 Chiyoshoma executed a nice hari-zashi tachi-ai against J2 Meisei securing the left arm inside and firm right outer grip. Meisei complied with his own left inside and right outer grip on the other side, but after gathering his wits, Chiyoshoma easily broke off Meisei's outer grip before setting up an outer belt throw. He stopped short of full execution and decided on the brilliant move of pulling his right arm away from the belt and positioning it up high around the back of Meisei's melon. That was the obvious cue because Meisei drove Chiyoshoma back and out before I could type the letters y-a-o-c-h-o. We've been talking about Chiyoshoma (and Arawashi) selling bouts for a long time now, and at 7-4 coming in, Chiyoshoma had room to spare. As for Meisei, he's ranked at J2 meaning he needs at least nine wins to make it back up to the dance. This "win" sent him to 8-4, so he's just gotta pay for one more, and we'll see him back here in Kyushu. Speaking of Meisei, he got off to a terrible start in his Makuuchi debut and needed to start buying bouts to finish 6-9. My impression of him during the Nagoya basho was, "This guy's weak."

But...that's sumo for ya in this day and age. Money obviously talks, and solid sumo takes a back seat.

Lookin' forward to Harvye's breakdown of Day 13 tomorrow.

Day 11 Comments (Justin Williams reporting)
Thank you Sumotalk for allowing me to comment today. After my first report I now really appreciate the efforts of Mike and Harvye. Covering the entire day's bouts is a lot harder than just casually viewing the proceedings, ignoring those bouts that don't interest me, and yelling out "Go big fella!" Intently analyzing all the bouts will help increase my knowledge, I hope. I'm not one for searching out yaocho, but I do become disappointed if a rikishi doesn't commit as hard as I think he should; well sometimes I do but only when I have high expectations of his performance. I'm never harsh on Hakuho as he has nought to prove and still provides the most splendid skills and weaponry of all his fraternity and is not afraid to show a little personality and emotion, and you must admire his longevity. Sure, he has pulled out of a few basho of late, but when he competes you fully expect him to win and do so easily. Kakuryu is his only legitimate competition. The other previous basho winners, the last two-and-a-half years or so other than the two Mongolian Yokozuna have struggled to maintain the energy or rage over subsequent tourneys for whatever reason. It's hard to win one or two, let alone 38. Mitakeumi and Tochinoshin look cooked, Harumafuji is gone, Kotoshogiku is irrelevant, Goeido...well he hangs around but surely won't be at the top again, and Kisenosato, after admirably winning two on the trot, has had his worse year in sumo.

Let me know if I'm being overly harsh. The last bout of the day will be vital in the final outcome of this basho. Now for the day's sumo, let's kick it off like a dead leper's head.

M13 Ryuden (8-2) vs. M16 Kotoyuki (4-6)
Ryuden must be happy with his 8 wins though he has never bested anyone of genuine skill. He might get the chance next basho if he keeps up the good work. Kotoyuki enjoyed thumping a cripple yesterday, which wouldn't be the case today. Kotoyuki kept a strong, unrelenting direct shove into the middle of Ryuden's chest, which Ryuden had no answer to. Impressive from Kotoyuki.

M16 Ishiura (3-7) vs. M12 Nishikigi (5-5)
When Ishiura wins it's now a case of, "Wow, that's a surprise!" Nishikigi should be able to easily stand his ground and gently herd this smaller opponent out though I was hoping for some energetic hijinks from Ishiura and an upset win. Ishiura took Nishikigi front on with a quick charge that barely bothered Nishiki who had no trouble at all directing Ishiura across the bales just as predicted. This one fizzled out like a disappointing fart.

M12 Okinoumi (5-5) vs. M14 Takanosho (5-5)
This would be a good test for Takanosho against the experienced Okinoumi. Prior to the bout a quite elderly and very frail gentleman was escorted or carried to his seat in the front row. Surely this is courting disaster? Okinoumi came out "hord and forst" (as the South Africans say), but Takanosho was lower thus better balanced to complete a solid oshi-dashi. Good win for Takanosho.

M14 Chiyomaru (3-7) vs. M11 Kyokutaisei (1-5-4)
Kyokutaisei is suffering an injury, so Chiyomaru might have gathered up the energy to try and win today. His main tactic is to stand and try and absorb his opponent for as long as possible before meekly surrendering. Well, no need today as Kyokutaisei was omitted, undergoing repairs, thus no need for Chiyomaru to break a sweat.

M11 Sadanoumi (5-5) vs. M15 Chiyoshoma (6-4)
Guaranteed, Chiyoshoma could win with the most athletic acrobatic moves no-one dreamed possible, and the crowd would barely murmur a nip of appreciation. Chiyoshoma got things started with a cheeky forearm shot attempting a quick pull whilst leaping to the left. Sadanoumi followed him whilst off-balanced and half drove 'Shoma to the edge whereby with some nifty footwork and ring savvy, Chiyoshoma skimmed clear along the rim out of harm's way leaving Sadanoumi sprawled on the dohyo. Dicey win for Chiyoshoma.

M15 Yoshikaze (7-3) vs. M10 Daieisho (4-6)
That's not the Yoshikaze I first came across. Where once he was always up for a scrap and would fight like a bag of cats ready to lose an eye or two, he is far more sedate now. He should still be too much for Daieisho and be applauded if he reaches his kachi koshi. "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." Yoshi fought the hard fight, shared in a couple of head butts as both guys swirled in a swinging of arms. Daieisho, however, was on the move, and eventually Yoshi couldn't avoid the edge.

M13 Takanoiwa (8-2) vs. M8 Kotoshogiku (6-4)
Takanoiwa has plenty to live up to. He has to atone for Harumafuji (I know I should get over it). He has to be happy at his progress since returning from injury with yesterday's win against Tochiohzan a satisfying example. It says a lot when NHK's abbreviated wrap up (here in Australia) neglects to cover a bout with the Giku as was the case recently. Does he need to bring back his trademark back arch? These days he barely wins half his bouts. I expect him to turn back the clock and beat Takanoiwa like he was his oyakata. We saw a well-executed tachi-ai from Takanoiwa where he immediately gained a right belt grip then a left giving him strong moro-zashi on the belt. He attempted a surge and a lift, but the Giku is a difficult mollusk to pry from the rocks, and Takanoiwa ain't no Tochinoshin. No matter as he went for a left arm pull twice before Giku slipped out and onto the floor. No cash for Taka but a strong performance.

M7 Shohozan (5-5) vs. M8 Hokutofuji (7-3)
Hokutofuji runs a bit hot and cold regarding basho performances though he always gives a full account psyching himself in the manner of a self-flagellating monk. Evil henchman No.2 Shohozan is another who rarely holds back and would love to assist the H'Fuji ritual with a baseball bat. Shohozan had the better of the initial charge, but Hokutofuji was soon the guy piling on the pressure as Shohozan circled backwards around the dohyo thrice with the determined, bullocking H'fuji in pursuit. Hard earned oshi-dashi win for Hokutofuji.

M10 Aoiyama (2-8) vs. M6 Onosho (3-7)
Both these guys should be disappointed with this basho. I watched Aoiyama for once put aside his tsuppari the other day, and he was clobbered. What would be his tactic today? Onosho. who still had a chance for 8 wins coming in needed to try and get up and in on big Daniel under those swinging arms and shove him out as it's much easier to rush and pull and expect Aoiyama to fall over. Well, Aoiyama drove some heavy thrusts but this time with serious intent to capitalize on a strong hold of Onosho. From there the bigger guy's superior bulk was too much, and Onosho was gone.

M9 Daishomaru (4-6) vs. M5 Asanoyama (7-3)
I was interested to see if Asa could overcome the smaller, compact Daishomaru today and continue his ascent up the ladder. Asa didn't reckon on the henka from Daishomaru, and it was over quickly. Blind charges should never be rewarded, but Asa is young and will learn. Sneaky win for D'maru.

M5 Myogiryu (6-4) vs. M8 Takarafuji (5-5)
Takarafuji is a safe, dull rikishi who rarely gets spanked but is usually shuffled out in forgettable bouts. He would make an excellent bus driver; he would never speed, take risks, nor alter the route, and he'd be a rather pleasant fellow. Takarafuji never hits hard, just shoulders forward hoping for an inside grip. Myogiryu kept low and hard driving forward, and Takarafuji just retreated and was finished off oshi-dashi...a common death for the bus driver. Tickets please!

M4 Chiyonokuni (3-7) vs. M7 Tochiohzan (3-7)
Tochiohzan can test Chiyonokuni's patience with his methodical, painfully slow pre=tachi-ai. It's like he is lowering himself on a toilet seat covered in glass splinters. After a healthy slap at the tachi-ai, Chiyonokuni bounced backwards with Tochiohzan settled and balanced. Tochi's footwork is a bit slow, so he dived into Chiyo when a couple of steps forward would have been more convincing, which nonetheless easily forced Chiyonokuni out before Tochi hit the deck.

M6 Kagayaki (5-5) vs. M3 Endo (1-9)
Endo is not up to competing this high on the banzuke. Sumo catching practice is on when he is continually being hurtled into the expensive seats though he did find that continually false starting at the tachi-ai is a way of increasing his TV exposure and keeping his sponsors happy. Endo started well with a good hit followed by an evasion, which had Kagayaki stumbling forward. Endo could have taken advantage of this once but didn't, and Kagayaki regained composure, dropped into gear, and had Endo up close and personal with the fans as usual.

M4 Abi (6-4) vs. M2 Chiyotairyu (2-8)
Abi showed against Endo (I think) earlier in the basho that he is not just all wild thrusting arms by executing a lovely throw. After a nervous false start, Abi aimed some lightweight pushes that didn't perturb Chiyotairyu one iota. Abi then tried to push Chiyo out, but that too mattered little to the bigger guy who just held firm before helping the off-balanced Abi to the dirt. This was sloppy and ineffectual from Abi not unlike Goeido's effort yesterday vs. Takayasu.

M1 Ikioi (1-9) vs. K Takakeisho (4-6)
I could almost predict this bout coming in though I hoped I was wrong. One of these two will fall forward. and Takakeisho, who struts around the dohyo like Mussolini, will look for a pull-down. Ikioi--stiffer than a guy on his wedding night--was all gritted teeth and rigid tension. There was a jolting, heavy charge from Takakeisho who had Ikioi reeling and then lunging aimlessly forward. Keisho calmly side-stepped Ikioi and then applied a "coup de grace" oshi-dashi for Ikioi to now join the fans.

K Tamawashi (2-8) vs. M2 Yutakayama (1-7-2)
There was very little riding on this match, which looked to be an easy win for the friendliest Mongolian in town, Tamawashi. Yutakayama has some weight and size, however, and matched Tama at the hard-hitting tachi-ai, but Tama was on a mission, so with one mighty left arm shove, he let Yutakayama know his presence is not appreciated in the ring. Crikey! If Tama ever got angry he'd scare the crap out of a toilet.

S Mitakeumi (6-4) vs. M1 Kaisei (4-6)
Our rosy-cheeked young ingénue is in trouble. Seemingly an easy bet to push for Ozeki around the halfway mark of the basho, he has embarrassingly been examined when it mattered and found wanting. Case in point vs. Hakuho. The expectant crowd was restless and desperately wanted a local victory. Kaisei has the ability to defeat Mitakeumi, but he's just not that kinda guy. Or so I thought. Mitakeumi henka'd left but didn't take advantage of it, and Kaisei was all over him. Excellent work from Kaisei who received a cash reward. It was a poor showing from Mitakeumi whose immediate aspirations of a possible Ozeki promotion are shrinking.

O Goeido (8-2) vs. M3 Shodai (5-5)
Goeido, henchman No.1, is mean and looks mean. So mean he wouldn't push a blind duck into a pond. He is still in with a chance to take the main prize. His effort today was against a guy I think has more ability, and it remained to be seen if he fully intended to keep up the pressure. Shodai must have been intimidated. Goeido charged fast, low, and hard, but all Shodai seemed to want was to just hold Goeido and hope for the best. Goeido kept driving with Shodai just accepting his fate meekly, ala Takarafuji-style. Goeido is still in the hunt and still looks like a guy who on his wedding night discovers his wife has a package.

Y Kakuryu (10-0) vs. O Tochinoshin (6-4)
Tochinoshin has disappointed thus far and was likely looking for a prized scalp. The crowd was on his side too, so I expected an intriguing bout: Tochi's power game vs. an experienced Yokozuna who knows how to handle big game. Both men gained double belt grips, but Kak had no real momentum and found himself in Tochi's go-zone. The big Shin was out to prove a point and heaved Kak upwards, then forwards, then out. A victory "as sweet and clear, as moonlight through the pines" for our man from Georgia.

Y Kisenosato (8-2) vs. S Ichinojo (3-7)
Now that Kiso is safe with kachi-koshi achieved, he might have relaxed and attacked the big Ichi. Although, now that Kiso is safe, maybe Ichi would show some power moves himself? Did he what! Holy dooley! GET OUT OF MY SPACE! Three huge "don't argue" shoves from Ichi sent the Yokozuna ignominiously into the front seats and certainly ruined Kiso's night and maybe his career. Kiso didn't fire a shot in anger. Emphatic is too light a word as Ichi came out to play.

O Takayasu (9-1) vs. Y Hakuho (10-0)
Hakuho was at his most sublime and arrogant on day 9 vs. Mitakeumi and showed all too clearly the difference between him and the up-and-comer, the previous basho winner, Mitakeumi. Standing fully upright, lord of his domain, his docile foe, submissive, awaiting last rights before the inevitable execution, he was in peak form. Takayasu would liven up the basho with a win, and now Hak had the chance to break free and make the lead his own. Takayasu attempted a quick tachi-ai and false-started. Hak moved forward and was in his face. Re-start. This time Hak wasn't comfortable and pulled back for a second re-start. Plenty rested on this bout and all in the stadium knew it. The crowd was hushed in anticipation. Hak took his time and got comfortable and then delivered Takayasu a frightening quick love tap to his cheek and...Takayasu balked and cringed. Yes, he gave a look of "oh no" and crumpled to the floor as Hakuho ended the proceedings with a hefty left forearm charge. How anticlimactic? And what a lovely bundle of cash for Hakuho! Who can stop him now? Momentum is definitely his.

Well that was a great day, and I enjoyed summing up the events as I saw them. Over to your regular commentators tomorrow.

Day 10 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
It really feels as if we are in the dog days of the basho. From the get-go, the two darlings were understandably Kisenosato and Mitakeumi, but two losses by Kisenosato in three days to winless rikishi gave everyone the reality check that Kyujo's comeback was not real, and Mitakeumi's three losses through the first nine days has taken the bloom off of that rose as well. And it's not so much the losses as it is the quality of the sumo...or lack thereof. There are still bright sports for the fans as exemplified by Kisenosato's "win" over Tochinoshin yesterday, but at this point of the tournament, we need to start focusing on the yusho race, and the 800 pound gorilla in the room is the two Yokozuna sitting at 9-0. Until either of them decides to lose, the basho is stuck in the rut of watching Kisenosato and Mitakeumi do what they do...which isn't much.

I guess we could form a leaderboard to start the day since there are a handful of one-loss rikishi, but until the Mongolians start dictating the storylines, I'm going to continue to go in chronological order. That means we start with M13 Ryuden vs. M16 Ishiura.

In speaking of the yusho race, you have one-loss rikishi in Goeido and Takayasu, but nobody has been talking about their sumo because there's nothing there. The one-loss rikishi who has stood out this tournament is Ryuden, who seemed to have an easy task against Ishiura today, right?  Wrong. Ryuden failed to hit Ishiura hard at the tachi-ai, and I think he was expecting an outright henka, which is understandable, but when it didn't come, Ishiura had the freedom to strike and then move laterally quickly going for a shoulder slap. That move sent Ryuden off balance to where Ishiura was able to grab a left outer grip near the front of Ryuden's belt, and while Ryuden was able to get his right arm to the inside, Ishiura had all the momentum, and he pulled the trigger on a nice dashi-nage that forced Ryuden over to the edge and allowed Ishiura to secure moro-zashi, From there, Ishiura just lunged into the off-balance Ryuden knocking him over and out yori-taoshi style. What a tough loss for Ryuden who falls to 8-2, but this was great execution from Ishiura who moves to just 3-7.

M14 Chiyomaru struck M12 Okinoumi with a dual kachi-age from the tachi-ai, but it didn't knock Okinoumi back enough to force the bout to oshi-zumo...which would favor Chiyomaru. Instead, Okinoumi managed to get his left arm to the inside, and so Chiyomaru complied with his own left inside position rendering the bout to hidari-yotsu. Both fellas dug in across the starting lines as Okinoumi reached for the right outer grip, but Chiyomaru's shelf gut was getting in the way. On the other side, there was no way Maru was going to get his right outer with those crocodile arms, and so Okinoumi pressed for close to 10 seconds before latching onto the outer right, and once obtained, he swiftly forced Chiyomaru back and across the straw. I love yotsu chess matches like this and wish they'd occur more during the final 30 minutes of the broadcast. Okinoumi moves to 5-5 while Chiyomaru falls to 3-7.

M15 Yoshikaze and M12 Nishikigi looked to hook up in hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai, but Nishikigi quickly pulled his left arm to the outside while bringing his right arm up high around Yoshikaze's left. This gifted Yoshikaze moro-zashi, and of course little effort was made by Nishikigi as he allowed his smaller to foe to easily force him back and across. Nishikigi did feign a right kote-nage throw, but he never positioned his feet for the throw or attempted anything in full, and that will happen when the bout has been purchased, which was the case today as Yoshikaze moves ever close to kachi-koshi at 7-3 while Nishikigi bows to 5-5. Gotta buy Yoshikaze that final win and then don't be surprised if he finishes 8-7.

M11 Sadanoumi and M14 Takanosho fired tsuki (shoves with the elbow locked) into each other's necks at the tachi-ai keeping both dudes upright, and a second or two in, Sadanoumi got his left arm up and under Takanosho's extended right arm, but he didn't follow through with the move by using his legs. Instead, Sadanoumi just pulled his arms to the outside gifting Takanosho moro-zashi. Since the rookie is not a belt guy, he used his right arm firmly to the inside and his left hand pushing into Sadanoumi, but the effect was the same...and easy win against a mukiryoku Sadanoumi. Both guys finish the day 5-5.

M16 Kotoyuki definitely smelled blood today against his injured foe, M11 Kyokutaisei. Kotoyuki was cautious in his tsuppari approach, and for good reason because Kyokutaisei immediately struck and moved to his left hoping that Kotoyuki would just dive forward. Memo to Kyokutaisei...you have to PAY Kotoyuki to get him to do that, and that didn't happen today, and so Kotoyuki easily squared back up and cautiously knocked Kyokutaisei back to the straw. Kyokutaisei tried to evade once more laterally and yank Kotoyuki's extended arm, and while that did throw Yuki off a bit, Kyokutaisei's balance was awful and so a final tsuki sent him across and down in mere seconds. Kyokutaisei needs to suck it up and just withdraw for good. At the end of the day, Kotoyuki improved to 4-6 while Kyokutaisei now sits at 1-9 with five kyujo days contributing to that record.

Chiyoshoma pushed into Daieisho's shoulders at the tachi-ai as Daieisho ducked in low, and with his opponent lowered, Chiyoshoma shaded to his left looking to set up a pull. Before he could really capitalize on the move, Daieisho's right knee buckled as he looked to adjust to his opponent's lateral movement, and he just crumbled to the dohyo before the bout could really get going. No loss really as Chiyoshoma moves to 6-4 with Daieisho falling to the opposite mark of 4-6.

Takanoiwa and Tochiohzan engaged in a brief tsuppari affair before it was actually Takanoiwa who went for the first pull. The effect was both dudes switching sides before hooking up in hidari-yotsu. As Takanoiwa looked to mount a quick force out charge, Tochiohzan actually moved left, planted his leg on that side, and then executed a decent scoop throw that threw Takanoiwa off balance, but in the process of being thrown, Takanoiwa managed to swipe his right leg against Tochiohzan's left stump and knock Tochiohzan off balance enough to where Oh just toppled over before Takanoiwa could recover from the throw and knock his opponent down for good. To some, it may have looked like an intentional fall from Tochiohzan, but it was a brilliant leg trip from Takanoiwa that caused it, and I dare say, only the Mongolian rikishi can counter like that. In the end, Takanoiwa clinches kachi-koshi at 8-2 while Tochiohzan falls to 3-7.

M6 Kagayaki smartly rushed in hard against M10 Aoiyama taking advantage of his gimpy opponent to get the left arm inside and apply force-out pressure. The natural reaction from a rikishi trying to win the bout would be to evade laterally and counter, and that's exactly what Aoiyama did moving right and attempting a shoulder slap behind Kagayaki's left arm. The slap was potent and sent Kagayaki stumbling forward, but not before that long arm of the law left inside forced Aoiyama to step across the straw. I loved Kagayaki's approach today, and I thoroughly enjoyed the strategy in this bout as Kagayaki moves to 5-5 while Aoiyama suffers kachi-koshi at 2-8.

These are desperate times for M6 Onosho who was paired against M9 Daishomaru today, and Onosho couldn't get his hands up fast enough at the tachi-ai reaching for the back of Daishomaru's head and pulling him forward and down just as Daishomaru came out of his stance. Onosho got away with it today because his opponent was Daishomaru, but why not try and beat your opponent straight up with nice forward movement?  This was a sign from Onosho that he doesn't have confidence in his sumo, and why would he? Everything he's achieved in the division has been handed to him as he ends the day at just 3-7. Daishomaru falls to 4-6.

M5 Myogiryu and M8 Kotoshogiku looked to hook up in hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai, but Myogiryu had the Geeku upright so fast that all the former Ozeki could do was evade right and attempt a right kote-nage counter throw in the process. He was forced back and across so swiftly that the counter throw would never come to fruition as Myogiryu takes care of business moro-zashi style in three easy seconds. Both rikishi finish the day at 6-4.

