Home  |  User Forum  |  News  |  Fantasy Sumo  |  Media Requests  |  Contributors  |  About Us |  Sumo 101  |  Links  |  Archives  |  Swedish

Senshuraku Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
And here we are, Day 15, the yusho down to two wrestlers that no one, blue sky crowd or cynics, would deny count among the very best. Some might quibble that Ichinojo hasn't lived up to his potential, but no one would deny that potential. Others might quibble that it is time for Hakuho to go. But that is plain silly. I have figured of late he will take about one basho a year, just to remind everyone he is still here, and to stretch himself to 2020. Still, it is startling to see him cut through the dross like a laser on the way to winning that basho when chooses. I've written many a paean to him over the years, so will say no more today.

It was almost bigger news that Takakeisho was fighting Tochinoshin with the winner going to Ozeki and the loser to Sekiwake. We'll get to that too, but let's work our way up from the bottom. That's the way they built it.

J2 Kotoyuki (5-9) vs. M14 Toyonoshima (4-10)
Well, Toyonoshima has looked plain bad in his return to the top division. At least I had the consolation in looking at his record that Kotoyuki will not be returning to the division in May. Yay! Little Snow (Kotoyuki), went for a wicked melon-remover throat hold. This always used to be the way against Toyonoshima: everybody tried to break his neck. Why I don't know, but they do. Fortunately, as of old, Toyonoshima's head is kind of like a rubber ball on a string. A very short, thick string. He withstood the attack, went on an attack of his own, and removed Little Snow from the ring forthwith, oshi-dashi. See ya later, buddy.

M16 Daishoho (6-8) vs. M10 Yago (6-8)
In another bout without great import--neither the freshman on the left nor the sophomore on the right look to me like future valedictorians or even salutatorians--Daishoho made it simple for us. He stepped to his left after initial contact and pulled Yago down by the head, aided by an uwate-nage on the other side.

M10 Shohozan (6-8) vs. M17 Chiyoshoma (7-7)
I was feeling a little sleepy, but Darth Hozan woke me and Chiyoshoma both up when he leapt out of a false start, smacked Chiyoshoma in the face, and Chiyoshoma staggered all the way off the dohyo. Now that's how you get mileage out of a false start! No matter; this didn't bother Chiyoshoma at all; he placidly returned to the crouch. Darth hit him in the face again, but Chiyoshoma was leaping away and retreating and circling around, pulling down somewhat wildly. It didn't work; Shohozan followed him closely and pushed him out, oshi-dashi. Good. I lost patience with Chiyoshoma long ago; if he wants to be down here, be down here.

M14 Terutsuyoshi (5-9) vs. M9 Ikioi (2-12)
Ikioi has had that annoying habit of getting up slow as Methuselah after every loss, grimacing and dragging himself painfully from his clay tomb. Yes, I get it that he really is injured and it must hurt. I also can rationalize and accept that he may be able to block out the pain and move normally before the match, but that after the match all the adrenalin is gone and he is suddenly spent and can't contain it. But I only half believe that. The bigger half of me believes his moaning and groaning is him showing an excuse for his loss. It isn't seemly, and he should either repress it the same way he does before the match or not be out there at all. I'm tired of the farcical flopping. Anyway, Terutsuyoshi looked to fool him good in the bout. Having pushed him all the way off the dohyo on a false start a moment before (just like the match before, minus the face strike), on the redo Shining Strong Boy (Terutsuyoshi) disappeared out of there and slapped at him. He may as well have been slapping at a horsefly: his hand hit only air. Around Ikioi's ankles. The first slap looked like it was supposed to be a pull down attempt, but Ikioi wasn't even there: Teru whiffed completely in low air. The next slap was no better, waving around somewhere not far above the dirt. Fortunately for the semaphore-sending Terutsuyoshi, Ikioi reacted like a plane with no wheels being waved in for a belly flop landing: he staggered forward and fell down, hiki-otoshi.

M9 Sadanoumi (4-10) vs. M16 Yutakayama (3-11)
Look at those records. Yeesh! This one featured lots of pusher-thruster action by Yutakayama with a pull or two mixed in. Sadanoumi just stood there. Normally when we say somebody just stood there it is a bad thing--it means they were losing on purpose. In this case, I mean that Sadanoumi wasn't phased by the wild action directed at him: he resisted, was fine, and didn't go back. And okay, he didn't really just stand there: he was doing plenty of inashi: fending off of the blows. So, it was a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing for Yutakayama, because Sadanoumi eventually moved forward and pushed him out, yori-kiri. Boy, has Yutakayama looked punchless this tournament.

M11 Ryuden (9-5) vs. M8 Kotoshogiku (11-3)
I do luuuv me some Ryuden. Unfortunately I don't think he is going much of anywhere--yeah, he is pretty good. Yeah, his tournament record was good. But he did it from M11 and is already 28. His ceiling is probably a career kind of like Takarafuji's. In the match, he did NOT defer. Hallelujah. However, my semi-respect for Kotoshogiku was reinforced: Ryuden also could NOT just annihilate him. He could only beat him. Ryuden got what he wanted: a belt grip. It was an outside right, and neutralized Kotoshogiku's bumping. No room to do it. Kotoshogiku kept trying to shake loose, and it worked once or twice, but Ryuden kept getting that same grip back, and it was only a matter of time before Ryuden yori-kiri'ed him out. I'll be hoping for more of this kind of performance from Ryuden at his enhanced rank next time, but with caution: this was his third double digit win performance in maku-uchi, but the highest he has done it from. He has never had a winning record ranked above M9.

M8 Asanoyama (7-7) vs. M15 Kotoeko (6-8)
Asanoyama sure is treading water. It was just last July he and Yutakayama took the tournament by storm, chasing the yusho right into the last weekend. Since then Yutakayama has put up four losing records in a row; Asanoyama has fared better but been miquetoast as hell, with between 6 and 8 wins each time. Perhaps he has found his level. It was a good-looking match. Asanoyama went straight for a big overhand left grip, and was inside on the right as well and driving Kotoeko back. However, it was too much and not enough at the same time: at the edge Kotoeko turned beautifully, used the Morning Mountain's momentum against him, pivoted, and threw Asanoyama heavily to the dirt, sukui-nage.

M15 Ishiura (6-8) vs. M7 Takarafuji (7-7)
Look how carefully Takarafuji has driven his bus: straight to a 7-7 record. Gas… brakes… gas… brakes. Gas… safety first. In the match, Ishiura stuck both his hands inside-ish, and up like prongs. This is where you want to be--down and in--but you could tell it wouldn't amount to anything: it isn't Ishiura's style, and he can't beat a solid guy like The Bus Driver on the body. Takarafuji, as he likes to do, waited for the right moment then launched a win. While Ishiura was reaching for a frontal belt grip Takarafuji jerked just a little out of the way, and lo! it sprang Ishiura out of there and the little man ran all the way out of the ring, okuri-dashi. If you suspect this was all about Takarafuji's kachi-koshi, sadly, you have probably reached the point of being right about things like that even if you don't want to be.

M7 Aoiyama (11-3) vs. M13 Tomokaze (9-5)
As you know, I have dismissed Tomokaze as being too old for a rookie and too short. However, I am happy to admit that talent and skill mean something too (thank goodness), and he has showed enough of both that I am prepared to keep my eyes on him for him awhile. In the match, Heavy D (Aoiyama) pawed at Friendly Wind (Tomokaze), causing Tomokaze to stumble, then squared back up and pushed him tottering backwards right in to the gyoji. Tomokaze and the gyoji both went over backwards, like dominoes, Tomokaze falling onto the dohyo tsuki-taoshi style, the gyoji going all the way off with his feet sticking up like the Wicked Witch of the East under Dorothy's house. I know I shouldn't laugh at the misfortune of others, but I did. And let us celebrate the good-fortune of others, too: Aoiyama won a special prize. As with Ryuden, we will wait with very guarded optimism to see if he can do this from a higher rank. Well, let me by honest--I have no optimism about that whatsoever. I fully expect a 4-11 or some such from him next time as usual. In the last three years he has had been ranked M4 or above only three times, and has never won more than four matches.

M13 Kagayaki (9-5) vs. M6 Abi (7-7)
Yay for Kagayaki. Hope springs eternal. But my eyes as always wander to his rank for a reality check: M13. Yep. Kagayaki will not be winning this many matches again next time when ranked higher. Whereas Abi? Yes, 7-7 at M6 feels just about exactly right. It's pretty much about where Kagayaki belongs too, making this an even match up. Abi got on Kagayaki quickly at the tachi-ai with his standard two hands to the face, but Kagayaki did as he has done all tournament: kept his hands inside and moved forward. For a few moments he had the upper hand. However, an old bugaboo felled him: a non-linear match. No one is better at lateral movement than Abi, and Abi retreated gamely around the edge of the ring with enough pace to avoid Kagayaki, and eventually pull him down hataki-komi. And if you think Kagayaki could have moved forward faster when he had the advantage, and that this may have been all about Abi's kachi-koshi, well, as Bilbo said to Gandalf, "oh, you're probably right."

M6 Okinoumi (7-7) vs. M12 Yoshikaze (10-4)
Woo! Look at this line up of bouts featuring guys at 7-7: this was the second of four. It was an extremely easy win for Okinoumi, who stood like the rock of Gibraltar while Yoshikaze broke against him like a mild summer sea. A very mild one. Okinoumi shoved him out, oshi-dashi. And if you think this was all about… oh, you get the picture.

M5 Chiyotairyu (7-7) vs. M2 Myogiryu (6-8)
I do think the book Freakonomics, which proved that the amount of wins by guys with 7-7 records on senshuraku has to be cheating, has helped quash the phenomenon somewhat, and I don't take it as a given that these guys will get free wins. Many don't. Up to this point, the guys coming in 7-7 had only gone 3-2 today. I just don't think a kachi-koshi is that important. Either you're 8-7 and you rise half a rank, or you are 7-8 and you drop half a rank. So what? 8-7 and 7-8 are essentially treated the same: you are considered to be at .500, and they give you a mulligan: "okay, hold your rank and try over." You could say it is all about pride at 7-7, but I just don't see a lot of pride in sumo these days. Anyway, Myogiryu survived the initial blast from Chiyotairyu well, getting both arms inside. However, Chiyotairyu has developed additional game to go with his cannonball attack, and he employed it. First he tried to throw Myogiryu bodily off of him--got Myogiryu off of his line. Then he maki-kae'ed a couple of times, bringing his arms back inside. Chiyotairyu seemed surprised to find himself back in it, but he sure took advantage of it: he drove hard, and gave Myogiryu a thumping shove at the end that sent him flying emphatically out of there, oshi-dashi. Oh yes. I do like Chiyotaikai.

M2 Daieisho (7-7) vs. M4 Ichinojo (13-1)
And here we were--one of only two matches with yusho implications, buried in the middle of the line-up. My instinct was that Ichinojo wanted to win, and that Daieisho had no chance. The size difference is overwhelming, and Daieisho usually plays straight up: there was no way he was going to push Ichinojo out, and little likelihood he'd try anything else. In the event, Ichinojo did as he has done all tournament: pulled. Gary did a great job yesterday of describing Ichinojo's balance and strength: he has had plenty of room to do his pulls, plenty of strength to make them work, and plenty of stability to make sure he doesn't get pushed out while doing them. It did take two tries here, but in between he'd pushed Daieisho to the edge such that, yup, when Ichinojo moved backwards the second time, though he went all the way to the straw to do it, he had Daieisho down first hataki-komi without leaving the ring.

And thus was concluded the simultaneously worst looking and easiest looking 14-1 I can remember.

M11 Meisei (9-5) vs. M1 Endo (6-8)
I suppose once upon a time there were many small wrestlers like this, and they could do very well with each other. Now they are rare and the sport isn't sure what to do with them, leading to lots of ugly sumo. Endo knew what to do with Meisei: pulled out of the initial contact and yanked on the belt. Meisei flopped down, uwate-dashi-nage.

M1 Kaisei (3-11) vs. M4 Tochiozan (2-12)
At the tachi-ai Kaisei gave up to Tochiozan what used to be Tochiozan's standard position: both arms inside. He doesn't get it that often anymore, but when he did here, he knew what to do with it, slinging Kaisei around in a circle and unbalancing him until he could dump him, yori-kiri.

M5 Onosho (5-9) vs. K Hokutofuji (6-8)
Boy oh boy has Onosho looked bad after a nice start. Meanwhile, Hokutofuji has held his own at Komusubi: 6 or 7 wins, that ain't bad up here. This turned out to be the match of the day as far as I'm concerned. Onosho tried to do what he was succeeding at the first few days: going all explosive with a blasting, up-thrusting, two-handed tachi-ai attack. It worked today for a few moments, driving Hokutofuji to the straw, head bent back. But Onosho couldn't finish it. Hokutofuji, apparently, is better. Hokutofuji ducked back in, unleashed his own explosion, and rushed Onosho halfway back across the clay. He then knocked him over, oshi-taoshi. No need to hold him. No need to throw him. No need to get him across the straw. Just knock him down. Push him over. Beat him. Badly. Hokutofuji left him on his back in the middle of the ring and walked away.

K Mitakeumi (6-8) vs. M3 Nishikigi (4-10)
Mitakeumi pushed and thrusted Nishikigi out in linear fashion, oshi-dashi. Might have worked better for Nishikigi if he had stretched out his arms and opened his hands. Whatever.

M3 Shodai (4-10) vs. S Tamawashi (5-9)
Poor Tamawashi. Tochinoshin got to have double-digit wins the tournament after his yusho, and even got promoted to Ozeki. Tamawashi has gone all Kyokutenho on us and faded quickly into obscurity. With this match a meaningless one, I hoped he would summarily destroy Vanilla Softcream (Shodai). But he did not. He was working on it, punching up and in with two hands repeatedly, and he had Shodai moving back. However, on the last shove Shodai grabbed one of the offending arms and shoved Tamawashi to the side. Tamawashi ran past him out of the ring, tsuki-dashi. Sigh.

O Tochinoshin (7-7) vs. S Takakeisho (9-5)
This match took on heavy significance as things played along in week two, because with their records it looks like the winner will be an Ozeki and the loser will not. I really didn't know which way it would go--while the obvious answer was that Takakeisho getting his 34th win in three basho and becoming Ozeki would be boon for the Association, I wasn't so sure. Is he ready? He is still plenty young. If he were to lose, well, you'd get to hype his Ozeki run for a third tournament in a row. Continued cliffhanger. And I get the sense that Tochinoshin is popular. He's distinctive, and brings a style and threat-level to the rank that is sorely missing without him.

In the end, it was all Takakeisho. I felt the era turn, the transition begin to round towards denouement. Tochinoshin was blasted solidly backwards at the tachi-ai and never recovered. He tried slapping at Takakeisho's face and pulling, though he should have been ducking in and grabbing belt. Hence he was easy oshi-dashi push-out fodder for Takakeisho. Well, Tochinoshin being an Ozeki was fun while it lasted--though he never won more than 9 and it lasted less than a year. I don't think Ozeki Takakeisho will be nearly as fun. But that is where we're at. And who knows, maybe Tochinoshin will win 10 next time out and come right back to Ozeki; he is certainly capable.

O Takayasu (10-4) vs. O Goeido (11-3)
This one was just for fun. Goeido stood Takayasu up a bit and they grappled, pushed, shoved. Takayasu was grinding Goeido backwards. However, Goeido stood his ground at the straw and put his arms around Takayasu's body at last. They came to rest, holding on to each other. Then Goeido pushed Takayasu hard from the side, and whoops!, there went Takayasu, down by "surprise" to the damp clay mound, tsuki-otoshi. This was nonsense, but whatever, I'm sure the crowd enjoyed it.

Y Hakuho (14-0) vs. Y Kakuryu (10-4)
And here we were, the big match of hana-zumo, lots of manful-looking straining, back and forth, and some length. Shouting announcers and whooping crowd. Kakuryu got a quick right on the front of the belt and drove Hakuho back--it looked like Hakuho might lose. However, instead they settled into a classic chest-to-chest match with identical grips: right inside and left outside. The next big move was Hakuho standing up and bodying forward for a force-out charge; when this stalled at the edge and went back to the middle I could have rolled my eyes; the sense that we were being treated to what the Kucherla Karaoke Club thinks what will be a good show for us was strong. Around this time they decided they'd showed off long enough, and Hakuho finished the basho with a nice, rolling, over-hand throw of Kakuryu, spilling him off the mound and into the crowd. Hakuho also crashed into the crowd, and apparently injured his right arm--could even be a popped muscle. Too bad if so. Tomorrow will tell.

And that is how Hakuho finished off his age-35 15-0 yusho. But I say he won it the other day, when he k.o.'ed Takakeisho right out of the ring. He's the champ.

We'll see if he can go through with his thing and claim the first victory of the next era as well. I will be hoping so. He certainly used this tournament to put an exclamation point on the fact that the last years of this era belonged only to him.

Day 14 Comments (Gary Jones reporting)
Hello to all, two years ago Mike made a bold long-term yusho prediction about an 18 year old with such a sumo pedigree he may have been birthed between the shikiri-sen. Now 21 years old, that youngster is near the top of Makushita and his 4-2 record so far this tournament sees him knocking politely on the Juryo door. Developing talent such as Kotokamatani is the single most important thing sumo can do to ensure it's future.

The single most important bout of this basho was, predictably enough, Hakuho vs Takakeisho. Although not just for the most obvious reason, the now traditional game of will he, won't he? Hakuho did state from the outset that he wants to win the last basho of one era and the first basho of the new. We should believe him. Many hefty shoulders would have slumped downwards at hearing that particular bit of news.

The Great Khan decided to win and win big. He put on a demonstration of overwhelming ability. Takakeisho was reduced to taking the accolade given only to the losing fighter, he was tough. He took it and kept trying, he has heart. Takakeisho can't handle this man in close, probably never will until THE man is at his end. It's possible that getting bested by Takakeisho at yotsu sumo will one day be the alarm call that convinces Hakuho to lay his salt down.

It was magnificent stuff from Hakuho, yes. No other active rikishi could have done the same, though I would have loved to see Harumafuji deal with Takakeisho. It wasn't what happened in the bout that makes it so important. It's the missing elements. Since returning from the worst year of his career the now 34 year old (ancient in Yokozuna years) showed he wasn't saving his old A-game sumo for the big matches. This was a big match and all Japanese eyes were on it. It was the time to shine, and he did. He showed he has a new A-game. And old time fans may not like it.

For a man who's true best is a grip-grabbing sweep inside for yori-kiri he's playing an awful lot of tag you're it. Worse, he's deliberately staying away from the tawara even if it's the other guy with his back to it. Now often remaining stationary and seeking to draw the opposition in, looking to use their own momentum in place of his former unstoppable driving power. When he destroyed, yes destroyed Japan's next top model on day 11, it was his seventh different kimari-te. For others this abandoning of their main style would be it, over and out. Think Tochinoshin without his trusty belt squeeze or Goeido without his henka. Hey he's Hakuho, he does it because he can. And you can see it on his face how much he's enjoying it.

Hakuho has also straight up told everyone about his desire to still be reigning Yokozuna for the second Tokyo Olympics. Moreover, he has told us why, it's to honor his now deceased father, an Olympian from the first Tokyo Olympics. We should believe him. That kind of yearning can inspire a man more than wealth or fame can ever muster. He is being pulled to this time and place by his heart strings.

He needs to keep his body out of trouble for 8 more tournaments. By which time he will be 35, the same age as Kotoshogiku and Toyonoshima are now. Hmmm. That's not an easy journey but he has found a way to elongate a great career without sullying it. He sits it out if he's not the best in the basho and low impact sumo. A little inashi here a little tsuki there. Much easier on the body than 15 days of chest to chest power games, just ask the 31 year old Tochinoshin.

Given enough time by the sumo gods Hakuho may get most (not all, all is not possible at this late stage) of his migi-hidari-magic-mojo back. If that happens he may ascend to become sumo's first double-A game, platinum rikishi. Floating down the hana-michi on a billowing cloud of celestial splendor. Until and unless that happens, let's just enjoy the new late phase Hakuho. Papa's come back with a brand new bag.

Let's focus all attention on the last 4 bouts of the day because for once, that's where the action is.

Takakeisho (S) 9-4 vs Ichinojo (M4w) 12-1
Ichinojo's tournament may have looked from the outside evasive and unfocused but it was the exact opposite. He has been moving better then any other 450 plus pounder since Musashimaru. It's just not expected that he should do this. It's not traditional big man's sumo. The unpredictable has been a problem for his opponents too. His balance has been superb as he is strong enough to hold his own weight with no leaning on the opposition required. This enabled him to showcase his own very unique style of bandage free, genki footwork. We can't expect this amount of bulk to look pretty in transition, but when he rotated around his opponent and bore down on them, they all crumbled underneath him.

Today Takakeisho crumbled all on his own. I'm going to say it's the worst tachi-ai I've ever seen. That's almost certainly incorrect but I can't remember anything sticking in my mind quite as bad as this. It was almost comedic. Taka had already extended himself fully before he came into contact with Ichinojo. And he could still barely reach across. He put his arms out stiff as a board as though he was stopping himself falling into a wall, which he was.

Zero impact on an opponent that just stood up and wasn't there to be hit. Takakeisho, with eyes closed for too long, waited to be brought down. Backward moving sumo? Of course that's what a mobile Ichinojo did. And it was exactly the right thing to do. Hataki-komi and a nice fat 13-1, thank you.

When Aoiyama was leaning and pushing seriously hard into him, Ichi kept his own, neutral stance. Prop removed and down went Aoiyama, Ichi barely moved. That's been the difference. Ichinojo is feeling strong and not relying on his weight to do the job. He is now the most compelling story for Natsu, not the disparate fortunes of the Ozeki and certainly not Takakeisho. Day 15 sees Ichinojo buried in the middle of the broadcast, facing M2 Daieisho. Don't you just love rigid minds with rigid rules?

Tochinoshin (O) 6-7 vs Tamawashi (S) 5-8
A twitchy matta from a nervous Tochinoshin. A hit and shift to the left from a tired Tamawashi. Sumo can turn on the seemingly small things. Amidst the loud head crashing and grunting pushes, Tochinoshin put his right arm out. He didn't get it deep or get a grip and he didn't push with it, it was a placeholder for what was to come. Migi-yotsu.

Tamawashi drove forward as he needs to, and that right hand slid around the back. Tama went into reverse on his left side, trying to pivot away from it. Tochinoshin needed only to ride the bronco for a moment before he was in full control. Following a release of grip and a relief filled push they ruled it an oshi-dashi win for Tochinoshin. But it was migi-yotsu that won it.

How badly did Tamawashi want it? I'll never know but he did do all the right things for his style of sumo and the hit and shift was pretty sneaky. Tomorrow he draws only Shodai but the basho is already over for him. Tochinoshin can defeat kadoban with a defeat of Takakeisho, who can become sumo's shiniest shin-Ozeki if he wins instead.

Hakuho (Y) 13-0 vs Takayasu (O) 10-3
Big tension on this one. I watched it on a live feed with a constant scroll of comments whizzing by. Among the Hakuho is GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) stuff there was also quite a few “zensho is boring” and “Hakuho needs to lose”. Folks just want to see competitive sumo. Maybe they should have kept recruiting from the Pacific islands because the local boys can't match this guy. The half Ukrainian Taiho had the same problem.

Hakuho upped the tension with a deliberate matta and slow walk up to Takayasu. Then upped it some more when he stopped moving and stood fully upright staring at a now shrinking Takayasu. The crowd oohh'ed and aahh'ed. Takayasu froze, half crouching, eyes down waiting to be given permission to continue. Later I timed just how long poor Takayasu was held transfixed in that semi-crouch. A full 39 seconds. It was already over.

No doubt spurred into action by the retirement of his heya-mate, the former and always Kisenosato to me, sumo's best Ozeki (breathe slowly) has publicly declared his intention to gain the twisted white rope within the year. I applaud bold predictions. Even if they don't come to fruition, it's better to burn out than to fade away.

The only small problem is Takayasu made his statement with words outside the dohyo. Today when it came to actions, he looked like a lost little boy at the tachi-ai. He charged out with eyes blinking shut and his head bowed down. Not to deliver a head butt, his body wasn't aligned for that. He just had his head down feeling small, as small as a choir boy filing past Pope Michael Jackson I.

Hakuho slapped him, grabbed moro-zashi, pulled little boy around and tipped him over, abise-taoshi for his eighth kimari-te this tournament. Then he collected a nice brick of envelopes for his trouble. 14-0 and a play date with Kakuryu to finish. Will Harvye get a playoff to play with?

Goeido (O) 10-3 vs Kakuryu (Y) 10-3
Another matta for extra drama before Goeido blows the Yokozuna away at the tachi-ai. Two seconds and a yori-kiri goodbye. Oh Kakuryu!

The Ozeki now sits just behind the big two on the leader-board, flying the flag. So that's a good thing right? We'll see tomorrow just how awesome the Goeido tachi-ai is when he squares off against Takayasu. If Goeido can beat him then that will decide which Ozeki is in pole position for the big boost. Takayasu won't like that.

For a time we may have a fun Ozeki rivalry with two puppies vying for all the attentive ear scratching from the Sumo Association. At this point in time Goeido's age doesn't matter very much either. Not if ticket sales decline. The ever present specter of a love-you-short-time gap filler remains a scary prospect for Sumotalk.

After all that excitement it's good to get back to the scrubs.

Ishiura (M15e) 6-7 vs Takagenji (J4e) 6-7
As much as Ishiura tried to get inside, the 21 year old bully just kept pushing him away like a lightweight. One of the pushes won by oshi-dashi. Oshi Ishi out.

In a 5 bout tailspin, Ishiura has looked like he's run out of ideas. Worse, his sumo has slowed down, that's the one thing he cannot afford to do. Going against massive dudes in the top division day after day has tired him out. Make-koshi at M15 will help solve the problem for next basho.

Terutsuyoshi (M14e) 4-9 vs Kotoeko (M15w) 6-7
The same type of sumo worked perfectly well against a fellow lightweight as a genki Terutsuyoshi inflicted make-koshi by yori-kiri on Kotoeko. It was fun sumo, but nobody cares.

Ryuden (M11e) 8-5 vs Daishoho (M16e) 6-7
With 7 losses already Daishoho decided that giving up and stepping out once Ryuden got a grip on him was the best thing to do. Make-koshi by yori-kiri and Daishoho better be injured.

Shohozan (M10e) 6-7 vs Tomokaze (M13e) 8-5
Ole' veteran Shohozan is a bit too high to be dragged down to Juryo with his 6 wins already in the bag. This should have loosened him up a bit but instead he went in close, levering up on stiff legs against a much bigger and younger guy. Who brought him down to the clay, hataki-komi. Many a man has been defeated by the damp mound. But Shohozan was just asking for it.

Chiyoshoma (M17e) 7-6 vs Yago (M10w) 5-8
Still one win away from kachi-koshi Chiyoshoma did some damn fine yotsu sumo today. He used his long skinny arms to risk over-reaching for a quick outer right. Yago was still in shoulder blast mode so the back of his left hand bounced off the exposed mae-mitsu area before settling in to hidari-yotsu. Speed defeats position, ask Roy Jones Jr.

Chiyoshoma baited Yago to raise his left arm (to break Chiyo's now pointless right outer grip) as he shifted his body across to Yago's other side where Chiyoshoma had a juicy inside left waiting for him. As soon as Chiyoshoma got to the side, he levered into a shitate-nage throw. And that's when it all went south.

Yago had sensed the danger and thrust his cute rear backwards so all of the drive that Chiyoshoma had built up for the throw went into pulling 400 pounds (180 kg) of bulk one step forward. Just like that Yago was in control. And he bullied the smaller man out with his feet suri-ashi'ing along the damp clay mound. A fine yori-taoshi from the best bout in the scrubs.

If Chiyoshoma is trying hard to win with good sumo and loses, I'm sold on the other guy.

Yutakayama (M16w) 3-10 vs Ikioi (M9w) 1-12
These two combined are on a 20 bout losing streak, so good sumo is not an option. Ikioi moved forward, put his shoulder into his boy and won yori-kiri. Yutakayama didn't argue with him.

Asanoyama (M8e) 7-6 vs Kagayaki (M13w) 8-5
The simple but effective game plan for Kagayaki this basho has been head down, elbows in and go for it. And it worked again for yet another oshi-dashi win. Asanoyama tries for a fifth and final time to get his kachi-koshi against Kotoeko.

Yoshikaze (M12w) 10-3 vs Kotoshogiku (M8w) 10-3
The veteran guard stepped forward to show the youngsters how it's done. We've seen it before. Surprisingly it didn't end with a bumpity-bump yori-kiri. But only because Kotoshogiku let go at the edge for a quick oshi-dashi victory.

Aoiyama (M7e) 10-3 vs Meisei (M11w) 9-4
Heavy D raised his right hand and swore to catch an oncoming Meisei on the shoulder to refute the charge. He then put the same hand around the head for the easy-peasy hataki-komi. If he wants a twelfth win he needs only match bellies with Tomokaze.

Toyonoshima (M14w) 3-10 vs Takarafuji (M7w) 7-6
I admire Toyonoshima for having the grit to work his way back through adversity to appear in Makuuchi after all this time. But 15 days is enough. It's time to go. Takarafuji was gentle with Toyo, almost apologetically so. Takarafuji's limb splaying roll to the cold, hard, damp, inviting clay netted Toyonoshima a win by the unlikely kata-sukashi, under shoulder swing down. Takarafuji should still get his kachi-koshi against Ishiura tomorrow, it's nice to have one to spare.

Sadanoumi (M9e) 4-9 vs Shodai (M3w) 3-10
Shodai was also apologizing to sad-man after spinning him down with uwate-dashi-nage. Looks like very sad-man was playing with an injured right knee. Which Shodai spun him around on. Apologize after you've done it, right?

Daieisho (M2e) 7-6 vs Abi (M6w) 6-7
Daieisho will be in one of the bouts that determine the yusho on day 15. Daieisho versus a 13-1 Ichinojo for Senshuraku. Really people? Did a rampaging Hakuho actually have to face one win Tochiozan instead of an unbeaten Ichinojo? How is that in sumo's best interest?

Abi did his Moro-te-zuki thing and Daieisho was nailed by every little bit of the tsuppari that followed. Down goes Daieisho to hiki-otoshi in 2 seconds flat. Well that sets up the big match for tomorrow nicely. If Daieisho doesn't get sat on he should be given an honorary kachi-koshi.

Okinoumi (M6e) 7-6 vs Myogiryu (M2w) 5-8
Myogiryu borrowed a page out of Goeido's Sekiwake days and pulled an unconvincing kubi-nage win over a stumbling, bumbling Okinoumi. Can we assume Okinoumi will at least get his 8 against an already content Yoshikaze tomorrow?

Kaisei (M1e) 2-11 vs Onosho (M5w) 5-8
A bout where both guys look as though 14 days has been all too much for them. Kaisei loosely wrapped up a back-peddling Onosho and lurched forward for the yori-kiri win number 3. And then fell over.

Nishikigi (M3e) 4-9 vs Endo (M1w) 5-8
Guess who's never beaten Endo? After reaching in and not getting his right mae-mitsu, Endo swung Nishikigi with an arm pull and lined him up again. Nishikigi cracked him with that big, heavy melon he calls a head and Endo decides he isn't getting inside grips today. The handsome one places some thrusts on Nishi's chest and hints a pushing battle.

Fooled ya. Sneaky but still pretty Endo leaps aside to let his charging foe end up with his hands on the floor and his ass up in the air for a change. We are all ignoring rikishi lightly touching outside the tawara this basho, and that includes Endo's toes. A satisfyingly sneaky tsuki-otoshi win.

Mitakeumi (K) 5-8 vs Chiyotairyu (M5e) 7-6
When I saw the live stream of this I thought Chiyotairyu had forgotten his sumo style today. He had a so-so tachi-ai and his arms were weakly flapping about. On the replay it's possible Mitakeumi was just quick out of the crouch and got there first. Either way he took an instant moro-zashi and had Chiyo out double-quick. The song remains the same, yori-kiri and no kachi-koshi for Chiyotairyu. He enters Senshuraku, the last day, on 7-7 against Myogiryu.

Tochiozan (M4e) 2-11 vs Hokutofuji (K) 5-8
Tochiozan, the man who stopped Okinoumi's winning streak, went looking for a third win and found himself embarrassed by a one handed nodowa (throat attack) that drove him backwards and out in under 2 seconds. Hokutofuji finished his oshi-dashi massacre with a hand flourish in the air. As if to prove to the folks at the back of the arena “see, one hand”.

After that bout Ichinojo got up and went 13-1 at Takakeisho's expense. But we've already been there haven't we?

If you had been told on day 1 that Ichinojo would be chasing a zensho Hakuho to the end, would you have enjoyed the basho more than you actually have? Tomorrow Harvye crowns a champion to applaud.

Day 13 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Due to time constraints, I need to keep today's report brief, but it seems all the focus in the media heading into Day 13 has turned to Takakeisho's pending Ozeki promotion. NHK led off with that discussion at the start of the Makuuchi bouts with Satoh Announcer and Kitanofuji in the booth, and then several oyakata were commenting on it in the funny papers. In particular, Oguruma-oyakata commented that he didn't think Takakeisho's tachi-ai was Ozeki-worthy yet. I guess that makes two of us, but regardless of his tachi-ai or the content of his sumo, they're gonna make this guy an Ozeki within the year anyway, so what does it matter? Kisenosato wasn't Yokozuna-worthy, but that didn't stop them, so it's just a matter of time regardless of how this basho plays out.

Let's focus squarely on the yusho race today that shaped up as follows coming into the day:

12-0: Hakuho
11-1: Ichinojo
10-2: Takayasu, Goeido, Aoiyama, Kotoshogiku

Let's start with Yokozuna Hakuho first and then just work our way down the board. Hakuho was paired against Ozeki Goeido, and I thought that if Hakuho was going to throw a bout, it'd be here to the hometown favorite. From the tachi-ai, Hakuho didn't commit to yotsu-zumo, and so that let Goeido skirt out wide to his left whereupon Hakuho fired a few thrusts his way and slapped at his shoulder a bit as Goeido just flailed away at nothing. Goeido was a complete spaz here, but Hakuho finally corralled him with the left arm inside and right outer grip, but even then, Hakuho was light in his force-out charge letting that right outer go for no reason. I actually think he was opening himself up to a counter throw attempt from Goeido, but it never came, and so Hakuho retooled his grip and just scored the easy force-out win. My opinion this entire basho is that the Yokozuna is giving his opponents openings, but when they fail to take advantage of them, he just finishes them off. Regardless of that, it was easy pickings today for Hakuho who moves to 13-0 while Goeido falls to 10-3.

M4 Ichinojo needed to defeat Komusubi Mitakeumi to keep pace with Hakuho, which meant he simply needed to decide whether or not to win or throw the bout. Ichinojo crushed Mitakeumi upright from the tachi-ai before quickly going for a pull, and Mitakeumi was all too happy to just play along and hit the dirt. The bout lasted less than two seconds, and I'm not saying that Mitakeumi threw this bout. I'm saying he didn't want to get his ass kicked, and so he gladly let himself get slapped down to risk further injury to his knee. He knew from the tachi-ai that Ichinojo meant bidness, and so there's no harm no foul here as Ichinojo keeps pace at 12-1 while Mitakeumi's make-kosh is official at 5-8.

Up next was Ozeki Takayasu looking to keep pace on the leaderboard as well as halt Sekiwake Takakeisho's Ozeki run. Unfortunately, we didn't get a straight up bout here as Takayasu failed to unleash a single thrust just keeping his arms wide and letting Takakeisho fire shoves into his chest. You know how in boxing at the end of a round where they'll post total number punches thrown and punches that scored? The total of Takayasu's punch count (or tsuppari count) was zero vs. a dozen or so for Takakeisho, and so it was an easy, linear win for the Ozeki hopeful. I mean, I'm on the record as saying that Takakeisho could have beaten Takayasu straight up, but Takayasu made no effort to win here, and it was clear. The result is Takayasu's falling out of the yusho race at 10-3 while Takakeisho picks up a huge win in terms of Ozeki promotion finishing the day at 9-4.

M7 Aoiyama was a completely different rikishi today against M12 Yoshikaze. Instead of using his legs to move forward, the Bulgarian just slowly backed up throwing fake tsuppari for a few seconds, and then for no explicable reason, he just exposed the right side of his body to Yoshikaze and let the pint-sized rikishi wrap him up and send him outta the dohyo okuri-dashi style. NHK wisely only showed one replay of this because it was blatant yaocho as Aoiyama takes himself out of the yusho picture falling to 10-3...the same record as Yoshikaze. What a joke! I'm just glad that I don't have to pretend that all of this is real in my comments.

Our final "leader" on the day was M8 Kotoshogiku who was paired against M11 Meisei today, and it was funny to see Meisei fully intend to beat the former Ozeki. And that he did crashing hard at the tachi-ai getting the left arm inside early and right outer grip near the front of the belt, and he wasted no time moving to his right and using that right outer grip to swing Kotoshogiku over and down. And there was absolutely nothing that Kotoshogiku could do about it. The Geeku's 10-2 start was such a farce, and I'm likely the only one calling it for what it was, and to see him get worked like that today by Meisei--Meisei!!--tells you all you need to know. Kotoshogiku is knocked down to 10-3 while Meisei improves to 9-4 and is the much better rikishi.

With that, all of the two-loss rikishi are eliminated, so the yusho race is down to Hakuho at 13-0 and Ichinojo one bout back.

In other bouts of interest, Yokozuna Kakuryu dealt Ozeki Tochinoshin a huge blow today in a bout that surprised me. The two hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai where Kakuryu worked his way into the left outer grip immediately lifting Tochinoshin upright. With Tochinoshin's belt coming unraveled, the Ozeki attempted to throw Kakuryu off his perch with an outer left belt throw, but Kakuryu's a sumbitch at the belt when he wants to be, and all the move did was expend more of Tochinoshin's energy. When the Ozeki was through with his counter throw attempt, Kakuryu took charge hoisting the Ozeki over to the edge with his right arm at the back of Shin's belt, and then he made the yori-kiri official by nudging Shin back that last step. I really expected Kakuryu to defer to the Ozeki today, but he did him no favors moving to 10-3. As for Tochinoshin, he falls to a dangerous 6-7 with the loss.

Sekiwake Tamawashi continues to swallow his pride engaging M5 Chiyotairyu in a tsuppari attack where the Sekiwake largely kept his hands up high. Not making much contact, he let Chiyotairyu push him around the ring, and when Tamawashi went for a weak pull, it completely exposed himself at that point as Chiyotairyu pushed him out of the ring with some oomph. Tamawashi's Ozeki run is officially over (not that it was ever going to pan out) as he falls to 5-8 while Chiyotairyu moves to 7-6.

M2 Daieisho and M5 Onosho traded tsuppari at the tachi-ai where Onosho actually pushed his foe back a step, but he wasn't in control, and so Daieisho was able to pivot left timing a perfect pull that sent Onosho stumbling over to the edge, and Daieisho was right there to greet him as he squared back up shoving Onosho out and to make-koshi at 5-8. As for Daieisho, he's in prime kachi-koshi position at 7-6, and this is what true sanyaku runs looked like in yesteryear.

M13 Tomokaze bought his kachi-koshi plain and simple, and the final payout today was to M8 Asanoyama. I mean, when I throw the shikona out there of "Tomokaze," the last thing you think of is "stellar yotsu guy," but he was just that today as Asanoyama stood there letting Tomokaze get the right inside and left outer grip, and even before Tomokaze got his left belt throw going, Asanoyama was already voluntarily on his way down to the damp, clay mound. Clear yaocho here as Tomokaze is gifted kachi-koshi at 8-5 while Asanoyama falls to 7-6.

I've commented multiple times about how much I enjoy watching M11 Ryuden fight yotsu-zumo, and I think M17 Chiyoshoma respected that today as the Mongolian used tsuppari from the tachi-ai to set up a pull, and from there he grabbed the right outer grip, set up the left inside position and forced Ryuden over and out leading with that outer grip. It was pretty crafty sumo, and you watch Chiyoshoma deal like this, and it's just ridiculous to think he couldn't steamroll everyone down here. Shoma moves to 7-6 and will likely keep himself at the Makuuch pay grade while Ryuden falls to 8-5.

And that's a wrap for me this basho. I will try my best to wrap up a report on Sumo in the Heisei Era over the next few days, but in the meantime, Gary and Harvye will close out the festivites here.

Day 12 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
My normal routine these days during a hon-basho is to record the sumo broadcast during the middle of the night and then watch it during my lunch break or after work. Before I even get to the full broadcast, however, I watch the daily sports segment on NHK News 9, which airs my local time about 6:50 AM. They cover the top two or three bouts and show highlights, and then they quickly run through all of the results of the day highlighting other bouts of interest, so basically I know all of the results even before I watch the broadcast.

Years ago, I hated to be "spoiled" by anything until I had watched the full broadcast for myself, but to me there just isn't any drama in sumo these days, and so I'd rather get a feel for the spin in the news first thing or the overall feeling surrounding the day by how they react to the results on NHK's News 9 show. During the non-baseball months (November, January, March), sumo usually leads the broadcast, so when they started today's sports segment off with a piece on men's figure skating, I immediately knew two things: 1) Hakuho won again, and 2) Takakeisho lost.

In an unbiased world, you would think that NHK News 9 would stick to their normal routine, which is: sumo's the hottest major sport going on right now; the yusho race is the most exciting aspect of sumo; let's start with sumo and cover the bouts with yusho implications. When they don't even start with sumo, all they're doing is letting out this big sigh as if to say, "Sorry, no good news today."

In reality, a basho never begins until Hakuho loses, and that's why Harvye's moniker for Hakuho as the Storyteller is just so fitting.

Until Hakuho does lose, it really tightens up the leaderboard, and you just can't go three deep at this point, so the official leaderboard heading into the day was as follows:

11-0: Hakuho
10-1: Ichinojo
9-2: Kakuryu, Takayasu, Goeido, Aoiyama, Kotoshogiku

Let's start with the two-loss rikishi meaning up first is M7 Aoiyama who welcomed M11 Ryuden. Aoiyama came hard at the tachi-ai catching Ryuden by the right shoulder as standing him back upright as Ryuden tried to come in low. Aoiyama also moved forward well with his legs, and the overall angle of his body was such that you knew he was using his oshi-charge to win. As Ryuden looked to lean back low, Aoiyama timed a swift pull that sent Ryuden down in mere seconds. Yes, I like to see straight-forward wins, but if a hataki-komi is set up like this, I'm completely okay with it. Aoiyama moves to 10-2 and draws Yoshikaze tomorrow!! I guess that shows how seriously the Association is taking him in this yusho run. As for Ryuden, he falls to 8-4, but I've really enjoyed watching him fight this basho. The dude fights better at the belt than any of the coddled elite rikishi ranked above him.

Up next in the two-loss category was M8 Kotoshogiku, and was there any doubt that M5 Chiyotairyu was going to let him win? I think Chiyotaikai is spineless as a stable master. That dude sells out his rikishi more than anyone, and today was yet another example. Chiyotairyu did his best windmill impression at the tachi-ai with both arms just gifting Kotoshogiku his preferred left inside position, and then Tairyu just loosely stood there playing along fully anticipating the right tsuki-otoshi that Kotoshogiku frequently uses. I mean, before the tsuki-otoshi was fully developed, Chiyotairyu was already taking a knee to his right side causing the bout to end in unorthodox fashion as he rolled across the dohyo. What normal bout ends like this?? I just don't see how anyone could say that Chiyotairyu honestly tried to win this bout. The yaocho was obvious here as Kotoshogiku is kept on the leaderboard at 10-2 while Chiyotairyu graciously falls to 6-6.

The most anticipated bout of the day featured Ozeki Goeido vs. Sekiwake Takakeisho, but the bout turned out to be a dud. Takakeisho did nothing at the tachi-ai keeping his hands up around Goeido's shoulders, and so the Ozeki was able to shove Takakeisho back two steps before reversing momentum with a quick pull. If Ichinojo's pull power is a 10, this was more like a 3, but Takakeisho just flopped forward and down in the bout that lasted just a few seconds. Part of me wants to say that Takakeisho was mukiryoku here, but it's difficult to determine that when you don't have a baseline the entire basho to use as a comparison.

My comments the entire tournament on Takakeisho have been weak tachi-ai, poor footwork, and light weight shove attack. Now, when your opponent does the backing up for you, Takakeisho's sumo looks great to the novice fan, but if you look at the basics, there's little substance there. For example, the basic of all basics is suri-ashi. Is Takakeisho's oshi attack based on suri-ashi? No.

Another basic is the teppo pole. Does Takakeisho drive his opponents back with solid blasts to the torso? Very rarely. Chiyotairyu blasts his opponents back with shoves. Daieisho is also very good at moving his opponents around with shoves. Abi's not good at it, and Takakeisho's not good at it either. I think the potential is there for Takakeisho, but he's becoming another Takayasu where there's so much that's just given to him that he forgets how to fight and how to be tough. After the loss today, which dropped him to 8-4, the announcer said that it was his first renpai, or consecutive losses, in six months. Six months?! That's a sure sign that very few rikishi have brought out the big guns against this dude. Once again, the potential is there, but the content these last few basho has been mediocre at best. As for Goeido, he moves to 10-2 with the victory, and if Takakeisho wasn't mukiryoku today, last bout's contest between these two was surely in the Sekiwake's head.

Rounding out the two-loss rikishi were Yokozuna Kakuryu and Ozeki Takayasu, and it was pretty easy to predict the outcome of this one going in. Kakuryu got his right hand at Takayasu's belt at the tachi-ai, but he let that go as the bout developed into a migi-yotsu contest. Problem was that Takayasu's tachi-ai was so soft that he couldn't get established on his own right side, and in a straight up bout, we aren't even talking about this because the Yokozuna would have already driven the Ozeki out, but this bout was fixed all the way as Kakuryu eased up on his right inside position so much so that he just gave Takayasu the left outer grip. Despite no position yet on the right side from Takayasu, Kakuryu was lethargic and so Takayasu slung him over to the edge with the outer grip and then kinda threw him down. I say "kinda" because Kakuryu aided the throw by flipping over onto his back as he touched down.  Just like the Kotoshogiku bout before, when do we ever see a yotsu bout end like this?  Well, one that doesn't involve Ura.

In a normal bout, there would have been a nage-no-uchi-ai at the edge, but Kakuryu just let up and chose to control his fall rather than counter with something from the right inside. This was also one of those bouts where Kakuryu was in complete control throughout, and the result was just a gift win for the Ozeki. The result is Kakuryu's being knocked off the leaderboard at 9-3 while Takayasu stays alive at 10-2.

In the one-loss category, M4 Ichinojo moved left at the tachi-ai grabbing the quick and dirty grip against M8 Asanoyama, and the Mongolith just continued to shade left in this migi-yotsu contest as Asanoyama looked to firm up his inside right position, but this was just fruitless as Ichinojo went for a half belt throw / half slap down with the right ham, and the move just clobbered Asanoyama down to the damp, clay mound. Ichinojo's 11-1 is the laziest run I've ever seen, and this is just a good example of the warped banzuke we have. Ichinojo is making mince meat of his opponents unlike a Japanese rikishi is capable of doing while Asanoyama falls to 7-5.

And that brings us to Yokozuna Hakuho, who actually fought Ozeki Tochinoshin in the day's penultimate bout, and this was as good of a bout as you would care to see this high in the ranks. After a blatant false start by Hakuho, the two hooked up in migi-yotsu the second go-around where both rikishi grabbed left outer grips. Tochinoshin briefly lifted up on that left outer, but he wasn't able to budge the Yokozuna, and Hakuho traded that tit for tat by going for a nice dashi-nage of the Ozeki laterally breaking off his outer grip. From there it was textbook sumo from Hakuho who wrenched at all the right times while keeping his foe contained with the inside right, and after a really nice battle of strength for 10 or 12 seconds, Hakuho finally forced Tochinoshin back and across.

A couple takeaways from this bout are that first, if Tochinoshin had fought like this against every opponent this basho, he'd be 11-1. Second, the so-called elite Japanese rikishi are unable to execute a bout like this. If so, when was the last time it happened?? Everything these days is so light and fluffy with weird falls at the end, and essentially, it's hana-sumo. This was O-zumo today, and it was a thing of beauty. Finally, if Hakuho fought this way every day, he'd average an 89-1 record every year. The contrast of a bout like this to the usual crap sumo we see from the foreigners as they lower the bar is so stark, and so it's nice to see bouts like this from time to time. As the dust settled, Hakuho moves to 12-0 with the win while Tochinoshin falls to 6-6. Tochinoshin is kadoban, but I think Kakuryu goes easy on him tomorrow, and then he's just gotta figure out that final win.

Speaking of bouts tomorrow, Hakuho draws Goeido, and if he's going to drop a strategic loss, tomorrow's the day in my opinion. As for Takakeisho and his quest for Ozeki, he fights Takayasu, and normally I'd favor Takakeisho in this matchup, but I'm really worried that his sumo-kan, or ring sense, is shot due to all the yaocho thrown his way these last three basho. But...enough of that speculation.

With the dust settled among the leaders, here's how things shape up heading into Day 13:

12-0: Hakuho
11-1: Ichinojo
10-2: Takayasu, Goeido, Aoiyama, Kotoshogiku

Once again, the basho never starts until Hakuho chooses to lose that first bout, so we'll see what he does against Goeido tomorrow.

In other bouts of interest, Sekiwake Tamawashi and M1 Endoh traded tsuppari from the tachi-ai with neither guy looking to take charge. Tamawashi largely dictated the pace here, but Endoh held his ground well staving off Tamawashi's brief pulls and swipe attempts. At one point, the Sekiwake lunged for Endoh who moved to the side, and this caused Tamawashi to stumble towards the edge, but Endoh didn't set that up with a pull; rather, he was moving sideways to avoid it, and so he wasn't in a position to rush forward and dink Tamawashi out of there. Taking a page out of Hakuho's book, Tamawashi did a 360 away from the tawara as Endoh struck and missed, and from that point, Endoh was gassed and provided the easy push-out target for Tamawashi who lunged a final time connecting squarely with Endoh's torso sending him out before Tamawashi crashed down. Tamawashi is at least in the running for kachi-koshi at 5-7 while Endoh falls to a make-koshi at 4-8.

M3 Nishikigi offered no resistance against Komusubi Hokutofuji who did charge well using some nice tsuppari to knock Nishikigi upright and drive him back in short order, but Nishikigi did nothing to attempt to win or counter keeping his arms out wide. There's really not much more to say about this as Hokutofuji limps to 4-8 while Nishikigi falls to 3-9.