Hokutofuji went for his bland shade-to-the-left tachi-ai as he fired a tsuki into Asanoyama's neck, but with Hokutofuji not coming forward, Asanoyama was able to advance and get his left arm to the inside and threaten a chest-to-chest contest. Hokutofuji quickly moved left to evade the move, but Asanoyama shoved him upright, got that pesky left arm inside to the belt, and then dragged him to the dirt dashi-nage style with that inside position. It really was a difference between Hokutofuji's wanting to evade and Asanoyama's wanting to charge forward. Good stuff from Asa as both dudes end the day at 7-3.

M4 Chiyonokuni and M7 Shohozan bounced off of each other at the tachi-ai before beginning with simultaneous tsuppari attacks that were really smokescreens for setting up a pull. Chiyonokuni went first and failed in his pull try, but since Shohozan wasn't moving forward, he couldn't make Kuni pay. After trading places in the dohyo, Shohozan went for a series of pulls of his own, and as he did so, he carelessly stepped beyond the straw as Chiyonokuni threw a few stiff arms his way. This was definitely one case of where the tsuki-dashi technique did not equate to kicking your opponents ass. If anybody cares, Chiyonokuni moves to 3-7 while Shohozan is 5-5.

In a predictable bout, M4 Abi came with his upright tsuppari while the yotsu guy in M8 Takarafuji was looking for the belt. As Abi charged forward, Takarafuji easily danced to his left pushing up and under Abi's outstretched arms as he went, and after about one rotation in the dohyo, Abi tried to quickly pull and sneak to his own left in an effort to catch Takarafuji off guard, but Takarafuji has seen this plenty of times, and he pounced with perfect timing knocking Abi back and across with a few final shoves. Takarafuji is even steven at 5-5 while Abi is one better (on paper) at 6-4.

M2 Chiyotairyu charged high into M3 Shodai looking for the pull straightway, and as he evaded laterally to try and set it up, Shodai gave him that do-or-die shove as Chiyotairyu backed up dangerously to the straw. It looked as if Shodai's body hit down a split-second before Chiyotairyu hopped back and out, but they gave the bout to Shodai without a mono-ii. Personally, I don't have a single problem with it. Why reward a guy whose looking to pull from the get-go? The end result is Shodai's moving to 5-5 while Chiyotairyu's manages to muster a make-koshi at 2-8.

The biggest joke of the tournament is Komusubi Tamawashi's 1-8 record coming in. That's how you really know that a great deal of sumo is fake: Tamawashi is 1-8 and Kisenosato is 7-2. But that's politics fer ya, and nothing is going to change. Against M1 Ikioi, the two engaged in an expected tsuppari affair for about five seconds in the middle of the ring before Tamawashi just slung Ikioi over and down like a sack'uh potatoes pushing up and under Ikioi's left arm with his own right hand easy as you please. Tamawashi limps forward to 2-8 while Ikioi falls to 1-9. At least both of them picked up a brick of kensho money for choosing to defeat Kisenosato.

Komusubi Takakeisho charged hard and straight into M2 Yutakayama pushing the M2 back and out with relative ease.  The only reason he went forward like this was because his opponent is injured and can't move well, but against healthy dudes, Takakeisho can't seem to pull enough. Tells ya a lot about the guy as he moves to 4-6 while Yutakayama falls to 1-9.

In the Ozeki ranks, Tochinoshin hooked up with M1 Kaisei in the gappuri migi-yotsu position meaning both had right insides and left outer grips. It was kind of nice to see a bout like this after all the crap we've been exposed to this basho, and Kaisei tested the force-out waters first attempting to lift Tochinoshin up before moving him back, but Tochinoshin is simply the bigger and better rikishi, and he withstood the early charges handsomely. After Kaisei had expended some energy, it was the Ozeki's turn to attack, and he started by shaking off Kaisei's right outer grip before hunkering down and forcing Kaisei upright and back. At the edge, Kaisei was gassed rendering him the easy yori-kiri fodder in the end.

This was such a refreshing bout, and I think they should give Tochinoshin the Ginosho for his acting ability yesterday against Kisenosato. On the surface, it looked as if Kisenosato defeated the Ozeki in the same manner that Tochinoshin won today, but that was all Tochinoshin leading the dance with his gal Kisenosato following along...all the way into the second row. We've seen it a couple of times this basho where Kisenosato has "won" by yori-kiri but ended up falling into the stands in the process. In a normal yori-kiri bout, the victor is in complete control and stops as soon as his foe has crossed the straw. With Kisenosato, he's just hanging on for the ride, and so as his foe willingly waltzes backwards, Kyujo just hangs on leaving the two falling into the first row. Anyway, Tochinoshin's act yesterday means the Japanese media can now tell the sheep, "You see, Tochinoshin was so strong today as he defeated Kaisei chest to chest, but he wasn't able to beat Kisenosato in the same manner yesterday!!" As if. Tochinoshin moves to 6-4 with the nice win while Kaisei falls to 4-6.

You'd normally be excited when two Ozeki meet each other on day 10 ranked at 8-1 apiece, but not with the way Goeido and Takayasu have been fighting. Goeido struck Takayasu well at the tachi-ai getting his left arm inside and grabbing the right outer grip, but he lost the grip straightway leaving the two standing chest to chest in the center of the ring. This normally calls for a chikara bout of sumo, especially between two Ozeki, but not necessarily these two. Goeido attempted a hurried tsuki with the right hand into Takayasu's left side that moved him a bit, but Goeido wasn't able to take advantage, so as the two hooked back up still in hidari-yotsu, it was Takayasu's turn to attempt an inside belt throw with the left. The motion was a throw, but the result was more like a dashi-nage, but no mind as Goeido just flopped to the dirt fairly easily. Takayasu was moving his left wrist around in circles after the throw as if he injured it, and it wouldn't surprise me if he tweaked it since the throw was all arm and no lower body. Takayasu moves to 9-1 with the win while Goeido falls to 8-2.

Kisenosato and M3 Endoh where involved in three false starts prior to their matchup. I couldn't really tell what was wrong all three times, but did it really matter?? When the two finally did go, they hooked up in hidari-yotsu with Kisenosato immediately moving forward and Endoh just staying upright going with the flow. The yori-kiri came in about two seconds, and for once Kisenosato didn't fly off the dohyo, but that's because Endoh wasn't even holding onto anything the entire time. Just look at Endoh's left arm as low as possible and gripping nothing.  With the win, Kisenosato moves to 8-2, but more importantly, he picks up that first win against one-loss rikishi coming into the day in three tries. I saw the usual headlines after the bout mentioning Kisenosato and his kihaku. Yeah, whatever.  He's faced greater resistance from his Dutch wife than what he felt today.  The important thing is that they got him to eight, and so anything that happens from here on out is just gravy. As for Endoh, he falls to 1-9 in mukiryoku defeat, and trust me, he coulda kicked Kyujonosato's ass today if he wanted to.

In the Yokozuna ranks, Hakuho was up first facing Sekiwake Ichinojo, and the Yokozuna threatened moro-zashi from the start getting his right arm firmly to the inside and coming close with the left. Ichinojo was forced to fight that left arm away, but in the process, Hakuho just shoved him back and then rushed in for the right inside and left outer grip. Hakuho allowed Ichinojo to force the action back to the center of the ring, but the Yokozuna halted the action there and retooled his positioning. As he methodically applied pressure to Ichinojo and inch him towards the straw, Ichinojo carelessly went for an over the shoulder belt grip with his own left arm. That useless move provided the momentum shift Hakuho needed to casually force Ichinojo back and across for good. This was a decent bout of sumo considering that Hakuho has no equal. The original storyteller moves to 10-0 with the win while Ichinojo falls to 3-7.

The day's final bout featured Yokozuna Kakuryu against Sekiwake Mitakeumi in an obvious choose to lose scenario for Kakuryu. Thankfully, he chose to fight straight up as the two combatants hooked up in migi-yotsu. With neither guy maintaining an outer left, Mitakeumi tested the yori-kiri waters nudging the Yokozuna back a step or two but posing no danger. As Kakuryu hunkered down near the straw, he was able to easily halt Mitakeumi's charge and then wrap him up with a left arm around the Suckiwake's right and force him clear across the ring and out on the other side maintaining a perfect, low stance as he went. It was a respectable showing for Mitakeumi, but the Yokozuna was never in any trouble as Kakuryu now moves to 10-0. As for Mitakeumi, he falls to 6-4 with the loss meaning he's only 1-4 over the last five days. I just don't see how he wins out, so he should come up short in his quest for 33 wins over three basho. That doesn't mean he still can't be promoted to Ozeki at the end of the tournament as the process is extremely subjective, but you kind of want to have a rikishi riding some momentum going into promotion. For example, Kisenosato has some momentum right now; Mitakeumi does not. I don't even think Takayasu has any momentum despite his 9-1 mark. Now, just because someone has momentum, it doesn't mean the sumo is real, but I think it goes back to what Harvye talks about when he mentions drama.

Expect some drama soon as we enter the final five days.  I do believe Jason will make his return tomorrow.

Day 9 Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
It just gets harder from here: Kisenosato has authored a very shaky 6-2 start, and now he has to face better wrestlers the last seven days. By rights we should be talking about Kakuryu and Hakuho: Kakuryu is putting together a smooth, solid basho, and Hakuho's impressive assassination of Yutakayama yesterday was Yokozuna-sumo from here to the end of time. As the only guys at 8-0, one of them is taking the yusho, though they may tighten it up at some point with a loss.

But Kisenosato has been and remains the story of the tournament. He was before it started, he was when he started 5-0, and he is now that he has lost two of three. I keep using the word compelling to describe him: whatever you think of his sumo, his story has drama right now and the focus on it is appropriate. What happens to him from here? I'm in more suspense about that then I am the yusho. Aren't you?

Let's look at what he's done so far:

Day 1: Beats Ikioi fairly easily but crashes out while doing it.
Day 2: Beats Takakeisho in a gyaku-ten knock down at the edge.
Day 3: Beats Yutakayama just barely in a second straight gyaku-ten squeaker at the edge.
Day 4: Beats Kaisei in straightforward though lengthy yori-kiri fashion. His first good win since Day 1.
Day 5: Beats Shodai with very easy uwate-nage throw. Okay, that's three good ones.
Day 6: Soundly beaten by Chiyotairyu.
Day 7: Gets beaten around by Chiyonokuni but dramatically survives it for a thrilling win.
Day 8: Soundly beaten by Tamawashi.

So, at best, assuming things are straight up, he has three solid wins, three lucky wins, and two losses. And look at the opponents: Ikioi (1-7), Takakeisho (3-4), Yutakayama (0-8), Kaisei (3-5), Shodai (3-5), Chiyotairyu (2-6), Chiyonokuni (2-6), and Tamawashi (1-7). He hasn't faced a guy who currently has a winning record.

Who is he scheduled to face the rest of the way? It should be (not in this order) Ozeki Tochinoshin (5-3), Ozeki Goeido (7-1), Ozeki Takayasu (7-1), Yokozuna Hakuho (8-0), Yokozuna Hakuho (8-0), Sekiwake Mitakeumi (6-2), and Sekiwake Ichinojo (2-6). I see clear opportunities for political wins in there, but the only guys I might take him straight up against are Goeido and, maybe but probably not, Takayasu. I still don't know if he survives this tournament--it is going to be a wild ride. Stay tuned.

M14 Chiyomaru (3-5) vs. M12 Nishikigi (4-4)
Chiyomaru tried a couple of pulls, but he's looking kind of lost this basho; Nishikigi kept it low and pushed and kept moving forward and rolled ol' Fat Ball out of the ring on his backpedaling little feet, oshi-dashi.

M12 Okinoumi (3-5) vs. M15 Yoshikaze (6-2)
Yoshikaze looked like a little boy in this one. Yeah, he was lower and in a position to drive, but Okinoumi grabbed him from above, pinning one arm and putting his hand in the armpit on the other side, and dragged his little monster of a foe down, kote-nage. Yoshikaze just doesn't have much left in the tank.

M13 Takanoiwa (6-2) vs. M11 Kyokutaisei (1-7)
I expected a thorough schooling of Kyokutaisei by Your Lake Kucherla Lakeside Champion (Takanoiwa), and that is what we got. Takanoiwa tried a couple of head pulls, which didn't work, but gave up zero ground doing them, and Kyokutaisei didn't capitalize, so Takanoiwa went on the offensive, shoving and bullying and doing his now signature body bump-out to finish it off, powing Kyokutaisei out of the ring oshi-dashi. Oy. This is no M13.

M11 Sadanoumi (4-4) vs. M16 Kotoyuki (3-5)
Kotoyuki tsuppari'ed, Sadanoumi scooped. Take your pick: which do you think worked better? I am so, so tired of tsuppari. Scooping worked better. All that slapping. What does it really accomplish? Keeps your opponent off balance and out of rhythm when it works. But if your opponent can focus in and weather it, well, tsuppari is just not a winning move. Where is the finishing blow with tsuppari? There isn't one. Scooping Sadanoumi drove slapping Kotoyuki out with a belly-flopping lunge in the end, oshi-dashi, and it was enough. Go away, Kotoyuki.

M16 Ishiura (2-6) vs. M10 Daieisho (3-5)
Ishiura was pulling. Ishiura was evading. Ishiura was trying to slap Daieisho down. But Daieisho has never struck me as dumb in the ring, and he was ready for it and kept turning back into it. And what Ishiura was not doing was advancing or winning. So eventually Daieisho uncorked some of Ishiura's own medicine on him, mangling him down hataki-komi. Yay.

M10 Aoiyama (2-6) vs. M15 Chiyoshoma (4-4)
More slapping and shoving and lack of advancing, by both parties this time. A lot of arm wrangling. There was one of those uninspiring pauses where they looked at each other, which at this level means they're afraid to go for it. Easier not to commit. Chiyoshoma is the better wrestler, though, so indeed it was he who found the right opportunity, tumbling the bumbling Aoiyama, kata-sukashi.

M14 Takanosho (4-4) vs. M9 Daishomaru (3-5)
Pushing, then separation. Then more of that. Then a pull by Daishomaru, and one of Takanosho's paws slapped the ground. Hataki-komi win for Daishomaru. Good grief I'm tired of this stuff. Six bouts, zero yori-kiri decisions. Hell, I'll take a good mix--it is not like yori-kiri is my favorite kimari-te or something. A few good pulls here and there are fine. But all this constant flutzing and flotzing; it is too much, really. Heck, I could do that. Put me out there. Yeah, I'd get hurt probably. Soon. But I could do it. A little. And so can they. And that's why they do it, for the same reason I would: if you can't dominate, well, you can always do this for a while.

M7 Shohozan (5-3) vs. M13 Ryuden (7-1)
Ryuden is having the solid, sound tournament Asanoyama and Yutakayama had last time. With that body of his, I've been waiting for this, though I don't think he has the oomph and moxy available to those other two. He performed well here again. With his left arm he wrapped up Shohozan's right and pulled it high. Then with his own right hand he reached and reached for the belt, extending his fingers, straining, working. When he finally got the belt after much finger stretching, Darth Hozan instantly broke out of there, knowing to let it be would mean curtains, and went wild with the tsuppari. No dice. Like I said, that ain't a finishing move. Ryuden caught Hozan's left arm again, and this time dragged him down swiftly with the other hand, kote-nage. Nice. I'm not saying Ryuden is a future star--best comparison is Okinoumi so far--but there is some fun in watching him right now.

M8 Takarafuji (3-5) vs. M6 Onosho (2-6)
Onosho needed to right the ship right, but he couldn't. He was doing pushing and shoving inside--better than all that slapping--but like several guys before him, had no finishing move. Takarafuji waited him out, as is his wont, then grabbed him and ushered him to his seventh loss, yori-kiri. Onosho looks like he needs a mental break, and at this rate he'll get it at around M13 next tournament. Or he needs a lot of Creatine. There is no there there right now.

M6 Kagayaki (3-5) vs. M9 Hokutofuji (7-1)
There was danger here for Hokutofuji: overconfidence, and too linear of an attack. Linear attack is one of Kagayaki's strengths, and evasion one of his weaknesses. Hokutofuji went for a sharp nodo-wa throat grab'n'stab, but Kagayaki fought back and survived, eventually getting a high hold on Hokutofuji's body. This wasn't the world's best position, but Kagayaki used his height and weight well, pushing down on Hokutofuji's body while twirling to the side, and that ripped Hokutofuji's feet over the edge sure enough, kote-nage. Hokutofuji only needs one more win to call this tournament a success as he creeps back up the banzuke, but this had to be a disappointment, as he is on track for a special prize if he can avoid more outcomes like this one.

M8 Kotoshogiku (5-3) vs. Asanoyama (6-2)
Something old vs. something new. This had some attraction as a test match. Unfortunately it was kind of lame. Asanoyama did not move forward, employed no offensive moves, and, when going back, did not successfully evade. He was also too straight up. As a result Kotoshogiku got him firmly held around the body and employed the same gaburi belly humps he has made his career out of for so many years, quickly and easily winning this one, yori-kiri. At least it was yori-kiri. But, um, next.

M7 Tochiohzan (3-5) vs. M4 Abi (5-3)
Abi extended those arms and pushed, then leapt out of there, sproingy leprechaun that he is, putting Tochiohzan off the game plan, then went back in there with the extended hands to the neck, the shoulders, and finally the chest. Abi is a lot younger and a lot more genki, and this was a thorough tsuki-dashi pasting of Tochiohzan. I don't like Abi's wild springing about, but there is something to him. 6-3 at M4 is pretty good.

M3 Shodai (3-5) vs. M5 Myogiryu (5-3)
Myogiryu ramrodded in there low and got an arm inside, but Shodai is just way bigger and stronger, and used just one arm on the outside along Myogiryu's shoulder to fling Myogiryu past him, out and over to the side kote-nage, as Shodai was about to go out himself at the straw. Shodai looked shocked by the whole thing, as if saying, "wait wait wait, are we fighting now?" but managed to pull out a victory. Weird.

M2 Yutakayama (0-8) vs. M2 Chiyotairyu (2-6)
Hands to the face. Pushing on each other. Chiyotairyu mawari-komu'ed around the ring a bit. That is not his game, though--he didn't get enough momentum at the tachi-ai and was forced into the defensive--and so it was Yutakayama who eventually pushed Chiyotairyu out, tsuki-dashi. Yutakayama deserved a little luck after being so thoroughly wasted by Hakuho yesterday.

K Tamawashi (1-7) vs. M1 Kaisei (3-5)
Hmmm. Okay, Tamawashi is having a bad tournament. He didn't slap much here; instead he got enveloped in close by Kaisei's arms and chest, and Kaisei pulled him down in there, hataki-komi. Hmmm. Tamawashi should be able to beat Kaisei any day. Tamawashi did wink at someone as he went down the tunnel, no joke. Clear as day. Check it out; you can see it on the full NHK broadcast if you have it DVR'ed. Hoo boy. Ah, sumo.

M1 Ikioi (1-7) vs. S Ichinojo (2-6)
Ikioi drove forward like a stevedore trying to get the barge up river, using absolutely all his power. One of two things was going to happen here. Ichinojo was going to say, "oh, okay," and step out, as he has so many times before. Or he was going to step aside and throw and let all that over-commitment fall onto the endless bitter dirt, uwate-nage. Which is what he did. Making it look so easy. So easy. That is why we complain when we see too many too simple linear force outs. Professionals know how to do this thing you saw here. Dump-a-rooni. Dump away, Ichinojo, dump away.

M4 Chiyonokuni (2-6) vs. O Takayasu (7-1)
Chiyonokuni evaded, Takayasu pursued. Oh, it was a wild affair. For those who like sloppy messes, here was one especially for you. Oh, I suppose you could say Chiyonokuni was wild and Takayasu was trying to survive it. But Takayasu was kind of wild himself, pushing and shoving, jittering and juddering. Eventually Takayasu got a good face shot in from the side that caused Chiyonokuni to step out, oshi-dashi. Sigh. It's all just so sloppy. In fact, the step out was so sloppy I didn't even notice it. But the gyoji did, thank god. Or I suppose they could have just gone on dancing around forever. Thank god for the gyoji.

O Goeido (7-1) vs. K Takakeisho (3-5)
Takakeisho went for some ear-slapping, in-close, from-above bashing tsuppari in this one, but that didn't give him much force, and he didn't do anything with his feet. Plus he chose to pull without enough room to make it work, so Goeido staggered after him and pushed Takakeisho out, oshi-dashi. Watching Goeido in this one, he had one good move: a nice punch in the face at the tachi-ai. Then he stood there a bit while getting pummeled. Then he stumbled like a drunk while getting the push-out win. But he's your victor. And he's 8-1. Hooysh.

S Mitakeumi (6-2) vs. Y Hakuho (8-0)
This one would have had massive hype had Mitakeumi not picked up two losses. As it was, it still had plenty of political drama, and I perked up a bit too: "ooh, I didn't know this was on my card." That old mix of anticipation and dread. Actually, it was a really great match. Hakuho sprang forward and got his left hand on the front of the belt and went for a force out, but couldn't quite make it work against Mitakeumi, who was able to break the frontal grip off during the fray and escape disaster by mawari-komu'ing around the edge a bit. As things settled into the middle of the ring, Hakuho had worked his other hand, the right, onto Mitakeumi's belt on the inside, but Mitakeumi had his left hand on Hakuho's belt on the outside. Also, Hakuho was standing almost straight up, waiting for Mitakeumi to make a move he could exploit but no longer on the defensive. They paused for a long, long time; I wondered if we would have a gyoji-induced pause. Instead, Hakuho did something fascinating: he reached out with his leg and kicked Mitakeumi lightly on the calf, like a nurse trying to bring up the vein on your arm to draw blood. A little tap/slap. Foolishly, like a horse being spurred, Mitakeumi responded to the stimulus by attacking forward. Hakuho pounced, using Mitakeumi's momentum against him, spinning to the side, and put one long arm of death onto Mitakeumi's throat like the spirit of Armageddon descending from heaven at the end of time, and choked him out, yori-kiri. Hakuho's form was like Adonis with a avenging arrow as he executed that last move: long let thrust back, long arm thrust up into Mitakeumi's windpipe, all tense, powerful 45 degree diagonal from toes to fingertips. Beautiful. Thank you Hakuho, for rescuing my day.