Komusubi Mitakeumi struck M2 Myogiryu fairly well at the tachi-ai with some nice tsuppari, but his lower half is obviously crippled this basho, and so he wasn't able to drive with those legs. As a result, Myogiryu was able to push his way into the firm left inside position, and he applied force-out pressure from there causing Mitakeumi to really go for the only move available to him, which was moving right and going for a desperate pull with his arm up around Myogiryu's head, but the Komusubi just can't dig in, and so Myogiryu scored the easy force out win. Both guys end the basho at 5-7, and Mitakeumi just needs to let that knee heal.

Two guys who are better than their paltry records are M1 Kaisei and M3 Shodai. Kaisei got the deep right position to the inside from the tachi-ai and then used his girth to drive Shodai to the edge early. Credit Shodai for countering with a left kote-nage, and this made Kaisei slow up a bit and regroup, but as he did, he never lost that potent inside position, and so the second force-out charge was the charm as Kaisei scored the easy win leaving both rikishi at 2-10.

M2 Daieisho and M4 Tochiohzan engaged in a brief tsuppari contest for a second or two until Daieisho skirted right committing on a pull move, and TochiSlowZan was just...well...too slow to keep up. This wasn't the most impressive win I've see from Daieisho who moves to 6-6, but I get it. He knows his opponent can't move well, so play against his weakness. Tochiohzan falls to 2-10.

M9 Sadanoumi was completely mukiryoku against M5 Onosho in their migi-yotsu contest. I mean, you have an oshi guy in Onosho and a yotsu guy in Sadanoumi, so to see Sadanoumi have his favored style and still go for this lame right scoop throw as he just backed his way across the straw was comical. There was enough separation created at the end here that Onosho scored the oshi-dashi win, but this was just an ugly bout all around as Onosho ekes to 5-7 while Sadanoumi falls to 3-9.

M14 Terutsuyoshi looked like Mainoumi at the tachi-ai against M6 Abi going for this quirky duck move, but they called him for a false start, so there he was having already played his hand. As they reloaded, Abi put both hands against Terutsuyoshi's shoulders and then immediately backed up going for the do-or-die pull. Unfortunately for Terutsuyoshi, his hand grazed the dohyo as he stumbled forward, and so gunbai to Abi who moves to 5-7 in this ugly, ugly bout. As for Terutsuyoshi, he's going to have to work out his problems in Juryo next basho at 3-9.

M6 Okinoumi and M10 Shohozan hooked up in hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai where Shohozan's charge was hard enough it knocked Okinoumi back a step or two, but Okinoumi's the better yotsu fighter by far, and he grabbed a stiff right outer grip while lifting Shohozan up so high his right arm was pointing towards the rafters. There was no way Darth Hozan was going to get his revenge on that as Okinoumi scored the textbook yori-kiri win after a shaky start. Okinoumi moves to 7-5 with the win while Shohozan falls to 5-7.

M10 Yago was upright at the tachi-ai allowing M7 Takarafuji to bully his way into moro-zashi, and once obtained, Yago was in no position to counter either with a kote-nage or kime grip with both arms wrapped around from the outside. As a result, Takarafuji forced Yago back and across the straw with little argument, and while Yago did kind of latch onto a right outer grip, he was too far gone by that point. Yago suffers make-koshi at 4-8, and he's the perfect example of a rikishi whose lost his first few basho in Makuuchi because there's so much compromised sumo going on. Takarafuji moves to 6-6 with the easy win.

M16Daishoho took advantage of M9 Ikioi's reckless charge slipping left, grabbing the outer grip on that side, and then using his right arm up and around Ikioi's melon to easily pull the Osaka native down to his 11th loss against one win. Daishoho moves to 5-7 after the two-second win.

M17 Chiyoshoma's arms were spread wider at the tachi-ai than a woman in the stirrups about to give birth, and so M11 Meisei easily got moro-zashi against his voluntary upright opponent, and as Meisei just rushed forward, Chiyoshoma kinda faked a left kote-nage, but all he did was just stay mostly square giving Meisei the easy yori-taoshi win. Chiyoshoma falls to 6-6 with the loss, but hey, if you get paid enough to throw bouts, who cares about the Juryo pay cut?? We'll see what he decided to do the last few days, but this was an obvious yaocho as Meisei picks up kachi-koshi at 8-4.

M16 Yutakayama kept his head low as he charged into M12 Yoshikaze. I guess "charged" isn't the best description of his tachi-ai because he didn't do anything other than keep his arms wide and stand there while Yoshikaze pivoted left and went for a mediocre pull that worked wonders against his mukiryoku opponent. Yutakayama just dove to his left landing and on his shoulder and rolling, and trust me, that action wasn't caused due to the "force" from Yoshikaze's lame slap down. Yoshikaze's 9-3 record is paid for while Yutakayama falls to 3-9, and like Chiyoshoma, who care if he falls to Juryo?

M13 Kagayaki struck M15 Kotoeko well at the tachi-ai standing the smaller Eko upright, and Kagayaki rushed in yotsu style getting his right hand in the hazu position pushing Kotoeko upright near the teet/armpit area while also keeping him snug with the left arm wrapped around Kotoeko's right. Kotoeko tried to slither out of the hold, but Kagayaki moved well as he chased his foe around and out scoring a rare yori-kiri win. Kagayaki moves to 8-4 with the victory while Kotoeko falls to 6-6.

M15 Ishiura shaded a bit left at the tachi-ai against M13 Tomokaze, but Ishiura's really gotta henka to throw his opponent off, and he didn't do that here, and so Tomokaze used nice footwork and potent tsuppari to chase Ishiura back and out in about five lopsided seconds. Tomokaze moves to 7-5 while Ishiura falls to 6-6.

And finally, J2 Enho refused a straight-up chest to chest clash with M14 Toyonoshima holding up a bit at the tachi-ai and making the veteran come to him. Toyonoshima was uncomfortable with that premise, and so Enho was able to stave him off with a shallow left inside and right hand at Toyonoshima's side. With Toyonoshima unable to go low and get moro-zashi, Enho moved just enough to where he was able to use the left inside position to force Toyonoshima over to the side and shove him out for there. Toyonoshima's make-koshi is official with the loss at 8-3 while Enho improves to 7-5.

Looks like I draw the short straw again for tomorrow.

Day 11 Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
Having thrown some compliments Goeido's way last time, now it is time to turn my eyes to the real surprise of the basho.

It isn't Hakuho of course. Just like last time he has started out strong and is telling his "will he or won't he" story. No surprise. It isn't Takakeisho. Yes, his Ozeki run almost seems in the bag; heck, if it is really about getting 33 wins, he only needs one more. No surprise here, though some interest: people want him to get it, and he's going to get it. It also isn't Tamawashi; his "Ozeki run" naturally never really materialized. He got his yusho last time out--excellent--but he has had the sense to hunker down this basho and not get in the way again, and at 4-6 the question now is whether he can save face and get a kachi-koshi.

No, the real surprise is Ichinojo. "How long will it take?" That has been the question ever since his debut. And for the last year it has been "will he finally win RIGHT NOW?" Every basho, looking at his size and potential, it now looks possible. Yes, it is also still possible he will only start to win a championship or two years and years down the line--as with Tamawashi and Tochinoshin. Look, Kakuryu was 28 years old when he took his first championship, and Ichinojo is still just 25. But I think he's an even bet to go ahead and do it Right Now: win this tournament. For the last year plus the Association has been allowing new guys to win--the transition is on--and it would not surprise me to see Hakuho step back for Ichinojo. Ichinojo has been on the brink of his true breakout for a year plus.

The content of his sumo: is it deserving? Yes, I suppose so. On the one hand, it hasn't looked too good on paper: more than half of his wins on backwards moving sumo (three tsuki-otoshi, two hataki-komi), and frankly that is how it has looked in the ring: hardly dominant, he has been hanging around and picking up wins in a desultory and opportunistic fashion while backing away. But on the other hand, as I mentioned the other day, that is what has impressed me: he has gotten to 9-1 with what looks like half effort. Half spirit. Half talent. Half hearted. Somehow, he has made this look easy: "oh, you're going to push me back? Well, okay, I'm real big, real strong, and I'm gonna knock you down, okay. See?" A lot of guys win in a half-assed looking way because they are being given matches. Ichinojo is winning in a half-assed looking way because that is all he needs. For a long while I thought Ichinojo wasn't really all that. That same halfheartedness led to losses more often than not; it was dispiriting, infuriating, and depressing. Now, he is still doing it, and he is winning; can anything stop him if he can win like this?

Ichinojo's Makuuchi career has had three distinct phases. Phase one was exactly one basho long: he debuted and finished second for the yusho at 13-2, getting way, way ahead of himself and the Association. So, the second phase was a wandering in the wilderness: there followed 18 basho (a full three years worth) when he won in double digits only twice--once from Maegashira 11 and once from Maegashira 13. It didn't shift into phase three until he got a 10-4 performance at Maegashira 4--his first double digit wins within sniffing distance of the jo'i--at the last tournament of 2017. Why then? Ichinojo is Harumafuji's de facto replacement. That tournament--Kyushu 2017--was the first after Harumafuji's retirement. Starting with that tournament, there has been more room for Ichinojo, and he has looked a notch better, performed a notch better, and had a notch better results, hanging right in the jo'i and usually getting his kachi-koshi--neither of which he managed to do with consistency in his three years in his Phase 2 purgatory. This tournament, dropped back down to Maegashira 4, he is simply too good for where he is. I'm not sure he can be held back any longer.

It should be an interesting last five days. As our four most consequential wrestlers--the three leaders plus Takakeisho--played each other today, let's start with them:

BIG FOUR

M7 Aoiyama (9-1) vs. M4 Ichinojo (9-1)
Dude, this was, like, halfway through the day. M4 may not feel that low, but it meant Ichinojo today fought his fifth match against a guy ranked even lower than him. They just can't handle him down here. Aoiyama, however, felt like a worthy opponent this time around. He has been having a tournament a lot like Ichinojo's: lots of easy-looking pull-downs. The shocker with him is that there has also been as much forward movement as there has been: with three oshi-dashi and two oshi-taoshi in his win ledger, heck, he has looked like a new man. So, here we go. With a combined 900+ plus pounds of flesh on the dohyo (yes! I looked it up!), this was something to look forward to whatever their records. And with these records, well, we had an honest to goodness marquee match here.

Ichinojo dominated. The tachi-ai was tentative on both sides--heavy and slow. Well, they's heavy. From there, Aoiyama tried some blows and thrusts, but he looked defensive and befuddled. Ichinojo, on the other hand, stayed contained and in control: focused, moving slowly forward. The match ended the same way so many of his matches have: after a while he swiped Aoiyama to the ground with a few big, hammy pulls like a guy turning a water wheel, hataki-komi. Frankly, Aoiyama looked so bad in this one I'm not sure he wasn't helping round off Ichinojo's narrative, but let's be charitable and put it down to Aoiyama's attack having no effect on One Castle (Ichinojo). How can you pull down an Iron Blob of Gravity Grease? What effect do thrusts have on a Mongolith? Ichinojo has that look right now: hard to beat. How are you going to do it? It is going to take more speed and focus than Aoiyama had.

Y Hakuho (10-0) vs. S Takakeisho (8-2)
They hyped this bout all day. I was more excited about Ichinojo vs. Aoiyama. But I get it. If he were to win this one, Takakeisho would once again have 33 wins over three tournaments, and he would have hit that mark by beating the dai-est Dai-Yokozuna of all time. Good fun, I suppose. As Mike said yesterday, though, that just seemed too easy, so I expected Takakeisho to lose. Much better for his story to be drawn out a bit more. Don't peak too early. Even if he loses he still has got three days, and by winning two or so there, still gets ozeki and doesn't make it look too silly. Leaves something to aspire too. Builds a little rivalry with Hakuho with less farce. But all that was speculation. Let's get to what actually happened.

Hakuho toyed with him. Gave him lots of chances. And beat him up. It was dramatic enough that it is worth taking beat by beat. Takakeisho put two fists on the ground, "I'm here," Kakizoe-style, while Hakuho contemplated him, hands still on his knees. Then they had a mighty tachi-ai, Hakuho scooping up with that right forearm. But then Hakuho didn't come forward. He chose the "come at me, man" style, standing there and egging Takakeisho on: hitting him hard when he came at him, not wrapping him up. This was "let's see what you can do. Can you knock me down? I'm here. Try." Instead of going for a grip, Hakuho then started a series of backwardish slap-down and slap-to-the-side punches. He wasn't really trying to knock Takakeisho down at this point. He was trying to hit him as hard as possible: knock him out. This was "you think you're tough? You think you hit hard? How does this feel? Can you handle this?" To his credit, Takakeisho did handle it: he didn't crumple or crumble. Stuck with his game: surge-pause-pull-surge. The next phase was body to body. Takakeisho having survived all this--but failed to capitalize on the backwards-moving and open-to-attack Yokozuna--Hakuho decided to finish it. This was, "okay, if you can't beat me, I beat you. See?" An instant after they put their chests together and put their hands on each other's belts, Hakuho unleashed an Armageddon of an uwate-nage: twisted, wrenched, and annihilated Takakeisho into the apocalyptic clay like a sack of damp nuclear ash. This was the match of the tournament thus far from Hakuho, a masterful destruction from a man who is still the king. All in all, it was "I can mostly just stand here and you still can't beat me." The fierce glower on Hakuho's face after it was over said it all: Armageddon, annihilation, apocalypse. Triple A+ theatre, dominance, and drama from our Storyteller, Hakuho.

TWO LOSS GUYS

M15 Ishiura (6-4) vs. M8 Kotoshogiku (8-2)
Kotoshogiku is the one guy who doesn't belong in this two loss "theoretical leaderboard" group, but he's got the record so we'll take him. The announcers prattled gamely about his yusho history as if he were actually a contender. That's entertainment, folks! I must say, Ishiura looked kind of silly and small paired up with him. Ishiura offered virtually nothing. He stood up stiffly at the tachi-ai and stretched his hands out like a guy taking a roast out of the oven. He then pulled and ran away out of there. Kotoshogiku followed and easily oshi-dashi'ed him; Ishiura was falling down on his own as he crossed the straw, so precipitious was his surrender. Sigh. Kotoshogiku remains on the leaderboard. For a nickel, a monkey will play another song for you on the crank music box.

O Takayasu (8-2) vs. O Tochinoshin (6-4)
I've given up waiting for Takayasu; it could be years before he gets his token yusho. Or he could end up Yokozuna, just like he ended up Ozeki. Who knows. But he doesn't have The Look. Ever.

He had big momentum off the tachi-ai against Tochinoshin, but Tochinoshin had managed to reach inside on the left for a fistful of satin, and pulled a desperation throw with it that momentarily put them back to even. I figured Tochinoshin would take it from there: grip. Size. Strength. However, Takayasu had two grips, one out, one in, and when Tochinoshin tried to maki-kae to get his own second grip, Takayasu was all over it, surging forward into the move and collapsing a defeated Tochinoshin to the dirt at the straw, tsuki-otoshi. This was fine from Takayasu, but I still say Takayasu is just kind of there. You know the old bar cliché joke sign, "free beer tomorrow"? Somehow Takayasu is like that. Free Beer Tomorrow.

M5 Chiyotairyu (6-4) vs. O Goeido (8-2)
Hey, I still say Goeido is having a great tournament. But I also say he has slipped into "inconsequential" territory somewhere along the way with Takayasu. With two losses, and with Hakuho and Ichinojo ahead of him, he's just a hometown guy putting on a good show. There ain't no yusho race for him here. Chiyotairyu could have shown just how inconsequential Goeido really is by blasting him to smithereens, but instead he stood up at the tachi-ai rather than blasting, offered a light head pull, and backpedaled out under light pressure, oshi-dashi.

I am beginning to regret giving the two-loss guys a space at the top of this report. But…

S Tamawashi (4-6) vs. Y Kakuryu (8-2)
…there is still Kakuryu! As Gary said, he is right where he likes it best, "tucked in" just of the top. He is the one guy of these four loss guys who I think could reach up and grab the yusho from Hakuho or Ichinojo if The Storyteller chooses to fade and Ichinojo self-destructs. Unfortunately this match, as expected from this karaoke-crowd, was a bunch of shullbit. They hit each other very hard at the tachi-ai with a satisfactory thwack. Which was good, because otherwise I'd have to call another example of hana-zumo as Mike eloquently described yesterday: after that, it was just dancing. Oh, they threw a few wild slaps at each other. So wild that they both fell down apropos of nothing, barely in contact with each other, like two guys getting shot with one bullet. One moment they're standing there. Whoops! The next they are lying on the ground. It was so fast and silly they had to get the black crows to check: the first thing to hit the dirt was indeed one of Tamawashi's hands, hiki-otoshi.

Whelp, that didn't belong at the top of the report either. Let's see what we can find in the earlier bouts. Sometimes you have to rely on Daiamami. Wait. What? Daiamami? Yes, you do.

EVERYBODY ELSE

J3 Daiamami (3-7) vs. M15 Kotoeko (6-4)
I think Kotoeko has had a pretty good tournament, but look at him: 6-4 at M15. He ain't much. As for Big Sweety (Daiamami), sure haven't missed him. Looked like he kicked some dirt on the white socks of the gyoji while setting up and shuffling about in prep for the match. Cool. They had a good match. Kotoeko wiggled both his arms inside while Daiamami floundered around on top of him, standing up straight. However, as if to prove the point that he ain't much, Kotoeko couldn't do anything with this dual-belt grip position. Daiamami powered up on him: swiveled him at the edge and hopped him along, uwate-nage, until one of Kotoeko's feet dotted the dirt outside the straw. Well, so it goes.

M14 Terutsuyoshi (2-8) vs. M17 Chiyoshoma (6-4)
As he has already proved that he has nothing, Terutsuyoshi turned to the something that is available to those who have nothing: the henka. He leapt well to the right at the tachi-ai, grabbed a deep hold of Chiyoshoma's belt, and whirled him around and around. Chiyoshoma could have survived this--all he had to do was turn to him and body him back--but he went with the flow and let Terutsuyoshi keep that side-on position, from whence Terutsuyoshi pushed him unconvincingly out, yori-kiri. Get you both gone.

M14 Toyonoshima (3-7) vs. M13 Kagayaki (6-4)
Okay, I admit it: Toyonoshima's return, which I was excited about (yes, I geeked out), has been boring. I still like the guy. But as a wrestler? There is just no "there" there. He looks weak. Nice and round! But not effective. Today was another bruise on his spring tulip. They whapped together satisfactorily with their chests at the tachi-ai, but then Kagayaki lifted Toyonoshima up with a very easy right, stepped back a little, and whapped him down with an equally easy hataki-komi slap. Toyonoshima, it was more fun the first time around.

M16 Daishoho (4-6) vs. M11 Meisei (6-4)
I think Daishoho gave this one away. Meisei whanged into him hard from a great distance at the tachi-ai--way back off the lines, and with Daishoho not moving forward at all. But as Daishoho did not break, I figured "ah HA! He's bigger, more powerful, and unfazed!" Wrong. He continued to make no effort to move forward, and thus had to give in, little by little, to Meisei's effortful shoves. I like Meisei, and he did nothing wrong here, but it was push-cart-imitation time by Daishoho on the way to Meisei's yori-kiri victory. Daishoho wasn't absorbing Meisei's attack at the tachi-ai. He was waiting to lose.

M16 Yutakayama (3-7) vs. M10 Yago (3-7)
These two made a loud groan at the tachi-ai, like Monica Seles on bestial steroids. Then they pushered and thrustered. I've watched the English broadcasts two days this basho (though not today), which may be the first two times in my life, and I swear Raja Pradhan and Murray Johnson used the term "pusher-thruster" 1000 times. It is like, all they said. This isn't their fault--yeah, it is now convenient shorthand for the whole damn division. They'd say "pusher-thruster," and then the match would disintegrate, and they'd say "but Tweedledee fell down," or "and Tweedledee pushes him out." The results seem pretty much independent of the pushing and thrusting: the dudes do that for a while, then somebody wins during the fracas, doesn't seem to matter who. Don't confuse movement with action. Can that be my whole bout description here: "pusher-thruster"? And done! Pick a winner. There was a fair amount of pusher-thruster here, and at a certain moment Yago moved back at the right time and with enough room and pulled Yutakayama down by the head, hataki-komi. Oh, boy… yes… pusher/thruster.

M9 Sadanoumi (3-7) vs. M13 Tomokaze (5-5)
Sadanoumi tried to initiate a little pusher/thruster action, but Tomokaze wasn't having it; he said, "how about I just pull?" He caught hold of Sadanoumi's ol' melon instantly, then glided backwards and directed Sadanoumi's face into the dirt. Hataki-komi win for Tomokaze. That's three hataki-komi outcomes in four matches. This? This is not for me.

M8 Asanoyama (7-3) vs. M11 Ryuden (7-3)
Here are two guys who I like. Help me, guys! We hadn't had a good match since the first one (Kotoeko vs. um, Juryo Visitor). There was some pushing and thrusting (oh no!) but this was just set up; Ryuden was parting those waters like Moses on the way to snuggling up and getting a nice outside left / inside right grip. Asanoyama countered with an inside right, they slung their cans back, and some sumo was on. Ryuden tried the first force-out charge, but Asanoyama didn't budge. Nicely done, Morning Mountain. Asanoyama tried the next move, pulling a maki-kae that "worked" by getting him dual inside grips. However it was shallow, and Ryuden's belt was loose on one side, meaning Asanoyama might as well have been pulling up on those fat blue rubber bands they wrap broccoli in. He had no purchase. In fact the maki-kae was the move that lost the match for Asanoyama, as Ryuden dug in even deeper with his grips and chested Asanoyama out, yori-kiri. And that, folks, was sumo. Whew! Thanks guys.

M10 Shohozan (5-5) vs. M6 Abi (3-7)
They BOTH stood up high at the tachi-ai and deeked at each other with their hands. Why do I put "BOTH" in caps? Because that is Abi's game, and expected from him, but it does absolutely nothing in this match for li'l ol' Darth Hozan, who received some meat-tenderizer jabs in the face as a reward and was quickly removed backwards from the ring in a tsuki-dashi thrust fest.

M6 Okinoumi (5-5) vs. M9 Ikioi (1-9)
Well, old-fashionists might say, "good for Ikioi. Even though he's hurt, he's still out there fighting hard and trying to show his fans he's doing his best." In fact, I think that is exactly what Murray Johnson said the other day. As for me, I'd say, "what earthly good could this possibly do you or anybody else? REST!" Ikioi scooped up, looking for the inside position, but Okinoumi moved to the side, locked up his arm, and dumped him matter-of-factly to the earth, kote-nage. Sheesh. Rest, I say. Rest.

M12 Yoshikaze (7-3) vs. M5 Onosho (4-6)
Onosho started well (3-1) and has fallen apart (1-4). That's kind of him these days: can't sustain, very inconsistent. Much yawning from me. As for Yoshikaze, well, now he has proved he can start 7-3 from M12 at age 37. So there. Onosho was amped to beat him, and went wild and hard as always, pushing up at his face like a possessed jack-in-the-box. However, Yoshikaze quickly stopped moving backwards, then actually moved some forwards, which gave him room to move backwards again and convert on a pull-down, hataki-komi. If this is the best Onosho can do in a match with an aging M12, he's just not very good. I dunno.

M4 Tochiozan (2-8) vs. M7 Takarafuji (4-6)
They grabbed each other. Tochiozan sensed he had no forward momentum, so he tried to hop out of there backwards and pull down. But Takarafuji held on to him, moved forward, and yori-kiri'ed him out. It helped Takarafuji that Tochiozan wasn't pulling down, and that Tochiozan helped hold him up at one point while voluntarily stepping out. Sigh. Why do they do these things? It is hard for us to know.

M3 Shodai (1-9) vs. M2 Myogiryu (4-6)
This was much like the last match but harder fought. Replay: they grabbed each other. Myogiryu had no forward momentum, so he tried to pull back out of there and pull Shodai down by the head. But Shodai held on to him, moved forward, and oshi-dashi'ed him out. The difference is that this was tight and had tension. It was also the best poor, hapless Vanilla Softcream (Shodai) has looked this tournament. Tell you what; why don't we just call him Hapless, since each of us seems to come upon that word regularly when we describe him. Shodai's pheromones scream "HAPLESS!!"

M1 Kaisei (1-9) vs. M3 Nishikigi (2-8)
I'm not sold on Nishikigi. Yeah, he's alright: his technique is sound, he tries hard, and he wins surprisingly many bouts given his run-of-the-mill size and mediocre tools. But he's just not that good. He doesn't belong in the jo'i and cannot stick here. He just becomes somewhat of an object lesson in the futility of trying punch above your weight: at a certain point, it can't be done. I'm never going to pitch for the Milwaukee Brewers, and you're never going to be an international film star, or whatever it is. Nishikigi is 2-8 folks--despite fighting well. That's life in the big city. Anyway, the match was worthless: Nishikigi pushed Kaisei back a bit, then Kaisei put his hands on the ground, hiki-otoshi. Yeesh.

M1 Endo (3-7) vs. K Hokutofuji (3-7)
They started with some pushing and thrusting, but Endo pushed a surprisingly long-looking right hand all the way under Hokutofuji's arm to his far, far belt. I thought Endo was doomed, because he was too extended. But he kept his head lower and gambarized, and Hokutofuji, for all his flailing and struggling, couldn't knock him down, off, or back. Instead, Hokutofuji's histrionic movement let Endo inch in closer, closer, and oshi-dashi him out in the end. Endo is not really that different than Nishikigi.

K Mitakeumi (4-6) vs. M2 Daieisho (5-5)
Has anybody else found it slightly odd that Mitakeumi is having a nothing tournament? He won a yusho not long ago, and had a couple of Ozeki runs that looked ready to work but faltered. Now he's chugging along innocuously at 4-6. There is just no oxygen for him this tournament--Takakeisho has sucked it all out of the room, and with the Ozeki and Yokozuna performing well there is no room for Farm Country Bully (Mitakeumi). But the nothing tournament is still kind of striking. And good! His thing was a bit premature. Meanwhile, Pop Rocks (Daieisho) offered nothing in this one. He popped up and pushed Mitakeumi in the shoulders and face, but Mitakeumi looked back at him, said, "I'm the bigger man here, fella," and pushed him right out, oshi-dashi.

Tomorrow Mike pushes and thrusts a mound of damp clay into the shape of Devils' Tower in his kitchen.

Day 10 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
As we close in on the final five days of the tournament, it's been interesting to watch the headlines in the media focus less on Takakeisho and more on the actual topics emerging in week 2.  While NHK's News 9 program at the end of Day 9 did lead off their sumo coverage with the Takakeisho - Chiyotairyu bout, the print media has fanned out into other areas including Shimanoumi's run in Juryo, Ichinojo's terrific performance so far, the two Yokozuna atop the leaderboard, and then the death of sumo's most well-known fan, the Olympic Ojisan.

I think we all know the back story of the Olympic Ojisan, so I won't talk about that here, but what's been interesting to me the last day or two has been reading the candid accounts of journalists who are writing these short essays on their chance interactions with the guy.  One particular guy talked about running into the Ojisan at Kisenosato's press conference when he announced his retirement from sumo.  The ojisan was wearing his famous silk top hat and a decorated kimono, and then he was carrying the hi-no-maru, or Japan's flag. I probably would have asked the dude, "Is it Halloween today?", but when this particular reporter asked the Ojisan what he was doing there, his reply was, "This is Japan's Yokozuna, and I'm so sad to see him go."

To Yamada-san, or the Olympic Ojisan, Kisenosato's performance as a Yokozuna was inconsequential. Sure, the Japanese public would have loved to have seen another Chiyonofuji or Takanohana so there wouldn't have had to be so much pretending, but this was Japan's Yokozuna, and it meant a lot to them regardless of how Kisenosato got there or how he performed at the rank.

Yamada-san was a product of the Showa Era, and it was the Emperor Showa (or HEE-ro-HEE-do as we say in Utah) who declared sumo as Japan's national sport.  Showa loved sumo, and so the Japanese people of that generation loved it too, and Yamada-san simply embodied rooting for Japanese rikishi as a sign of his staunch patriotism.

In my opinion, sumo as we know it today is eventually going to die on the vine when the people who grew up in the Showa Era die away, but for now, the Association is playing to the patriotism of the fans as a means to keep the seats full.  It wasn't that long ago when attendance was about eight rows deep on the arena floor and then a smattering of cheapskates in the upper bowl, and when that was happening, the foreign rikishi ruled the elite ranks, Hakuho was winning 63 bouts in a row, and a Japanese guy hadn't taken the yusho in 10 years.

So what has changed the last few years?  It certainly hasn't been an improvement in sumo content from the Japanese rikishi (or the foreigners for that matter).  You just take the manner in which Ichinojo defeated Goeido yesterday.  When was the last time a Japanese rikishi defeated anybody in that manner?  Maybe some of the bigger guys can throw Ishiura or Terutsuyoshi around, but when was the last time an Ozeki was thrown as Goeido was yesterday...at the hands of another Japanese rikishi?

When I first hatched the idea for Sumotalk, my motivation was primarily, "There's a larger story to tell that you can't get from the typical media outlets," and I think with the death of sumo's most prominent fan, it's worth pointing out that the larger story here is the Sumo Association's playing to the patriotism of the Japanese fans in order to fill the arenas.  Some might call that a conspiracy, but to me it's simply marketing.

Focusing on the day 10 action, we had quite the hefty leaderboard heading into the day, and regardless of how some of the rikishi achieved their leader status, when you take rank, popularity, and sheer size into consideration, maybe the only guy missing from this list is Tochinoshin:

9-0: Hakuho
8-1: Kakuryu, Takayasu, Ichinojo, Aoiyama
7-2: Goeido, Takakeisho, Kotoshogiku

Because there's still plenty of "patriotism" going on among that group, I'm just going to go in chronological order today.

First up was Chiyomaru visiting from Juryo wearing a gay colored green mawashi.  Against M16 Daishoho, Maru used his typical kachi-age type tsuppari up high to keep Daishoho upright before quickly darting left and scoring the easy and uneventful pull down win yanking at Daishoho's arms.  We'll likely see Chiyomaru back up here for May as he moves to 7-3 while Daishoho falls to 4-6.

M13 Tomokaze actually put up a good fight against M17 Chiyoshoma keeping the Mongolian from getting to the belt with some nice tsuppari, but if Chiyoshoma's intent is to win, he's certainly going to do it against a rookie like Tomokaze, and so Chiyoshoma continued to shade left alternating between pull attempts and attempts to get inside. The deciding factor in this bout was speed as Daishoho simply couldn't keep up with Chiyoshoma as he spun, and so after about six seconds, Shoma finally worked his way inside enough to where he was able to use the left hand up and under his foe's right armpit to push him down hard near the edge. Chiyoshoma moves to 6-4 with the win while I was impressed with Tomokaze's fight today as he dropped to 5-5.

I've noticed this basho how at random times the referee or chief judge are calling needless false starts. It seems we go through one rikishi getting called for it and then the other rikishi called for it, and then they always let the third attempt go even though the tachi-ai looked exactly like the first two. Whatever. Today in the first go-around of the M14Terutsuyoshi - M13 Kagayaki bout, Terutsuyoshi went straight for Kagayaki's right leg successfully picking it up and lifting Kagayaki up and over in about two seconds. Problem was twofold, however. 1) The ref called it back, and 2) Terutsuyoshi had just played his henka hand.

Terutsuyoshi was sheepish for the second go-around where Kagayaki was ready to kick his ass right and proper, and when they called that one back, round three was just a mirror of round 2. Without that henka, Terutsuyoshi was no match for Kagayaki's size and potent tsuppari attack, so it took Kagayaki mere seconds to knock the rookie back and out. Kagayaki is sitting pretty at 6-4 meaning there's plenty of room to sell a few more bouts. As for Terutsuyoshi, he suffers make-koshi at 2-8, and he's just not cut out for this division.

M11 Ryuden got the right arm to the inside from the tachi-ai against M15 Kotoeko, who didn't want to go chest to chest with the larger Ryuden, and so he danced left as Ryuden latched onto a left outer grip. Problem for Ryuden was that Kotoeko was too slippery, and he couldn't pull his gal in snug before Kotoeko went for a maki-kae with the left arm giving him moro-zashi. Now chest to chest, it was a battle of Ryuden's superior size against Kotoeko's superior position. Ryuden's size won out as he used that stifling right outer grip to wrench Kotoeko around to where he lost moro-zashi, and once that happened, the force-out win was swift and decisive in favor of Ryuden. I almost don't dare to mention the fact that we're four bouts in and all four of them have been straight up as Ryuden moves to 7-3 while Kotoeko falls to 6-4.

If you were to ask what style of sumo does M16 Yutakayama employ, the correct answer is oshi-zumo, so it was curious to see him not go for a single push attempt against M11 Meisei. On the contrary, Meisei is a yotsu guy straight up, and so to see Meisei look like Chiyotaikai as he just pummeled Yutakayama back and across in maybe three seconds winning by oshi-dashi means we've just had our first fixed bout of the day. Yutakayama turned his body before he was even out of the ring looking for a soft landing similarly to what we've seen many of Takakeisho's opponents do this basho, and I knew I shouldn't have spoken so soon as Meisei moves to 6-4 while Yutakayama was clearly mukiryoku here falling to 3-7.

M10 Yago was also mukiryoku against M14 Toyonoshima today gifting Toyonoshima moro-zashi from the tachi-ai and making half-hearted efforts to shake his foe. The Toyonoshima of yesteryear would have had Yago bulldozed back and out in two seconds, but the dude doesn't have any strength left, so Yago was actually able to shake him out of moro-zashi once. Despite that, Yago let him get moro-zashi right back, and Toyonoshima succeeded on the second go-around as Yago dilly dallied with a right counter kote-nage that never came to fruition. Ho hum as both rikishi end the day at 3-7.

M9 Ikioi actually struck M12 Yoshikaze pretty well at the tachi-ai getting the left arm to the inside, and I thought Ikioi was positioned for a right kote-nage throw straightway, but for whatever reason, he never went for it. Yoshikaze was in danger and knew it, and so he backed away going for a pull that sent Ikioi off balance, but the taller Ikioi reassumed the same position only this time he didn't commit whatsoever in getting that left arm to the inside. He still had the right kote grip, but he never went for anything until Yoshikaze eventually knocked him back across the tawara. I guess we'll chalk this one up to injury, but then why is Ikioi even competing? He was definitely mukiryoku in this bout as he falls to 1-9 while Yoshikaze moves to 7-3. You know things are really going to get bad if Yoshikaze starts showing up on the leader board.

Up next was M8 Asanoyama who fired effective shoves M15 Ishiura's way, and Ishiura knew he wasn't going to get to the inside, and so he went into mawari-komu mode almost latching onto Asanoyama's right right arm, but he couldn't make that stick to set up a tug or a throw, and so as Asanoyama regained his wits and reapplied pressure, and as Ishiura looked to flee, he lost his footing, and Asanoyama was able to slap him down for good. It wasn't pretty, but it was real as Asanoyama moves to 7-3 while Ishiura falls to 6-4.

Our first leader on the day was M7 Aoiyama who was paired against M10 Shohozan, and I wonder if guys like Aoiyama and Ichinojo are looking at what Tamawashi did last basho and thinking to themselves, "We may as well get ours." In the case of Aoiyama, he can easily position himself with a nice record and then just like those pilot fish that leech off of sharks, he can wait for the Yokozuna to falter and then pick up the scraps. Who knows about that, but what I do know is that Aoiyama could easily do this every basho from the mid-Maegashira if he wanted. As for Ichinojo, he could do it from the jo'i, but enough of that.

Aoiyama and Shohozan shared a fiddy-fiddy tachi-ai, but early on Aoiyama made a mistake by aligning his feet. He tried to bail out of that with a dumb pull, but I think Shohozan was waiting for the hammer hams to come down, and so he was hesitant as he moved forward not realizing how vulnerable Aoiyama actually was. With Shohozan missing a great opening, Aoiyama was able to recover and defend himself with shoves, and so it was Shohozan's turn to align his feet and look to pull himself, but all that did was enable Aoiyama to finally move forward and send Shohozan across the tawara and off the dohyo altogether in the end. If you have the means to watch this bout in slow motion, focus on the feet of both rikishi. There were mistakes everywhere here as Aoiyama lucks his way to 9-1 while Shohozan falls to 5-5.

M6 Abi placed his long tsuppari perfectly into the upper torso of M9 Sadanoumi causing Sadanoumi to move right in an attempt to shake the attack off, but credit Abi for standing pat and continuing to trust in his long tsuppari arms of the law as he had Sadanoumi dispatched in about four seconds. Pretty good stuff here, especially for Abi as both rikishi end the day at 3-7.

M5 Chiyotairyu caught M7 Takarafuji nicely by the neck with his potent thrusts before skirting right and going for an early pull. Takarafuji wasn't doing much to this point, so he just flopped forward harmlessly giving Chiyotairyu the win and 6-4 record. As for Takarafuji, he falls to 4-6 and is purely a pawn these days. You could say the same thing for Chiyotairyu now that I think about it.

Next up is the leader I'm really banking on this basho, M8 Kotoshogiku. Facing M5 Onosho, it was the latter who put a stiff arm into the former Ozeki from the tachi-ai as he promptly aligned his feet allowing Kotoshogiku to force the bout to hidari-yotsu, and Onosho just stood there listlessly allowing the Geeku to move him over and out in about three seconds right in front of the chief judge. Onosho had a lot of options here including moro-zashi as Kotoshogiku's attack was rather sloppy, but the M5 was so lethargic it was an easy, gifted win for Kotoshogiku who moves to 8-2 while Onosho falls to 4-6.

Hooboy. M4 Tochiohzan undoubtedly called in a favor today against M6 Okinoumi who came at the tachi-ai with arms out wide gifting Tochiohzan moro-zashi. With Okinoumi pretending to go for a left outer grip, Tochiohzan went for a weak left scoop throw on the other side that barely moved Okinoumi, but the latter just continued to stand there waiting for Tochiohzan's next weak right scoop throw attempt to which he added a left slap down at the shoulder, and Okinoumi just said, "Enough is enough," and put a palm to the dirt. I don't know how anyone can watch this bout and think it was real as Tochiohzan limps forward to 2-8 while Okinoumi seems complacent at 5-5.

As long as we're analyzing mukiryoku sumo, can I get another "Hooboy!" for the M3 Nishikigi - M3 Shodai matchup? Nishikigi kept his arms wide at the tachi-ai gifting Shodai moro-zashi, and after pretending to reach for a left outer, Nishikigi just went with the flow as Shodai wrenched him over and out. As Nishikigi was forced out, his right arm was sorta positioned in the kote grip, but it was obvious he wasn't going to attempt a counter move. You could see Shodai let out a sigh of relief after picking up his first win at 1-9 while Nishikigi ain't much better at 2-8.

Before we move on, Nishikigi might be my favorite rikishi to watch these days. He knows his place in the political picking order, and so his record usually suffers the higher up the banzuke he goes, but I really like his potential.

The lethargy would continue with the M1 Kaisei - M2 Myogiryu bout as Kaisei sorta went for a right inside but quickly abandoned that letting Myogiryu get moro-zashi, and the Brasilian didn't put up a fight as Myogiryu forced him straight back and out. I don't know when I've seen three less-spirited bouts in succession like this as Kaisei falls to 1-9 while Myogiryu ekes forward to 4-6.

Thankfully, Komusubi Mitakeumi and M1 Endoh's stepping into the ring woke everyone up, but it doesn't mean we were treated to good sumo. The two looked to hook up in hidari-yotsu at the tachi-ai, but they never went chest to chest. If I was Endoh, I would have welcomed the belt contest against an injured opponent, but winning was not on his mind. Endoh backed out of the yotsu position going for a half-assed pull as he moved right, and then both rikishi traded a few more shoves until Mitakeumi went for a pull of his own. The move had little effect, but Endoh decided to go all Hakuho and pirouette 360 degrees out of the fray and over to the edge. As he squared back up with his opponent, Endoh stood fully upright and just waited for Mitakeumi to shove him across the straw that last step.

You know, they have this term called "tsuchi," and translated directly, that means simply "dirt." In sumo terms, it refers to a rikishi's losing because it's presumed that the bout was fought so hard that the loser would be knocked to the dohyo and get this big dirt stain somewhere on his body. It feels like we've gone this entire day without a rikishi getting dirt on his body somewhere other than the bottom of his feet or the palms of his hands. Endoh clearly let up for Mitakeumi here as he falls to 3-7, and with a seemingly easy schedule down the stretch, kachi-koshi is not out of the question for Mitakeumi who moves to 4-6.

The final bout before we get to the goodies featured M2 Daieisho against Komusubi Hokutofuji in a bout where both rikishi committed to a tsuppari attack the entire way. They traded some nice shoves for a few seconds before Hokutofuji backed up for a quick pull that allowed Daieisho to advance forward, but Hokutofuji defended well leading Daieisho to go for his own pull that sent the two back to the center of the ring. To this point, the bout was fiddy-fiddy, but Hokutofuji looked like he was tiring, and so as Daieisho went for another pull at the back of Hokutofuji's head, the Komusubi just collapsed to the dirt out of gas. Daieisho moves to 5-5 while Hokutofuji falls to 3-7.

To this point of the broadcast, both Aoiyama and Kotoshogiku were safely through in terms of the yusho race, and the final four bouts of the day were quite compelling as each bout carried with it yusho implications.

Up first was an Ozeki matchup between Tochinoshin and Goeido, and to no one's surprise, Tochinoshin did his best impression of a bump on a log in this one. Goeido henka'd slightly to his left grabbing the early outer grip at the tachi-ai, and this naturally led to the migi-yotsu contest where Tochinoshin just let Goeido firm up his inside position on the right side as well instead of turning his body to cut that angle off. Goeido must have sensed no pressure coming from his opponent because I sure as hell could see that Tochinoshin was just standing there strengthening Goeido's position while weakening his own, and so Goeido went for a right scoop throw that was completely uncontested as Tochinoshin just landed on his widdle bum at the edge of the ring.

The reason that Tochinoshin's fall was so awkward is best explained by the picture at left.  To most I'm sure that looks like a typical yotsu stance from two rikishi, but Tochinoshin is actually lowering his right shoulder into Goeido's outer grip while at the same time keeping himself away from an outer of his own on the other side.  It's totally opposite of how a rikishi would normally position himself.  What Tochinoshin needs to be doing is lifting up hard with the right arm while reaching for the left outer grip, and after observing the sumo from these two Ozeki over the years, Goeido could have done nothing to stop such a move.

When the throw came, the reason Tochinoshin shuffled his feet oiff balance so awkwardly and landed on his fanny is because he was not grounded to the dohyo and positioned on the proper side.  Because Goeido still had a hold of the outer grip, they ruled this uwate-hineri, but what it really was was Tochinoshin's just standing there and letting the Japanese hopeful win.  I mean, Tochinoshin just towers over Goeido, and the dude's arms are quite chiseled, especially compared to Goeido's lunch lady arms, so to think that Tochinoshin wouldn't even use his strength and size advantage to lift his opponent upright on Tochinoshin's right side tells you he wasn't looking to win.  And he wasn't as Goeido is kept in the yusho hunt at 8-2 while Tochinoshin will quietly be rewarded at 6-4.

The Ozeki Takayasu - M4 Ichinojo matchup was simply a matter of the Mongolith's choosing to win or lose, and thankfully he chose to win today. The two briefly traded tsuppari at the tachi-ai before Ichinojo went for a quick pull, and this shift in momentum allowed Takayasu to move in close and force the bout to the belt as the two hooked up in migi-yotsu. Neither dude had an outer grip, and so Ichinojo started to lean in on his opponent and slow things down as he is wont to do, and Takayasu's response was to try and lift Ichinojo up high and off balance. That proved to be a fruitless task as Ichinojo seized on the momentum shift stepping to his left and clobbering Takayasu to the dirt in a heap with a left tsuki to the Ozeki's right side and a shoulder slap with the left. Against the Japanese rikishi, Ichinojo really is a man among boys, and it showed here. The result is Ichinojo's keeping his one-loss status at 9-1 while Takayasu is knocked down to the two-loss perch at 8-2.

Yokozuna Hakuho welcomed Sekiwake Tamawashi next, and this bout redefined the term "hana-zumo." If you're not familiar with the term, it translates directly as "flower sumo," and it's used to define the softer, carefree brand of sumo that tends to be on display at exhibitions since nobody wants to risk getting injured. Hakuho came with his usual right arm to the inside at the tachi-ai, but instead of going for the left outer grip, he put it up high around the Sekiwake's head for no logical reason. Instead of fully taking advantage, Tamawashi went for this flat-footed kote-nage with the right arm, and I say flat-footed because if you really want to execute a throw, you have to position your feet first and throw next. Hakuho's response to the kote-nage was to spin out 360 degrees yet again and flee to the other side of the dohyo, and Tamawashi was right there and coulda driven the Yokozuna out okuri-dashi style, but at the ring's edge Hakuho moved right and kinda connected on a pull/swipe with the right hand, and Tamawashi's reaction was to just somersault himself forward and down off of the dohyo altogether.

All I can say is this was a ridiculous bout of sumo for a hon-basho with yusho implications on the line. Before I get too upset, however, I have to remind myself of just how compromised the yusho has become in this day and age, and all this bout was were two clowns performing their circus act. The end result is Hakuho's moving to 10-0, and he's done more than enough to show the sheep that his sumo is vulnerable in the coming days. As for Tamawashi, he falls to 4-6 with the staged loss.

And that bring us to the day's finale featuring Yokozuna Kakuryu vs. Sekiwake Takakeisho. As expected, the two traded tsuppari from the tachi-ai with neither rikishi using their legs. For Kakuryu, that was by choice; for Takakeisho, that's his everyday style. After two or three seconds of trading jabs, Kakuryu began to voluntarily back up and kinda shade to his right and fake a kata-sukashi with the left, but there was no real attempt at a pull from the Yokozuna who was just signaling to his foe to slap him down. Takakeisho offered a weak slap, and Kakuryu just took that as his cue and put both palms to the dirt while keeping the rest of his body from touching the damp, clay mound. This was an obvious pre-meditated fall from the Yokozuna, and Takakeisho picks up another lightweight win where he had to do little of the work.

With the dust settled from an overall poor day of sumo in terms of content, the leaderboard heading into the final five days is as follows:

10-0: Hakuho
9-1: Ichinojo, Aoiyama
8-2: Kakuryu, Takayasu, Goeido, Takakeisho, Kotoshogiku

It's still way too early to predict anything, not to mention senseless because you just don't know what bouts are going to be fixed on any given day going in. For example, the marquee matchup tomorrow is Hakuho vs. Takakeisho, and I think yaocho on the part of Hakuho would seem so obvious that he's not gonna do it. Hakuho is a crafty sumbitch when it comes to picking bouts to throw, and he doesn't need to lose tomorrow to keep the yusho race interesting. I guess that's why they fight 'em, so tune in tomorrow with our host, Harvye, for another episode of "Will they or won't they?"

Day 9 Comments (Gary Jones reporting)
Hello to all, guess which heya is holding the strongest hand in sumo right now? It may surprise you to find it's lowly Kasugano Beya. Yep ole Tochinowaka, the eighties version of Ikioi and one time smack'em whack'em golfing enthusiast has out performed all others. Even the mighty Takanohana, yes, shocking I know.

You may find it even more surprising that he has done this with the added handicap of not one but two foreign deshi lumps to deal with. The poor guy gets no respect. Despite the other oyakata picking the cream of the Japanese crop and leaving poor Tochinowaka with a lack of suitable hinkaku to nurture, he now has three of sumo's top cards in Tochinoshin, Tochiohzan and Aoiyama. There's a lesson to be learned here, but I'm just too stunned to see it. Kasugano, huh.

Perhaps the most popular guy in Juryo today is the broken down old warhorse of Aminishiki. The cheering old folks remember his service. This should be the last year of his career as he's down at J11w with a 5-4 record. This is a guy still competing today who took a kin-boshi off Takanohana. That's longevity.

Shimanoumi (J1e) 7-1 vs. Yutakayama (M16w) 3-5
Once Shimanoumi fought through the arm only attack coming his way, he just rumbled forward and collected the oshi-dashi win to go 8-1 and lead the Juryo yusho race. The Jun-Yusho winning flame in Yutakayama is extinguished. He has been reduced to throwing left arms and right arms at the opposition's head, his legs are a non-factor. Demotion beckons.

Something has lit a fire in Shimanoumi. He won the Juryo yusho last basho and is on course to do it again. It all sounds very impressive until his age is flashed on the screen, 29 years. Oh well. The poor guy has just hit his career peak while at Juryo one east, about dinnertime, on a Tuesday. I assume he will be in Makuuchi next time out, just as father time starts fading him away.

Sumo can be a punishing mistress to the unexceptional.

Daishoho (M16e) 3-5 vs. Toyonoshima (M14w) 2-6
It is possible to have a bout where both participants end up looking like losers. Here's proof. Daishoho eventually managed to finish old boy Toyonoshima with oshi-taoshi, yes. But Daishoho was moving about as well as the 35 year-old. And no, he wasn't trying to be respectful. He nearly snapped Toyonoshima's arm with a kote-nage crank.

Chiyoshoma (M17e) 5-3 vs. Yoshikaze (M12w) 5-3
This was bad sumo. Really bad sumo. Tsuki-otoshi triumph for Yoshikaze.

Kotoeko (M15w) 6-2 vs. Meisei (M11w) 4-4
Meisei hit fast and de-ashi'ed like a dog. Running Kotoeko around half a ring for an emphatic yori-kiri win. That's more like it.

Ryuden (M11e) 6-2 vs. Ishiura (M15e) 5-3
Comedy sumo. Is it that time already? The 6'3 (190cm) Ryuden tried his best to stay away from Ishiura, who's maybe 5'9 (174cm) on a good day. In a blind panic Ryuden flapped about until he pushed at the air and crashed to the damp clay. A hiki-otoshi win with very little hiki.

Terutsuyoshi (M14e) 2-6 vs. Yago (M10w) 2-6
Yago has gone on a 3 bout losing streak at the exact moment he needed to gambarize. His legs didn't want to resist at the edge yesterday. Today they could barely resist tiny Terutsuyoshi, a guy even smaller than Ishiura (or commentator Mainoumi). After a draw in the oshi sumo contest, the 400 pounder hataki-komi'ed the little squirt. Mucho macho Yago.

Shohozan (M10e) 4-4 vs. Kagayaki (M13w) 5-3
The closest sumo will get to flapping crane kung fu. Flap, slap. Slap flap. Nobody move! Kagayaki must have thought Shohozan was going to zig left because when Shohozan zagged right, Kagayaki dove into space. Even though Shohozan was edging his way out right all along. That's the 4 bout win streak over with.

Both these guys still beat Yago. Just sayin.

Tomokaze (M13e) 4-4 vs. Takarafuji (M7w) 4-4
The most promising of our young debutantes takes on the best opponent, in both rank and ability, of his ever so short career. He moved as slowly as the meditative Takarafuji but with more purpose, trying to drive forward with slow, pressing oshi sumo. When his chest and arms tired of that, he just grabbed a hold of Takarafuji and slowly dragged him off his feet. A decent hataki-komi win for Tomokaze. Decent but slow. And a decent imitation of a practice dummy from Takarafuji.