Y Kakuryu (8-0) vs. M3 Endo (1-7)
Endo vs. Kakuryu? Ha ha ha ha ha! Now this should be good. As it happens, it wasn't. Back to more pulling and slapping and thrusting about kind of pointlessly. Just grab Endo and throw him into the crowd already, Kakuryu, alright? For the pulling and slapping and retreating was done by Kakuryu, not Endo; he was lucky to win this one, and did so only because Endo had nothing to offer in return. There was one kind of fun thing: when the pulls eventually worked against Endo, who is little and underpowered and Endo after all, Kakuryu got Endo so discombobulated that the little yellow-belted man did two and a half rotation pirouettes on the dohyo, like a merry go round at the playground being pushed too fast by your bullying big brother, on the way to the oshi-dashi force out by Kakuryu. Oh, Endo.

Y Kisenosato (6-2) vs. O Tochinoshin (5-3)
And another big match on my card. More anticipation and dread. Actually, it looked great. Some of you won't like it, but I did. They went chest to chest, and round and round it went, very slowly. It was pretty thrilling. Tochinoshin had a left inside and was tugging hard. Kisenosato had a right outside and was pushing hard. And they had a test of strength. Tochinoshin was driving the pace, and tried to lift Kisenosato across his hip, but it didn't work. He tried to throw him, but it didn't work. Meanwhile Kisenosato tried to use main force of his body to press Tochinoshin back and out. Or was he just hanging on? I thought Tochinoshin was going to win it; his feet were apart, his strength is undeniable, and he had Kisenosato on the move. However, maybe he should have tried to force Kisenosato straight back and out, rather than the continual attempts to throw him to the side, which didn't do the job. And his movement kept inching him closer to the edge. When he got close enough, and when his last throw failed, Kisenosato pressed him out, yori-kiri. The people in the venue were very, very happy--this was pretty much their dream come true from when they woke up this morning: Kisenosato won mano-o-mano, power against power. And Kisenosato's wild ride continues; this was pretty much his ideal outcome too.

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Tomorrow Mike says, "you come at the king, you best not miss."

Day 8 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
The Day 8 broadcast began with a lengthy documentary on the prominent Hawaii rikishi during the Heisei Era: Konishiki, Akebono, and Musashimaru. They showed numerous bouts from each rikishi starting with their first career yusho, and then they focused in on the effect that Akebono and Musashimaru's presence had on fueling the success of what's often called the Waka-Taka Era referring of course to the boom created when the Hanada Brothers rose to prominence in sumo. That also happens to be when I began watching sumo, and the battle each tournament between the Hawaiian rikishi and the Futagoyama-beya produced some phenomenal sumo.



NHK really gave the Hawaiians the praise they deserve, and with Mainoumi in the booth today, they showed bouts from the past where Mainoumi was able to defeat each of the Hawaiians. Mainoumi's comments regarding the three were quite interesting. He talked about just how hard it felt to be hit by any of the three, and he said facing them in the ring was like being stepped on by an enormous giant. I think the purpose of the documentary was to remind the fans that the presence of the foreign rikishi can contribute to the good of sumo as it creates a healthy rivalry. Well, rivalry may not be the best term since a true rivalry doesn't exist these days, but if the Japanese people can see their rikishi ranked alongside guys like Hakuho and Tochinoshin, it creates the perception that the Japanese rikishi are peers instead of underlings, and that obviously sells tickets

Speaking of selling tickets, yesterday prior to the final bout of the day, they panned the rafters of the Kokugikan, and I was surprised to see a fair amount of empty seats. The red seats in the upper level stand out, but you can also see patches of purple below the denkouban where there are masu-seki seats completely empty.



The Sumo Association may be selling all of the tickets to the basho these days, but there are also dafuya (scalpers) who come in and snatch up a fair number of seats as soon as they go on sale, so my guess is the dafuya can't push all of their seats the way they could back when Kisenosato was first promoted to Yokozuna. The venue is still full each day for the time being, but a lack of actual substance in the ring can't keep this up forever.

J1 Aminishiki attempted the ugliest tachi-ai henka you'd care to see against M16 Kotoyuki skirting right and lamely swiping both hands downward not even coming close to his opponent. As Kotoyuki looked to square up, Aminishiki kept moving right grabbing Yuki with both hands around the head and pulling him down as he tip-toed the tawara. For his part, Kotoyuki dutifully dove forward and down giving Aminishiki the ugly win. They ruled it tokkuri-nage, a kimari-te I'd never heard of, and it means a double-handed twist down by the head. It sounds cool, but not in today's bout as Aminishiki moves to 5-3 while Kotoyuki dives to 3-5. Speaking of dives, the only time a rikishi's body should be parallel to the dohyo with both feet off the ground is when he goes for a do-or-die push against a retreating opponent.

M14 Takanosho is slowly gaining his sea legs in the division. Today against M13 Takanoiwa, the rookie proactively attacked his foe with a tsuppari attack moving Takanoiwa back a step or two, but Takanoiwa has seen this approach a thousand times, and he perfectly timed a swipe upwards of the rookie's extended arms getting both arms to the inside for moro-zashi. As Takanoiwa advanced, Takanosho maki-kae'd with the right arm, but that just left Takanoiwa with a firm left outer grip coupled with the right inside. Along with the prime position, Takanoiwa also had the momentum, and he used it to force Takanosho back across to the dohyo where he finished him off oshi-dashi style. Takanoiwa is a quiet 6-2 while Takanosho is 4-4.

M16 Ishiura got up and under M12 Okinoumi from the tachi-ai lifting up high and knocking him onto his heels. Okinoumi didn't make much of an effort to thwart Ishiura's attack, and so Ishiura grabbed Okinoumi's melon and just pulled him forward and down. Ishiura limps to 2-6 while Okinoumi falls to 3-5.

M15 Yoshikaze and M11 Sadanoumi butt heads at the tachi-ai as Yoshikaze was already moving forward out of his stance. Sadanoumi was just going through the motions not really doing anything with his hands as Yoshikaze drove him straight back and out in about two seconds. Another pile of cash to buy Yoshikaze his sixth win, so just two more to go as Sadanoumi agrees to fall to 4-4.

M10 Aoiyama was proactive in his tsuppari attack against M12 Nishikigi driving him back a few steps before Nishikigi dashed to his right in an effort to evade the onslaught. Aoiyama is too slow these days to keep up with such a move, and so he tracked his prey to the other side of the dohyo where Nishikigi was able to score points on a nice shove that turned Aoiyama 90 degrees, but Nishikigi did all of this on the run, and so he couldn't capitalize on the move allowing Aoiyama to square back up and secure moro-zashi. Nishikigi tried to mawari-komu again--this time to his left, but Aoiyama kept him snug finally felling him with a nice inside belt throw. At M10 and just one win coming in, Aoiyama creeps a bit closer to staying in the division at 2-6. Nishikigi falls to 4-4.

M14 Chiyomaru was his usual upright self at the tachi-ai providing a huge target for M10 Daieisho to just push back and out in a matter of seconds. That's all there was to this one as both rikishi finish the day at 3-5.

M9 Hokutofuji shaded left at the tachi-ai extending his arms against M13 Ryuden, but it was in a defensive manner, and so Hokutofuji had no momentum. Ryuden's always a guy who looks to establish positioning early, and he did so today using a few controlled shoves to work up and under Hokutofuji's arms before pouncing into moro-zashi. Hokutofuji had his back to the bales, and so he attempted to move left and set up a counter tsuki-otoshi with the left, but Ryuden had his gal pulled in too snug and was able to dump Hokutofuji down to his first loss now at 7-1. Ryuden stands at the same 7-1 mark, and Ryuden's sumo this basho has stood out more than Hokutofuji. Coming into the day, both Hokutofuji and Takayasu were undefeated, but neither rikishi was performing impressionable sumo at a high level.

In a strange bout, M15 Chiyoshoma and M9 Daishomaru failed to stick at the tachi-ai, and so the two were separated shortly after it started. Daishomaru was purely defensive at this point, and so Chiyoshoma pushed Daishomaru in the face with one hand after the other in an attempt to get close, but Daishomaru actually scored nicely on a counter tsuki that sent Chiyoshoma stumbling over to the edge. Daishomaru couldn't follow up on the counter move, however, and so Chiyoshoma was able to work his way back in close eventually getting the left arm inside with right outer grip, and from there Daishomaru was defenseless as Shoma yori-kiri'ed him in the end. Chiyoshoma moves to 4-4 while Daishomaru falls to 3-5.

M8 Kotoshogiku and M6 Onosho hooked up in hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai, and the Geeku had Onosho so upright he was easy pickin's for the signature gaburi-yori move where Kotoshogiku hops like a frog into his opponent as he backs him across the straw. It was over in about three seconds here as Kotoshogiku moved to 5-3 while Onosho fell to just 2-6.

M5 Myogiryu looked to get his arms inside against M7 Tochiohzan at the tachi-ai, but Tochiohzan fought him off with some nice shoves that sent Myogiryu back a step or two. Instead of finishing off his foe with a nice straight forward attack, Tochiohzan let Myogiryu fight his way back into the bout with some counter tsuppari of his own. Now that Myogiryu had the momentum, Tochiohzan was looking pull the rest of the way, but Myogiryu wouldn't be fooled keeping up the oshi pressure until he had Tochiohzan pushed back for good. Mainoumi said it best afterwards when he commented that Tochiohzan is fighting too upright these days. Myogiryu moves to 5-3 with the win while Tochiohzan falls to 3-5.

M5 Asanoyama used a kachi-age at the tachi-ai with his right arm to get it inside against M8 Takarafuji whereupon he immediately drove Takarafuji back to the edge. Takarafuji was able to fight out of the move briefly with a few tsuppari, but Asanoyama caught him again getting the right arm back to the inside and left arm wrapped up high around Takarafuji's right. With Takarafuji upright, Asanoyama was easily able to force him back and out. This was one of those yotsu-zumo bouts where the two never really went chest to chest, and it favored the taller Asanoyama who moved to 6-2 with the win. Takarafuji fell to 3-5 in this bout between two Kinki-dai rikishi.

M6 Kagayaki jumped the gun a bit at the tachi-ai creating an awkward start against M4 Chiyonokuni. With both rikishi thrown off a bit, Kagayaki looked to get his arms to the inside instead of executing his usual tsuppari attack. Chiyonokuni opted to evade to his right and set up a pull, but Kagayaki stayed snug eventually pushing Chiyonokuni upright by the neck and forcing the bout to yotsu-zumo where both guys had right arms to the inside. This stance actually favors Chiyonokuni, and he showed why by easily grabbing a left outer grip and using it to execute a throw. As he did, however, Kagayaki was able to force his right knee into Kuni's left leg sending him toppling back and down. This was an awkward nage-no-uchi-ai, and it looked as if Kagayaki clearly hit the dohyo first, but they pointed in favor of Kagayaki and didn't call a mono-ii. The judge right in front of the action was so busy getting out of the way as the two rikishi where sliding off the dohyo towards him that he was unable to clearly see who touched down first. Regardless, Kagayaki was declared the winner as he moves to 3-5 while Chiyonokuni suffers a tough loss at 2-6.

M7 Shohozan easily took advantage of M4 Abi's awkward, upright stance at the tachi-ai whiffing on a wild roundhouse with the right before getting up and under Abi's outstretched arms. While that hari-te didn't really connect, it made Abi flinch and forced him into defensive mode from the beginning. Abi's defense is going for a pull where he's positioned too high, and so Shohozan drove him back causing Abi's knee to buckle at the edge and touch down before Shohozan could send him off the dohyo. Both rikishi end the day at 5-3, and the only reason Abi has five wins is because his opponents defer to him so much.

M2 Chiyotairyu met M3 Endoh with his usual two hands to the throat, but Chiyotairyu wasn't driving forward with the legs meaning he was looking to set up a quick slapdown or pull. He went for the pull for sure, but the move wasn't executed properly causing Chiyotairyu to whiff, but Endoh was in no position to pounce, and so Chiyotairyu drove forward again this time firing his tsuppari for reals. Endoh's only response was a feeble pull attempt, but before he could even get it set up, Chiyotairyu had him pushed off the dohyo without argument. Sucks for Endoh when there are too many bouts to throw for other rikishi as he ends the day at 1-7. As for Chiyotairyu, he moves to just 2-6, but there isn't another Japanese rikishi on the board who can bully dudes around like this.

M1 Kaisei was completely upright and flat-footed at the tachi-ai making his intentions known at that point against Komusubi Takakeisho. With his arms out wide, Takakeisho had the clear path to moro-zashi, but Takakeisho didn't take it opting to fire a few meek shoves before setting up a pull. The problem was that Kaisei had no momentum forward so he wasn't susceptible to the pull, but someone had to do something, and so Kaisei moved forward again looking for really nothing. As the two rikishi tussled a bit in the center of the ring, Takakeisho went for as soft of a swipe as you'd care to see, but it magically sent Kaisei forward and down as he put both palms to the dirt and easily held up the rest of his body. There was simply no force exerted by either party in this bout, and that's why it ended with Kaisei just putting both hands to the dirt in obvious yaocho fashion. What an embarrassing display of sumo as they attempt to prop Takakeisho up at 3-5. Kaisei literally falls to that same mark.

M1 Ikioi pounded Suckiwake Mitakeumi back from the tachi-ai with dual kachi-age, and the move was so forceful, my first reaction was, "Is he trying to win??" The answer was yes as Mitakeumi's only response was his usual brand of sumo: extend your arms and flail around so it looks as if something is happening. Ikioi easily got his left arm up and under Mitakeumi's something rendering the Sekiwake completely upright to where Ikioi moved into moro-zashi and had the defenseless Mitakeumi pushed back and off the dohyo in about three seconds. And all of this coming from a dude who was 0-7 coming into the day.

Yet again, we see Mitakeumi defeated without his having any say in the matter, and when any of the Japanese darlings are beaten, they are beaten soundly without putting up a fight simply because they can't. The loss sends Mitakeumi to 6-2 and further illustrates how his run to Ozeki is almost entirely due to the mercy of others and not his actual ability. With the Mongolian Yokozuna still standing in the way, we'll see just how many stories are yet to be told. As for Ikioi, he picks up his first win of the basho, and my how easy and natural it was.

In the Ozeki ranks, Goeido and Tochinoshin hooked up in migi-yotsu, but Tochinoshin kept that right arm limp and just kept it there by Goeido's side doing nothing with it. As for his left hand, he brought that up high and draped it around Goeido's head as if to pull, but nothing but mukiryoku sumo was on his mind and so he stood still as Goeido grabbed the left outer grip and drove Tochinoshin straight back and across. While this bout was fixed, you can still credit Goeido for displaying nice sumo. He took what was given him, established the firm yotsu position, and then moved straight forward scoring the easy win.

If this bout was straight up, we'd see this style more often from Goeido, especially from the lesser rikishi, but it's not coincidence that we only see this against formidable foreign rikishi. Goeido is 7-1 and has to be feeling good about himself while Tochinoshin falls to a quiet 5-3.

Ozeki Takayasu came with dual kachi-age against M3 Shodai that he parlayed into a few shoves and a nice choke hold, but the faux-zeki lacks any finishing power, and so at the first sign of Shodai resistance that came in the form his pushing up into Takayasu's arms, Takayasu went for a pull compromising his position. The change in tide allowed Shodai to get the left arm firmly inside and then challenge with the right, and as Takayasu tried to keep him away from an outer, Shodai moved right going for a pull that worked like magic against the weak Ozeki. Takayasu falls to 7-1 and hasn't really been thought of as a yusho candidate for two reasons. 1) His sumo has been anything but yusho-worthy, and 2) All of the hype has been centered on Kisenosato and Mitakeumi. As for Shodai, he moves to 3-5 but completely outclassed the Ozeki here.

Yokozuna Kakuryu and Sekiwake Ichinojo hooked up in migi-yotsu where Kakuryu smartly kept his can back away from an Ichinojo outer grip. With perfect positioning down low, Kakuryu was able to deny Ichinojo any forward momentum, and so the Mongolith was forced to play defense. That's not is game against a real Yokozuna as Kakuryu worked his left arm into a frontal, outer grip, and it took about a dozen seconds for him to wrench Ichinojo upright, back, and out. Kakuryu moves to a quiet 8-0 with the win, and I like Harvye's pick to have him as the yusho favorite. When Kakuryu loses, nobody notices, and a loss by Hakuho to a Japanese rikishi has much more meaning. As for Ichinojo, he falls to 2-6.

Komusubi Tamawashi must have entered his bout today against Kisenosato thinking, "Look at me getting shat on like this. I'm 0-7 as one of the top five rikishi on the banzuke while this useless dude is 6-1 and carrying home bricks of cash each day to the tune fo $12K USD." Tamawashi does have his pride, and said cash would be incentive for anyone, so he roared from his stance and fired his usual tsuppari attack into Kisenosato's upper torso driving Kyujonosato back and across with little argument. I think you actually have to credit Kisenosato for attempting to move left instead of just giving up, but moving left was all he could do. He was unable to counter with anything, and so Tamawashi finished him off in under three seconds wham bam thank you ma'am. Tamawashi moves to 1-7 with the victory, and isn't it interesting how Chiyotairyu, Ikioi, and now Tamawashi all had horrendous starts on paper but picked up their first wins against Kisenosato (5-0 at the time), Takayasu (7-0 at the time), and Kisenosato who now falls to 6-2.

As for general comments on Kisenosato, he only needs two more wins to count this as a successful basho. After such a long layoff, a kachi-koshi will be treated as a success, but it doesn't erase the problem of where he goes from here. Kisenosato has only getting worse, and so he'll have to struggle with his being a complete fraud for the rest of his active career. It's a tough spot to be in for sure.

In the final bout of the day, they rewarded M2 Yutakayama's return from a brief kyujo stint by feeding him to Yokozuna Hakuho. The Yokozuna came with a potent left face slap as he continued to shade left grabbing the side of Yutakayama's belt with an outer grip and using that to just fling Yutakayama forward and down dashi-nage style. Hakuho moves to 8-0 with the easy win while Yutakayama falls to 0-8 overall after sitting out for three days.

With that, we are down to two undefeated rikishi: Hakuho and Kakuryu. I'm not sure how many stories are yet to be told. It seems the yaocho this first week has been so bad and so obvious that I think things need to cool down a bit in week 2 to help preserve whatever integrity sumo has left with the fans.

Harvye kicks off week 2 tomorrow.

Day 7 Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
Let's look at the yusho race--yes let's. Yesterday's losses by Kisenosato and Mitakeumi put a temporary damper on this tournament's building drama, but not too much: you can still feel it: it is like a tournament of old, with all the Ozeki and Yokozuna in it, and the crowd very excited about some of them. People are paying attention.

Your zensho guys are Kakuryu, Hakuho, and Takayasu. Based on the sumo we've seen from Hakuho (sloppy) and Takayasu (inconsequential), I don't think either of them are in it to win it. Takayasu would love to but can't; Hakuho can but doesn't want to. So, Kakuryu emerges as your dark horse candidate to sail quietly through.

Your one loss guys are Kisenosato, Goeido, and Mitakeumi. With his shaky performance, Kisenosato is not taking a yusho: rather, he's going to get a nice sendoff tournament or two, starting here. I still think it is possible he retires by the end of this basho--yes, really. If his loss to Chiyotairyu yesterday is a sign of things to come, and he's, say, 6-5 on Day 11, or gets hurt, maybe he'll say "I tried," and step aside. More likely, I think he comes in at between 10 and 13 wins with a decent showing that lets him fight again in Kyushu. Mitakeumi is in a similar situation: he just won one, so there is no need to burnish his hype too brightly just yet. He has the Ozeki thing on deck: that will be enough drama from him. (As for Goeido, well, he isn't good enough, so never mind him.) My prediction is Kakuryu takes it, with Kisenosato and Mitakeumi finishing with good secondary, goals accomplished (decent tournament and Ozeki promotion, respectively). That will satisfy most viewers of various stripes.

But wait! you say. What about Hokutofuji (6-0) and Asanoyama, Ryuden, and Yoshikaze (5-1)? The only guy of consequence here is Asanoyama. Because he challenged for the yusho last time, it is not unreasonable to believe he can challenge for it again. He can--he can challenge for it. But he cannot win it now--he is too junior for that. Sure, he is the most exciting wrestler on the banzuke for fans of good sumo, though. I will enjoy that and not anticipate on him too much.

M 14 Takanosho (3-3) vs. M15 Yoshikaze (5-1)
Yoshikaze was pushing up and thrusting but was too cautious; Takanosho was spritely and youthful, and, sensing that Yoshikaze didn't have the skill or guts right now to get in there, fallen to where he has, Takanosho stepped aside at the right moment and swiped Yoshikaze down, tsuki-otoshi.

M16 Ishiura (1-5) vs. M13 Takanoiwa (4-2)
Ishiura smartly henka'ed, but Takanoiwa caught him by a tiny bit of belt going by and managed not to fall. From there it was all Takanoiwa, beating Ishiura around by the head a bit, pulling him a bit, crushing his arms a bit, and finally body-ramming him out, oshi-dashi. It's fun to watch Takanoiwa clean up down here; he is dominant at this level.

M13 Ryuden (5-1) vs. M15 Chiyoshoma (3-3)
They slapped at each other briefly but quickly fell into an overhand grip for Ryuden and an underhand for Chiyoshoma. From there they kept their cans back and worked on it, but this was inferior position for Chiyoshoma as well as not his style of sumo, and Ryuden was able to yori-kiri him out. Nice to see a legitimate win from a guy like Ryuden against Chiyoshoma; this exposed the holes in Chiyoshoma's game and highlighted Ryuden's potential.

M12 Okinoumi (3-3) vs. M16 Kotoyuki (2-4)
Too easy. They smacked each other bodily at the tachi-ai, then started a little slapping. Kotoyuki calmly (and kind of slowly) stepped to the side and Okinoumi fell down, tsuki-otoshi. So many matches like this one. So many.