Aoiyama (M7e) 7-1 vs. Ikioi (M9w) 1-7
As bad as Ikioi has been this tournament, yesterday Meisei exposed the pitiful state he really is in. Ikioi had as good a position as he could hope for this tournament. An inside arm on a much smaller opponent standing right at the edge. And yet Ikioi had nothing to give. He can't perform the only sumo he knows. With Kisenosato fresh in everybody's mind, why is he refusing to sit this one out?

Today he shambled out across the line to be brought down with an arm lightly placed under the shoulder whilst the other pushed his head to the cold, damp clay. Aoiyama takes a most relaxed kata-sukashi. Aoiyama is the first Maegashira to kachi-koshi, there should be a small prize for that. Shodai is tied with Chiyonokuni for the make-koshi prize.

Kotoshogiku (M8w) 6-2 vs. Abi (M6w) 2-6
Abi needs to bulk up. This is just the guy to show him why. I get what Abi was trying to do here. With his freshly bandaged, limping leg he had one shot at it. He messed Koto around with baseless tsuppari which encouraged the blue bulk to push forward, not that Kotoshogiku needs much encouragement to do that.

Abi gave ground all the way to the tawara but avoided any grips. At the edge he sprang out of the way. Koto teetered on the edge but stayed inside, grateful for the extra weight in his rear end. One push sent an exposed Abi over the straw. Oshi-dashi. If an opponent had done this kind of tricky business against Koto when he was Ozeki, that might just have worked. Aminishiki was the master of such trickery.

Okinoumi (M6e) 4-4 vs. Sadanoumi (M9e) 3-5
Sadanoumi gave a little ground at the tachi-ai and rolled both arms inside for moro-zashi. Okinoumi responded quickly, putting pressure on Sadanoumi's elbows with a kime arm lock grip. The reserve of the tall man with long arms. Sadanoumi pushed, pulled and twisted but it didn't do any good. They went to mawashi grips and Sadanoumi drove forward again only to be powerfully thrown over, kote-nage. There's still some good sumo to be had in Osaka.

Since being screwed on day 5 the stoic Okinoumi has gone on his own kind of rampage. Quietly destroying the opposition and getting his. Takarafuji thrown over, Asanoyama taken out and even Kotoshogiku driven out of yusho contention. These are good quality men for Okinoumi, he doesn't tend to do well against any of them. The disinterested judges have really helped him. How long before he goes back to sleep? On this form he should destroy Tochinoshin tomorrow.

Asanoyama (M8e) 5-3 vs. Onosho (M5w) 4-4
Onosho just throws himself into every bout doesn't he? A little fearlessness can be a good thing in the young. And he don't give a damn. Asanoyama is the wrong style for Onosho's A-game. Difficult to jolt backwards he can absorb an oshi assault until he wraps them up and forces them to play yotsu sumo with him.

Onosho did what Onosho does and Asanoyama was waiting for him. A little right hand tsuki to turn baby bull, combined with a sneaky left on top of the head to bring him down hataki-komi. Onosho's right foot skidded badly on the sand and he face planted himself on the damp clay.

Daieisho (M2e) 4-4 vs. Nishikigi (M3e) 1-7
Nishikigi took the step forward after the tachi-ai whilst Daieisho busied himself with thrusting away. Nishikigi stayed super heavy and walked through the oshi nonsense. To keep at range Daieisho sprang away from his big green friend. Nishikigi just rushed after him and pushed him out. Oshi-dashi.

Nishikigi has a terrible record and can be forgiven if he posts a so-so make-koshi. But as a M3 he has been put through the wood chipper. Until yesterday Tamawashi was his lowest ranked opponent, yikes. Looking forward to a strong run to day 15 for Nishi.

Myogiryu (M2w) 3-5 vs. Endo (M1w) 2-6
Against a man his own size, today Endo powered forward, seeking to drive his opponent straight out. It's kinda nice to write that, lets hope I get another chance one day. Myogiryu could only stumble back to the center from where he was oshi-dashi'ed straight out. As Justin said, times are tough for the M1's.

Kaisei (M1e) 1-7 vs. Hokutofuji (K) 2-6
With his well reported neck injury Kaisei didn't need the hand to the throat start from Hokutofuji. But he powered through it anyway, forcing Hoku to mawari-komu his uncharitable self out of the way. Damned if Hokutofuji didn't go straight back to nodowa again. Kaisei brought the bout closer and Hoku swapped his “get well soon” attack for a right hazu-oshi. Which he soon used to bring down the behemoth with kata-sukashi. There's a meanness in Hokutofuji which is not necessarily a bad thing in sumo. That's an early make-koshi for Kaisei. Times are indeed tough for the M1's.

Takakeisho (S) 6-2 vs. Chiyotairyu (M5e) 5-3
Every now and then the little tadpole terror known as Takakeisho is given a stiff test by some of sumo's stiffest thrusters (stop it, you know what I mean). On these rare and beautiful occasions Taka doesn't back down and shows his willingness to trade blows with the best. It would be great if all rikishi would display this stick-with-it attitude when the opposition doesn't crumble in the first 2 seconds (looking at you ... arr hell it's half the banzuke).

These two crashed heads at the tachi-ai, the heavy deep thud easily heard. Chiyotairyu was determined to knock tadpole backwards with his own style of wave attack. Three times in quick succession it worked. I'll give Takakeisho his due, he took it all and didn't look for a cheaper way. Chiyotairyu blinked first, he swatted downwards hoping to catch arms or an incoming lowered head perhaps. But Takakeisho never takes his eyes off his opponents, even when he bows (Bruce Lee, 1973).

Chiyotairyu withstood an hataki-komi attempt but lost some balance from it. Still wanting to go forward he gambled it all on a glory or death charge out. Takakeisho managed to turn him aside with his go-to move of left hand behind the arm tsuki-otoshi. Chiyotairyu hit the damp clay mound hard. Which is always a good sign.

Ichinojo (M4w) 7-1 vs. Goeido (O) 7-1
These guys have a 9-8 head to head rivalry. Even on official paper Ichinojo is the equal of Goeido. And yet one made it to Ozeki and one hasn't come close. I live in hope. Ichinojo turns 26 after this basho, it's time for him to move up, it's soooo time.

Goeido was good today, I mean really good. He was physically strong and well balanced, mentally poised and confident his decision making was excellent. Bout for bout, this may be the best basho of this life. And then Ichinojo unleashed a kote-nage that would fell a moose. Boom!

Isn't it strange how a talented young rikishi can post up an 8-1 start and not one Sumotalk reviewer has expressed any optimism for a sansho level performance? The problem is the youngster is Ichinojo. He's been temporarily awesome before. I want to get onboard the Ichinojo train this very basho but I can't quite step off the platform and start cheering out of the window. I'm waiting for the derailment round the next corner.

Takayasu (O) 7-1 vs. Tamawashi (S) 4-4
If you'll forgive me. These guys have an 11-11 head to head rivalry. Even on official paper Tamawashi is the equal of Takayasu. And yet one made it to Ozeki and one hasn't come close. My hope is draining away.

A well dug in Takayasu is becoming increasingly difficult to dislodge. Tama tried his best to do it without any momentum and failed. If he can't, good luck to the average guy. Takayasu resisted and then ran him out of dodge city, oshi-dashi. Perhaps the mountains of extra training with Kisenosato is paying off. Perhaps it's receiving all the attention as newly crowned head honcho of Tagonoura Beya. Let's applaud the improvement, but I'm going with Tamawashi is tired.

Tochinoshin (O) 5-3 vs. Shodai (M3w) 0-8
Did anyone on this site really want Shodai to finally come alive today? No? Well he did.

Tochinoshin grabbed his famous outside left grip and growled his way to the tawara, it should be all over. Don't know why, don't know how but Shodai decided to show his stuff on day 9 and with an uncontested moro-zashi began to power his way back into the ring and the bout. This is why Shodai was once considered Ozeki material. Tochinoshin's right was next to useless but if his left gets close to 90 degrees he's the man who can. They grunted and strained their way around the ring, trying to take the bout of the day award, until that Tochi left hand of doom turned Shodai to the edge and then heaved him over with a slow but irresistible uwate-nage.

The crowd loved it, a little slice of hard fought sumo. He needs just 2 more to dispel the kadoban hex but after all that exertion Tochinoshin will be tired for tomorrow, Goeido awaits.

Tochiohzan (M4e) 1-7 vs. Kakuryu (Y) 7-1
Today Kakuryu showed just how wild and loose Hakuho was with his sumo yesterday. The Kak head butted and steamrollered poor Tochiohzan out in 2 seconds. Oshi-dashi and goodnight.

The quiet man is running this race from his favorite position, tucked in behind the front runner and attention grabber Hakuho. His sumo has looked a bit vulnerable to hard tachi-ai and quick thrusts but he has held his overall performance together pretty damn well. It's not always forward moving, classic sumo from Kakuryu but he is doing winning sumo. We should all be so vulnerable.

Hakuho (Y) 8-0 vs. Mitakeumi (K) 3-5
Mitakeumi did better than I expected, he grabbed the inside grip that the Yokozuna left wide open and repaid him with a loose outer layer of his own mawashi. Heck, Mitakeumi even tried to deny Hakuho his patented hidari-yotsu, the Yokozuna got it anyway. I think Mitakeumi was trying to win, no really. Anyway where were we? Oh yes, hidari-yotsu yori-kiri. That quick. Mitakeumi is now on a 5 bout losing streak, Hakuho also has a streak of a different kind. The Hak has Tamawashi tomorrow and he rarely does him any favors.

When Hakuho met Sally, sorry Shodai, he bashed an upright opponent out of the ring with a forearm jolt. Against an oncoming Tochiohzan he squeezed out a kote-nage. Today he chose a different method but none have been his A game. It doesn't matter all that much, as long as he keeps winning I suppose. A large part of being a good pest controller lies in selecting your available method of disposal. Mouse trap or elephant gun?

Mike's back tomorrow where he will show just how deep a leader board needs to be when you have four and a half foreigners in contention.

Day 8 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
What's interesting about sumo right now is that the actual sumo content in the ring cannot sell the sport.  The results coupled with proper media hype and spin go a long way, but relying on popular rikishi to legitimately win bouts and carry tournaments is not an option.  As a result, NHK really brought out the big guns for the weekend broadcasts in terms of celebrity guests.  On Saturday they had Kisenosato in the booth as a guest and not as a color commentator, and then for day 8, they brought in a popular actor named Otani Ryohei, who got his start in Korea of all places as part of the recent cross pop-culture fad between the two countries where musical acts and performers are interchangeable, and the requirement to be a star is solely based on looks, not talent.

For Saturday, they took full advantage of Kisenosato's remaining shelf life reviewing his career highlights and then showing footage of his Ichimon creating the tsuna after his promotion to Yokozuna.  Who can forget Osaka two years ago when Kisenosato went to the hospital after being destroyed by Harumafuji on day 13 only to come back on senshuraku to "defeat" Terunofuji twice for the comeback yusho, his first and only championship from the Yokozuna rank?  For the Japanese fans, they were the best moments in over a decade, and NHK chose all the right spots to spur the emotions of the Japanese fans.  As part of this piece, they showed a small graphic of Kisenosato's major milestones, and I think it's worth posting here.

2002: Sumo debut at the age of 15
2004: Promotion to Juryo at 17
2004: Promotion to Makuuchi at 18
2006: Promotion to the sanyaku at 20
2012: Promotion to Ozeki at 25
2017: Promotion to Yokozuna at 30

The last two achievements on that chart were obviously manufactured, but the top three achievements were quite impressive.  I still remember this guy fighting as Hagiwara and the excitement that surrounded him, and so if you're wondering why they touted Kisenosato as the chosen Yokozuna (over say Kotoshogiku or Goeido), it's because the dude had the resume early on.  In between his promotion to Ozeki and Yokozuna, there was this spell where the yusho race always came down to a foreigner or two and Kisenosato.  Kisenosato would always come up short in the end, but it was clear they were at least trying to will him to the yusho.

After Kotoshogiku's fake yusho, it was as if the floodgates were open, and the Association showed at that point that they were willing to even compromise the yusho for the good of the sport.  We don't need to rehash all of those events, but the reason that Takakeisho is getting so much hype now is due to his age.  How many guys have come through the meat grinder only to be chewed up and spit out?  Endoh never lived up to the hype, and look at Shodai this basho.  Remember when people were penciling him in for Ozeki?  I mean, Shodai could have made Ozeki if enough people would have thrown bouts for him, but he never had the substance within his sumo to earn the rank on his own.  Just like Goeido and just like Takayasu and just like Takakeisho.

I know a lot of people have a stiffie over Takakeisho right now, but it's all manufactured.  There is nothing in the substance of his sumo that would warrant talk of Ozeki promotion.  He has no punch from the tachi-ai, his footwork his terrible, and he can't wait to resort to hiki-zumo at the first sign of resistance.  Granted, if Takakeisho's opponents back up for him or just turn to the side from the tachi-ai, the wins look straight-forward and decisive, but this guy is as manufactured as the ones before him.  What makes Takakeisho the favorite right now in terms of manufactured hype is his age.  If they can get this guy to an elite rank early, that gives them a horse to ride for a very long time.

Before we get to the day's bouts, it used to be that the great Yokozuna were crowned in their early 20's.  Chiyonofuji was the lone exception there, but all of the other Dai-Yokozuna of the last few decades earned the rank early.  That's largely because dudes would enter sumo after junior high school.  I don't even think that happens any more, so everyone now starts from the age of 18 at the earliest.  Kisenosato was from the generation where it was still permissible to enter sumo at 15, but because you have that delay in age now, they can barely get these guys hyped enough and they're already in their mid-twenties (think Mitakeumi).

Okay, enough of that.  Let's get to the day's action starting with M17 Chiyoshoma who welcomed Tokushoryu from Juryo, and with no obligation to let Tokushoryu win, Chiyoshoma easily got the left arm inside at the tachi-ai, and when he realized that the right outer grip was too far away on that side, he backed up to his left using that right hand at the back of Tokushoryu's head to pull the Juryo rikishi forward and down with a final slap at the back of his shoulder. This was like stealing candy from a baby as Chiyoshoma moves safely to 5-3.

M16 Yutakayama completely let up for M14 Terutsuyoshi greeting the rookie with a mild tachi-ai while keeping his hands up high and out of the way.  With Yutakayama's only offensive maneuver coming in the form of a right paw to the chin...as he conveniently backed up, Terutsuyoshi was able to work his way into moro-zashi and then just chase Yutakayama around the dohyo and out.  Yutakayama made no effort to counter and held an arm up high as if to pull, but that only made the effort easier for the pint-sized rookie who moved to just 2-6 with the gift while Yutakayama rests at 3-5.

M15 Kotoeko has paid for a fair number of his wins this basho, but I really enjoyed watching him dismantle M13 Tomokaze today.  Tomokaze had no idea what to do at the tachi-ai which will happen when your wins are gifted, and so he panicked early going for a quick, ineffective pull, but Kotoeko was able to survive that and get the right arm in deep to Tomokaze's left side and the left outer grip.  Tomokaze came close to grabbing a left outer of his own, but Kotoeko would buoy him upright and wrench him to the side just enough keeping the rookie on the run as Kotoeko worked him to the edge.  From there, in true textbook fashion, Kotoeko wrenched Tomokaze sideways just enough with the outer grip to where he was able to lift him over the straw yori-kiri style.  If you watch this bout in slow motion, Kotoeko's sumo is exactly what you'd see in a bout of morning keiko.  Excellent stuff here as he moves to 6-2 while Tomokaze wanders to 4-4.

M16 Daishoho was charitable against M12 Yoshikaze today coming with a weak kachi-age with the right that quickly morphed into a dumb pull maneuver as he moved straight back.  Yoshikaze was on top of that in a flash notching the easy oshi-dashi win against his listless, mukiryoku opponent.  Yoshikaze is gifted his 5-3 record while Daishoho falls to 3-5.

From day 1, I could see that M14 Toyonoshima had no pop left in his sumo, and while he's received a bit of charity through week 1, the dude is there for the taking for anyone who needs a cheap win.  Today M11 Ryuden easily dismantled Toyonoshima by getting the left arm inside and latching onto the right outer belt from the tachi-ai.  Toyonoshima's been in this position before, and he knew how to angle his body to make it tough for Ryuden, but he just doesn't have the strength to counter anymore, and so Ryuden was patient as he worked his foe over and out in about 12 seconds. Nice win for Ryuden who moves to 6-2, and I'm still laughing at Justin's calling him a married Hindu woman due to that obscure dot on his forehead.  As for Toyonoshima, I guess it was fun while it lasted as he falls to 2-6.

M15 Ishiura tried to burrow up and under M10 Shohozan, but the latter just bludgeoned the smaller Ishiura back upright all while driving him back to the edge where he easily chased Ishiura across the straw in about three seconds.  Easy does it for Shohozan who moves to 4-4 while Ishiura falls to 5-3 and needs to put a crowbar to that billfold in order to kachi-koshi.

At some point, I should put together a true Japanese banzuke where I list the best Japanese rikishi in order of technical ability and sumo substance rather than hype.  A rikishi that would fall in my top five is M13 Kagayaki.  The dude has a great oshi attack and he knows how to use his feet as part of his charge, and so it's obvious when he gets sloppy on purpose and just sells his bouts...something he does way too much for my liking.  Today against M10 Yago, Yago came with obligatory tsuppari from the tachi-ai.  I say obligatory because he went for honest pushes, but Kagayaki used tsuppari with a purpose meaning he struck his opponent keeping him at bay, but he also used his left arm nicely to lift Yago upright and off balance a bit.  Feeling his momentum taken away from him, Yago immediately went for a pull, and when he did, Kagayaki read it like a dirty manga on the subway and easily pushed Yago back and across.  Kagayaki moves to 5-3 with the textbook oshi-zumo today while Yago falls to 2-6.

A guy that I'm warming too lately is M11 Meisei.  He's still involved in shenanigan bouts, but I do see some substance to his sumo.  Today against M9 Ikioi, his tachi-ai was sharp all three times (they needlessly called back the first two attempts), and when they actually let the dudes fight, Meisei came with some nice tsuppari, and when he realized he wasn't going to bully the much larger Ikioi back, he shifted right going for a quick pull that threw Ikioi off enough to where Meisei was able to get the left arm inside and right outer grip.  Ikioi's been around long enough that he knew how to break off Meisei's outer, but he just doesn't have the strength to attack since he's fighting on one leg.  He also abandoned his left inside to break off Meisei's grip, so with the two standing in the center of the ring, it was Meisei maintaining the left inside position while Ikioi countered with a right kote-nage grip.  That naturally led to a nage-no-uchi-ai, and the dude with two healthy feet in Meisei won hoisting Ikioi over and down with a left scoop throw.  Ikioi would have easily won this one if he was healthy, but dems da breaks.  Meisei moves to 4-4 with the win while Ikioi falls to 1-7.

M7 Aoiyama came into the day with just one loss through the first week, and that's usually a signal for the foreigners to start easing up on the gas pedal.  Not today, however, against M9 Sadanoumi as Aoiyama greeted his foe with two hands to the neck before shifting slightly right and pulling Sadanoumi forward and down using the Sadamight's forward momentum against him.  I'm rarely a fan of pull sumo, but Aoiyama made it look easy today as he moves to 7-1 while Sadanoumi falls to 3-5.

M6 Okinoumi and M8 Kotoshogiku hooked up in hidari-yotsu where the Geeku actually looked to latch onto the front of Okinoumi's belt with the left, but he doesn't have the strength to lift Okinoumi upright from the front of the belt, and so he abandoned that for the straight up chest to chest bout. From this position, you're basically trying to lift your foe up from the inside position, and this works to lessen his momentum and also bring the outer grip closer on the outer side.  Since he was trying in this one, Okinoumi obviously succeeded first in positioning Kotoshogiku to where he grabbed the right outer grip, and from there he wrenched just perfectly causing Kotoshogiku to hop over to the edge on one foot where the force-out was academic.  In my all-Japanese honest Abe banzuke, Okinoumi is easily top three as he moves to 4-4 while Kotoshogiku's 6-2 is inflated as can be.

M6 Abi came with a nice moro-te-zuki into M8 Asanoyama's neck, but he panicked and quickly went for a dumb pull instead. Thanks to the momentum gained from the tachi-ai, Abi's pull worked quite well, but not good enough as Asanoyama was able to keep his wits and parlay the fray into migi-yotsu where he had the clear path to the left outer grip. While forcing Abi back, Asanoyama grabbed that outer grip in one fell swoop, and it was curtains as Abi hasn't learned how to counter yet. Asanoyama moves to 5-3 while Abi falls to 2-6

M5 Onosho was proactive against M7 Takarafuji driving his foe back quickly with a nice oshi attack, but Onosho is not a good finisher, and so near the edge, Takarafuji was able to pull a nice veteran move and knock Onosho to the side with a perfectly place right tsuki to Onosho's left side.  Knowing that Onosho would try to square back up, Takarafuji pivoted and moved right again timing another swipe with the right at Onosho's left side, and that move sent Onosho stumbling forward and down.  Both rikishi end the day at 4-4.

M5 Chiyotairyu blasted M3 Nishikigi back from the tachi-ai with his freight train sumo attack, and with Nishikigi on the brink and no chance of countering, Chiyotairyu just halted his massive attack and went for a phantom pull backing up clear to the other side of the dohyo and walking across before Nishikigi really connected on a decent punch.  Hope Chiyotairyu gets 10 large for this one because that was obvious yaocho.  Nishikigi picks up his first win at 1-7 while Chiyotairyu is a quiet 5-3.

One of the better Japanese rikishi in the division is M2 Daieisho when he's allowed to fight straight up, and he shook off an early right jab from M2 Myogiryu at the tachi-ai by striking him in the upper torso, and with Myogiryu's feet largely aligned, Daieisho was able to pounce driving Myogiryu back and across as Myogiryu went for a desperate pull.  The pull had zero effect and never put Daieisho in danger as he moved to 4-4 while Myogiryu ended the day at 3-5.

M1 Kaisei must have been tired of all the bad acting against his Japanese foes through week one.  Either that or he has his pride and doesn't want to make-koshi going 0-8 right out of the gate, and so today against Komusubi Mitakeumi, Kaisei simply chose to win.  He did it by threatening the right arm inside at the tachi-ai, and when Mitakeumi tried to bale outta there, Kaisei chased him to the edge getting the left outer grip and right arm inside, and the force-out was ridiculously easy as Mitakeumi cannot dig in with that leg.  This was a matter of Mitakeumi realizing that his opponent was not mukiryoku, and then just getting through the bout without further injury. Kaisei moves to 1-7 with the easy win while Mitakeumi falls to 3-5.

Coming into the Sekiwake Takakeisho - M1 Endoh bout, I thought that Endoh was the clear favorite should the bout have been fought straight up, but it unfortunately wasn't as Endoh just gave the obligatory love tap at the tachi-ai before just backing up and out of the ring in less than two seconds.  Endoh also turned to the side as he left the dohyo looking for a soft landing instead of trying to counter.  When a rikishi looks for a place to set their feet before they're even out of the dohyo, it's a mukiryoku red flag right there.  This was just the typical blueprint of a Takakeisho gifted bout as the Sekiwake moves to 6-2 with the yaocho victory while Endoh is a quiet 2-6.

Before we move on, a Takakeisho yusho this basho is out of the question unless the Mongolians start throwing a few more bouts, and so the question is can Takakeisho garner enough wins to earn promotion to Ozeki.  It really is a matter of what his opponents choose to do against him.  So far, two sanyaku rikishi have tried to beat him and did so handily.  All of his other "wins" are against rank and filers, none of which has a winning record.  Tomorrow he faces Chiyotairyu, and the only way that bout moves in Takakeisho's favor is if Chiyotairyu just backs up for him.  It will be interesting to see what happens down the stretch as the Sekiwake's schedule toughens greatly, and of his remaining opponents, the only dude I think he could beat in a straight up fight is Takayasu.

Speaking of Ozeki Takayasu, M3 Shodai went easy on him failing to secure moro-zashi that was there from the tachi-ai before backing up and intentionally whiffing on a left scoop throw.  Shodai's left position from the start was actually quite good, and he coulda and shoulda dug in with that position, but he knows his place I suppose, and so he completely wasted his advantage by backing up and pulling that left arm outta there with that wild scoop throw. With Shodai completely upright and standing there at the edge, Takayasu just rushed forward that last step and pushed him across for good moving to 7-1 in the process.  Shodai falls to 0-8, and I won't be surprised to see him finish with five or six wins when it's all said and done.

I think the matchup I look forward to the most prior to every basho is Ozeki Tochinoshin vs. M4 Ichinojo.  The two met today where Tochinoshin shifted to his left grabbing the quick and dirty left outer grip, and he shored that up with the inside right as Ichinojo moved in chest to chest with his own right arm to the inside.  Problem was, that mild henka gave Tochinoshin the better position, and he's strong enough and smart enough not to let Ichinojo get a sniff of that left outer, and so using his position gained from the tachi-ai, Tochinoshin kept up the pressure and strong-armed Ichinojo over and out leading with that left outer grip. You watch these two fight and you remember what sumo used to be like as Tochinoshin moves to 5-3 while Ichinojo is saddled with his first loss at 7-1.  I've been wondering what Ichinojo's intentions were coming into the day and if he was going to try and keep winning, but he was just bested by that crafty tachi-ai from the Ozeki.

Sekiwake Tamawashi came with a few tsuppari at the tachi-ai, but his legs weren't into it, so he wasn't driving forward. Problem was, Goeido wasn't applying pressure at all, and the Ozeki actually hopped back a step going for a terrible pull that created separation, and so the Sekiwake dutifully rushed forward with his arms up high allowing Goeido to grab the front of his belt with both hands.  Normally when a guy hops back with feet aligned, you just rush in and knock him over with two mitts to the chest, but Tamawashi complied and allowed Goeido to drive him straight back and across without even thinking about a counter move.  You contrast this bout to the Tochinoshin - Ichinojo bout before, and the flow here was just so quirky and unnatural.  I mean, just look at that picture:  both guys are completely upright with feet perfectly aligned.  Actually, the flow was a result of mukiryoku sumo, and that's why the ending there is so lame.   We never see a bout that involves a Japanese darling fought in the manner of theTochinoshin - Ichinojo contest previously.  Regardless, the crowd favorite, Goeido, moves to 7-1 while Tamawashi graciously bows to 4-4.

In the Yokozuna ranks, Hakuho was nonchalant against M4 Tochiohzan coming with a right kachi-age and not looking to follow that up with anything else, and so the Yokozuna just stood there with his head ducked as Tochiohzan finally clued in and moved left going for a weak pull.  The move had zero effect, and so Hakuho just turned himself around giving Tochiohzan the brokeback position, but Oh couldn't sill the dill fast enough.  As he began to drive the Yokozuna back, Hakuho had plenty of time to reach his left arm clear across his body and around Tochiohzan's melon to position it in a kote grip as Tochiohzan looked to score the easy force-out with the right inside, but Tochiohzan never was firmly planted to the dohyo, and so Hakuho won the nage-no-uchi-ai at the edge spilling Tochiohzan down and out in an extremely close finish.  If you have access to the slow motion replay from the reverse angle, you can clearly see how Hakuho just sets the table for Tochiohzan, but Oh just didn't have the strength to finish him off.

I have no idea why Hakuho did this kind of sumo today because Tochiohzan connected on nothing the entire bout, but the Mongolians are famous for lowering the bar to create parity in sumo.  Regardless of his intentions today, Hakuho moves to 8-0 with the win while Tochiohzan falls to 1-7.   As they showed Tochiohzan walking back to the dressing rooms, he had this painful expression on his face as if to say, "What just happened?" What happened is the dude missed out on and easy kin-boshi gift, but he wasn't prepared from the start to give Hakuho a challenge.

In the day's final bout, Yokozuna Kakuryu and Komusubi Hokutofuji bumped heads at the tachi-ai before Kakuryu moved left going for a quick pull as he is wont to do, and the move put Hokutofuji on his heels to where the Yokozuna was able to just rush in and finish off his business oshi-dashi style.  It really wasn't any more complicated than that as Kakuryu moves to 7-1 while Hokutofuji falls to 2-6.

Well, we're in a position similar to last basho where Hakuho maintained sole possession of the lead at the turn, but he failed to even finish the basho in January after his 9-0 start, so anything can happen the final seven days.

The main two story lines at this point are:  1) Will Hakuho or won't he?  2) Will enough of Takakeisho's opponents let up for him the final week to earn him Ozeki promotion. Current Ozeki can be quite stubborn when it comes to a newcomer, and with the Mongolians, Takakeisho has zero chance of winning a straight up bout, so expect a lot of commotion to come in week two.

Gary will start it all tomorrow.

Day 7 Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
To me, the most interesting performance in this tournament has been by Goeido. He has unleashed lighting fast, powerful-looking attacks that destroy opponents in split seconds. Why is this interesting? Why wouldn't we expect this kind of form from an Ozeki? Long time SumoTalk readers will know my favorite shorthand for Goeido has been "the epileptic mayfly." Perhaps you do not know mayflies: they are a largish bug that seems not to have any control as it flies, fluttering here and about in damnably unpredictable patterns. And when they got on you, they turn out to be vulnerable and squishy: any Midwesterner in the United States knows the experience of trying to brush off a bumbling mayfly and having it mash into a smear under the slightest contact. Goeido has often looked awful, floundering around out there with no control, plan, or style, winning often by what appears to be mistake at best or giveaways at worst. A mayfly, getting all over you. Painful to watch, and not Ozeki-like at all… I daresay he has been the worst of the recent frustrating crop.

So what has happened this tournament? There are two basic competing explanations. One is to say matches are simply being given away for him; this is appealing as this tournament is his home-crowd outing in Osaka. In this view, of course he looks good: opponents are letting him win. The blue-sky view opposing it is that Goeido has put it all together, and is benefitting from a powerful tachi-ai.

My take may not be as obvious as is assumed. Let me try to combine the two views. Yes, I think Goeido gets a lot of gift wins, and no, I don't think he is a dominant or even intimidating wrestler. There is no reason to be scared of Goeido. But! One of my reactions to fixed bouts has been a "take what you get" approach. Did slowly-dawning knowledge of the pervasiveness of cheating in sumo nearly drive me away from the sport? Absolutely. But if you stay a fan, you start approaching with a certain jaundiced best-scenario realism. You have to take what you can get, or why are you watching? My view on Goeido is he's having a great tournament. Do I care that many of these bouts may be fake? Yes. I hate it. But if they are going to be fake, it doesn't mean he can't perform well in them. And thus far he has performed excellently--it has been fun to watch, and I'm happy for him--and for us. Finally, for change, he seems to have his stuff together up there, featuring a powerful Chiyotairyu-esque blast at the tachi-ai rather than horribly mayfly madness. If he is going to get bouts thrown in his favor, so be it. But let him take them with every ounce of the considerable talent that got him close to Ozeki in the first place. So far this tournament he has made himself look really good out there on the dohyo. I'll take it.

Let's cover him first, here on "Goeido Appreciation Day at the Hodja Household."

K Mitakeumi (3-3) vs. O Goeido (5-1)
Goeido moved swiftly and effectively at the tachi-ai. He gave Mitakeumi a slap in the ear--a move I don't care for--but the important part was that he got both arms inside quickly, leaving Mitakeumi's arms flapping in the air like broken fence posts in a Montana breeze. Back went the man. Mitakeumi tried to swivel out of there, but it was too late, and his move merely opened him up to the final kimari-te: okuri-dashi, or rear push-out.

Everything I just said in the intro applies here: you can question Mitakeumi's technique--why should a wrestler with Mitakeumi's pedigree be this easy to get moro-zashi on?--but I'm going to leave that aside and enjoy the fact that once again Goeido harnessed up his talent, buckled down his mayflies, and did the match he found himself in the way it needed to be done.

Back to the top.

M16 Daishoho (3-3) vs. M15 Kotoeko (4-2)
While waiting for this bout to happen I was treated to Kisenosato making his debut as the color man in the booth. I'd say he handled it reasonably well--given my low expectations. He always seemed an exceptionally stolid, quiet, charisma-free character. With nerves. The play-by-play guy definitely had to lead him by the hand some. However, Araiso-oyakata (Kisenosato's new name) told a self-deprecating joke or two, didn't try to do more than he was capable, and was a passable and inoffensive presence. I wish him well; if ever there was a bittersweet Yokozuna, it was him.

Anyhoo, let's get to the sumo. Kotoeko popped Daishoho a smart blow on the nose at the tachi-ai; I thought this was a mistake, as Daishoho looked about to run him over. However, I should be more charitable: perhaps it startled Daishoho away from getting inside. They fumbled about a bit before Daishoho pinched down on Kotoeko's right arm for the first solid position of the bout. Unfortunately for him, that left him wide open for a nice, thick outer grip on the belt with the left hand by Kotoeko. Kotoeko parlayed it into a yori-kiri win. He is having a nice tournament.

M15 Ishiura (4-2) vs. M14 Toyonoshima (2-4)
Kisenosato is still enough of a phenomenon that during part of the run-up to this bout they stuck his face down in the right-hand corner of the screen so we could see his reactions. I don't know if I've seen that in sumo announcing before, though it is a major staple of Japanese television (most common: beautiful young woman coos "yum" in the corner box while the screen is filled by, say, a lovely piece of grilling steak). Anyhoo, sumo… this looked bad to me for Toyonoshima; he's too old and boxy for a little fox like Ishiura. Perfect prey for a leprechaun. Indeed, Ishiura thoroughly schooled the tough old tub, smacking straight at the tachi-ai but immediately moving out of there, putting his hands out to keep Toyonoshima off him, knocking him to the side by the armpit and pushing him straight out, oshi-dashi. None of Toyonoshima's sumo made sense here--I won't go through the missed chances and half-assed moves--so let's apply the Goeido principle I just described: Ishiura did well with what was on offer.

M14 Terutsuyoshi (1-5) vs. J4 Takagenji (3-3)
I have zero interest in tiny Terutsuyoshi, but with Takagenji looking like a bumbling tackle dummy out there, this was a chance for Terutsuyoshi to show what he can do. It went well for a while. He threw in nodo-wa (choke holds) and mawari-komu (spinning about to keep the line of the match in his favor) while staying low. However, while this did discombobulate his largish opponent, when Terutsuyoshi got him to the straw he couldn't get him over. Not even close. At a certain point Takagenji said "enough of this" and whipped Terutsuyoshi to the unforgiving dirt with a swift and wicked kote-nage throw. So much for Shining Strong Boy Terutsuyoshi.

M7 Chiyoshoma (4-2) vs. M13 Kagayaki (3-3)
The earlier win by Kotoeko notwithstanding, I really don't like hari-te: face slaps at the tachi-ai. It just seems like showmanship that doesn't get you anywhere. While you're busy doing that, your opponent, who is used to contact--this is a contact sport, and he spent half of the lead-up slapping himself in the face as prep--is busy unleashing his strategy on you. Chiyoshoma slapped Kagayaki in the face, and Kagayaki ignored it and surged his body in all over Chiyoshoma and forced him summarily out, yori-kiri. If you're going to slap, do it like Tamawashi: powerful, sustained, merciless--and post-tachi-ai. Don't be out there being clever and sassy.

M13 Tomokaze (3-3) vs. M16 Yutakayama (3-3)
Friendly Wind vs. Treasure Mountain. Oh, what a happy pair of sunny names! However, I've been gloomily riding Yutakayama all the way to the dark side of the moon. Every tournament I pick him to get it back together, to rip out double-digit wins, and to head back for the top. But following his 12 win, dynamic performance last July, he has won 3, 5, and 6 bouts across three tournaments, and isn't off to a much better start here. Some will say he is hurt. Maybe he's just not that good. He tried a double-face-push at the tachi-ai (much better than a stupid slap), then they pushed and slapped a bit more before bodying up to each other. Yutakayama surged forward, looking for the push out, but Tomokaze all too easily moved to the side and shuffled Yutakayama's carcass sloppily to the ground, uwate-nage. It was staggery and odd looking enough I wondered if Yutakayama's knee had given out or he'd slipped. Or maybe, like I said, he just ain't that good. I gotta stop picking this guy. Or maybe he'll just be removed to Juryo and he'll be unpickable, out of sight and out of mind.

M11 Ryuden (5-1) vs. M11 Meisei (2-4)
Sloppy, slow, lame tachi-ai by Ryuden like a drunk putting his head down on the counter at a party: he just kind of slumped forward and they bumped noggins hard. Before you knew it Meisei was all over him, inside and low, with both hands inside and on the belt. Up to this point Ryuden had looked lackadaisical: empty hands not reaching or grabbing for anything, moving backwards. Once Meisei got him dead-to-rights Ryuden decided it was safe to put up a good fight, struggling hard at the straw not to get pushed out. But it was too late, and out he went, yori-kiri.

M10 Shohozan (3-3) vs. M12 Yoshikaze (3-3)
This was a simple matter of lots of hand-slaps to the face by Shohozan and attempts to scoop up by Yoshikaze: fend those hands off and get some position underneath and inside. It went Shohozan's way for a bit, then Yoshikaze's concentration and focus paid off: yup, he was underneath and inside. Darth Hozan started to go backwards. He tried to pull on Yoshikaze's head, but it was too late, and it just added to the lopsided finish, a tsuki-dashi push-out by Yoshikaze. Here he looked as good as he is going to look.

M9 Sadanoumi (2-4) vs. M9 Ikioi (1-5)
Ikioi has been this interesting career story of excellent sumo body and promising stuff combined with an utter inability to do well high in the ranks: a yo-yo banzuke movement for his fans of joy (when low) and despair (when high). Until about last year I guess my expectation was that he would at some point break through and put it together for a while: give us a little Sekiwake run, say. Lo! Could it be that instead he is falling apart? With his stiff gait and pathos he now reminds me, of all people, of Takamisakari: honestly pained in defeat. He really needs to be able to beat a guy like Sadanoumi. Instead he landed on him like a sack of fluffy flour: his attack drove Sadanoumi less than a meter, and Sadanoumi lifted his arms up under the wings of the flour sack and had himself a nice dual inside position. The yori-kiri force out by the Sad Man came nearly instantly, after which Ikioi painfully and slowly clambered back up on the damp clay mound, grimacing and limping. Yep. Takamisakari.

M10 Yago (2-4) vs. M8 Kotoshogiku (5-1)
Hoo boy. Kotoshogiku was lookin' reel reel gud there, just like Goeido, for a few days, then yesterday… hoo boy, yesterday. Aoiyama disposed of him like a bit of fluff in a hurricane gale. Well, as the Yorkshire Dalesmen say in James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small when a cow dies, "well, these things ‘appen." Fortunately for Kotoshogiku, Yago was the dying cow in this one: kind of slow and lame. Foul of the foot? Mastitis? Kotoshogiku was able to show speed and power (may I refer you to my intro regarding Goeido?) and get up and in, grabbing Yago about his ample midriff and then gaburi-humping him to the edge. There, Kotoshogiku did something fun: he reversed the momentum, wrenching Yago half into a fall with a massive left-armed push to the body. He then resumed the attack and pushed Yago out, yori-kiri. "Aye, these things happen; call Mallock the knacker."

M7 Aoiyama (5-1) vs. M7 Takarafuji (3-3)
There is a laundry list of name guys having big first weeks: I've mentioned Goeido and Kotoshogiku, and Onosho and Ichinojo are coming up. Aoiyama has also looked intriguingly good. I've always wanted him to Just. Hit. Harder. However, that doesn't seem to be the answer for him: while it looks great when he does it, guys weather it and then he pulls and half the time it works and half it doesn't. This basho he has been more careful on the one hand--fewer showy moves--and more forward moving on the other. The other day he even looked great on the belt. Hmmm. What would he do here? It was just like I said: he moved those feet forward, hooked his fists up into Takarafuji's armpits, and pushed hard. No slapping, no pulling, no retreating. And he won, oshi-dashi, in one second flat, with Takarafuji the Bus Driver using only one gear: reverse. Aoiyama actually looked… formidable. I'm not used to this with him; he usually looks like a guy who doesn't trust his own stuff. But I like it.

M6 Okinoumi (2-4) vs. M8 Asanoyama (4-2)
Hard-slapping, chesty tachi-ai. Asanoyama tried to reach for the belt but he couldn't quite get it: Okinoumi is too long and tall. Okinoumi, however, had a right inside grip. Asanoyama worked himself into his own late right-inside grip, but Okinoumi maki-kae'ed (changed up his grip) swiftly and deftly, breaking off Asanoyama's grip and giving Okinoumi dual inside position, which he used to bull Asanoyama out, yori-kiri. This was beautiful sumo from Okinoumi throughout. Boy, sometimes I like this sport a lot.

I landed a really good day here in the top half: 11 matches, 6 yori-kiri, three dashis (two oshi, one tsuki), two throws (one uwate, one kote). Zero hataki-komis, tsuki-otoshis, or okuri-dashis.

M5 Chiyotairyu (4-2) vs. M5 Onosho (4-2)
I said in the intro that Goeido has looked a little like Chiyotairyu with his powerful tachi-ai attack this tournament. I was a little squirmy as I wrote it, though, because the guy who really reminds me of Chiyotairyu this tournament has been Onosho, both in form and power. This has been exciting. When he first came up, we had some feeling that Onosho might amount to something. Then he got injured, his recovery was slow, and all the air drained out of that balloon. He has re-opened my eyes this time. Dude is just 22. And lo! Here they were facing each other, the two biggest cannonballs of the tournament. There was no way, of course, that they were going to do a "who wins the collision of an irresistible force and immovable object test." The venue might have blown up. In the end, sadly, Onosho's tachi-ai was soft, and Chiyotairyu pulled the hesitant youngster down by the head, hataki-komi. (And there we have it: I cursed myself by mentioning that we'd had no backward moving wins thus far.) Next time, boys, next time.

M6 Abi (2-4) vs. M4 Ichinojo (6-0)
Slow, lame tachi-ai: they stood up languidly. Abi commenced to slap at Ichinojo's breastbone, while Ichinojo busied himself with deflecting the blows. Now imagine that a dead sperm whale washed up on the beach near your home, and you headed down there and slapped hard at the belly blubber. What do you think would happen? Exactly nothing. You might shake some salt-water droplets onto you, or redden your palms ("ow! That blubber is surprisingly hard!). That, of course, is what happened to Abi: the whale was not whelmed. Ichinojo stood there and absorbed the blows until he felt confident, then he pulled Abi down, tsuki-otoshi. Ichinojo hasn't looked particularly good this tournament--his wins have mostly been desultory and anti-climactic like this one--but that's partly because he's won so easily. Has had to do so little, use so little of his potential, his power, his size. If he can climb to 7-0 at 50% power, where can he go if he brings 100% to all his matches? He'd be Akebono.

M4 Tochiozan (1-5) vs. M2 Myogiryu (2-4)
Ho hum. Quality Minor Wrestlers of Yesteryear. Tochiozan spent too much time holding onto Tochiozan's head and pulling at it, and so the hard-working Myogiryu was the guy who got both arms inside--normally Tochiozan's forte. It took a few moments of work, but Myogiryu got the job done from this position, winning by okuri-taoshi.

M1 Kaisei (0-6) vs. S Tamawashi (3-3)
One day many years ago I took my son to Sumiyoshi Shrine in Osaka on a Sunday. He was little, I forgot to check what shoes he was wearing, and he picked tennis shoes. It poured rain all day, and he squelched about endlessly in soggy socks and water-filled shoes. The yellow rain boots with the smiling frogs on the toe sat patiently, unused, in the genkan at home. We met grandpa and grandma at the shrine and went and had an egg-salad sandwich in a Detour coffee shop for lunch. Then we had to go home, because it was coldish and the wet shoes and socks were taking their toll. Why do I mention this? While leading up to this match, they went over tomorrow's matches: with a series of scenes from Sumiyoshi as backdrop. One of its old trees, with a rope around it and paper lightning a-dangling. Then the old red arched bridge. The announcer took time to give a little history of the shrine stuff before going over the upcoming matches. The weather looked much like the day I went there: gloomy, cool.

Ladies and gentleman, this is a contact sport where guys beat each other up. And nobody even notices when they mix stuff like this naturally in, because it fits like a glove. Japan is a great country, and I love it very much.

Kaisei, who is from Brazil, versus Tamawashi, who is from Mongolia: they have both embraced this sport and all its ritual. I hope they take their sons to Sumiyoshi Shrine one day. I'm sure they do the equivalent, all the time. It is Japan. Kaisei was kind of helpless here. Tamawashi beat him up. Tamawashi's attack is just too effective for a reactive and placid wrestler like Kaisei. Once Kaisei's brief and ineffectual attempt to smother Tamawashi was over and Tamawashi had created room to neck-shove and hog-slap Kaisei, it was a matter of time before the satisfying Wicked Man's Delight oshi-dashi victory by Tamawashi.

At Sumiyoshi Shrine, the moss in the wall cracks grows, bead by bead, year by year, and the sand in the courtyards is quiet under your feet.

S Takakeisho (4-2) vs. M2 Daieisho (3-3)
I think the result here was a kind of a foregone conclusion: there is no trickery in Daieisho's game. It is a straight ahead attack every time. And while Daieisho is good at that and he's fun, Takakeisho is a big boy and he's pretty good at that same game. So, Takakeisho was able to go straight at it, bring his full oomph, without fear of getting gamed, and that made him look pretty good. They slapped for a bit, and Daieisho is better at that, but Takakeisho leaned in and pushed on the body, and he is better at that. The resultant kimari-te in Takakeisho's favor was tsuki-dashi: the usual sumo shorthand for an ass-kicking. The problem for him is going to be that not every opponent provides this straightforward of a decision.

O Tochinoshin (4-2) vs. M1 Endo (1-5)
Okay, here we are, the Ozeki ranks. Let me note: we're on day 7, and all five wrestlers ranked at Ozeki or Yokozuna are a) still in the tournament, b) at 4-2 or better. Their collective record is 25-5. That is rare these days. We'll see if it breaks down in week two, but it has made for an of old-fashioned tournament.

I know Tochinoshin wanted to win this one when Endo gave him a wicked pull and he almost stumbled to the ground but didn't. If he'd wanted to lose, he'd have just slapped the ground right there. But the pull had done its damage; Endo moved quickly in this match throughout: the pull was a lightning strike, sudden and unexpected, and as Tochinoshin was recovering Endo snaked in for a good fistful of right-handed belt grip. Most guys would still be watching their handiwork, seeing if their opponent would fall down. Endo then bellied up inside and pushed up and out, and though Tochinoshin looked to turn the attack aside at the edge, it was too late, and Endo score the surprise yori-taoshi knock-‘im-over victory. The attractive young woman in the tight white turtleneck a few rows back in the crowd applauded.

O Takayasu (5-1) vs. K Hokutofuji (2-4)
They just put their hands on each other and pushed. And pushed, and pushed, and pushed. That sounds boring, but it wasn't: it was pretty compelling. They kept pushing. Hokutofuji looked like he was getting the better of it, but he wasn't. He was lower, and Takayasu was closer to the edge. But Hokutofuji was pushing harder. And pushing , and pushing. Whereas Takayasu was standing, and resisting, and surviving. Finally Hokutofuji ran out of gas and leaned his body in, putting his nose on Takayasu's sternum. "Koko de!", the announcer interjected: "here!" Yes. Here, Takayasu won. He stepped to the side, grabbed the spent Hokutofuji by the belt butt button, and slung him out, okuri-dashi. Good stuff.

M3 Nishikigi (0-6) vs. Y Kakuryu (5-1)
This was a sloppy affair, with Kakuryu battering the game Nishikigi all over the place and having a hard time finishing him off. Nishikigi is like that: hard to imagine a much better 0-7 showing. Swipes, pulls, shoves--Kakuryu tried it all. The final move was a matador thing: Nishikigi staggered in there for one last try, bloodied with arrows and drunk on combat, and Kakuryu slapped him down from the side, hataki-komi. This was entertaining and all, but I wouldn't want to mistake movement for action.

Y Hakuho (6-0) vs. M3 Shodai (0-6)
I've described a lot of guys looking very good this tournament: Goeido, Onosho, Aoiyama. Even Kotoeko. There is no contest, however, for who has looked the worst: Shodai. Think of Nishikigi's stubborn and worthy matches. Then think of Shodai's hapless and ridiculous attempts. Same 0-7 result, world of difference. I feel like Shodai should just go away for a while. He's the kind of wrestler that if he did go away, we wouldn't notice. If someone mentioned him, we'd say, "oh yeah, that guy." He has been a zero in the top division, without a style and without signature results, and this tournament has been the conceptual nadir of his nothingness.

We got the ass-kicking of the day. Hakuho hit at him a little at the tachi-ai, but as Shodai didn't want to body up, Hakuho did his "okay bring it" thing that we're seeing more from him: he stood there and waited for him a bit. As Shodai just stood there too like a waffle cone in a paper sleeve, Hakuho punched him in the face with a tight, quick left hand, then whacked hard him in the chin with a stiff right forearm. Shodai stumbled impressively back, falling bodily off the dohyo like a 100-year-old brick wall struck with a well-wielded sledgehammer. This kimari-te is called tsuki-taoshi, which I will translate as "knockover blow," or "thrust knock-down," or "strike fell." You will never find a better demonstration of this result than Shodai's limp mortal remains, arms akimbo, tumbling out of the ring, physically awed by the Yokozuna of Yokozunas. What a great way to wrap up the day.

Tomorrow Mike tsuki-taoshis the rest of it.

Day 6 Comments (Justin Williams reporting)
For all the ruminations on the younger brigade making their mark on the rikishi landscape, it is the old vets- Hakuho, Goeido, Kotoshogiku and the young stalwart Ichinojo, leading the vanguard in this still early period of the basho. Following on from Gary's comments yesterday along the lines of whether the youngsters can survive then thrive after hitting "the wall" or a setback in the form of a "morale-crushing ass-kicking" as he succinctly phrased it. Ichinojo's career path deserves a quick look.

He is now in his fifth year in the top division in a career that has stagnated; his ranking in the middle or thereabouts, only providing glimpses of his devastating potential. For the most part disappointing as a guy just happy to stay in the mid-ranks. Only on five occasions has he managed a minimum ten plus win basho. He has also collected seven kinboshi including two from last basho which could easily have been three. In this time, he has only really bombed twice, while mainly offering performances as just passable.

For his sake and that of his frustrated fans, I hope he takes stock at the rise and success of recent yusho winners, Takakeisho, Mitakeumi, and his fellow Mongol Tamawashi, and perhaps dare to realize that he too has the capability to claim a yusho and enjoy a year's worth of free beer and beef. He is just out of sight of the riches on offer the next level up as he sits among the rats in the kitchen and the slop buckets in the halls.