M10 Aoiyama (1-5) vs. M14 Chiyomaru (2-4)
Battle of the tulip bulbs. Plant them both and see what comes up in the spring. Guess what though. They slapped at each other a little bit, then one guy (Chiyomaru) stepped aside and the other guy (Aoiyama) fell down, tsuki-otoshi. That's three tsuki-otoshi decisions in five matches. Maybe this is why Aoiyama doesn't do what I tell him to do: go hard with his best thrusts (he wasn't really slapping, he was clobbering) and move forward. Because he did that here and ended up easy pickings for the old roll-out-the-barrel trick.

M12 Nishikigi (4-2) vs. M9 Daishomaru (2-4)
A slow moving and lazy looking bout, keyed by a pull from Daishomaru. I could almost say this was a few slaps, then one guy stepped aside and the other fell down, but it was a little modification on that: they were closer together, less slapping, more pushing. And Daishomaru's step-aside was more a pull on Nishikigi's too-easily-proffered arms than it was real, and the kimari-te reflected: how about a hiki-otoshi to change things up a bit? Of course, that's not really much of a change. This was basically the same crap for the third match in a row. Bad sumo so far today.

M9 Hokutofuji (6-0) vs. M11 Sadanoumi (4-2)
I perked up a little bit for this one, and expected Endo-esque destruction of the weakly gifted Sad Man (Sadanoumi) by the fired up Fuji of the North (Hokutofuji). It didn't really work out that way, but it was okay. Hokutofuji kept his distance a bit, cautious, with one hand on the neck. Sadanoumi took advantage of Hoku's tentative sumo to grab some belt. Give Hokutofuji credit for shaking that off and grabbing belt of his own, leading to a lunging yori-kiri win during which he was in danger of falling down first but didn't. Hey, Hokutofuji is 7-0, and I'll take it. My hope for him at this point is that we would see him settle in around M1 and beat the Ozeki occasionally and provide a good challenge for the Sekiwake and Komusubi types. That's probably his ceiling, and he is going to have to be more consistent over time and aggressive in individual bouts to get there.

M10 Daieisho (2-4) vs. M9 Kotoshogiku (3-3)
This one was all backwards. Early on Daieisho was advancing against a too-upright Kotoshogiku, but couldn't make hay out of it. Then Kotoshogiku was advancing against a too-close Daieisho, but Daieisho seemed to be in control, leading Kotoshogiku to his doom in a circle around the ring. Then in the end Kotoshogiku pulled a surprise win, having the position and arm strength to upend Daieisho at the straw just before Daieisho escaped, yori-taoshi win for Uluru (Kotoshogiku). None of this went the way I expected too; it was like listening to free jazz: weird time signatures and strange breaks. Oh, it was fine.

M6 Kagayaki (2-4) vs. M8 Takarafuji (2-4)
Basically, Takarafuji exposed Kagayaki as a wrestler with no finishing power, sumo smarts, or sumo instincts. Kagayaki was doing what he should, in theory: low and tight and aggressing. All Takarafuji was doing was retreating and retreating, circling around the limit of the ring. But Kagayaki needed to be able to turn the line of the match back towards the straw, switch it up, avoid the inevitable. The inevitable was not him pushing Takarafuji out, but Takarafuji turning back towards the center at the last moment and throwing the overextended Kagayaki down, uwate-nage. So it goes. I'm sorry, but Kagayaki just kind of looks dumb out there.

M7 Tochiohzan (2-4) vs. M5 Asanoyama (5-1)
Asanoyama's upright and too-slow attempt to get the belt let Tochiohzan get moro-zashi, which of course was bad for the Mountain of the Morning (Asanoyama), because that is Tochiohzan's forte. Mountain had a chance of surviving it by sticking with a kime arm-pin--he's younger and stronger, and could probably outlast and overpower Tochiohzan--but he lost when he tried a maki-kae to get his arms inside instead. He was too close to the edge when he did that, and Tochiohzan, for the second time in the match, took advantage of Asanoyama's poor timing and knocked him down, tsuki-otoshi. Like I said, Asanoyama is not winning the yusho this Fall.

M6 Myogiryu (4-2) vs. M7 Shohozan (3-3)
The battle of little fire-pints. Two cans of sterno, one dusted with hair, the other not. They struck each other in the face a lot, and I thought Smooth Sterno (Shohozan) was getting the better blows in. However, Hairy Sterno (Shohozan) was giving up a little "pow" for more focused. This gave him the presence of mind to grab Myogiryu's arm at the right moment, use it to sling Myogiryu all the across the ring the other side, and topple him bodily down, yori-taoshi. This was fun. I'll take it.

M6 Onosho (2-4) vs. M4 Abi (4-2)
To me, this basho no wrestler has looked worse in light of expectations than Onosho, and that continued here. Yeah, he got the upper hand on Abi early, thrusting him successfully back, but he wasn't watching where he was going, blindly shoving as Abi bent his head back. When free of that for a moment Onosho angrily delivered a "hey! take that!" head-bender of his own, and in response Abi calmly stepped to the side, dancing along the straw, and tumbled Onosho down, hataki-komi. I'm just about ready to stamp off on the memo on my desk titled, "Onosho: Rank and Filer."

M1 Ikioi (0-6) vs. M1 Kaisei (2-4)
Poor Ikioi needed a win, and this would have been a good guy to get it against: no political ramifications. However, Kaisei wanted a win too, as there are really no political ramifications to beating Ikioi either, so it was on. Ikioi got quickly shlurped up in a body-holding contest, stuck in the fatty glue of Kaisei's overwhelming bulk. It took a few moments, but Kaisei squished him out, yori-kiri.

S Mitakeumi (5-1) vs. K Takakeisho (2-4)
You kind of knew there was going to be bad sumo here. Both guys are overhyped, Mitakeumi doesn't have a style, and Takakeisho's style is to deek and pull, so it promised to be messy. It was pretty much like that: keeping their distance and striking at each other. It was better than I expected too: I like Takakeisho, and he was concentrating on hitting hard. When he does that, it's one of my favorite things about him. Not that it is effective. I counted five solid blows to Mitakeumi's head, and you could see Mitakeumi's abused melon shudder and judder on some of them. Takakeisho also had some wicked jabs-and-squeeze-the-neck moments. For all that, Mitakeumi looked in control for most of the match. When you are hitting as hard as Takakeisho was, it usually means you are sacrificing some forward movement and focus (same as the Shohozan/Myogiryu dust up earlier). It's more tough-guy-theatrics than effective sumo, which is why you don't see it that much. Still, with a little side slap near the end, Takakeisho got Mitakeumi turned around with his back to the straw, and it looked like he was going to force him out. By a miracle, Mitakeumi was able to escape along the straw, dancing along with both feet on it, letting Takakeisho fall out to a tsuki-otoshi loss. Takakeisho really needed to get in closer and with better control at the end there, just as he'd needed to all bout. I like Takakeisho and still expect big things from him, but in order not to end up as Goeido the Second he's going to have to get better about getting on the body.

S Ichinojo (2-4) vs. O Tochinoshin (4-2)
Tochinoshin got a frontal belt grip, and Ichinojo got one of his long arms inside on the belt. Do I think Tochinoshin is better overall than Ichinojo? Yes I do. Tochinoshin did a good job of keeping square to Ichinojo, using that frontal grip as a fulcrum, keeping his head low and his body back, and pushing hard. God knows he has plenty of power. Ichinojo may be heavy and formidable, but he was standing up too tall and had met his match here: Tochinoshin had more focus and heart, and drove The Mongolith out, yori-kiri. This wasn't a great match--it was a simple contest of belt sumo and over quickly--but it was enough. This should be your standard of run-of-the-mill bout, not all the slapping and falling down we mostly see from everybody else.

K Tamawashi (0-6) vs. O Takayasu (6-0)
What were the chances Tamawashi would break out of his slumber and deliver a thrashing to a surprised Takayasu? Very small, but not zero. I maintained hope. Instead, Tamawashi continued to honor the traditional Komusubi role and picked up a first week 0-7; he'll gather in some wins the second week when his opponents have less to lose. The key to seeing that this was a giveaway is that Tamawashi never tried any blows or shoves, his normal style, but instead went for an ineffectual, grip-free body pressure, featuring such elements as an open palm placed without force against Takayasu's pec. Tamawashi stayed low and mostly in stasis and waited. Takayasu was busier, trying this attack and that, and finally settled on a hataki-komi slap-down. Tamawashi put both palms on the dirt, and that was that. Next!

O Goeido (5-1) vs. M2 Chiyotairyu (1-5)
Hoo boy. If I had realized this was next, I might not have called "next." What were the chances that Chiyotairyu would break… oh, never mind. Chiyotairyu slapped and thrust wildly in this, but was a sloppy disaster, neglecting to move forward with his feet at times, moving backwards at others. Goeido sized this up and went after him and pushed him out, oshi-dashi. What a beautiful pale pink robe the gyoji had on, however, matching the lustrous salmon of Chiyotairyu's belt.

Y Kisenosato (5-1) vs. M4 Chiyonokuni (2-4)
The moment of truth. How odd it is when the big match of the day is from a guy who hasn't competed in nearly two years and is in second place behind superior wrestlers. But it was the moment of the day; NHK had of course spent much of the broadcast reflecting pensively on Kisenosato's Day 6 defeat. Would he be able to let everybody exhale by winning this one?

Wow, he had nothing. He was dominated by Chiyonokuni. Chiyonokuni hit him so hard at the tachi-ai the crowd gasped. After that Chiyonokuni battered him about the ring like a large rag toy, and I have little doubt Chiyonokuni could have pummeled Kisenosato out or down if he had chosen to focus his energy on forward movement or better pulls. Instead, he did enough forward and enough backward to keep Kisenosato in the ring. This looked exhausting; eventually he caught Kisenosato by the belt with an outer grip. And there they stood for a while; Kisenosato had a belt grip too. They rested. This belts-thing should in theory have been good for Kisenosato, but it was Chiyonokuni who then nearly turned it into a victory when they went back at it, getting a chance to throw Kisenosato at the straw. But he started it then backed off it. They slid about a little more, and Chiyonokuni tried the throw at the edge again; this time, it worked, as he bowled the Yokozuna over like a heap of gooey nine-pins. Problem: Chiyonokuni had stepped firmly out with one foot while setting up to execute the throw. So you had the strange spectacle of Kisenosato getting a yori-kiri victory while lying on the dirt below his standing foe, and the loser more or less getting in what was effectively a dame-oshi.

You know where I stand on this one. But the interesting thing is that it was in its own way thrilling. The drama of the Yokozuna going through all this and somehow, somehow yet again pulling out a victory remains compelling for the fans, and even for me. He's like Shackleton on the ice: how can he possibly survive? But survive he does. What a battering he took. What a tragedy, this late-career comeuppance and humiliation. Yet a win, and what a story: there he is. Still. People are digging it. I get it.

M3 Endo (1-5) vs. Y Hakuho (6-0)
It is amazing how inconsequential the other Yokozuna bouts felt after that Kisenosato one. Kakuryu and Hakuho both still had a lead over Kisenosato, and should be the real focus, but the day was already done. Everybody might as well have gone home for all the energy in the hall: "well, show's over! Let's get out of here while the credits roll and try to beat the traffic." To be fair, the people stayed. But it was out of politeness. In the ring, Hakuho pulled Endo past him with a little movement to the side, then Endo's leg crumpled out and Hakuho tapped him down, koshi-kudake. Basically Endo was too wound up here and did himself in; the Yokozuna didn't have to do much and it was an ugly bout.

Y Kakuryu (6-0) vs. M3 Shodai (2-4)
The tachi-ai here was a decent "bam!" and then Kakuryu worked on up-thrusts. Shodai was just maintaining; nothing going on with him. He's never beaten Kakuryu, and did not have an idea of how to do it. Probably he was thinking, "maybe something will happen!" Maybe. But not. Kakuryu kept at it, feet apart, working along splendidly, and pretty soon had Shodai on the other side of the straw, oshi-dashi. Meanwhile, everybody was still thinking about that Kisenosato bout.

Tomorrow Mike thinks about Kisenosato.

Day 6 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
In the minds of Japanese sumo fans, the first five days of the Aki basho have been sheer bliss. You can sense the excitement in the arena when Mitakeumi and Kisenosato step into the ring, and I've noticed it as well on the nightly NHK News 9 program. Each day this week they've led off their sports segment with sumo, and they've showed Kisenosato's bouts and Mitakeumi's bouts and no other rikishi. The buzzword used early on to describe Kisenosato's sumo has been "kihaku," or lively, spirited, energetic, etc. Coincidentally, it's also a good word to use generally when describing someone successful in the win column whose sumo lacks any real substance. The problem with all of the hype is that it's based on fixed sumo, and so it's really a house of cards that only takes one opponent to choose not to lose, and the blissful perception comes crashing down.

It was quite a dramatic day for various reasons, so let's get right to the action.

M16 Ishiura moved left at the tachi-ai against M14 Takanosho and attempted two decent pulls, but he didn't follow those up leaving himself a bit exposed. As Takanosho charged forward with a nice thrust attack, Ishiura next threatened a tottari by grabbing Takanosho's extended arm, but like the pull attempts early, he really didn't follow through on the move, and so Takanosho was able to force Ishiura out in a few seconds. I didn't think it was Ishiura's intention to win today, but Takanosho still looked good in a nice, forward attack. The rookie took what was given him as he moves to 3-3 while Ishiura falls to 1-5.

There's been a bit of noise surrounding M15 Yoshikaze and his 5-0 start compared to his 0-5 start last basho. This is none other than what we saw with Aminishiki and his brief return to the division in that someone is paying for the veteran's wins. The Oguruma-beya fan club is likely involved here saying let's get Yoshikaze to eight wins, so the Kyushu-born rikishi can fight one more basho in his home town before he's quarantined for good...I mean before he retires. With only eight wins required this basho, seem as if the money did not change hands today as M13 Ryuden threatened the left inside from the tachi-ai, and when no pressure came from Spot, Ryuden moved left and easily scored on a pull attempt with no effort whatsoever from Yoshikaze. It puts that fake 5-0 start in better perspective when you see such a lopsided loss when the dude coming in at 5-0 can't even put up a fight. Both guys end the day at 5-1.

M16 Kotoyuki came with his usual tsuppari attack against M13 Takanoiwa, but the attack was limp enabling Takanoiwa to shade left to avoid the attack, and with Kotoyuki unable to apply any pressure, Takanoiwa next easily evaded to his right pushing up into Yuki's arm to set up a two handed pulldown. Pretty methodic stuff here as Takanoiwa moves to 4-2 while Kotoyuki falls to 2-4.

M15 Chiyoshoma went for a dumb, exaggerated henka to his right against M12 Nishikigi, and he kept his left arm up high around Nishikigi's head as the latter recovered easily and gave chase towards the compromised Chiyoshoma. The Mongolian continued to keep his arms up high and walked hisself (as we say in Utah) back and out with little pressure from Nishikigi. I suppose Nishikigi did make some contact as he was rewarded the oshi-dashi win, but Chiyoshoma's ridiculous sumo throughout is what dictated the flow here. Nishikigi moves to quiet 4-2 while Chiyoshoma settles for 3-3.

M14 Chiyomaru used a mammoth choke from the tachi-ai against M11 Sadanoumi parlaying that into a nice pull that sent Sadanoumi stumbling forward towards the edge. As Sadanoumi tried to 360 his way back into the bout, Maru caught him with more shoves sending him out of the ring tsuki-dashi style. Nice win from Chiyomaru today as he ekes forward to 2-4 while Sadanoumi is 4-2.

M9 Daishomaru moved left at the tachi-ai, but M12 Okinoumi stayed square, and as Daishomaru looked to retreat backwards, he aligned his feet and was in such an awkward position, it allowed Okinoumi to send him back and out tsuki-dashi style as well. This one wasn't close as Okinoumi is even steven at 3-3 while Daishomaru falls to 2-4.

M10 Daieisho was proactive in his tsuppari attack from the tachi-ai, but M8 Takarafuji opted to move instead of go toe to toe with shoves of his own. Daieisho continued to apply some nice pressure with his shoves, but Takarafuji moved this way and that just enough to allow him to set up a sweet left kote-nage near the edge. The savvy veteran won here as both rikishi end the day at 2-4.

M10 Aoiyama used a very methodic tsuppari attack today against M8 Kotoshogiku moving forward gradually from the tachi-ai and keeping the Geeku upright and off the belt. Without a mukiryoku foe, Kotoshogiku could do nothing here, and he was pushed back and across in short, linear order. Aoiyama finally gets off the schneid at 1-5 while Kotoshogiku goes quietly into the night at 3-3.

M9 Hokutofuji moved left at the tachi-ai as he is wont to do, but before M7 Tochiohzan could do any damage, Hokutofuji moved back right getting his hand on a right outer grip, but he was still in pull mode causing separation between the two rikishi. As Oh looked to come back forward, Hokutofuji rebuffed him well and slapped him down with little effort shown from Tochiohzan. When I looked at Hokutofuji's record, my first reaction was 6-0??! I think he's had two days of good sumo, but he certainly hasn't had six. Based on Tochiohzan's lack of spirit in this fight, my guess is that Hokutofuji is going to have a good basho on paper but no one will remember it as soon as the tournament's over. Tochiohzan is a measly 2-4.

M5 Asanoyama was wide open at the tachi-ai coming away with a left arm around M7 Shohozan's upper right arm, but Shohozan didn't make him pay whatsoever standing completely upright and allowing Asanoyama to work him over to the edge and out with zero resistance. Shohozan was clearly mukiryoku in this bout as he falls to 3-3 while Asanoyama now moves to 5-1. I think that Asanoyama is one of the legitimate bright spots sumo has going for it at the moment, but 1) that's not saying much, and 2) his bout today was arranged. Afterwards, they panned up into the upper echelons of the Kokugikan to show Asanoyama's cheering section, so here you go:



Just my opinion, but you'd probably rather see less gray and more hot in that group...

M4 Chiyonokuni aligned his feet so badly as he hopped forward at the tachi-ai that I think it threw M6 Onosho off a bit because Chiyonokuni quickly recovered from his mistake and just stormed forward pushing Onosho back and out in perfect linear fashion. Onosho's feet were also pretty much aligned which contributed to the ass-kicking, but I do think that unintentional change-up from Chiyonokuni at the start threw Onosho off today. Both rikishi end the day at 2-4.

M4 Abi and M6 Kagayaki traded tall tsuppari for less than two seconds before Abi moved right grabbing the right outer and using it to sling Kagayaki forward and down dashi-nage style with no resistance whatsoever from Kagayaki. Nice mukiryoku bout here as Abi moves to 4-2 while Kagayaki falls to 2-4.

M5 Myogiryu worked his right arm inside at the tachi-ai and just drove his legs--not to mention M3 Endoh--straight back and across the bales without argument. It maybe took two seconds, and Endoh was thoroughly dominated here falling to 1-5. He's kinda become a forgotten child with Kisenosato and Mitakeumi needing so much attention. As for Myogiryu, he storms to 4-2 with the nice showing.

Sekiwake Ichinojo stood straight up like a big fat target faking a few pulls as Komusubi Takakeisho crept in and eventually shoved him back and across. Ichinojo's only effort was an early left paw at Takakeisho's melon, but he did nothing with it before hopping out mostly on his own. Arranged Ichinojo bouts are easy to tell because he's the least graceful rikishi when he exits the dohyo. He kind of hops back, second guesses himself, and then walks out for real providing for an ugly finish. Ichinojo being able to do nothing against Takakeisho?? Whatever. Both dudes are now 2-4.

Ozeki Takayasu and M1 Kaisei hooked up in hidari-yotsu where Kaisei went for a half-assed kote-nage. He had no intention of applying pressure with it, and all it did was compromise him from there allowing Takayasu to score the easy force out in under five seconds. Easy yaocho call here as Kaisei (2-4) isn't out to spoil anyone's party. Takayasu moves to 6-0, but it's been the lamest 6-0 start I've seen in awhile.

The Ozeki Goeido - Sekiwake Mitakeumi matchup was intriguing because you have Ozeki pride on the line for Goeido. Goeido is also someone that I think Mitakeumi can beat straight up, but the problem when you're gifted a 5-0 start is that you find yourself on Day 6 without having fought a real bout. Goeido took Mitakeumi to the woodshed leading with a hari-zashi where he slapped with the left hand while getting the right inside for migi-yotsu. Goeido ain't a bulldog at the belt, however, so Mitakeumi managed to get his left arm inside technically giving him moro-zashi. He was too upright and on his heels, however, after his bad tachi-ai, and so Goeido just grabbed the right outer grip and escorted Mitakeumi back and across as if he wasn't even there. This was a bad loss perception-wise because Mitakeumi didn't even compete. It's one thing to get off to a hot 5-0 start and then be tripped up on day 6 by a good opponent, but it's quite another not to even show up against Goeido. Both rikishi end the day at 5-1, and chances are good that Mitakeumi will still reach 11 wins, but today was the first time that one of Mitakeumi's opponents tried to beat him, and look how lopsided it was.

Ozeki Tochinoshin used a right kachi-age at the tachi-ai with his left arm up high against M1 Ikioi, but with Ikioi doing nothing, the Ozeki moved right scoring on an easy shoulder slap against his hapless opponent. Tochinoshin is a quiet 4-2 while Ikioi falls to 0-6.

Yokozuna Hakuho got his right arm inside and the early left outer grip against M3 Shodai, but Hakuho pulled out of the prime position for no reason and went for a weak slap that barely connected. The two hooked back up with Hakuho keeping his left arm outside as he focused on a right outer grip essentially giving Shodai moro-zashi, but Shodai was so clueless through it all that Hakuho drove both dudes back to the edge and then just spun down to his right creating the semblance of a nage-no-uchi-ai. The referee actually ruled in favor of Shodai, but they called a mono-ii and went to the tape. Replays clearly showed that Shodai's left heel and then his left thigh touched down first despite Hakuho's best efforts to throw this one. This was a good example of how Shodai almost won the bout against Hakuho of all rikishi by doing simply nothing. And I mean nothing. He was just there along for the ride, and if he actually had established a decent position near the edge where he could aid in the Yokozuna's fall, he would have won. What a crazy bout as Hakuho accidentally wins moving now to 6-0. Shodai falls to 2-4 with the loss, but it seems Hakuho has already shown his intent to lose this basho. I mean go back to the Takakeisho bout. Yes, Hakuho won, but he gave his opponent a lot of openings.  If you think that Hakuho didn't dive, explain what Shodai did to cause him to fly parallel to the dohyo.