M17 Chiyoshoma showed the simplest method of defeating his smaller, tricky opponent, M15 Ishiura. Keep him at arm's length, don't let him get on the inside, then use superior reach and weight to then thrust him down. A quick and effective start to proceedings.

M16 Daishoho is youngish and has had 10 consecutive kachi-koshi leading to his first appearance in this division, so we will be eyeing his future with interest. He too made short work of a smaller, elusive opponent, M14, Terutsuyoshi once he could grab a hold of him in a left arm lock and complete the rather casual throw for victory. Both guys are 4-2.

J3 Daiamami took on M14 Toyonoshima and I can see how with his Takakeisho-like proportions he was once a handful when he was at his peak. Daiamami did not allow him any room when receiving Toyo, as he just missed with a left grip then gained a firm right as he then forced the struggling Toyo back on the ropes before Toyo twisted free and both guys fell forward heavily and nearly in unison with Toyo touching down a mini-second before the winner, Daiamami.

M13 Kagayaki is on the clay again and with his distracting titties as prominent as ever, it's hard for me to shake off my mental image of him dressed in a grass skirt, wearing a Hawaiian flower lei, welcoming visitors to his island with colourful garlands. M16 Yukatayama lead with a right forearm and follow up nodowa on Kagayaki who smartly negated the thrust with a quick half-swivel left, turning away Yukata as if he were a door-knocking Morman on Saturday morning. Yukatayama fell fully-forward onto his hands and knees, spread-eagled like a perfectly grilled butterflied sardine. 3-3 for both guys.

After M12 Yoshikaze copped a head-knock yesterday I was keen to see whether it might spark some of his old street-fighter spirit against M15 Kotoeko. Thankfully for Yoshi, 135kg Koto was largely flaccid and a welcome respite and drove him from the tachiai with little resistance for the force out win.

M13 Tomokaze had the initial momentum with some Tamawashi-esque thrusts, forcing M11 Ryuden to the ropes where the momentum stalled. Ryuden, defiant to the end, drew his man in close where his best work is done, grabbed a left belt and swung Tomo to the floor. Win number five for Ryuden. As an aside, is that a mole on his forehead or has he another life outside sumo as a married Hindu woman?

This was the first bout between these two and M11 Meisei is just the right size for M10 Shohozan. A bout isn't complete for Shohozan unless he can throw in some cheeky slaps, and Meisei endured three or so in between body blows before Shohozan was warmed up enough to power forward for the thrust-out victory.


M9 Sadanoumi M10 Yago pushed each other about a bit then Sada grabbed a strong left-hand grip and drove up and in whilst Yago managed a right grip on Sada's belt, which unfortunately for him was loose enough to disadvantage his own hold. Sada kept driving and lifting for the eventual yorikiri win.

M8 Asanoyama latched onto a left belt hold at the outset and with strength and composure herded M9 Ikioi backwards whilst offering feeble resistance for a convincing shut out win for Asa. This was Ikioi's fifth consecutive loss and as he limped from the arena, more lonely than an refugee, are we witnessing yet another rikishi feeling the palpable tug of time's undertow, that enemy of mortality, the robber of virility and strength, the crippler of all?

This next bout could easily have been labelled, "Tank defeats watermelon." Some of us were envisaging a resurgent basho from M8 Kotoshogiku. M7 Aoiyama made us realise how absurd that really was with his impression of Rommel's Panzer division invasion of France in steamrolling Giku out of the dohyo and out of contention. Awesome. I hope Daniel uses this as a template for future bouts.


M6 Okinoumi and M7 Takarafuji met in a yotsu battle but as usual The Bus Driver was more compliant than aggressive, unlike Oki who used his grip with intent in swinging 'fuji around for a lovely over-arm, uwatenage throw. Win number two for Oki.

M6 Abi was understandably hesitant to face up to the hefty rhino-man, M5 Chiyotairyu, his inner thoughts wondering, "how in hell should I approach the bout?" He did so by almost leaping into the gyoji's arms which fortunately achieved the desired result and "Tairyu gormlessly tumbled to the floor. Abi moves to 2-4 while I'm sure 'Tairyu will store that one in the memory banks for some later revenge.

M5 Onosho came out charging into M4 Tochiozan, pinning his arms to his body. Onosho wasn't happy with, what I thought was a decent start, but he had no intention of engaging Toch in a yotsu tussle, so he released the hold then came forward in a kamikaze, all or nothing, low rush from which Tochiozan had no counter. Oshidashi win for Onosho.

Yesterday, before M4 Ichinojo's bout with Onosho, the TV coverage showed Ichi's infuriating submissive nature from their previous meeting when Onosho rammed the big guy from the dohyo. Ichi's subsequent emphatic win had me hoping we may be at the start of his rise up the banzuke... M1 Endo was a mere plaything for Ichi and ended up being easily pushed to the floor. Win number 6 for Ichi.

Sekiwake Takakeisho made short work of a blundering M1 Kaisei. We've seen his winning technique work against the best of them. Hit hard, step left and swipe or push an off-balance opponent to the dirt. Kaisei gave the crowd great delight in being smitten from the stage and his energy today would make a skeleton seem bouncy and full of life. Times are tough for the M1s.

Komusubi Hokutofuji's nervous energy was fit to burst like recently shaken can of lager as he paced and stamped and slapped himself prior to facing Sekiwake Tamawashi. After breaking once he broke early again attacking the neck of Tama who dismissed the parries as a minor hindrance before exhibiting his own lethal thrusts, obliterating Hokutofuji as he was sent careering into the crowd. Tama has now climbed back to 3-3 and seems ominously warmed up now for the rest of the event.

M2 Daieisho pivoted left as Ozeki Goeido advanced and from there was knocked back via two strong Daieisho fends, whereupon before he knew it, Goeido was out for his first loss of the basho. Daieisho should be pleased with his start. That was his third win, his previous two over higher rankers Tamawashi and Takayasu.

M2 Myogiryu tried for an inside grip but Ozeki Takayasu was fully intent on a tremendous surging drive that had ‘Giryu back-peddling over the ropes. Win number 5 for the Ozeki in a display befitting his rank.

After the initial clash, Ozeki Tochinoshin pulled Komusubi Mitakeumi in tighter than a Mumbai slum, claimed the left hand mawashi hold, then a firm right on Mitake's head for a comfy uwate-nage throw down victory. I would call that a sound thrashing. The Shin's timing is starting to hit a groove and is nearly spot on at this stage.

On paper the 5-0 Yokozuna Hakuho -- 0-5 M3 Nishikigi matchup would seem a mere formality, but as Mike reminded us the action is played out on damp clay. When Hakuho enters the dohyo and begins his pre-tachi-ai routine, it is hard to focus on anything else. It used to be said of Humphrey Bogart that there was no point reciting even Shakespeare, if he was smoking a cigarette somewhere else on stage. Hakuho has that presence as all satellites orbit around him.

Nishikigi, vision impaired and perhaps less intimidated than others, gave Hak considerable grief from the outset by snaffling a solid left arm lock on Hak's right which held a grip on Nishi's belt. Hak slowed things down, weighed the predicament and decided to attack and was nearly thrown in the process but then recovered, gained a left belt hold and from here drove his game opponent back for the yori-kiri win along a disdainful extra shove for troubling him.

Yokozuna Kakuryu's entrance always seems anti-climatic following Hak, but he had a job to do on an 0-5 M3 Shodai, looking more under-cooked this basho than a chicken flying off your plate as you sit down for a Sunday roast. Kak was off the blocks quickly with a quick mawashi grip and it seemed an equally quick demise for Shodai, who was upright and being forced back, when Kak released his grip at the rope's edge, handing Shodai a moment's reprieve. They re-set but Shodai had nothing really to offer and fell victim, off-balance to a Kakuryu slap-down, Kak happily sitting now at 5-1.

So, the sumo world seems rightly weighted from my perspective with only one upset win from Daieisho over Goeido spoiling the leaders' advance.

Tomorrow Harvye explains how you should "never confuse movement with action."

Day 5 Comments (Gary Jones reporting)
Hello to all, don't plan a panic but sumo is in a state of treacle flux. An oozingly slow but inevitable reshaping of the sweet rikishi landscape. Hard to imagine but in two short years from now Toyonoshima will be gone. And with him most of an entire generation of banzuke regulars we know and love. So who will take their place at the top of the tree?

Good rikishi, really good solid rikishi, have a long established pattern of arrival to the top division of the sumos. Long time fans can see it unfolding before their eyes. After a short stay in Juryo (think 3 or 4 basho and then upwards) they are in the running for kachi-koshi every time out until they get within range of the very best sumo has to offer. This is usually in the top four ranks of Maegashira, sometimes through luck of the banzuke they manage to make it to the lower Sanyaku (Sekiwake & Komusubi). It is this moment in their talent-laden careers that they hit the wall and experience the most one-sided, morale-crushing ass-kicking of their still young lives. Some lose their youthful ambition, fading slowly away and settle into a decade of quiet mediocrity. Others regroup and set a lower more realistic goal, beginning with a mere kachi-koshi in Sanyaku.

Even the poster boy for meteoric promotion, the Bulgarian big dude himself Kotooshu Katsunori, experienced this hoodoo voodoo. The man had famously never tasted a single make-koshi until he hit the wall. Two basho at Juryo (that's two, dos, due) and continued kachi-koshi in the Maegashira led to an inglorious 4 win lesson in humility. He is in the regrouped category of course and was Ozeki within a year, but he walked the path.

Sumo has a youth movement underway in 2019. It's a real thing, it happens in sumo. How many of them have rushed to get within range of the big guns? How many have swallowed their slice of humble pie at the top and then gambarized to join the regroup group? So far we have only Takakeisho and Mitakeumi. Next in line and with far less firework celebration, we have the still 22 year old Onosho. Watch him, he just might surpass them both.

Who's the next bullet in the chamber? It's 24 year old Yago, a man with only one make-koshi. He's still on the right path, but he's wavering on the very edge of it already. Entering the day with a 1-3 record at M10 it looks like he's not going to make it before he hits his own, much lower wall. Anyone willing to put their money on the highly anticipated new arrival now? Yago had better go on a winning streak very soon indeed. Even if he makes it to M2 he still has to regroup and get back to the awesome winning ways of his naive youth (looking at you Shodai).

You know who blasted their way through the damned wall? Legends like Asashoryu and Taiho. Oh yeah and some guy called Hakuho. Always worth mentioning him. Enjoy while you can.

Yutakayama (M16w) 3-1 vs. Kotoeko (M15w) 3-1
Giving away 100 lbs (45kg) genki Kotoeko slapped an oncoming Yutakayama right in the kissy face. Yutakayama kept on coming. Kotoeko dug both arms in deep under the shoulder. Yutakayama pushed on to the tawara, full of confidence. Kotoeko turned his man at the edge and manhandled him until he had his leg behind the grip-less Yutakayama's knee.
Yutakayama baled on his quick victory attempt and limped for the exit. Somebody showed up to fight it out, and it wasn't Yutakayama. Oshi-dashi.

Ishiura (M15e) 4-0 vs. Hakuyozan (J3e) 0-4
An undefeated Ishiura is one of the twenty eight signs of the apocalypse. Should we be getting worried? Fortunately our Juryo visitor for the day closed Pandora's box with the ancient schoolboy technique of chasing after the little guy and shoving him over with a face smush. In sumo that's called oshi-taoshi.

Chiyoshoma (M17e) 2-2 vs. Toyonoshima (M14w) 2-2
Well it's a nice day off for Chiyoshoma. Leaving his elbows as wide as he liked he grabbed an outer right grip, encouraged the old man forwards a bit, grabbed the back of his head to tip him off balance, checked his watch for Toyonoshima's arrival and okuri-dashi'ed him out.

A Maegashira ranked Toyonoshima does suggest we have slipped into a time traveling spacey portal thing. Before he returns to his own timeline now would be a good time to pay homage to the little guy with a big appetite.

Why waste time on an old has-been?  Because no other Maegashira man has ever succeeded in terrorizing one of the top ranks of sumo quite like Toyonoshima. He went toe to toe with the mighty Kotooshu. The powerful Ozeki stood over a foot (30cm) taller. And Toyo threw him over to the sand time and again. Oh so many throws, sukui-nage this, shitate-nage that. If only we could have such a rivalry develop in 2019. The equivalent would be Kaisei and Ishiura engaging in repeated crotch-kicking contests and ending up tied 15 wins apiece. Unlikely but fun to watch.

Toyonoshima was fun to watch.

Daishoho (M16e) 2-2 vs. Kagayaki (M13w) 1-3
A pair of 24 year old's, one has been meh in Juryo, one has been meh in Makuuchi. And one of them had better fight harder when his opponent does basic Maezumo style pushes or he will be back in Juryo next basho. An easy oshi-dashi win for Kagayaki.

Tomokaze (M13e) 2-2 vs. Terutsuyoshi (M14e) 1-3
Two more 24 year old's, was there a sale on sake 25 years ago? The little one (Terutsuyoshi) tried to head-butt the big one (figure it out yourself) and got dropped by hataki-komi the same second. The little one left his feet behind in his enthusiasm to get in there.

Ryuden (M11e) 3-1 vs. Yoshikaze (M12w) 2-2
Another head to head tachi-ai and this one leaves Lil' Yoshi dazed and confused. Ryuden just had to walk forward for the yori-kiri win. So he did.

Meisei (M11w) 2-2 vs. Yago (M10w) 1-3
Time for 23 versus 24. For clarity, 24 is Yago's age not his circumference in feet. At the start the much smaller Meisei gave him hell. Quicker and lower, Meisei got dealer's choice at the tachi-ai. He started with keeping the big guy at arms length, a wise decision. Meisei drove forward until Yago had both heels at the tawara.  And then Yago stopped dead and grabbed the outside right, and this was not the deal Meisei made. Yago collected a fistful of silk with his inside left hand forcing Meisei to play hidari-yotsu with 400lbs of neck-less bulk. Yeah, so that's a yori-kiri win for big Yago then. Next time maybe.

Sadanoumi (M9e) 1-3 vs. Shohozan (M10e) 1-3
Two of Kotoshogiku's victims next. For once Shohozan goes in chest to chest without being forced to. This gets him an impressive swinging overhand right throw, his left hand pushing Sadanoumi's head down for the Chiyonofuji style uwate-nage win. I don't care that sad-man was ripe for the picking, it looked pretty.

Ikioi (M9w) 1-3 vs. Kotoshogiku (M8w) 4-0
A power-chugging, man-crushing Kotoshogiku on the early leader-board makes me uneasy, I don't know what year this is anymore. Has Lord Kise's catastrophic retirement thrown sumo down the rabbit hole?  It was clear Ikioi's legs couldn't take much impact from the still strong Kotoshogiku. Ikioi was wincing at the tachi-ai which is not a good sign. So he put his head down and slid the most injured leg back to hold his ground. Defiant and proud. Gee thanks said Koto, turning his crippled competition aside and running him out from behind, okuri-wedgi-dashi.

Aoiyama (M7e) 3-1 vs. Asanoyama (M8e) 3-1
Aoiyama isn't smacking anyone in the head this basho, the fire has not burned yet. Perhaps he bruised his meaty mitts cracking the thick skulls of the Makuuchi, more likely a gentle word in his ear is the cause.  The bout was fantastic, hard fought and thrilling. Asanoyama was fantastic, he absorbed some heavy pressure at the start and wormed his right arm inside, hooking it behind the shoulder. Jostling his boy with hips and legs he managed to push it deeper and gain the inside right grip. Fantastic sumo, Asanoyama did everything right. And then Aoiyama dragged him all the way to the edge with the biggest kote-nage since Kaio. Asanoyama's head was sent up to the lights with a right nodowa and the rest of him was pushed to the floor for a fantastic oshi-taoshi victory for big D. Go big or go home.

Takarafuji (M7w) 2-2 vs. Abi (M6w) 1-3
I don't mind who wins or who loses usually, I just want to see hard fought sumo. I like Abi because he puts in the effort and brings the thrills and spills. Today he thrilled with a full force attack on Takarafuji. Then he spilled when Taka brushed him aside, sending him rolling across the ring, tsuki-otoshi. You lose some, you lose some, you lose some, you win some, you lose some, as the saying goes.

Chiyotairyu (M5e) 3-1 vs. Okinoumi (M6e) 1-3
The last generation of cannonballs were so disappointing, big and round and looking to win in one second but they were shown to be made of a flawed, brittle metal. Chiyotairyu seems to be made of the right stuff. Dense lead sprayed in cats piss. This is mine. And this. This is mine.

Today he owned Okinoumi, blasting him straight back for the oshi-dashi win. The thing is, Okinoumi stayed in, just. His heels didn't actually touch the nicely brushed sand. The judges were too busy signing autographs for the local schoolgirls to notice.

Onosho (M5w) 3-1 vs. Ichinojo (M4w) 4-0
A henka throwing Ichinojo can only mean we are viewing a parallel universe. This is not the sumo world I know. It must surely be another.  More balls than brains, Onosho threw himself into the abyss, willing to go at Ichinojo the way small cattle dogs chase into a herd of massive things with horns. I appreciate the daring, but really? The weird thing is, the Ichinojo bulk wasn't there to be hit. Ichi had every intention of fading to his left from the get-go and pulled a perfectly legitimate semi-henka complete with a heavy hand over the head of a closed-eyed and now square-footed Onosho. A second hataki-komi win for the bull that can leap like a salmon, well, a quarter ton consignment of canned salmon anyway.

Tochiohzan (M4e) 1-3 vs. Endo (M1w) 0-4
Tochiohzan usually defeats the gorgeous one comfortably enough but he has looked terrible this basho, firing on one legless cylinder. Credit Endo with a nice bit of sumo technique as he took a shallow, outer right grip and with his left under his boys shoulder twisted Tochi round and down for a career highlight kimari-te of maki-otoshi. If only he could do it against an opponent applying some pressure, any at all.

Remember when Ozeki were hard as steel to defeat? Remember the Estonian biomass of Baruto? Hard to forget insane levels of potential. It took a prime Tochiohzan six years of trying to get a second win over the Ozeki. Good as Tochiohzan was, he's no Toyonoshima.

Mitakeumi (K1e) 3-1 vs. Hokutofuji (K1w) 1-3
This pair of 26 year old Komusubi could have been one of sumo's greatest rivalries, Hokutofuji would still like to start it up, but he is sumo's greatest nearly man instead. On his day he can give hellfire levels of effort to any opponent and he nearly wins.

Today he used his unpleasant-to-face sumo to put the question to the yusho man. Mitakdeumi started well enough, moving forward behind a decent hazu-oshi, but when Hoku turned him 180 degrees, no answer. The look on Mitake's face said it all “OH S**T!”. Hokutofuji turned the tables on him and took an even better hazu-oshi position, scraping off Mitakeumi's deodorant with his fingernails and oshi-dashi'ing him to the floor. There's no love here, which is a good thing.

Takakeisho (S1e) 3-1 vs. Tamawashi (S1w) 1-3
Oshi-mania is running wild!  Big Tama decided to fight fire with fire (or surging wave with surging wave) using double armed power thrusts at a surprisingly fearless Takakeisho who tried to match wave powers. Takakeisho nearly got him as well. For one brief moment Taka had the reigning champion on the ropes. To the salty tears of Takakeisho fans everywhere Tamawashi had the answer.

A delicate left hand raising the attacking arm until it became useless, followed by the subtle application of bulldozing strength. Poor genki Takakeisho. He tried so hard. Tamawashi smashed him across the dohyo in the best bout of the day. And the most meaningful one.

If Tamawashi is ever going to turn his fortunes around and reach up fodr the next rung of the ladder, this is the opponent he needs to defeat. Time and again the bullying karate tadpole has shoved him out of the way and gobbled up Tama's rightful slice of the cake, growing bigger and more hungry each time. You do still dream of a slice of the cake don't you champ?

Takayasu (O1e) 3-1 vs. Nishikigi (M3e) 0-4
Each day before the top division bouts begin the sumo association displays the goods on offer with a quick elephant parade round the circus ring. When Takakeisho was announced there was a massive outburst of applause and cheering. When Takayasu was called, strong applause and cheering. When Tochinoshin stepped up as the beef in between these two doughy breads, crickets chirped and an old man quietly coughed. They have their favorites, I have mine.

Takayasu continued to fulfill his duties today, turning hidari-yotsu into yori-kiri in about 4 seconds. Nishikigi hung on while it happened and continues to pay for his M3 rank tomorrow with a slap from Hakuho on the cards.

Tochinoshin (O2e) 2-2 vs. Kaisei (M1e) 0-4
I think Georgia boy has been replaced with a clone from North Korea's top science lab, this one is a backwards moving Tochinoshin. I need my pills. The world has gone mad.

The bout went to a classic four hands on yotsu battle. The type we only ever see regularly with Ryuden and Tochinoshin. Hakuho might have both his hands on the mawashi but he doesn't let the other guy keep a grip for long. That's something Tochinoshin might want to consider at this late stage of his career. But for now Tochi still has rhino strength if he can move in a straight line. Which he did. Boy did he make Kaisei look lightweight for the yori-kiri win. Only 5 more to go.

Kaisei remains winless and seems a bit subdued in his efforts. But when we look at the ranks he has faced O, Y, Y, O, O all in a row, no respite, we should cut him some slack. He's a giant but he never claimed to be a giant killer.

Shodai (M3w) 0-4 vs. Goeido (O1w) 4-0
Aggressive dame-oshi from Goeido? I must be hallucinating, yes that's it, probably those mushrooms. I must stay away from steak and mushroom pies.

Lord of destruction, Goeido, swept aside all before him oshi-taoshi.

I must still be tripping from the 'shrooms because I thought I saw Shodai initiate Goeido's de-ashi for him and then look for a safe landing place for himself. But then that's the tricky Shodai for ya. Always doing what they least expect. Tomorrow he tries to mime his way out of trouble with Kakuryu.

Daieisho (M2e) 2-2 vs. Kakuryu (Y1w) 3-1
With two wins to show from an all Sanyaku diet this week Daieisho is the new Nishikigi. And the plucky 25 year old tried to grab a third win.

They cracked heads at the start with Daieisho leaving both legs back to generate power and Kakuryu leading with his left leg for stability. Daieisho staggered a bit, the Kak not at all, his head made of oak. This gave Kakuryu plenty of time to pull the hataki-komi win. In fact he had to wait a moment for Daieisho to recover his senses and try to drive forward. Pulling sumo from the master of the pull.

If Daieisho tries that head crack tachi-ai again tomorrow against Goeido there will be a riot.

Hakuho (Y1e) 4-0 vs. Myogiryu (M2w) 2-2
Another day, another win for Hakuho. This time by a raggedy tsuki-otoshi. We've seen it before, Hakuho stands his ground and dares a fight from the stooge in front of him. Few accept.

Myogiryu received an elbow in the face to encourage him to bring it. Instead he backed up and took a swipe at Hak's left arm. Hakuho staggered forward. Just a little, but it was there. He recovered easily enough and went into full “come at me bro” mode, eventually taking a shot at Myogiryu's right arm and shoulder to send him toppling over. With Hakuho in full side control for the pin. Double win.

In seven years of trying Myogiryu has only managed to taked a single, solitary win off the Hak. And even a blind squirrel manages to (find a) nut once in a while. Good as Myogiryu is, he's no Toyonoshima.

Tomorrow Justin views things from the upside down part of the world. Which probably helps make this basho seem a lot less weird.

Day 4 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
It's always interesting to me when I read people's perspectives on sumo wrestling in its current state. There isn't a right or a wrong way in which to view sumo or even to analyze it, so it's just interesting to me what some choose to see and also what they choose to ignore. For example, from time to time I will take slow motion videos of sumo bouts where yaocho occurred and then post the videos to YouTube since that's the easiest way to share them. Sometimes people will comment on the videos, and when they do, Gmail happily emails me that so and so just commented on your video!!

Just prior to the Haru basho, someone must have been really amped up because they were looking at sumo videos on YouTube and came across a bout that I had declared as yaocho. I don't even remember which bout it was, but the comment they posted was, "Don't you know that these guys fight on a damp, clay mound?"  I must admit, he had me there. And all along I thought that guys were throwing bouts in Kisenosato's favor. It turns out that the dude had to retire because of poor tire tread on the bottom of his feet. It all makes perfect sense though, so just discount every single take I've had over the last 17 years because it can all be explained away by a damp, clay mound.  Who'da thought?

I presume the "damp, clay mound" theory (which I fully intend to copyright) was their explanation for why a guy took an obvious dive, but it's the perfect example of someone missing the forest for the trees. Or someone simply choosing not to notice the finer details of what occurs in the ring because they don't like the implications.

And you know what? I don't care if someone wants to view sumo wresting in that manner. I simply choose to report on sumo for what it is, not for what I want it to be, and what the Japan Sumo Association is at this point is an organization that has to fill the seats any way they can, and so they're simply choosing to heavily market domestic rikishi, propel those rikishi into elite ranks, and then ask the elite foreign rikishi to lower the bar and create parity. The means to the end is mukiryoku sumo or yaocho or whatever you want to call it.

Today I'll start off by highlighting another slow motion video that contains obvious mukiryoku sumo from Nishikigi who was paired against Goeido yesterday. Watch the two replays here and especially focus on what Nishikigi does with his hands. Or what he doesn't do with them.  As the second replay starts, focus particularly on Nishikigi's right hand and watch how he actually turns his palm inward so that it's facing his own body instead of grabbing Goeido's belt or using his size and strength advantage to lift Goeido upright:



Now this is either obvious mukiryoku sumo or I simply don't understand the effect that standing on damp clay has in numbing one's extremities for 10 seconds...I mean...numbing the extremities of the guy whose win would be least beneficial to sumo.  We'll compare Nishikigi's effort yesterday against Goeido to his sumo today against Tochinoshin later on in the comments, so for now, let's just get to the Day 4 yaocho action!!