Speaking of parallel, here's an opening I had prepared for day 6 before I knew the outcome of the bouts:

At the end of day 5, I was scanning the wires for pictures to post in Harvye's report, and I came across a telling picture from the Kisenosato - Shodai bout yesterday that I wanted to mention:



The picture depicts Kisenosato seemingly at the tail end of an outer belt throw where Shodai's feet are entirely off the ground. While the picture looks good on the surface, there are several flaws in the the overall flow of it that I thought I'd mention. First, Kisenosato doesn't have the strength to lift anyone off of their feet, especially bent over on one leg as he is. Second, his positioning in the picture is something you'd see at the tail end of a nage-no-uchi-ai at the edge, which is where both rikishi are in this picture. When a nage-no-uchi-ai occurs, both rikishi plant with their outer legs and then use their inner legs to try and sweep their opponent off balance as they execute the throw. Watching the flow of the bout, a nage-no-uchi-ai did not occur, and we can also tell one didn't occur by the position of Shodai's body. Third, when watching the bout live, Kisenosato executes a dashi-nage with the right outer grip, a move where you swing, pull, or yank your foe out of the ring by the belt. The problem there is the loser's feet aren't elevated off of the dohyo during a dashi-nage because it's not a throw. So the question becomes: what led to Shodai's having both feet off the dohyo as his body is parallel to the sand? There is only one conclusion, and that is that Shodai took a dive.

Yokozuna Kakuryu and Komusubi Tamawashi traded tsuppari at the tachi-ai where Kakuryu was able to keep The Mawashi upright while threatening his arms to the inside. This was a nice methodical oshi-charge from Kakuryu that sent Tamawashi back and out in fairly short order. Kakuryu moves to 6-0 while Tamawashi falls to 0-6. That's how you know that the banzuke is fake. Tamawashi has zero wins while all of the Japanese "elite" rikishi are sitting pretty in terms of wins vs. losses.

In the final bout of the day, the venue was primed for another Kisenosato win, and he'd surely get it against M2 Chiyotairyu who came into the day at 0-5 wouldn't he? As I've been pointing out for who knows how long, Kisenosato is at the mercy of everyone of his opponents these days, and it was no different with Chiyotairyu. Chiyotairyu came with a good right kachi-age that sent a jolt into Kyujo. Normally, Chiyotairyu would have his de-ashi going forward if his intent was to win, but after the tachi-ai, he immediately back pedaled swiping down at Kisenosato's body and offering a pull that caused Kisenosato to stumble forward near the edge.

The funny thing was that I think Chiyotairyu wasn't out for blood here. He knows how weak Kisenosato is, and if he wanted to win the bout, he would'a freight-trained him back and out in a second and a half. Instead, he was going through his normal give-up motions, but I think that the contact made at the tachi-ai and Chiyotairyu's speed rattled Kisenosato enough that he thought his opponent was going to to give him the business. Instead of trying to counter or survive Chiyotairyu's early moves by squaring up at the edge, Kisenosato just quit and walked out of the dohyo never bothering to turn back around.  The pic at right looks like an okuri-dashi technique from Chiyotairyu, but he's just trying to catch up to Kisenosato fleeing the ring.  The kimari-te in this one was oshi-dahi.   I think that Kyujo's survival instincts kicked in here, and he just decided to survive another day instead of stand up to Chiyotairyu. Regardless, this was an awful showing from someone at his rank and another awkward ending to one of his bouts. The crowd was stunned into silence, but that will happen when you believe everything you're spoon fed.

The bout doesn't make sense for the Japanese people on several levels. First, Kisenosato was fighting with kihaku and supposedly on a roll. Second, Chiyotairyu was 0-5 coming, and when's the last time a winless M2 toppled a Yokozuna who was undefeated?? This bout doesn't make sense if you believe that all of sumo is real, but it was a perfect example of the fraud that is Kisenosato. Frankly, I'm just surprised at how fragile the dude really is. In fact, as Kisenosato exited the venue, he lifted up his flowery yukata to adjust something, and I just did catch a glimpse of this tattoo he has on his right hip. Take a look:



In all seriousness, the Japanese fans likely feel gutted after the losses by both darlings. It's one thing to lose now and then, but it's quite another to get humiliated. Both losses were bad, but all it's going to take are a few more consecutive wins from Kisenosato and Mitakeumi, and day 6 will be forgotten. Both losses came at the hands of Japanese rikishi, and you notice how the foreigners are doing nothing to spoil Japan's fun...at least to this point. Day 6 was simply further evidence that the so-called Japanese "elite" rikishi are frauds, and the foreign rikishi are more than willing to lower the bar to make everything look close. Today we were able to confirm that on all fronts by the substance of the sumo.

King's to Harvye tomorrow.

Day 5 Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
No upsets. Justin said it yesterday, and that nailed the flavor of this tournament so far. All three Yokozuna are in there, and nary a loss. 12-0 as a group. All three Ozeki are there; Goeido had a bit of a surprise loss right away, and Tochinoshin has gone down too, but with all three at 4-0 or 3-1, they're all in the yusho race. Mitakeumi is signaling early that Ozeki is likely a lock; he's 4-0. Looking deeper, the losers are also exactly who you would expect. Poor Ikioi, probably the banzuke's biggest yo-yo of the last few years (great records when ranked low, terrible records when ranked high), is 0-4. Yutakayama, last time's glory boy, is getting thrashed and schooled again: hard lessons at 0-4 from the M2 rank. If there is an upset performance so far, I'd say it is Asanoyama, holding tough at M5 with a 3-1 start. But it's not really that surprising--I'll go ahead and pat myself on the back, as I predicted a good tournament for him on Day 2.

What does it all mean? The true answer is it is too early to say. But let's say anyway. It means we may get a barnburner of a yusho race. And you know what? What is the most exciting thing in this tournament so far? It is undoubtedly Kisenosato. Don't deny it. Love him or hate him, the venue is electric when he is up. And with his drama-rife, gyaku-ten victories, whether you believe in their legitimacy or not, they are compelling. He's been escaping by the hair of his chinny chin chin in unlikely, hair-raising ways. Where this goes I don't know, but certainly if I were a producer chomping on a cigar and poring over a bunch of screenwriter work to pick out a story to tell, I'd plunk my hairy finger down on "Kisenosato's comeback," and say, "this one." Whether it's a tragedy or a comedy we don't know yet. Big money summertime fun crowdpleaser? Sappy tear jerker? Thought-provoking indie drama about the cynical realities of life? We shall see.

J1 Arawashi (2-2) vs. M16 Ishiura (1-3)
Arawashi is so much better than Stone Ass (Ishiura) that during the match I totally forgot he was visiting from Juryo and lower ranked. Ishiura manned up in this one and went chest to chest, stuck a right arm in there and tried to get a belt grip. He got it, inching along. But lo! By the time he had it, Arawashi was all over him on the same side, overhand, on the belt. And had him on the straw. And was crushing him out, yori-kiri. Sigh. Oh, for reality, all the time. Couldn't we have that? Like this?

M15 Yoshikaze (4-0) vs. M14 Chiyomaru (1-3)
The Purple Panther (Yoshikaze) has been on the prowl this tournament, and took a bite out of Chiyomaru's bulbous fat today. Well, not really. But he rammed right into him, kept it straight, head down, working. He might as well have been munching on the upper regions of Chiyomaru's belly with that position. Exposing the intestines. Push, push; Chiyomaru tried various arm-position changes up high, but Yoshikaze was busy winding his guts out through his belly button. Well, not really. But still. Oshi-dashi victory, Yoshikaze. Scattering of entrails like occult leftovers.

M14 Takanosho (2-2) vs. M16 Kotoyuki (1-3)
I am so uninspired by Takanosho's debut sumo I feel a little shy of my prediction that he might manage a mid-Maegashira career. Now I am wishing he will wilt back to Juryo and we won't have to see him ever again. But he is a rookie, barely started, and I should be a little charitable. Well, I did in fact hope he would beat Kotoyuki. He started out well: pounded Little Snow (Kotoyuki) back with a few shoves. But Kotoyuki, calm and veteran, stepped to the side like a dude courteously opening the door for his grandma, and grandma (Takanosho) ungraciously plopped to the dirt, hiki-otoshi. Sorry, grandma.

M15 Chiyoshoma (3-1) vs. M13 Takanoiwa (2-2)
By the shores of Lake Kucherla! La dee la! (stentorian singing follows.) They beat each other up pretty good. It was fun to watch. Punch! Bam! Wrangle! This way they went. That way they went. Takanoiwa started it out with a forearm bar, but after that they pretty much just whacked away at each other. I guess Takanoiwa whacked harder and lower. He also had a good momentum-shifting body toss. Frankly, Takanoiwa dominated his wily foe. It ended in a bit of yori-kiri finishing-off by Takanoiwa, but this was a brawl, won by the better bruiser. Beggaring a bushwhack.

M13 Ryuden (3-1) vs. M12 Nishikigi (3-1)
I liked this. Head-butting tachi-ai. Then Ryuden stuck his arms inside pretty good, but Nishikigi clamped down on them way hard, the "kime" position. And there they stood for quite a while, working it. I thought Nishikigi had it; having both arms inside against you is a bad position to be sure, but he was doing the right thing by staying as low as possible and suffocating Ryuden's arms. However, Ryuden, he of the good body, worked both hands on the belt, and I think he's just bigger and better. Once he had dual grips he stood Nishikigi up enough to start moving him back and scored a well-earned yori-kiri victory.

M11 Sadanoumi (3-1) vs. M10 Daieisho (2-2)
Sometime I just wanna say, "they pushed at each other a bunch and one guy fell down. Happens!" Actually, I don't want to say that, but feel compelled to, because like, that's all we ever seem to get to see, man. Anyway, it's what happened here. And who was which? Well, Daieisho had the more manful pushing, so Sadanoumi lurched out of there real good, and Daieisho tumbled to the stinging clay, tsuki-otoshi. Happens. Crap.

M10 Aoiyama (0-4) vs. M12 Okinoumi (1-3)
Justin is right that Aoiyama's flabby breasts keep growing and growing. They are truly amazing, more and more: flappy, thick pancake like things, if pancakes were as big as a loaf of bread and heavy as sacks of lardy pudding. Every time I see them I want to comment on them because, like, like I said, they are… amazing. Just amazing. They flabber and flapper around in a painful looking way during the matches and, well, you feel like he could use it as a weapon, slap somebody upside the head with that flesh mat and stun ‘em real good. One of his opponents accidentally grabbed one and lifted it the other day during the match, like he was checking if there might be a gerbil or something hidden under there. I try not to mention them because, you know. But sometimes I can't help it. Anyway, this was the same as the last match: Aoiyama did the more manful thrusting in a thrust battle, so Okinoumi evaded a little and Aoiyama fell down, tsuki-otoshi. As Aoiyama walked out, his gluteous buttocks showed petite and tight and modest, smaller than his breasts. He's quite a guy.

M9 Hokutofuji (4-0) vs. M8 Kotoshogiku (3-1)
Hokutofuji had another good one yesterday to heap upon his excellent start, and I was hoping he would thrash Uluru (Kotoshogiku) good today. I'm tried of Uluru hanging out around at M1 and like him better around these parts--he's actually still better than some of the guys down here. Before the match, by the way, Hokutofuji slapped himself up in such a vigorous way he reminded me of one of those big-city-street-corner ice-cream bucket drummer guys, only he used his own body as the bucket. Cool! Psyche yourself up, man! It worked: he fought well. He kept one hand on Uluru's face, the other on his chest most of the time, kept his head lower, and applied consistent pressure. Uluru slapped and thrust way too high instead of bulling in there in turn, and was like a side of beef in Rocky's meat locker. Biff, baff, knock-out. Satisfying oshi-dashi win for Hokutofuji.

M8 Takarafuji (1-3) vs. M9 Daishomaru (1-3)
Oh, I am so bored by Takarafuji. So boring! But he was facing my least favorite guy, so I hoped he would pull out a boring, slow, methodical win anyway. Nothing doing. This match looked like a hefty helping of shullbit, as Takarafuji stood around and let Daishomaru repeatedly push up on his chest with little pauses in between and easily drive him out, oshi-dashi, like Daishomaru was the second coming of Takakeisho or something. Next!

M7 Shohozan (3-1) vs. M6 Onosho (1-3)
Like I said the other day, Onosho's return from injury has been a surprisingly laborious road for him up until now anyway, and he's looked really bad in this tournament. I'm almost ready to relegate him to Shodai status: once-promising youngster who was overhyped and will settle in to a decent career much lower than once expected. But I'm not known for my patience. Anyhoo, Onosho destroyed Darth Hozan like Luke did after he got mad about the idea them being mean to Leia. Onosho drove Darth back with impressive, rapid tsuppari, threw in a disorienting pull or two, then knocked him bodily out, oshi-dashi, ramming him with his shoulder. Darth just stood there and took it. Then Darth went and threw his oyakata down a nuclear shaft. Okay, I made that last part up.

M6 Kagayaki (2-2) vs. M7 Tochiohzan (1-3)
Did I mention that I love Kagayaki? I hope so dearly every time. I suppose it is that he so often jilts me that keeps my ardor fresh: the pain and endless longing of unfulfilled desire. Kagayaki kept it tight and focused in this one, but Tochiohzan is just way technically better, and ignored all that busy Kagayaki business and let his arms get inside amidst the fray. Lo! Tochiohzan found himself with moro-zashi, his favorite position, and for all his workmanlike work Kagayaki found himself with nary a nothing: a tough man inside. From there, Tochiohzan summarily drove Kagayaki out, oshi-dashi. Maybe Kagayaki will sweep me away with his hidden, passionate feelings next time, though. There is always tomorrow.

M5 Myogiryu (3-1) vs. M4 Abi (2-2)
Mike made a good point about Abi the other day: he always keeps his arms way far extended. This makes him look kind of stiff and comical, a hyperkinetic zombie, but it can be effective in keeping guys off him. That's how he beat Myogiryu today. Myogiryu was trying to work Abi with windmill slaps, but Abi kept those arms long, and by the end Myogiryu's slaps were whiffing the air: he couldn't reach Abi across the length of the arms. Easy oshi-dashi win for Abi.

M4 Chiyonokuni (1-3) vs. M5 Asanoyama (3-1)
Asanoyama needed to win this: Chiyonokuni is not much of a thing, and if Asanoyama is going to be a thing himself, he needs to beat a guy like this now. He can beat guys like, say, Tochinoshin later. He needs to be able to beat Chiyonokuni today. Chiyonokuni went all rabid leprechaun on him, biting and slapping and clawing and scratching. Well, okay, there was no biting. And this did get Asanoyama cartwheeling through the air and down while he shoved Chiyonokuni through the vaporous ether into oblivion. They had to take a lengthy mono-ii to discuss it, but gave it to Asanoyama. He'd touched down first, but Chiyonokuni's body was already airborne at that point, so the yori-taoshi decision went in favor of The Morning Mountain (Asanoyama). Keep it up, man. This is good.

M3 Endo (1-3) vs. M1 Kaisei (1-3)
There's this novel called Blood Meridian. It's really good. Spoiler alert: at the end of the novel the big fat, mean protagonist villain, The Judge, smothers the naïve protagonist hero, The Kid, in folds of his flesh and kills him. In an outhouse. That's what I'd like to see Kaisei do to Endo: catch Endo between one of the layers of his belly and turn him to a sweaty, gobbity liquid that would dissolve and disappear. And that is pretty much what happened. They bashed into each other, and Kaisei dropped the death-from-above smotheration all over Endo, who had a useless dual-inside position as he withered out and dropped into the outhouse pit, yori-kiri, under the hell-break power of The Judge. Read that book.

K Tamawashi (0-4) vs. S Ichinojo (1-3)
The tachi-ai was legit but so slow and lame the gyoji called it back. I was honestly looking forward to this one, though, so was glad that on the second go round that these guys went after it in earnest. I am honestly not sure: in a straight up match here, who would usually prevail? The unbeatable firepower strikes of Tamawashi? Or the impregnable, stifling blubber of Ichinojo? What is better: dominant striking power, or dominant suffocating size? Tamawashi, true to form, mangled Ichinojo's face plenty good and drove him straight to the straw--awesome. Ichinojo, true to form, turned into the Iron Blob of Gravity Grease there, refused to go over the straw, and draped himself back into the match by putting his body on Tamawashi. He then bullied him in the fleshiest way possible across the ring and out, yori-kiri. Awesome. In the Fight Box podcast, Don asked us to pick a top three guys from outside the Ozeki/Yokozuna ranks. To my surprise, I instinctively chose Ichinojo and skipped right over Tamawashi. This is why.

O Goeido (3-1) vs. M2 Yutakayama (0-4)
Yutakayama had to withdraw with injury. Too bad, but this wasn't his tournament anyway. The freebie for Goeido is kind of galling, though.

S Mitakeumi (4-0) vs. O Tochinoshin (3-1)
And here it is--day five, and we have a legitimate Big Match. We were going to learn one of two things here: 1. If Tochinoshin wins, we'd know we have a serious tournament and Tochinoshin is in it to win it and a major factor. Exciting. 2. If Mitakeumi wins, we'd know Mitakeumi's Ozeki promotion is a lock, that he is a serious contender for a second straight yusho, and that Tochinoshin will not be in a yusho race from here. I was in some suspense: I'm happy to say this stuff still matters to me. The answer was swift, unequivocal, and unpleasant. Mitakeumi bashed Tochinoshin back off the lines, got his own arms down into moro-zashi, and forced Tochinoshin over the lines, yori-kiri. Hoo, boy. It looked really good, but the key came right at the end: Tochinoshin had both hands over the back of Mitakeumi and was wrenching him to the side. He had a clear escape path for a gyaku-ten throw-down at the edge--a classic and common winning sumo move, of course. Instead, Tochinoshin regretted it and turned his body back in the other direction: re-oriented himself to be directly up against the bales. And that is how it happens. Get ready for a coronation; Mitakeumi is your man. I'm not saying he will win the yusho--though he well may--but I guarantee Ozeki promotion, and he's your secondary star in the tournament to King Kisenosato.

M1 Ikioi (0-4) vs. O Takayasu (4-0)
Takayasu just feels enormously inconsequential. He is 4-0, but has zero juice. He just doesn't feel at all like a factor. Takayasu got a long left inside, while Ikioi did a lot of grunting and straining and looking good with all those rippling muscles tensed. Since Ikioi couldn't get on the body, he tried to wrench Takayasu around by the arm. It didn't work, as Takayasu didn't let go and kept one leg behind Ikioi as Ikioi pivoted. From there, clearly about to get okuri-dashi'ed, Ikioi stepped voluntarily out. So, okuri-dashi. Without the actually okuri. Or dashi.

Y Kakuryu (4-0) vs. M2 Chiyotairyu (0-4)
This one was kind of a false start, which robbed Chiyotairyu of his power. The tachi-ai was lazy, and I thought the gyoji had called it back. I was sitting here waiting for them to start over, then realized it was the actual bout. It was all over for Chiyotairyu, of course; he was still on his side of the starting lines, a tachi-ai-result disaster for him, and had a Yokozuna on his belt--a worse disaster for him. Very easy yori-kiri win for Kakuryu. Kisenosato has all the juice, Hakuho all the nostalgic foreign-fan romance, and Mitakeumi all the sexy hype. But watch out for Kakuryu: he has been getting a little run over the last year, is fighting well, and could well be the compromise winner. We shall see.

Y Kisenosato (4-0) vs. M3 Shodai (2-2)
Now, if Kisenosato were 2-2 at this point, this one would have had some drama, as they are about evenly matched. However, with Kisenosato at 4-0, you knew this one would be a laugher in favor of the Lord. You can just feel it: the drama and good feelings continue to build and build around Kisenosato's successful-so-far return performance, and that was not about to be upended on Day 4 by Vanilla Softcream (Shodai). Kisenosato grabbed Shodai's arms and Shodai hopped up and down a bit ineffectually. Kisenosato then changed to a body grip and drove Softcream this way and that across the dohyo before easily slinging him down to the endless clay, uwate-nage. And life went on and on, and the rivers ran, and things were as they ever were.

K Takakeisho (1-3) vs. Y Hakuho (4-0)
What a mess. Hakuho was driving Takakeisho back with little unimpressive-looking deaking shoves. Near the bales, Takakeisho ducked out of there. Way, way out of there. Classic mid-bout henka. Hakuho stumbled a bit, but stopped himself well short of the straw. At this point he was vulnerable, though, and if Takakeisho had been near him, he could have knocked him out. Instead, when Takakeisho charged the Yokozuna, he came from so far back he looked like a guy getting a running start to do a cannonball into the backyard swimming pool. And cannonball he did: Hakuho had time to calculate and sprang aside in turn. Takakeisho kind of glanced off him and crashed down while grabbing sadly at his ankles. Hataki-komi. We've had years of this kind of sloppy crap from Hakuho, but he still wins with it, so, well, here's some more. Sigh. I enjoyed the day, though. The tournament remains turned on at high volume, and we'll see whether the car crashes or not.

Tomorrow Mike kills and saves like Milarepa sailing the vast heavens along the way of the white cloud, mercy like a sword.

Day 4 Comments (Justin Williams reporting)
Very exciting day for me, my very first Sumo day's commentating for this excellent Sumo forum and a privilege it is; much appreciated Harvye and Mike. I am a relative Sumo novice and am not ashamed to admit nearly all that I have learnt has been via our Sumotalk leaders for about 5 years and the expertise of all you following. My background is in Rugby, Australian Rules football and cricket and not yet as proficient with the technicalities and lingo of Sumo but offer my appreciation as I see it. I've visited Japan every year for the last 14 years and hopefully this will continue.
I'm not sure if I will be a regular contributor, you guys will decide that. I'm happy to ease the load for Mike and Harvye when asked. So, excuse my deficiencies and I'll get on with it.

The basho thus far...

To preface this I'll state I found the last basho a bit hard to find much joy from. In any sport if the top competitors are absent, the quality drops and such was the case in July. Now that all Yokozuna are still here and performing well, it makes for engrossing viewing. Say what you will about Kisenosato but I'm mighty happy that he has come out to play. The Sumo fans in Japan desperately need their number one guy up and about AND doing well with the basho richer for him participating. Hakuho looks close to his imperious best, and Kakuryu is well, just being himself, i.e. winning with as little energy as he sees fit.

Hakuho is quite rightly the favourite to win the tourney, and I feel he needs Kisenosato, his old sparring partner as an extra incentive to bring his best each round. With the most discussed big toe in world sport, he has nothing to prove, but I cannot see him tainting his legacy with indifferent performances though some would argue this is already happening. When this Mongol maintains his mongrel, he is still the biggest dog in the yard.

M15 Chiyoshoma (2-1) vs. M16 Ishiura (1-2)
Looking forward to this contest. Two of the most "nimblest-footed" rikishi, I'm curious as to how they approach the bout. Ishiura would give himself a chance by heading straight for the belt as definitely would Chiyoshoma. But Ishiura rarely wins unless he henkas, which he probably needs to do so today. Certainly, any of his opponents who don't are mugs, which the sly Chiyoshoma is not. Alas, for Ishiura, no henka, no chance. Chiyoshoma easily parried the blind thrusts from Ish, kept him safely at bay then helped him to the floor. Easy for Chiyoshoma and as usual barely an utterance of appreciation from the audience. I don't think they are there to see him win.

M16 Kotoyuki (0-3) vs. M14 Chiyomaru (1-2)
Two guys just making up the numbers and of the two I predict Kotoyuki won't be in this division come November. I think his knee is dodgy and at the relatively young age of 27, perhaps his best days are behind him. Chiyomaru, aka "Hurricane Harry," well I'm just waiting for his beautiful beach ball of belly to burst. Seriously, how do some people's stomachs just hang and droop when his is a perfect sphere? Never get tired of looking at it. A lengthy wait at tachi-ai and Chiyomaru thought he could win by almost immediately retreating with a lame pull-down attempt. Kotoyuki was having none of it and Hurricane Harry spluttered out, smooth sailing for the victor.

M15 Yoshikaze (3-0) vs. M13 Takanoiwa (2-1)
Who doesn't love Yoshikaze, just a brave street brawler who just seems to have lost any fighting edge? Still going strong in this basho, he is better than a M15, and I hope he takes down Takanoiwa who, if he'd been listening respectfully to Hakuho in October year, then maybe my favourite ex-rikishi, Harumafuji would still be around. Well Takanoiwa did what is all too common and what I cannot understand. He went for the pull without earning the right. Was it a cop-out? Yoshikaze doesn't care and was in no trouble, simply kept moving forward for the oshi-dashi win. He has fought harder for a win before and takes a comfy day out. 4-0 and a continuing healthy start

M14 Takanosho (1-2) vs. M12 Nishikigi (3-0)
At these lower levels I'm usually gunning for the younger guys. Nishikigi is only 28, but his record says he barely makes it at this level. I do like his surname, "Tetsuya" which is the name of a famous Chef in Australia. Takanosho started well with some well-directed palms to Nishi's neck, which Nishi withstood and started to gain parity before falling forward, tsuki-otoshi, an all too common method of defeat for the ungainly.

M13 Ryuden (2-1) vs. M11 Kyokutaisei (1-2)
I wonder if Ryuden will come charging forward with his typical wild Tsuppari? No need today, Kyokutaisei had to withdraw. Sadly, I don't understand much Japanese, so I cannot inform you the reason. There was even some light applause. Next.

M12 Okinoumi (1-2) vs. M10 Daieisho (1-2)
Plenty of solid chest thrusting and pushes from both sides with neither guy managing a belt hold. Okinoumi managed to just about oshi-dashi Daieisho over the bales when Daieisho pivoted and pulled a nifty, nigh-on miraculous left twist, himself teetering on the edge for what I now know is called, "maki-otoshi." Nice.

M9 Hokutofuji (3-0) vs. M10 Aoiyama (0-3)
I like Hokutofuji too. For the most part he tries to be the aggressor and loves to give himself a few slaps. Aoiyama, ever since I first saw him, the only thing he has developed are even larger breasts. If you have seen him compete once then that's all you will ever get. It's the same every single time over 7 years. If his opponent can survive those huge doughy arm thrusts then there is a fair chance Aoiyama will soon lose balance and fall over. Hokutofuji was quick off the mark and gave Aoiyama no chance. As usual he attempted a pull before stepping back and out, twisting his ankle in the process. Try going forward Daniel, try anything, just don't keep with the same crap.

M11 Sadanoumi (2-1) vs. M9 Daishomaru (1-2)
Odd bout. Not much on offer from Daishomaru. Sadanoumi sort of crabbed sideways into Daishomaru, steadily backwards and out. Wish I had more to say on this one but largely uninspiring.

M7 Shohozan (2-1) vs. M8 Kotoshogiku (3-0)
Shohozan looks like he'd make a great loyal henchman for a crime boss. Kotoshogiku looks like if he was laid down and covered in brown dust, it would be a great impersonation of Uluru (formerly known as Ayre's Rock). Shohozan did well and drove in and under 'Giku to nullify his strength without gaining control. 'Giku huffed and heaved but Shohozan kept his balance, kept his hold before dishing out a solid under-arm throw that left 'Giku with a bemused look on his face.

M8 Takarafuji (1-2) vs. M7 Tochiohzan (0-3)
Tochiohzan has a painstakingly deliberate, measured set up which drew a false start from Takarafuji. Re-set, and it worked well for Tochiohzan as he gained a strong inside position, drove Takarafuji backwards and comfortably across the line. Tochiohzan is now on the scoreboard.

M5 Myogiryu (2-1) vs. M6 Onosho (1-2)
I've never paid Myogiryu much attention, and here he kept Onosho at arm's length with a throat-hold before relaxing his grip and Onosho duly fell forward. Hiki-otoshi, surely a negligent lazy means of defeat.

M6 Kagayaki (1-2) vs. M5 Asanoyama (3-0)
Looking forward to this, and I think Asa is on a roll and will be too much for Kagayaki. Asa is big and awkward and should get up and under the tall Kagayaki. Not so. Kagayaki looked tall and ramrod straight as a grenadier soldier, comfortably holding his balance. Asa briefly gained a left-hand grip on the belt, but Kagayaki was tight on the inside before helping his foe to the floor with an elegant arm lock throw.
Good stuff.

M3 Shodai (1-2) vs. M4 Abi (2-1)
False start from Abi who loves to go straight for the neck. Shodai held his composure, admirably, I know it would annoy me, stood his ground, tried for a weak left throw which though unsuccessful keft Abi open for a quick settling yori-kiri which Abi could not resist. Abi is all arms and nought much else, he has a weak base, is too upright and the bulkier, savvier Shodai taught him a lesson.

M4 Chiyonokuni (1-2) vs. M3 Endo (0-3)
I like Chiyonokuni despite his sumo technique often resembling a frantic backstroke swimmer. Endo, well the crowd loves him, and he enjoys getting close to them. Just about at the finish every one of his bouts he tumbles in amongst them whether he wins or not. He should withstand the frenetic flailing of Chiyo and record his first win. He did well, repelling and deflecting Chiyonokuni's mad thrusts. Endo kept low, kept advancing and Chiyo duly stepped back and out. Tomorrow Endo faces Kaisei so he might be re-joining the seated viewers then.

S Mitakeumi (3-0) vs. S Ichinojo (1-2)
Ichinojo, "...you are young and life is long and there is time to kill today." There is probably no other sport in the world he could possibly be good at apart from sumo, yet he still only gives an effort every now and then. Mitakeumi is surging on the wave of youthful optimism, and I like the fact he goes forward and is getting better each basho. Plenty of cheering for the ruddy-cheeked starlet who sports full fleshy lips as if he is ready for a smooch or just happily whistling. The sponsors circled the dohyo, so a bit of cash should incentivize Ichinojo. Not so. Good solid tachi-ai from both guys with Ichi attempting a left outside grip, but Mitakeumi was up and in denying Ichi leverage. Mita is a strong lad and with some energetic gaburi-yori pumps, Big Ichi was oshi-dashi'ed out, rightfully deprived of the cash.

K Tamawashi (0-3) vs. O Tochinoshin (2-1)
Will the real Tamawashi step forward, please. At 0 and 3 he needs to make a move. The Shin will be annoyed at his slip-up yesterday and will make Tamawashi earn it. Splendid start with a gratifying collision which meant both guys meant business. Tamawashi was going for the kill and volleyed into Shin in an all or nothing torpedo charge, rocking the Shin who was doing his best to twist away but was going backwards and out as Tamawashi headed for the floor. I thought Shin had let his heel touch the outside clay before Tamawashi bit the dust, and then Shin also joined the front row spectators receiving a bloody cut to the right of his right eye. The judges conferred and decided a rematch should occur. Excellent! These battles are worth repeating. Both boys gathered their senses, Shin did his best to clean his bloodied face and then it was on again. Tamawashi gave Shin a huge blast and then another which backed him up, naturally. Not many rikishi could survive such a barrage, but Shin knew what he had to do. Tama lined up another all out low charge whereby Shin pivoted left on the ring's edge leaving Tamawashi off balance, tsuki-otoshi. Terrific ring-smarts from Shin who claimed a well-earned victory. As hoped for, the best match up for the day so far.

K Takakeisho (1-2) vs. O Takayasu (3-0)
I'm not a fan of Takakeisho; I think he's limited by his limiting physique, yet he has good aggression and tenacity. If he lets Takayasu get hold of his belt it's all over. Well it wasn't necessary. Takakeisho rammed his head into the chest of Takayasu who took it well- good start, then Takakeisho, well, lost his balance. Hiki-otoshi for not much effort.

O Goeido (2-1) vs. M1 Ikioi (0-3)
Another surly henchman against a guy that looks the part and should be ranked higher if not for one glaring weakness, his rigid lack of flexibility. I get the impression Ikioi wants to be Hakuho. Fair enough. Similar builds, obviously strong, he even sets up similar prior to tachi-ai in reverence to the Hak, but M1 is probably too high for him. I predict a Goeido win followed by a typical graceless Goeido strut. Ouch! Goeido copped a wallop of a headbutt which shook him, and he staggered backwards. Ikioi, stiff as he is couldn't take advantage of his dizzied rival and fell flat on the floor again. This happens too much to Ikioi.

Y Kisenosato (3-0) vs. M1 Kaisei (1-2)
Kiso, yay, good to see he's back. Didn't think I would miss him. He's not been convincing, but yesterday he showed great ring awareness and balance in just avoiding what would have been a disastrous loss to Yutakayama. Kaisei has lost all 11 bouts to Kisenosato, so Kiso should be confidant. Boom, another head clash, Kiso gained a left grip on the mawashi, hesitated and let Kaisei get one of his own. This is the real Kaisei, he's going to give it a go. There was a bit of a stalemate whilst the two sorted out their yotsu positions, though Kiso should have bustled out Kaisei. Though try as he might, Kaisei held on. Not for long. Kaisei was valiant but endurance bouts are not his forte and eventually Kiso yori-kiri'ed the exhausted Brazilian out. Kiso wins again, the crowd is relieved, Kaisei is in need of an oxygen mask.

M2 Chiyotairyu (0-3) vs. Y Hakuho (3-0)
I can't recall seeing these two compete against one another. As 'tairyu has only one weapon and no endurance beyond a 10 second bout, this should be a regulation win for the Hak. I love the Hak. His presence lifts the whole level of the basho and watching him is invariably like witnessing a great cat pounce upon a hapless antelope. Granted, Chiyotairyu is more a buffalo but Hak dines out on anything.

Muscular tachi-ai from both guys with 'tairyu doing well to deny The Hak the left belt grip, and what looked like a light belt grip, himself. Now The Hak can enjoy the feel of those sideburns whilst going about obtaining a right-hand grip then sprung into kill mode with a well-executed over-arm throw. I'm not sure what Chiyotairyu's plan was, but he got into a decent position without taking advantage.

Y Kakuryu (3-0) vs. M2 Yutakayama (1-0)
Is Yutakayama a potential Ozeki? Another Yokozuna to test him should be good. Kakuryu went low for the front belt where if he grabs it, it usually means a regulation win. He missed due to a hefty body thrust from Yutakayama. Kak tried a weak arm throw which opened up for him to finish Yutakayama off for an oshi-dashi push out. Yutakayama may look at the replay and realise where he had a chance to gain parity over Hak. Hopefully he will be wiser for the experience.

So that's it for my first effort guys. An enjoyable day's performance without any upsets I noticed, certainly not from the top-ranked rikishi. Hopefully this basho will be up for grabs right to the last day with all the big boys featured.
Cheers, and over to your regular commentator, Harvye, tomorrow.

Day 3 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Three days into a basho is far too early to make any predictions regarding the outcome, but it is evident through these first three days just how important it is for Japan not only to have a Yokozuna on the banzuke but to see him performing well on paper. I think subconsciously everyone can see what's going on, but like so many other accepted "necessary evils" in Japanese society, the general public turns a blind eye and just accepts the results in sumo as straight up fact because like those other necessary evils, it makes everyone feel good.

As part of the Day 2 broadcast, NHK produced an interesting graphic that detailed the number of man-in on-rei days the past 10 years:



A man-in on-rei is what's considered a sell-out, and they'll lower the banners even at around 90% capacity, but the obvious point of this chart is to illustrate how sumo has rebounded from its low point back in 2011, or Heisei 23. As you can see, there were only 13 sell-outs in 2011, but that only accounts for four official basho. The Haru basho that year was cancelled outright due to the gambling scandal, and then they had some ridiculous name for the Natsu basho where the results were official, but the basho itself wasn't counted as a true basho (only in Japan, I know). In that same timeframe, something like 18 sekitori were also thrown out of sumo for participating in bout-fixing, and it was obviously the low point in modern sumo's history.

While the gambling scandal and yaocho scandal would obviously turn off many Japanese fans, you can see from the two years prior that the number of sell-outs was down trending severely anyway. So, what accounted for the downtrend prior to the scandals, and how did sumo pull itself out of the situation after the scandals to where they sold out every day the entire year by 2017?

Major events that contributed to those trends include:

Booting Asashoryu out of sumo in 2010. There has never been a more polarizing rikishi in sumo, but love him or hate him, you had to watch him, and when  Asashoryu left, sumo wasn't as popular.

Hakuho's historic run. Not only did the Yokozuna reel off 63 straight wins after Asashoryu's retirement, but his record from the beginning of 2009 (the beginning of that timeline) up until the cancellation of the March 2011 basho was an astounding 186-9.  That equates to an average of less than one loss per basho, and that doesn't even take into acount how many of those bouts were thrown.

Kotoshogiku is promoted to Ozeki at the end of 2011.

Kisenosato is promoted to Ozeki at the beginning of 2012

Kisenosato is the jun-yusho rikishi four times in 2013

Goeido is promoted to Ozeki in 2014

Endoh

Kotoshogiku takes the yusho in 2016, the first Japanese champion in exactly 10 years.

Goeido picks up his first yusho later on in 2016

Kisenosato takes consecutive yusho to begin 2017 and is rewarded with the rank of Yokozuna ending a 14 year drought for the country

Of the above events, the most critical one was the Endoh phenomenon. Following on the heels of Kotoshogiku and Kisenosato's ill-gotten rises to the Ozeki rank, Endoh proved that a Japanese rikishi could be made a star regardless of sumo ability or accomplishment in the ring. Don't forget that Kisenosato and Kotoshogiku were very good rikishi in their primes. Sure, they didn't earn all of their wins during their Ozeki runs, but they at least had a history. Now we have a Japanese rikishi with a yusho under his belt and on the brink of Ozeki promotion in Mitakeumi who hasn't proven a single thing in the ring. It really is an incredible circumstance, but that's what sumo has become.

Let's get to the day's events.  I hesitate to use the word action because very little of it was straight up.

M15 Yoshikaze easily got the left arm to the inside against M16 Kotoyuki who suddenly forgot to come with his usual tsuppari attack. As Yoshikaze methodically nudged his foe back, Kotoyuki just took a dive near the ring's edge as if his drill sergeant shouted at him, "Drop down and give me 20!!"  Spot tried to catch up to the dive, but it was sorta like the ending to a Kisenosato tsuki-otoshi win when you're just happy that you made contact with your foe as he was falling forward. You kind of give that meaningless downward shove as if to say to your opponent, "Now stay down. Yeah!". Yoshikaze has paid for his first three wins while Kotoyuki's all about hoarding cash at 0-3.

M16 Ishiura didn't even try and henka against M14 Chiyomaru. He got his left arm to the inside from the tachi-ai and stayed fully upright (two elements we never see from him), and so Maru was able to lock him up with his own left inside and right kote grip and just walk Ishiura back before shoving him out that last step in three uneventful seconds. Maru was likely calling in a favor here as both dudes end the day at 1-2.

M15 Chiyoshoma was playing nice against M14 Takanosho, but the rookie just couldn't take advantage. Chiyoshoma started with a very slow henka to his right feigning a pull as Takanosho gave chase, and then as the two sorta squared back up, Chiyoshoma kept his hands high not really going for anything with substance. Takanosho just couldn't take advantage, however, and despite looking to get an arm inside near the edge, as Chiyoshoma continued to mawari-komu around the ring, Takanosho couldn't keep up and flopped forward and down. It was surprising how little contact there was in this bout as Chiyoshoma finds himself at 2-1 now while Takanosho falls to 1-2.

M13 Takanoiwa made no effort to get to the belt against M12 Nishikigi as the two sorta created their own separation at the tachi-ai as Takanoiwa faked a few weak pulls, and then when Nishikigi didn't advance at all, Takanoiwa lamely got his left arm inside. He didn't use it to lift Nishikigi upright, however, and on the other side, Iwa had the clear path to the inside right, which would have given him moro-zashi, but instead he just backed up and out of the ring as Nishikigi gave chase. They ruled it oshi-dashi, but it was really hard to identify any "oshi" from Nishikigi who had a difficult time keeping up with it all. I'm sure both parties knew the fix was in going into the bout because it was awful sumo as Nishikigi moves to 3-0 while Takanoiwa has plenty of room to give at 2-1.

Part of me still wants to say that M12 Okinoumi is the best Japanese rikishi on the banzuke, but it's just too hard to tell when so many fights are fake. You take his great bout yesterday against Sadanoumi, and while I realize it's the Sad Man, Mitakeumi couldn't beat Sadanoumi like that nor could Endoh. Today against M13 Ryuden, Okinoumi was back to his limp self settling for hidari-yotsu and never attempting to grab the right outer grip. You do have to credit Ryuden for making a fight of things, but as the two leaned in chest to chest, Okinoumi was just there to make it look good. After about 10 seconds, Ryuden was finally able to latch onto the right outer, and once he had it, he executed a textbook yori-kiri against no resistance from his opponent moving to 2-1 in the process as Okinoumi fell to 1-2. Let's suppose this bout was straight up, when was the last time you saw Kisenosato or Mitakeumi win a bout in the fashion that Ryuden did today?  Trying to get either of those two chest to chest in a bout is like grabbing a slippery trout without a net.

M10 Daieisho came out firing tsuppari into M11 Kyokutaisei whose strategy was to evade around the ring and look for a pull. Daieisho was in hot pursuit throughout, but he never connected on that one shove that really threw Kyokutaisei off balance, so at the edge, Kyokutaisei was able to time a perfect tottari pull at Daieisho's extended right arm and send him down and out as he tried to keep his feet within the straw. Kyokutaisei did earn the win, but in the process of tiptoeing the tawara, his right foot seemed to plant awkwardly causing him to twist his leg--in particularly his knee--around while his foot stayed in place. You could tell immediately that something was wrong, and while Kyokutaisei refused the ride in the Pawn Stars wheelchair, I'd be shocked if you see him fight tomorrow. Both rikishi end the day at 1-2.

M10 Aoiyama came with his usual moro-te-zuki at the tachi-ai against M11 Sadanoumi, and he parlayed that into a typical thrust attack we see from him often, and the moved worked wonders as Aoiyama methodically drove Sadanoumi back to the edge. But that's where things changed on a dime as Sadanoumi lamely moved left at the edge attempting a left counter tsuki-otoshi I guess, but he really didn't make any contact that would send Aoiyama into a dive, but into a spinning dive Aoiyama went just flopping to the dohyo and touching his left elbow down before Sadanoumi stepped out. Aoiyama falls to 0-3 after the gift dive while Sadanoumi finds himself now at 2-1.

M9 Daishomaru came in high against M8 Kotoshogiku as he shaded to his left, and the former Ozeki had difficulty staying square to the point where he could dominate the bout. As a result, Daishomaru came away with his left arm hooked up and under the Geeku's shoulder, but instead of using the position to his advantage, he just went for a two-handed pull at nothing stepping out in the process. They awarded Kotoshogiku the oshi-dashi, but you'd be hard-pressed to find an actual shove into Daishomaru's torso because it just wasn't there. The Geeku sorta had his hands down by Daishomaru's belt, but whatever. Yet another win in sumo where the victor doesn't have to do anything besides lose his balance. Kotoshogiku moves to 3-0 while Daishomaru graciously falls to 1-2.

It was the M9 Hokutofuji that Harvye has been longing for today against M8 Takarafuji. Instead of moving out left and looking pull first, Hokutofuji surprised us all by moving forward and executing a nice thrust attack. He connected with a solid left paw digging into Takarafuji's throat and driving the M8 backwards with a simultaneous shove to the side with the right, and then at the edge, it was a final choke hold with the right paw that sent Takarafuji packing. Great stuff from Hokutofuji who moves to 3-0, but will we see this same approach from him tomorrow? Takarafuji falls to 0-3.

M7 Tochiohzan redefined mukiryoku sumo today against M6 Onosho standing upright at the tachi-ai with feet aligned as he kinda went for a pull. His hands never made it higher than Onosho's neckline, however, and so Onosho just rushed forward getting the left arm in deep and forcing Tochiohzan back and across before he could make moro-zashi official with the right arm inside. Sucks for Tochiohzan (0-3), but Onosho is the more marketable dude, and so he picks up the easy win at 1-2.

Itai said that about 80% of Makuuchi bouts on any given day were arranged, and boy, it sure feels like that today. I mention that here because we finally got a decent, straight-up bout that featured M6 Kagayaki vs. M7 Shohozan. Kagayaki came with a right kachi-age at the tachi-ai and parlayed that into his usual tsuppari attack, but the attack was more upper body than lower body, and so Shohozan easily waxed the shoves off until he sensed an opening to the inside where he pounced getting the left arm inside first followed by the right. Kagayaki knew he was in trouble and attempted a counter kote-nage at the edge, but he was too far gone. Dayum, that felt good to describe a straight up bout as Shohozan moves to 2-1 while Kagayaki falls to 1-2.

M4 Abi looked to take control of his bout against M5 Asanoyama coming out with a nice thrust attack, but Abi is always so extended in his thrusts, and so Asanoyama was able to fight off an initial choke hold before working up and under Abi's extended arms and turning the tables. Once he succeeded there, Abi quickly went into pull mode, but Asanoyama had all the momentum and showed Abi how the successful oshi attack is done. Yes, another straight up fight as Asanoyama moves to 3-0 while Abi falls to 2-1.

In probably the worst fought bout of the day between two parties who tried to win, both M5 Myogiryu and M4 Chiyonokuni took turns swiping at each other's heads from the tachi-ai with feet perfectly aligned. Myogiryu went first and failed miserably, and then as Chiyonokuni tried, Myogiryu tried to advance forward to take advantage, but Kuni just slipped to his left and pulled Myogiryu forward and out for the ugly, ugly win. Chiyonokuni inches forward to 1-2 while Myogiryu falls to 2-1.

M3 Shodai and M3 Endoh put on an ugly display of sumo (I'm being generous in calling it that). Endoh put his hands forward as if to try and work them to the inside, but he backed up in the process and shaded to his right. Shodai was caught off guard by the move and stumbled forward, and I guess he somehow managed to apply enough pressure to Endoh's body to force him to step out beyond the straw before Shodai flopped to the dirt himself. It looked like a tie to me, and I was really afraid they were going to make us watch these two fight again, but thankfully they said, "To hell with it. Shodai, you win." Shodai picks up his first win at 1-2 while Endoh falls to 0-3.

The crowd came to life at this point as Suckiwake Mitakeumi stepped into the ring to do...hmm, "battle" is not the right word...something against Komusubi Tamawashi. That something was backing up and extending his arms forward as if to say, "Don't hurt me." You know, it was the same kind of sumo we saw from Tochinoshin during his Ozeki run. Or not. The Komusubi was definitely of no mind to hurt his opponent, but someone needed to do something, and so Tamawashi chased the Sekiwake around and back to the edge where he got his left arm so deep to the inside of Mitakeumi's right side that the latter's only hope was a kubi-nage counter attempt without the lower body. The reason he couldn't use the lower body to push against Tamawashi was because the Komusubi was already diving out of the ring on his own no thanks to anything that Mitakeumi did. Tamawashi clearly touched down first, but they called a mono-ii and ruled a do-over. Oh the suspense!!

If Tamawashi was trying to lose the first bout, you know he would try to lose the second as well, so basically Mitakeumi just needed to move around and not trip over his own two feet. Tamawashi made sure of that coming forward again at the tachi-ai because Mitakeumi didn't, but as soon as contact was made, Tamawashi backed up and ducked down waiting for the first love tap from his foe. Mitakeumi did slap at Tamawashi's back, but there was no force behind the move, but no matter, Tamawashi just put both palms to the dirt and took the knee. If you've ever wondered what a tsuppari attack would look like from a guy who was born without both arms, you got it today from Tamawashi's sumo. Surprise, surprise...Mitakeumi is 3-0 while while Tamawashi falls to 0-3.

M2 Chiyotairyu knocked Ozeki Takayasu back pretty forcefully with his usual tachi-ai, but you could just see that he wasn't out for blood. With Takayasu near the edge, Tairyu put his right hand against Takayasu's side and then just waited for Takayasu to swipe at him. When he did, Chiyotairyu dove to the dirt giving Takayasu the stupid win. How anyone can be 3-0 fighting like Takayasu at this level is beyond me, but then again, I'm still of the expectation that sumo should be real. As for Chiyotairyu, he falls to 0-3.

Ozeki Goeido straddled his starting line with both feet perfectly aligned from the tachi-ai as he shaded left against Sekiwake Ichinojo, but the Mongolith didn't make him pay for it. In fact, Ichinojo didn't even bother to turn Goeido's way, and so the Ozeki put his left hand at Ichinojo's belt causing Ichinojo to turn 90 degrees and just wait for the okuri-dashi. Just imagine the strength it would take to wrench Ichinojo 90 degrees against his will, and yet, Goeido miraculously did it with no lower body and horrible positioning. When the okuri-dashi didn't come straightway (because Goeido wasn't in an attacking position), Ichinojo turned back and looked over his shoulder, and that's when the final push came giving Ichinojo his cue to just jump off the dohyo. What a weak display of sumo from Goeido as he's gifted a 2-1 start while Ichinojo falls to 1-2.

Ozeki Tochinoshin made no effort to move forward at the tachi-ai and latch onto Komusubi Takakeisho's belt, and so Takakeisho advanced forward without even connecting on a shove. When he got close to the Ozeki, I suppose he did make some contact, but the couldn't back up quick enough going for his usual pull/swipe down Tochinoshin's body. The move had no force behind it, but like the previous bout, it was Tochinoshin's cue to just dive forward and bellyflop to the dohyo a few seconds in. Wow, this is power sumo from the Japanese rikishi!! Takakeisho buys...er...picks up his first win at 1-2 while Tochinoshin is a harmless 2-1.

Yokozuna Hakuho demanded the right inside and left outer grip against M1 Kaisei from the tachi-ai, but credit Kaisei for hanging in there and coming away with a left outer of his own. It didn't matter of course as Hakuho patiently set up a throw attempt that came in the form of an inside belt throw with the left arm, and he had Kaisei dispatched in about five seconds. Hakuho is a cool 3-0 while Kaisei falls to 1-2.

Yokozuna Kakuryu got his left arm to the inside of M1 Ikioi at the tachi-ai and thought about setting up a yori attack. He changed his mind too soon for my liking and moved left setting up a pull in the process, and as Ikioi stumbled forward, Kakuryu used his left inside again to hurl Ikioi forward and down. They ruled it hiki-otoshi, but it was more like a scoop throw. Regardless, the kimari-te was indecisive because Kakuryu's sumo was indecisive, and it's an example of Kakuryu not going all out for whatever reason. He's still 3-0 while Ikioi falls to 0-3.

In the day's final bout, M2 Yutakayama took charge from the tachi-ai using his usual tsuppari to keep Kisenosato upright and nudge him back a few steps, but you could see Yutakayama holding back, and I'm sure he was thinking at this point, "This dude's a Yokozuna??" Uh, no. After waiting for Kisenosato to at least come forward, Yutakayama backed up against the straw as both parties hooked up in hidari-yotsu where the M2 let Kyujo grab the right outer grip, but Kisenosato didn't have the strength to force him back. Instinctively, Yutakayama loaded up a right tsuki-otoshi counter move, but he held up again knowing the damage it'd do, and so the two hunkered down a bit near the edge with Yutakayama's back to the straw. Still, with Kisenosato unable to do anything despite his superior positioning, Yutakayama fired a left scoop throw to move the action more towards the center of the ring, and from there, Yutakayama had the clear path to either the right outer grip or to moro-zashi. Take your pick bro because Kyujonosato was literally doing nothing here. The two stood in this awkward position in the center of the ring for a few seconds, and I think Yutakayama had the feeling that he needed to do something, and so he easily forced Kisenosato back to the edge. At the edge it was do or die for Kyujonosato, and with his opponent just standing there waiting for him to make a move, he finally offered a right tsuki-otoshi into Yutakayama's side that was so weak even in the women in the audience stifled their laughs, but the dutiful Yutakayama just kicked his feet back and dove to the dirt.

Good Lord, this kind of display is so insulting, and I'm actually embarrassed for Kisenosato. While the gullible fans may be buying this, Kisenosato knows that his peers know what's up; he knows that the media knows what's up; and he knows that anyone with half a brain understands what's going on, so just imagine the conflict that must be running through this guy's head. You're a fraud who ain't foolin' too many people, and you have to live with that day after day.  In the press afterwards, they had comments from various oyakata, but none of it was praise.  "He's trying hard," or "I liked his effort" was about as positive as it got, but there is no way to polish the turd that is Kisenosato's sumo.

It's still way too early to make any sort of predictions, but we can all safely say that Kisenosato is not back despite his 3-0 start. As for Yutakayama, I sure hope he get a cut of the kensho money today because he more than earned it.

Well, it's days like today that lead me to think, "I need a break," so let's try something new tomorrow.

Day 2 Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
As often happens, I wrote my intro before reading Mike's, then I had to rewrite, because we basically said the same thing. Points: a) Kisenosato is very much the big story, but it is easy to forget that when not exposed to the Japanese media--I was startled by the intensity of it, and b) the announcers were surprised when Kisenosato won.

As I said on the FightBox podcast the other day with Mike and Don, I don't think this ends well for Kisenosato. I see three possibilities. One, he gets hurt again and can't finish. That would be nine straight tournaments of that, and would likely finally spell the end for him. Two, he plays to his natural ability, gets creamed out there, and has to retire graciously to protect the dignity of the rank. Three, he is propped up and has a strong tournament. For which I just don't think there is any appetite. So, I went ahead and predicted on the podcast that he would retire by the end of 2018. We shall see: he looked good out there yesterday, with help from Ikioi, and I suspected the same would be true today: Takakeisho would be seriously jumping the line if he went out and thrashed this freshly returned, vulnerable, delicate Yokozuna.

Also yesterday, the broadcasters weren't just surprised one Yokozuna won: they were surprised that all three won, and pointed that out with some oomph as if it was an upset. Of course, it was an upset: none of the three finished the basho last time out. It shouldn't be an upset: most of the time, the Yokozuna race through Day 1 like Takeru Kobayashi through his first half dozen hot dogs: expected. Easy. Normal. But is another sign of the out with the old, in with the new theme that 2018 has taken on: this basho is about whether a Yokozuna will get a sunset victory, or whether the tide of youth continues to sweep them into the past.

The broadcast once again started with Kisenosato stuff. Whoa, is it ever on. As for me, I will start with the bottom of the banzuke.

M15 Chiyoshoma (0-1) vs. M16 Kotoyuki (0-1)
Kotoyuki put two hands on Chiyoshoma's face with a good hard stab at the tachi-ai, but it didn't matter as Chiyoshoma had evasion on his mind. And because Kotoyuki just isn't very good, Chiyoshoma leapt nimbly out of the way once, twice, until he was fully behind Kotoyuki and had him. Okuri-dashi it was, horse to knackerman.

M16 Ishiura (1-0) vs. M15 Yoshikaze (1-0)
Yoshikaze barely winning yesterday was a bad sign for him, but he easily handled tiny little Ishiura today. The little man submarined in on Yoshikaze and stuck his head under Yoshikaze's pit. However, 'Kaze already had a belt grip, so Ishiura's attack underneath was going nowhere, and, stymied, Ishiura stood back up instead and tried to play it straight. That made no difference: the yori-kiri force-out was swift and decisive for Yoshikaze.

M13 Ryuden (0-1) vs. M14 Takanosho (1-0)
Hello, newcomer. Let's take a look at Takanosho's stats. He's 181.5 centimeters tall--shortish. He's 128.5 kilos: lightweight. There is still time to put on pounds, but not having them may be a sign that his body won't hold them well. And he's fattish already: not enough space for it on that frame. Age is the one thing that looks good on his ledger: still just 23 years old. With this package, I predict a mid-Maegashira career for him at best. I really do think these three things--height, weight, age--matter in assessing Makuuchi debut guys. Your future stars are your young giants. Give me a 22 year old rikishi in Makuuchi at 190+ centimeters, and I'll give you a future star. Ryuden, who has a much better sumo body than Takanosho, was in control throughout. Takanosho was the busier rikishi, and kept a hand in Ryuden's face, but Ryuden was waiting him out. Ryuden kept his feet apart, kept his opponent in front of him, and waited for the pull: when it came, he easily oshi-dashi'ed his man.

M14 Chiyomaru (0-1) vs. M13 Takanoiwa (1-0)
Takanoiwa is an upper-Maegashira guy working his way back up, and this tournament should be chocolate cake for him, rich and delicious. Try it with an oatmeal stout. Stay-Puft (Chiyomaru) grabbed him by the head a bit, but Takanoiwa gripped him by the body in turn and thoroughly wrecked him: feet apart, gaburi pumping: easy, convincing yori-kiri win. If you put marshmallows too close to the heat, they burst into flame.

M11 Sadanoumi (1-0) vs. M12 Okinoumi (0-1)
If Takanoiwa is my pick for cleaning up low down, Sadanoumi is my pick for annihilation. The bottom of the banzuke is full of potential kachi-koshi guys ranked slightly too low--and Sadanoumi is oldish and that knee is looking pretty deeply wrapped. So, Okinoumi got up and under instantly with his left arm, got his right arm on the belt, and pasted Sadanoumi out like a practice dummy, yori-kiri. Sad man.

M12 Nishikigi (1-0) vs. M11 Kyokutaisei (0-1)
Here's two guys going nowhere--Nishikigi has eight straight tournaments ranked between M10 and M15--but Kyokutaisei is definitely the lesser. He has shown nothing in this division. I wish he would go away, but he keeps hanging around. Speaking of him going away, Nishikigi stood him up with a right forearm bar and shoved him out, oshi-dashi. Nishikigi is not bad down here. Hell, he was the King of the Makuuchi Double Digits today. He'll take it.

M9 Hokutofuji (1-0) vs. M10 Daieisho (1-0)
I loved, loved, loved Hokutofuji at the beginning of his Makuuchi career. Then he went into a multi-tournament extraordinarily sloppy, confidence-free swan dive and I didn't know what to think. He recovered a bit last tournament, but was it real, or was it Memorex? This match was Memorex. Hokutofuji evaded a little, slapped down a little, and Daieisho slapped both palms onto the dirt right away, tsuki-otoshi. Next!

M10 Aoiyama (0-1) vs. M9 Daishomaru (0-1)
This was a carbon copy of the last match: Daishomaru evaded weakly, slapped in a desultory way, and Aoiyama put a hand down on the dirt tsuki-otoshi, like a guy eager to grab a piece of bacon he dropped on the kitchen floor. Next!

M7 Shohozan (1-0) vs. M8 Takarafuji (0-1)
Shohozan used a combination of evasion and pressure, and he had Takarafuji off balance a bit at the beginning, but Takarafuji was too solid and too large for him. He never got the belt, never really got his arms wrapped around Shohozan: he kind of lightly held him instead, like his arms were salad tongs and he didn't want to bruise the veggies. But he just looked so much bigger. By being stable and moving cautiously forward, eventually he pushed the radish over the lip of the bowl, oshi-dashi.

M8 Kotoshogiku (1-0) vs. M7 Tochiozan (0-1)
Once upon a time this would have been a top flight battle. Now it is a curiosity: which will retire first? They bumped each other real good at the tachi-ai, but Tochiozan lost it there by then moving to the side and not going far enough. He made it worse by standing upright and going for a head pull. Kotoshogiku turned to him, got underneath, and forced him summarily out, yori-kiri. Next!

M5 Myogiryu (0-1) vs. M6 Kagayaki (1-0)
Ah, Kagayaki. He looked so good yesterday, with that big, lithe body and those long, strong arms beating one of the golden boys, Onosho. He should have killed little, over-ranked Myogiryu today too. But Myogiryu was having none of it. While Kagayaki pushed ineffectually up too high, Myogiryu stayed low, tight, and close, and soon had the big man befuddled and out, oshi-dashi. This is why Kagayaki will always be just about what he is now.

M6 Onosho (0-1) vs. M5 Asanoyama (1-0)
Of the two big break-out youngsters from last tournament, my money is on Asanoyama to hold serve this tournament--but it is a big test for him. Thus far, he spent six tournaments in between M16 and M11. Hardly a shooting star: he was kind of maintaining down there, looking solid and workmanlike, not putting it all together. Last tournament it seemed to click, and I think he can do it again. Why? He remains safely under the radar, and his sumo is solid and trick-free. Meanwhile, Onosho is a guy who everybody--including me--thinks belongs in the upper Maegashira and, as he develops, maybe more. But his rise back up the banzuke from injury has been less smooth and dominant than I expected, and now there are questions. He was thoroughly schooled by Kagayaki yesterday. So, this was a good match-up of potential risers, and one of them needed to put a signature on it. Unfortunately, it looked like a giveaway. Onosho was busy: got Asanoyama into a tsuppari battle early, which is not Asanoyama's game. Threw in a pull. Kept switching up with shoves and body pressure. Asanoyama was solid and collected in response, and kept himself on the body. He tried a pull too, but regretted it quickly and got back at moving forward. Good enough. However, after that, I'm afraid it looked like Onosho was doing the big sumo dance craze of the last few years "The High Up Arms Wiggle." I just didn't see a lot of offensive pressure from Asanoyama in winning this one, and it was puzzling that Onosho didn't capitalize on the pull. Anti-climactic oshi-dashi win for Asanoyama.

M3 Shodai (0-1) vs. M4 Chiyonokuni (0-1)
Just once I'd like to see somebody pick Chiyonokuni up bodily and sling him through the air like a pinwheeling tomahawk. He just looks like you could do that to him. Shodai? That would be a moment for him. Something to build off. Anyhoo, instead Chiyonokuni ramrodded Shodai so hard at the tachi-ai he looked like Grond trying to break down the doors of Gondor. Shodai was standing way back off the lines and took the full brunt of Chiyonokuni's torpedo bullram. That set the tone. Chiyonokuni sprang about and pulled desperately after that, as is his wont, but Shodai was so slow and sloppy in following that Chiyonokuni briefly had moro-zashi. It was as if he didn't know what to do with it, though: "whoa, me with two hands in and around the body? Get me out of here!!" He turned it into a pull and retreat, and that worked for the hiki-otoshi victory against Elmer "Shodai" Fudd. Well, this counts as sumo too.

M4 Abi (1-0) vs. M3 Endo (0-1)
Destroy Endo! Destroy Endo! That is my wish, every time. It isn't that I don't like him. I love him. I love watching him get destroyed. He gets destroyed better than anybody out there. Abi complied. They stuck their arms out at full length and felt at each other like two guys feeling in the dark for their front door but afraid a dog is going to jump out and bite them. Once Abi realized Endo was barely there, Abi just… moved forward. That's all it took. With those extended, stiff pins, he toppled Endo out like a sad drunk at the quick end of a long night, tsuki-dashi. Collapsed him in the ally with the bottles and the cans. Heap o' nothin'.

S Mitakeumi (1-0) vs. M2 Chiyotairyu (0-1)
This was a fairly even match-up, so the thing to watch for was deference. Would Chiyotairyu go for it, and risk upsetting the narrative, or would he take care, let Mitakeumi do his thing, and look for his own wins elsewhere and later? Poor Mitakeumi was nervous, asking himself the same question no doubt, and had to reset off of the first crouch. Chiyotairyu then went for it--yay!--and drove Mitakeumi emphatically back with blasting hand-and-body power. But lo! Chiyotairyu has nothing besides that initial charge, and Mitakeumi smartly, skillfully, and swiftly whirled away at the straw in the nick of time. By the time they squared back up, it was over: Chiyotairyu's momentum was gone, and Mitakeumi ducked down and pushed him out, oshi-dashi. This was a good win for Mitakeumi: he handled adversity here.

O Goeido (0-1) vs. K Tamawashi (0-1)
Tamawashi was slapping away hard with his bone-fists, as he likes to do. If he would have kept up the hammer hands, he would have taken it. Instead, he stopped, stood there, and waited for Goeido to attack him, tough-guy-in-the-alley style. Hoo boy. Then Tamawashi started backing up a little bit, too. Goeido read his cue cards, surged inside and underneath, and shoved Tamawashi out, yori-kiri. What a waste.

M2 Yutakayama (0-1) vs. O Tochinoshin (1-0)
As I said earlier, my call is that Asanoyama holds serve. I think Yutakayama gets creamed, however. He has a good future--at 185 cm, 171 kg, and 24 years old he is big and young--but it was just two tournaments ago that he got killed at M3, going 2-13. I think we get something closer to that than to last tournament's big performance. If he gets 6-9, it's a victory for him. It will happen to Asanoyama too when he reaches this rank, but he still has a little cushion at M5 and will benefit from it. Yutakayama is exposed. Tochinoshin, meanwhile, is having the run of his life, big toes aside. Yesterday he was a like a Hummer crushing eggs on the blacktop. Tochinoshin wanted this one, too, and Yutakayama had no chance. Tochinoshin used a combination of shoulder shoves and a forearm push to get on the belt, then big body pressure, all moving steadily forward, little by little. He's a bull. Give Yutakayama credit for lasting a bit and not getting just ripped up, but Tochinoshin was putting on a clinic here and Yutakayama was part of the audience. Yori-kiri win for Tochinoshin. Love to watch this guy fight.

S Ichinojo (1-0) vs. O Takayasu (1-0)
Takayasu kept bumping into Ichinojo's wall and glancing off to the side. Kind of comical, really. However, Ichinojo couldn't or wouldn't successfully or quickly follow up, so Takayasu kept getting more chances to scale The Mongolith. Eventually Takayasu pushed up on Ichinojo's arm in a way that turned his back-to-the-straw, and Takayasu then went in underneath and removed him from the dohyo, oshi-dashi. Ichinojo's moment is still a year or two away: he needs Hakuho, Kakuryu, and probably Tochinoshin to clear out first. We will see years more of this yet.

Y Kakuryu (1-0) vs. M1 Kaisei (1-0)
After the initial contact, Kakuryu stepped lightly out of there while pulling forward on the belt at the front, and Kaisei piddle-paddled past him on his little feet. Kakuryu whirled in behind him and wrapped him all the way up: he was nearly grabbing him by his briefs, his hands were so deep around in front. Comical looking okuri-dashi. It's too bad Kaisei isn't better. But he isn't. His fights with the Yokozuna are kind of lame. La.

Y Kisenosato (1-0) vs. K Takakeisho (0-1)
Oh, the crowd was loving the run-up, cheering for Kisenosato. Wow. Such affection. And for what? I guess you like what you like. The people really, really liked seeing Kisenosato. Takakeisho proceeded to whip Kisenosato twice with his push-pull style: got him all the way back to the straw going in the original direction. Then pulled and released him, whipping him all the way back across the dohyo to the other side and the straw once more. But when Takakeisho re-engaged he got off line and tumbled to the dirt, tsuki-otoshi, while Kisenosato stood next to him watching, "tsuki-otoshi." You know, sumo is a funny business. If Takakeisho lost this on purpose, he sure did it in a risky way: his working of Kisenosato was so thorough in the initial phases that he could have won it if Kisenosato had slipped just a hair at any point. Give Kisenosato credit for not doing so, and for surviving well. But the end was… silly. Why, after all that, would Takakeisho just fall down? If you're good enough to do that to a Yokozuna, why aren't you good enough to finish it off? And is this Yokozuna sumo? I won't say Kisenosato did nothing here: he resisted a concerted attack with focus and balance. But he made no winning move. Okay, he's 2-0 now. But the content of the sumo is not.

Was it exciting? Yes it was. All three Ozeki and all three Yokozuna are in this tournament, and through this match had a combined record of 10-1. We haven't seen that in a while.

M1 Ikioi (0-1) vs. Y Hakuho (1-0)
Gosh, Ikioi is plenty strong. These two worthies smacked each other like oil-soaked rubber mattresses belly-flopping into a swimming pool, thrown from a third floor roof. With that, Hakuho instantly had a left frontal belt grip, right there, like magic. Ikioi just had body. Holding tight, they both exerted tremendous pressure. It was Ikioi that had the match going in the direction he wanted, and it looked good for him for a moment. Hakuho is not a Yokozuna for nothing though, and made excellent use of what he had: pulled in with that left hand grip, pushed down on Ikioi's head with his right hand, crumpling his foe to the dirt uwate-dashi-nage, right at the straw.

Hey man, this is fun: we've got top guys winning. It's a bit electric out there right now. Keep it up, boys.

Tomorrow Mike jams his finger in the light socket hard.

Day 1 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Prior to the start of the broadcast each day, NHK will always lead into the sumos with a few news headlines. That was the case today as well, but they suddenly went to a live feed in the Kokugikan just as Kisenosato was coming into the arena to perform his dohyo-iri. As soon as it was done, they left the venue and finished up the news broadcast giving the latest details from the earthquake in Hokkaido. The fact that they broke into the news broadcast to show Kisenosato emphasizes that by the far the biggest story heading into this tournament is the return of Kyujonosato.

We've gotten so used to things without him that it seemed that the biggest story heading into this basho was Mitakeumi's quest for Ozeki, but if you take the percentage of media coverage following Kisenosato's return vs. Mitakeumi's pending promotion, I'd day Kisenosato leads to the tune of about 85% to 15%. So when they actually introduced the cast today on the broadcast (Ota Announcer in the lead, Kitanofuji providing color, and Mainoumi in the mukou-joumen chair) the talk focused entirely on Kisenosato.

Prior to the basho, there was a fairly large joint keiko session held at the Oguruma-beya with both Goeido and Kisenosato in attendance. Kitanofuji was also there as was Mainoumi, and the day ended with those two rikishi doing battle--if such a thing is possible. The pair fought 11 times with Kisenosato allowed to win the first bout, but Goeido dominated him from there finish the session at 8-3. The most prominent bout from that session saw Goeido throw Kisenosato out of the ring so forcefully that he rolled over and landed at the feet of the spectators (Kitanofuji, Mainoumi, etc.) watching on a bench at one end.

The general sense from both Kitanofuji and Mainoumi was one of concern. Mainoumi said that after he watched the very first bout that Kisenosato won, he felt good about his prospects this tournament, but after watching the next 10 bouts, he wasn't so sure. Ota Announcer could tell where this was going, and so he jumped in to say that Kisenosato did win three bouts, but Kitanofuji cut him off and said, "Kachi-make ha kankei-nai," or wins vs. losses doesn't matter. It was the content of his sumo that was bad. Both were quite concerned about Kisenosato's return, and likely for good reason.

Kisenosato has not been injured, and there hasn't been anything to recover from. The dude also hasn't gotten any better by slacking off for more than a year, so the concern from the two is expected. Frankly, Kisenosato is in no condition to hold his own at his current rank, and both Kitanofuji and Mainoumi know it. What really stood out to me during that initial banter was Kitanofuji's statement that wins and losses don't matter; it's the content of the sumo. That statement is more prophetic than he realizes because in today's version of sumo, wins and losses have very little to do with sumo content.

With that in mind, let's focus on the day's action starting from the bottom and working our way up. M16 Kotoyuki made his return to the division only to be welcomed by an M16 Ishiura henka to his left, and there was barely any contact as Ishiura slapped down weakly at Kotoyuki's extended arms before sliding left and bowling Kotoyuki forward with a mild tsuki-otoshi. Kotoyuki made no effort to survive, and so the result was pretty much the worst start to a basho that you can ask for.

If that wasn't bad enough, our next bout began with two dudes dressed in Hazmat outfits escorting M15 Yoshikaze into the ring. How is it possible for a guy to show up with spots on his body and not have anyone on the broadcast mention it?? What the hell is going with Yoshikaze? His entire torso and part of his face was just covered with spots, and the dude does not look well. Since NHK didn't shed any light on the matter, I'm deducting one of three reasons as the cause of the spots. 1) Rikishi from the Oguruma-beya gave him a spot last basho each time he lost a bout. 2) They've infected him with some sort of disease so his opponents won't want to get in close thus increasing the chances of his winning. 3) Yoshikaze now identifies as a leopard.

Today's opponent was M15 Chiyoshoma who came with a hari-zashi tachi-ai slapping with the right and getting the left inside. Well, sort of. Instead of basing his attack from the inside left, Shoma focused on a right outer grip, and he used that to lamely force Yoshikaze back step by step. With Chiyoshoma applying no pressure, Yoshikaze was able to grab his outer belt with the right hand and execute as pretty of an utchari throw as you please. While the throw was legit and looked great, it was against a completely defenseless opponent, and the trend continues where Chiyoshoma loses early and often on purpose. As good as the throw was, a leopard can't change it's...uh...spots, so he's going to need continued help to stay in the division.

Up next was rookie, M14 Takanosho, who was paired against the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man in M14 Chiyomaru. Chiyomaru was kind in his approach offering his usual tsuppari but backing up in the process, and this allowed the rookie to move forward and burrow in close getting the right inside and easily forcing Maru back and across with plenty of help from his opponent who feigned a pull attempt and then just stood upright as he was walked back. No harm no foul here, and we've yet to see Takanosho really earn his first win in the division.

M13 Takanoiwa made his return to the division paired against M13 Ryuden, and the two put put up a pretty good fight as Takanoiwa came with a wild left hari-te that connected to the side of Ryuden's melon, but he wasn't necessarily looking to set up the inside, and so Ryuden was able to shake off the cobwebs and advance forward with a mild tsuppari attack. It was light enough, however, that it allowed Takanoiwa to get the left inside and right outer grip. Takanoiwa began his force-out charge from there, and while Ryuden was able to counter with a right outer of his own, Takanoiwa broke it off and forced Ryuden over and down in the end. I thought Ryuden's counter tsuki-otoshi with the right could have been better, but who knows the reason for that?

Up next was M12 Okinoumi and M12 Nishikigi who engaged in a straight-up hidari-yotsu affair while Okinoumi looked to grab the early right outer grip, but he didn't commit to the outer belt allowing Nishikigi to shake him off as the two leaned into each other chest to chest. From here, a stalemate ensued for about 20 seconds before Nishikigi grabbed a right outer of his own to which Okinoumi countered quickly with a few left scoop throw attempts. With Nishikigi vulnerable to the move, Okinoumi let his him survive, and at this point I knew Okinoumi's intentions. I noted Okinoumi's giving up the outer belt early on in the bout, and then after watching him let up on the counter throws, which could have easily defeated his opponent, I knew he was going to lose intentionally. With the two still leaning into each other, Okinoumi waited for Nishikigi to maki-kae with the right, and when it came, he made no effort to counter during the momentum shift allowing Nishikigi to just force him back and across with no argument.

We finally got a straight-up bout as M11 Sadanoumi out-quicked M11 Kyokutaisei at the tachi-ai catching him with two hands to the neck and using great de-ashi to apply the pressure as Kyokutaisei attempted to move back and right as he pulled. It would never come to fruition as Sadanoumi stayed square enough to push Kyokutaisei across the bales in about two seconds.

M10 Aoiyama and M10 Daieisho greeted each other with collective thrust attacks in a pretty good looking bout where Aoiyama was content to methodically retreat as Daieisho slowly advanced. We see Aoiyama retreat quite a bit as part of his strategy, but he does it to set up a pull. In this bout, however, the pull never came, and so he waited for Daieisho to muscle him back. The problem was that Daieisho didn't quite have the muscle to move him all the way back, and the longer the bout on, the more tired Daieisho was getting. In the end, Aoiyama anticipated a tsuki from the side by Daieisho that never came, but no matter as Aoiyama put his right arm up high around Daieisho's neck and just twisted himself to the dirt anyway. It was interesting as the announcers watched the slow motion replay searching for the kill shot that just wasn't there. Thankfully the guy who decides the kimari-te posted "maki-otoshi" before the replay had finished, and so everyone was like, "Yeah, maki-otoshi. That's it." This is what you call maki-otoshi without the maki as Aoiyama took the basho's first obvious dive.

M9 Daishomaru was in pull mode from the tachi-ai moving left and trying to score with the cheap move against M9 Hokutofuji, but the latter isn't exactly a guy who charges hard and forward at the tachi-ai, so from the git-go as we say in Utah, you had Daishomaru evading to his left and Hokutofuji giving chase. Neither rikishi connected on much of anything as they flailed away, but in the end, Hokutofuji was able to catch his foe with a nice shove that sent Daishomaru across for good. You can tell when Daishomaru buys his bouts because he wins with straight forward sumo. When the fix wasn't in today, his only hope was to evade from the start.

Two crusty veterans clashed next in M8 Takarafuji and M8 Kotoshogiku who hooked up in hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai. As Kotoshogiku tried to gaburi his foe back, Takarafuji instinctively put his right arm to the Geeku's side as if to fire a counter tsuki-otoshi, but he held up and held back until it was Kotoshogiku's turn to attempt the same exact tsuki-otoshi with his right hand. This time at the first sign of pressure, Takarafuji just dove down to the dirt taking a page out of Aoiyama's book. At least Kotoshogiku went for a measurable move, but it was obvious from the beginning that he didn't have the power or ability to topple Takarafuji all on his own.

It's sad to say that I really enjoyed the M7 Shohozan - M7 Tochiohzan bout for the sole purpose that it was completely real. It wasn't a great bout of sumo, but both parties tried to win as Tochiohzan fished for moro-zashi at the tachi-ai before quickly going for a pull after that by moving to the side. This first volley from Tochiohzan wasn't set up with power sumo, however, so Shohozan easily survived responding with a timid tsuppari attack knowing that Oh was looking for the pull. The two traded shoves back and forth with Tochiohzan waiting to spring the trapdoor open, but he wasn't setting it up with forward sumo, and so in the end, Shohozan was able to burrow inside with the left arm and force Tochiohzan back to the edge where he finished him off with a few final shoves. There was a smattering of applause in the end, and one dude even whistled, but this was not an exciting bout of sumo by any means.

And the real sumo would continue as M6 Kagayaki got feisty against M6 Onosho delivering a nice tsuppari attack that knocked Onosho onto his heels and forced him to evade to the side looking for a pull. As Onosho moved left, Kagayaki used his length to grab Onosho in kote fashion with the left arm and just yank Onosho up and over to the edge where he finished him off with ease from there oshi-dashi style. It's interesting to see how much better Kagayaki really is when compared to Onosho, but ask any Japanese sumo fan who the better rikishi is between the two, and 100% will tell you Onosho because he's the one who gets the hype in the media.

As the second half bouts got underway, they panned in close to Takanohana sitting ringside sporting some sweet Jheri Curl. Up first in Act II was M5 Myogiryu and M5 Asanoyama in a bout where Myogiryu looked to take charge with moro-zashi, but his feet were aligned early, and it gave him no momentum in the bout. It also allowed Asanoyama to kinda get an arm inside and fight off the moro-zashi, and as Myogiryu persisted, Asanoyama bailed attempting a pull as he moved across the ring to the edge. The pull attempt didn't work, but it did create separation, and as Myogiryu rushed forward looking for the push-out kill, Asanoyama arched his back not giving Myogiryu a square target vertically, and as Myogiryu muffed his attempt, Asanoyama was able to sneak in a counter tsuki-otoshi and fell Myogiryu down at the edge before he stepped out. This one was close, but gunbai to Asanoyama. Like the Shohozan - Tochiohzan bout previous, it wasn't a well-fought bout, but it was 100% legit, so it felt like a good bout.

M4 Abi came in way too high with his tsuppari attack giving M4 Chiyonokuni anything he wanted, but this bout was bought and paid for and so Kuni took nothing allowing Abi to recover from his horrible tachi-ai and offer a weak slap...to which Chiyonokuni just flailed his legs back and touched the dohyo with a single flat palm. Easy yaocho call here as they continue to coddle Abi.

Speaking of coddling, Sekiwake Ichinojo let M3 Endoh hang around for awhile and make things look close. Ichinojo actually came with a nice tsuppari attack knocking Endoh back a few steps, but then when he went for a pull and subsequent shoulder slap holding up on both moves and letting Endoh survive, I thought the fix was in for sure. Endoh must have thought the same thing because he boldly dove into moro-zashi , but he couldn't budge the Mongolith an inch, and so he pulled his left arm back out looking for anything, but in the process, Ichinojo grabbed Endoh by the back of the belt and just flung him down at the base of his feet without pivoting or anything. The announcers were wondering what the kimari-te would be because it wasn't the typical uwate-nage, and in the end, they called it uwate-hineri. This was simply a really large cat toying with a feeble mouse before sinking his teeth into him at the end.

In his quest for promotion to Ozeki, Sekiwake Mitakeumi needs quite a bit of help, but one dude he can beat on his own was today's opponent, M3 Shodai. Mitakeumi's footwork was horrible at the start allowing Shodai to push him back a step or two, but Shodai wasn't driving with his legs. Mitakeumi responded with a left arm pushing up into Shodai's chin, but the Sekiwake was quite extended here and vulnerable to anything. Shodai offered a meek right tsuki-otoshi that did nothing, and this allowed Mitakeumi to square up and easily force Shodai across from there. Shodai was upright and walked out partly on his own not wanting to spoil Mitakeumi's party, and while Mitakeumi is capable of beating Shodai straight up, Shodai can also beat Mitakeumi about 40% of the time, but he wasn't of a mind to do it today. As they panned in on Shodai when he came back down the hana-michi, he looked happy as a clam completely oblivious to the fact that he had just lost to a rival. I'm sure the glee was due to his thinking about that stack of envelopes coming his way somewhere in the back halls of the venue. Regardless, no surprise here as Mitakeumi's day 1 opponent lets up for him.

In the Ozeki ranks, M2 Chiyotairyu doesn't have the confidence to beat the big boys, and so when he faces them, he doesn't trust his effective freight train oshi charge. Today, instead of trying to knock Tochinoshin off of his perch, he met him with palms open slapping downward against Tochinoshin's chest, and the Ozeki easily knocked that to the side thinking about the right inside left outer combination first before settling into moro-zashi. From here, Chiyotairyu was incapable of countering, and so he just gave up standing there like a bump on a log as Shin drove him back to the edge and then picked him up that last step tsuri-dashi style.

Ozeki Takayasu and M2 Yutakayama bounced off of each other at the tachi-ai before Yutakayama looked to secure the upper hand with some nice shoves that forced the Ozeki's body and arms upright. With the Ozeki vulnerable, Yutakayama first passed on getting the right arm inside as he spun the other way, but he did eventually settle for the nice left inside position. Takayasu complied getting his own left arm to the inside sending the bout to hidari-yotsu, but things kind of fizzled from there. As the two jockeyed in the ring, Takayasu came close to grabbing a right outer, but he was denied, and then the bout turned to a bout of butsukari-geiko where Yutakayama was the conductor because as soon as Takayasu attempted a yori-charge, Yutakayama just let his feet slip right across the straw. It looked to me that Yutakayama had the upper hand throughout, but he decided to let up for the Ozeki in the end.

Our final Ozeki was Goeido who was paired against a formidable opponent in M1 Kaisei. Goeido had been receiving a bit of hype prior to the basho due to his high volume of keiko and his roughing up of Kisenosato 8-3 as mentioned in the introduction, so when Kaisei came out and just obliterated him, the audience was left with the question of what had just happened. What happened was that Kaisei secured the right inside against the defenseless Ozeki before grabbing the left outer grip all the while driving forward hard with perfect de-ashi, and the result was an ass kicking that took about two seconds.

Mainoumi's first reaction after the bout was, "That was disturbing wasn't it. And this despite all that pre-basho keiko..." After pointing out Goeido's faults during the bout as they watched the replay, Mainoumi ended with, "I feel like Kitanofuji's got something to say about this as well." Everyone chuckled at the remark because it was almost as if Mainoumi was saying, "You go ahead and try and explain [the contrast between Goeido's sharp keiko and his performance here]." Kitanofuji searched for what to say and then finally offered, "Coming into the basho, I thought that Goeido looked closer to the yusho than say Kakuryu, but I just changed my mind." The other two tried to tell him that it was still too early, but that's just an attempt to help the Japanese fans maintain hope that somehow it will all work out in the end. And who knows? It probably will.

At this point, there was a noticeable roar from the crowd as Kisenosato stepped into the ring for the first time since who cares how long?  38 kensho banners were marched around the ring meaning that approximately $11K USD in cash was floating around the venue with nary a paper trail to be found. It was clear from the pre-basho keiko and banter today between Kitanofuji and Mainoumi that neither dude felt that Kisenosato was ready for the basho, and so against M1 Ikioi, it was simply a matter of would he or wouldn't he?

The two rikishi clashed well bumping chests with both guys coming away from the tachi-ai with left insides. Ikioi feigned grabbing a right outer grip, and his fingers were there tinkling the ivory, but he never did latch on. Instead, he backed up pulling his left arm out from its inside position and moving it up high along with his right arm on the other side in typical pull fashion, but that was just an excuse for him to back straight up and let Kisenosato bulldoze him out in the process. Ikioi ended up hopping down at the foot of the dohyo while Kisenosato dove off the ring a row or two deep, and it provided for an extremely unorthodox ending to a simple yori-kiri bout.

In a conventional yori-kiri, the guy that does the forcing is in total control and keeps himself atop the clay mound, but this was a wild bout with few sumo basics, and that's why the winner ended up two rows deep while the loser just hopped down to the floor. I thought the pic at left was quite telling.  Does that scene look like a Yokozuna who just scored an easy win or does it look like the parliament in those Asian countries when there's a huge disagreement and the politicians just start brawling?  It's just chaos, which describes well the content of Kisenosato's sumo (among others). This was an easy yaocho call, and now the question is how much of the cash from those envelopes is going to Ikioi? I'd say at least half. After the bout, Kisenosato stood ringside with his eyes closed as if in meditation while the feeling among the announcers was a great sense of relief. Why would you feel relief following a Yokozuna victory? A real Yokozuna goes out there and kicks his opponent's ass. A fake Yokozuna feels relief when his foe lets him win. But, the crowd was happy, and the Japanese still have their Yokozuna...at least for now. Problem is, Kisenosato cannot beat anyone at this level of the banzuke on his own, so he needs at least seven or eight more days of charity to seal his "comeback."

With Kisenosato safely through, the final bouts featuring Yokozuna Hakuho and Kakuryu to end the day were completely inconsequential. But they did fight them, so let's start with Hakuho vs. Komusubi Tamawashi. Yokozuna Hakuho executed a lightening quick hari-zashi tachi-ai slapping with the left and assuming moro-zashi as Tamawashi kept his hands held high. Tamawashi didn't look as if he was trying to compete, so you take that mukiryoku attitude and couple it with Hakuho's powerful charge, and Tamawashi was knocked back and out in about a second and a half. Unlike the previous bout, Hakuho was in complete control of everything here.

The day ended with Yokozuna Hakuho facing Takakeisho in a bout that saw the two bump the crowns of their heads as Kakuryu attempted to latch onto a frontal belt grip. The Yokozuna came up empty-handed but was moving forward looking to thrust. Takakeisho was already retreating, and his low stature actually caused Kakuryu to thrust up high leaving him susceptible to moro-zashi, but with Takakeisho retreating instead of moving forward, he couldn't capitalize. Credit Takakeisho for detecting the opening because he did attempt to thrust his way back forward as Kakuryu attempted to duck in and get the right inside, but Takakeisho's normal attack is thrust once retreat twice, and so as soon as he retreated again, Kakuryu rushed forward and took advantage of an ill-advised pull attempt pushing Takakeisho by the face over and down hard on the basket of salt in his corner. Any time you make the yobi-dashi pick up his little stool and run like hell, you know you just dominated your opponent, and that was the case here in the end.

As far as sumo content goes, the day left a lot to be desired.  As far as drama goes, I can already sense it big time just one day in.  Let's see if Harvye feels such a tremor in the Force tomorrow.