M17 Chiyoshoma's strategy today against M16 Yutakayama was to stay high and wide, and he did just that from the tachi-ai going for a weak pull of Yutakayama's shoulder as he moved left, and that actually threw Yutakayama off balance to the point where Chiyoshoma had the clear path to moro-zashi, but he refrained of course allowing Yutakayama to shove his way back into the bout. Still, Yutakayama wasn't exactly kicking ass and taking names. It took a fake pull attempt from Chiyoshoma, and then the Mongolian's just walking himself back and across to give Yutakayama the ridiculously easy oshi-dashi win. Yutakayama barely made contact in this one, and it was one of those bouts where the loser does all the work. Chiyoshoma graciously falls to 2-2 while Yutakayama moves to 3-1.

J2 Enho is a rikishi getting a lot of publicity due to his small stature but stellar technique. He visited today from Juryo taking on M15 Kotoeko, and Enho looked to take charge getting his right inside from the tachi-ai, but the problem when you're this small is that you can't lift your opponent upright and off balance without completely compromising yourself and giving away an outer grip, and so Enho stayed low looking to latch on with the left hand inside, his preferred fighting style. Kotoeko used this used advantage well to cut Enho off as he looked to burrow inside, and when Enho finally did get a left inside belt grip, Kotoeko immediately executed a counter kote-nage throw with the right that strong-armed Enho to the dirt before the inside belt throw could take effect. This was a pretty entertaining bout as both rikishi end the day at 3-1.

At this point of the broadcast, NHK introduced a chart that listed Makuuchi rikishi still considered as "young."  They raised the limit to a "young' rikishi up to 26 years old so they could include Mitakeumi, but this is the chart:



If you're wondering why Takakeisho gets so much run, this chart says it all.  It also reveals the Association's MO in choosing who the "next" rikishi are going to be.  Speaking of next, they interviewed this kid named Kibayama today whose a newly-promoted sekitori, and talk about an athletic kid with huge potential.  The problem is he's Mongolian, so he'll be just another  token foreigner compared to say a Takakeisho.

The battle between two of our rookies, M13 Tomokaze and M16 Daishoho, was quite ugly with both guys looking for pulls. Tomokaze led with a right hand as if to push from the tachi-ai, but he just gave up the momentum going for an early, ineffective pull.  For Daishoho's part, instead of just rushing forward and taking advantage of his opponent's reverse momentum, he refrained and waited for Tomokaze to reload and then he just backed up to his right going for a dangerous hataki-komi. Luckily for him it worked, but it was poorly executed, and this bout--while real--was just a symptom of the current culture in the Makuuchi division where guys forget how to ball because they're so caught up in the politics. There was no fighting spirit, and nobody wanted to just bear down and take charge. Both rookies end the day at 2-2.

M13 Kagayaki is one of the better Japanese rikishi in the division in my opinion, but he's too busy panhandling outside the venue with a cardboard sign that says, "Will gladly throw bouts for cash."  Today against M15 Ishiura, Kagayaki didn't even bother to fire any thrusts from the tachi-ai and just watched his opponent shade left. As he did, Kagayaki instinctively pushed at the side of Ishiura's head with the left hand and really could have done some damage with the move, but he just let up on it, and anticipating a few side swipe shoves from Ishiura as he continued to move left, Kagayaki just ducked his shoulder and ran out of the dohyo. Ishiura's 4-0 start is bought and paid for while Kagayaki falls to 1-3.

In a battle of dried kelp (i.e. rikishi who are old and washed-up), M12 Yoshikaze did nothing at the tachi-ai keeping his arms out wide. That allowed M14 Toyonoshima to make contact and eventually assume moro-zashi, and from there, he easily forced the listless Yoshikaze back and across. Yoshikaze was either mukiryoku here or too old and battered to move any more. Take your pick because he did nothing to attempt to win here despite Toyonoshima's poor, low-impact tachi-ai. Both rikishi end the day at 2-2.

M14 Terutsuyoshi bought his first win of the tournament today against M11 Meisei. Meisei had the path to the left inside from the tachi-ai but made no effort to get established in the proper position, and so Terutsuyoshi moved right latching onto that left arm of Meisei, and after Terutsuyoshi gave a mediocre tug on the arm, Meisei just turned and walked across the dohyo. They ruled it oshi-dashi, but this was the weakest oshi attack I've ever seen. Whatever. Hopefully Meisei eats well tonight as he falls to 2-2 while Terutsuyoshi is gifted that first win at 1-3. You'll forgive me if I don't recap the rookie's "first-win" interview afterwards.

Neither M9 Sadanoumi nor M11 Ryuden wanted to commit to a smash-mouth tachi-ai, so they both sorta bumped heads and assumed the hidari-yotsu position. With Ryuden up a bit high, Sadanoumi secured the right outer grip, and so Ryuden countered with his own right outer using his length to get it.  While it was slow-forming, the gappuri yotsu bout was on at this point, and the better belt fighter in Sadanoumi lifted Ryuden upright and from there forced him back and across with little argument.

We rarely see it anymore, so it's worth reviewing here, but the very basics of a sumo bout is to use the tachi-ai to secure the inside position first.  From there, a rikishi looks to wrench his opponent upright or off balance and work from there. Sadanoumi did that perfectly today, so it's worth pointing out as he picks up his first win at 1-3. Ryuden suffers his first loss at 3-1.

M8 Asanoyama's tachi-ai was terrible and non-committal as he gave up moro-zashi easy as you please against M10 Yago, but before Yago could do anything with it, Asanoyama wrenched his foe right with a kote-nage and then back left with an even bigger kote-nage that threw Yago out of his dual inside position. With Yago now at the edge, he still had the right arm in deep forcing Asanoyama to move laterally, but instead of rushing forward using that inside position, Yago tried to set up a dumb pull, and Asanoyama took advantage of that poor move finally shoving Yago back and across for good. This was a mistake-ridden bout from both parties as Asanoyama moves to 3-1 and Yago looks lost without yaocho at 1-3.

A rikishi greatly benefitting from yaocho so far is M8 Kotoshogiku who faced M10 Shohozan. The two hooked up in hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai where Shohozan had the clear path to the right outer grip. He refrained for a few moments but then grabbed it only to just back up and allow Kotoshogiku to force him near the edge. I guess "force" isn't the correct word because Kotoshogiku ain't got much of that left, and so instead of trying to counter, Shohozan just turned and took a knee at the edge providing for a very awkward if not silly ending to the gappuri yotsu bout.  Darn that damp, clay mound!!  I thought the Dark One here would resort to his evil ways and just crush Kotoshogiku, but Luke was right. There is still good in Darth Hozan who graciously falls to 1-3 while Kotoshogiku is a gimme-a-break 4-0.

M9 Ikioi has anything but ikioi these days thanks to that left leg injury, and he had no strength to try and neutralize M7 Takarafuji from the tachi-ai with his usual shove attack, and so he was forced to accept a hidari-yotsu contest. From here, it's worth pointing out Takarafuji's execution move by move because it was textbook yotsu-zumo. First, he wrenched Ikioi upright with the left inside position. He next burrowed in closer with his shoulder grabbing the back of Ikioi's belt with that left inside grip. He then wrenched his foe off balance as he looked for the right outer grip, and once he got it, he used the dual belt grips to hoist Ikioi back and across. I point it out like this because these simple sumo basics are missing in most of the bouts these days, and that's why it's so easy to call mukiryoku sumo.  Takarafuji moves to 2-2 while Ikioi falls to 1-3.

M5 Chiyotairyu gave it a nice effort against M7 Aoiyama attempting to shove him early, but Aoiyama played the part of brick wall nicely not allowing Chiyotairyu to advance forward. Didn't matter, though, because as Chiyotairyu moved left going for phantom slaps, Aoiyama just put his left arm high around Chiyotairyu's head with no intention of setting up a throw. Chiyotairyu used his right arm to the inside to sorta go for a scoop throw. I say "sorta" because Aoiyama just plopped down on both hands and knees across the edge. He definitely wasn't thrown, but this was just another good example of the unorthodox finish you see in a fixed bout. Both rikishi end the day at 3-1.

M6 Abi looked great today against M4 Tochiohzan, and the key was that Abi trusted in a straight forward charge against an opponent who is aging fast. As much as I've liked Oh over the years, he has lost a step or two, and Abi took full advantage using nice thrusts and good de-ashi to drive Tochiohzan straight back and out once, twice, three times a lady. Good stuff here as Abi moves to 1-3 while Tochiohzan falls to the same mark.

M6 Okinoumi and M4 Ichinojo hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai where Okinoumi enjoyed the firm right inside position while he tried to cut Ichinojo off on the other side. A nice battle ensued as Okinoumi tried to get moro-zashi while Ichinojo pinched that left arm in tightly, and after both rikishi traded places in the dohyo, Ichinojo went for a quick pull with the right arm wrapped around Okinoumi's head while simultaneously throwing with the left outer grip, and while the Mongolith didn't have much real estate to work with, he pulled Okinoumi over down with a nice throw. Ichinojo better be careful as he now finds himself at 4-0 while Okinoumi falls to 1-3.

Before we move on, Ichinojo was the lone foreigner on that chart I posted above that featured young rikishi.  Compared to the other Japanese rikishi on the same chart, Ichinojo is Euro Club soccer while the Japanese rikishi are on par with the US's MLS league.  In the spirit of the UEFA Championships going on, just imagine a token MLS team thrown into the Championships and being allowed to advance deep into the tourney based on fake soccer.  That is what's going on right now in sumo, and Ichinojo is Exhibit A.

M3 Shodai made little effort to establish anything at the tachi-ai against M5 Onosho, and so Onosho just plowed forward and had Shodai pushed upright and out in about three uneventful seconds here. Regardless of whether it was intentional or not, Shodai made no effort here to do anything giving Onosho the easy win. Onosho moves to 3-1 while Shodai falls to 0-4.

It's quite night and day when Sekiwake Takakeisho's opponents let up for him and when they don't. I mean, against in injured Mitakeumi yesterday, a legitimate Ozeki candidate should have stormed Mitakeumi off the dohyo, but Takakeisho is stuck in that gray area where he looks great when his opponents are mukiryoku, and he looks lost when they're not.

Today, Komusubi Hokutofuji was soft putting a paw into Takakeisho's neck, but he graciously backed up due to nothing that Takakeisho did. Still, Takakeisho didn't have the momentum to drive Hokutofuji back, and so Fuji was able to push the action back to the center of the ring. Not wanting to over step his bounds, Hokutofuji moved right purposefully whiffing on a fake pull, and when it was Takakeisho's turn to go for an even weaker pull, Hokutofuji just plopped to the dirt  in anticipation before Takakeisho made serious contact.

I should note here that I think Takakeisho can beat Hokutofuji straight up. I don't think he's necessarily the better rikishi but he can beat Hokutofuji. But...that doesn't mean that Hokutofuji didn't let up for him today because he clearly did. If Takakeisho was a true bruiser, he'd be shoving guys around like Chiyotairyu, but this guy is light weight and a fake. The bottom line is...at 22 years of age, they're choosing this guy as a key player for sumo's future. He's gifted yet another win at 3-1 while Hokutofuji falls to 1-3.

Contrary to the ease with which Takakeisho is racking up wins is the silliness in which Sekiwake Tamawashi is giving them up. I mean, it's just nonsense to watch guys like Tamawashi slip and slide all around that damp dohyo, and against Komusubi Mitakeumi, politics prevailed yet again today.

Tamawashi failed to apply any pressure from the tachi-ai pushing his arms forward to keep Mitakeumi at bay but not using his legs. After a few seconds of Tamawashi's just standing there, he went for a few ineffective shoves completely opening up his body as he kept his arms out wide, and Mitakeumi secured moro-zashi and easily forced Tamawashi back and across with Tamawashi's not even thinking about a counter move. Another insulting bout here as Mitakeumi is gifted a win from a Mongolian propelling him to 3-1 while Tamawashi accepts a 1-3 record.

It was nice to a see a straight-up bout in the Ozeki ranks with Tochinoshin taking on M3 Nishikigi. The two went chest to chest hard at the tachi-ai getting right arms inside and left outer grips, and Tochinoshin looked to force Nishikigi back quickly, but Nishikigi countered with a nice inside right belt throw moving Tochinoshin close to the edge. Tochinoshin was able to hold on thanks to his mammoth left outer grip on several folds of Nishikigi's belt, and this allowed him to right the ship and force Nishikigi across the entire length of the dohyo. Nishikigi expended so much energy with that counter belt throw that he was spent near the edge, but he still had the tawara to brace himself, and so he persisted well as the Ozeki tried to nudge him across, but credit Nishikigi for not going easy. In desperation, he went for a final counter right inside throw, but Tochinoshin was just too much.

Wow, we're rarely treated to a bout like this the final 30 minutes, and it's just night and day compared to the garbage surrounding say a Takakeisho bout. I also guaran-damn-tee you that if Nishikigi had given this same effort against Goeido yesterday, he would have kicked the Ozeki's ass. I can't think of a better contrast in effort in consecutive days. Against Goeido, Nishikigi is a wet noodle. Against Tochinoshin, Nishikigi tries and we're treated to what will be one of the top 10 bouts of the basho. Probably top 5. Tochinoshin moves to 2-2 and is NOT injured for the record. As for Nishikigi, he falls to 0-4, but he has my respect.

Ozeki Goeido and M1 Kaisei sorta hooked up in migi-yotsu where Kaisei actually had the path to moro-zashi with the left pritnear inside, but he was limp as ever allowing Goeido to use a left outer grip to "bully" Kaisei over and down in about two seconds. The crowd was quite subdued after this one because everyone knew it was phony, and Goeido is gifted yet another ridiculously easy win. Let's see what happens when an opponent actually tries to beat him. For now he's 4-0 while the superior rikishi, Kaisei, bows to 0-4.

Ozeki Takayasu's tachi-ai was not good as he met M1 Endoh, and the two engaged each other with outstretched arms with neither rikishi taking advantage, and after two seconds or so, Endoh feigned a pull move where he moved sideways to his right, but he didn't go for anything, and at that point Takayasu just bulldozed the mukiryoku Endoh back and into the first row. If Takayasu's oshi attack was that potent, we would have seen the results from the tachi-ai, not from the point of Endoh's voluntarily sacrificing himself at ring's edge with negative momentum and hands out wide. I actually think in a straight-up contest these days, Endoh is the superior rikishi here, but he knows his place as Takayasu skates to 3-1 while Endoh keeps the peace at 0-4.

In the Yokozuna ranks, Hakuho instinctively got his right arm inside at the tachi-ai as he put his left hand to M2 Daieisho's chin, but instead of just plowing his foe back and out, the Yokozuna opted to play with a bit of fire and back up going for a grizzly bear pull in the process, and the move dragged Daieisho down near the edge on Hakuho's side. The Yokozuna was running out of real estate fast as he backed up, but any danger he was in was all self-inflicted.

I remember the days (think 10 - 12 years ago) when you'd look at the yusho rikishi's resume, and it was chock full of solid kimari-te from top to bottom. You'd have 8-9 yori-kiri, a handful of belt throws, a push-out or two, and then a hataki-komi mixed in for good measure. It was a thing of beauty, but the problem was two-fold: 1) the yusho rikishi boasting the resume was a foreigner, and 2) the arena was filled about eight rows deep. So, for reasons that I beat like a dead horse, things have changed and Hakuho has drastically lowered the bar in his sumo. Regardless of his choices in the ring, he is 4-0 at this point, but that's just a matter of time. There are more strategic losses out there than Daieisho, who falls to 2-2.

In the day's final match, M2 Myogiryu connected on a nice nodowa with the right hand against Yokozuna Kakuryu, and it was the exact same choke hold he tried against Takakeisho earlier in the basho. Or not. While the move was nice, he wasn't able to bully Kakuryu back, and Myogiryu felt the pressure coming from the Yokozuna, the M2 decided to dart left going for a pull, but he missed on the move leaving himself turned to the side allowing the Kak to just squirt forward and score the easy oshi-dashi win in the end. Kakuryu is 3-1 after the win while Myogiryu falls to 2-2.

I do believe Gary breaks down the accepted science behind the damp, clay mound tomorrow.

Day 3 Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
For me this tournament is headlined by the unexpected. First, and most fun, I had no suspicion that Toyonoshima was creeping his way back to maku-uchi. And yet here he is, two and a half years removed from his last appearance, age 35, having spent twelve tournaments--a full two years--in the maku-shita (3rd) division. He ruptured his Achilles tendon in 2016, had surgery, and disappeared. I read that he had two more injures while down there. And yet, here he is again. How's that for fighting spirit? He seemed toast in 2016, injury or no--he's had a long career. He'd been around a few blocks, not always on the good side of town. He'd been suspended for one tournament on the fringes of the baseball betting scandal in 2010. But he'd also been Sekiwake twice and Komusubi a half dozen tournament plus. And we all enjoyed his gap-toothed Dad rooting for him in the stands (as Mike wrote years ago:  "The highlight of the bout was when they showed Toyonoshima's father sitting in the crowed with a baby on his lap. Toyonoshima's definitely a chip off the old man's block (just imagine Toyonoshima with no hair), and after the M9 won, his pop treated the cameras to a huge grin that was missing at least three teeth. A tofuya-san (dude who makes tofu) from Kochi-ken missing three chicklets? Now THAT's legitimate!")  What this all goes to say is this guy is tough and a survivor. And welcome back--however much he does or does not have in the tank.

Also unexpected is that Takakeisho was NOT promoted to Ozeki. It seemed like such a foregone conclusion that we all assumed he would be. Here's me, prattling blithely away on Day 15 in January: "even though there was no yusho at stake here, as Takakeisho is getting promoted to Ozeki, and as he's fresh off a yusho himself, it hardly mattered... Today he got Goeido, in a bit of old-versus-new. He was deferential, as expected. He stood up, pulled at Goeido's head, and backpedaled. Goeido bulldozed him out: 'I'm still an Ozeki, dadgummit!!'" Whelp... looks like Goeido showing he was still an ozeki mattered. I read that though Takakeisho has the 33 wins across three tournaments that is the rough standard, the deliberators felt he really should have beaten Goeido there. Um, yeah. But I thought he was deferring there, and I thought they liked that kind of thing: how can you blame a guy for that? Well, you should! Guys shouldn't defer! And if they do, they should be PUNISHED!! So, this is a bit refreshing. I'm down with this. Also, his first of the three tournaments was a 9 spot, so make him put another one in double digits before promoting him. Fair enough by me.

Finally, there is the "Tamawashi Ozeki run." Which is so unexpected it doesn't feel real, and has to go in quotation marks. Up is down, down is up, the dolphins eat the sharks, crime is justice, and the city eternal sleeps.

M16 Daishoho (0-2) vs. M2 Kotoyuki (0-2)
"Yet another Mongol." That is my initial reaction to Daishoho. Oh, he may be fine. He may be very good. Time will tell. He certainly destroyed a silly looking Kotoyuki today. But when was the last time we had a great new Mongolian come up? Well, that would be Terunofuji, or possibly Ichinojo: five years ago. Wow. And Daishoho bears no resemblance to them. As a 24 year old, he is not a particularly young maku-uchi debutante. At 183 centimeters, he is not particularly tall. At 177 kilograms, he is very heavy, though, and he carries it well--he doesn't look it. And he did beat Kotoyuki with just one push, shoving him all the way back to the straw on easy-looking momentum. (Kotoyuki then ran around some, looking silly, but Daishoho already had him and it was just a matter of chasing him down, oshi-dashi.) Daishoho? We shall see.

M17 Chiyoshoma (2-0) vs. M15 Kotoeko (1-1)
Because, you see, like Chiyoshoma, not every new Mongol wrestler will be great. I certainly expected it for a while from both Chiyoshoma and Arawashi. I'd gotten used to Mongols being dominant. But those two turned out to be just rank and filers. Today Chiyoshoma nearly destroyed Kotoeko in Daishoho-esque fashion, pushing him easily straight back to the straw with a wicked hand in the neck. However, Kotoeko stepped neatly to the side, pulled on Chiyoshoma's left arm, and quickly got the side and around, from where he pushed Chiyoshoma down and out, tsuki-otoshi. Chiyoshoma looked plain sloppy here, but good job by Kotoeko by sticking with it and finding a way to win.

M15 Ishiura (2-0) vs. M16 Yutakayama (2-0)
Here's two generally quality guys with charter March Memberships in the Hot Start Club. Ishiura knew he had to do something sneaky, though he kept it relatively clean: pivoted swiftly out of the line of attack while pulling on Yutakayama's right arm. This discombobulated Yutakayama enough that when they squared back up Ishiura took advantage of a little foot-slippage by Yutakayama to pull him down, hiki-otoshi.

M13 Tomokaze (1-1) vs. M14 Toyonoshima (1-1)
"Tomokaze": "Friendly Wind?" Seems kind of childlike. That's the best you could think of? It is like being named, oh, Ookiyama (Big Mountain) or Hiroumi (Wide Sea). Anyway, let's check the rookie's stats. Same height (183) and same age (24) as Daishoho, plus three kilos (180). Nearly a twin. And like Daishoho, he wears the weight fairly well: it has a packed look, rather than a butterball gone-to-seed fatness. Anyway, Toyonoshima sought to take advantage of him. After the rookie had false started once and then put both fists on the ground, Toyonoshima went ahead and false started himself, putting neither fist on the ground and ramming summarily into Tomokaze. Judge didn't call it back, so on it went, with Friendly Wind being breezed quite far back. However, Toyonoshima looked like he never should have come back to the top division, so easily did he lose: Tomokaze calmly pulled at him as he advanced, stepping only a little to the side and tumbling Toyonoshima quickly to the dirt, hataki-komi. I'll have to watch Tomokaze for a while. I did think he looked okay here: he didn't lose his cool. We'll see.

M14 Terutsuyoshi (0-2) vs. M12 Yoshikaze (1-1)
Rookie #3 on the day was Terutsuyoshi. Who, in my patented "making up incorrect impressionistic nicknames based on mis-readings of kanji," I will call Shining Strong Boy. It's a great name, really, Terutsuyoshi. I really want to call him Barrel-Strong-Boy, but that would be Terutsuyoshi. Maybe he can have a brother named that or something. Anyhoo, kid is really, really small: 169 cm and 116 kg. Like the other two rookies today he is 24. Unless he shows a lightning fighting style like a hurricane on fire, those are really weak stats for a rookie; he is not going anywhere. Yoshikaze, decaying old corpse though he may be, bullied Shining Barrel around and knocked him bodily over, watashi-komi, in as dominant a display as you'd like to see.

M13 Kagayaki (1-1) vs. M11 Meisei (1-1)
Kagayaki dominated this one, looking really huge while he wheelhouse-blasted Meisei back to the edge. But once there, he seemed afraid to commit. "Just drive the little man out, " I thought, as Kagayaki loomed over Meisei like King Kong eyeing Naomi Watts. But when he finally did commit, bodying up against Meisei and trying to smother him out, Meisei wiggled out, scooted to the side, and shoved Kagayaki out, oshi-dashi. Sigh. Oh, Kagayaki; you are not very good.

M10 Shohozan (0-2) vs. M10 Yago (1-1)
M10, eh, Shohozan? And 0-2? That ain't too good. What, are we getting ready for Kyushu already, knocking you low in the ranks so you can pop back up from the bottom for the hometown fans? Too early for that. Anyway, talk about not wanting to commit: these two did a lot of staring at each other in between weak little face thrusts and hand feints. Shohozan was all over this: while they were both guilty of not attacking, Shohozan had a solid plan and Yago didn't. After a little more patty-cake, Yago made the fatal mistake Shohozan had decided to wait for: tried to pull Shohozan down by the head. Shohozan drove militantly forward and pushed the compromised Yago out, oshi-dashi. I've not been big on Yago, and this didn't help. You can't be afraid of a little dude like Shohozan and be waiting to pull him.

M11 Ryuden (2-0) vs. M9 Ikioi (1-1)
I have a little crush on Ryuden. He's got solid skills. His appearance on the dohyo almost always signals decent sumo. This was a prototypical quality Ryuden effort. Lo! Is that a belt fight I saw? Yes it was. Ryuden went in tight at the tachi-ai, then used some shoves to set up reaching in for the belt: left in, right out. After a few moments, when Ikioi tried to get out of it with a quick maki-kae, Ryuden gave up nothing; rather, he gained ground, getting both hands inside on the belt and pushing Ikioi out, oshi-dashi.

M8 Asanoyama (2-0) vs. M8 Kotoshogiku (2-0)
I like both these guys at the moment. Asanoyama (Morning Mountain) is, in an old Baseball America phrase, a "personal cheese ball" for me: meaning, I just like him. There is something sunny and hopeful in his matches, his appearance, his atmosphere. Maybe it is his shikona. And I'll stand by my defense of Kotoshogiku's late career performance. While I did NOT like him as an Ozeki, he has some power left in that ol' bod', and I love watching him surprise guys with it. He's fighting right where he belongs and I wish he'd never become an Ozeki so we could have watched him do things like this at his peak at Sekiwake and such without receiving gifts all over the place in order not to get de-ranked. Nowadays some guys go ahead and kill him, and some guys still can't. Whatever is wrong with that, hey? He totally did his thing here, blasting hard at the tachi-ai, quickly gathering a few folds of frontal belt grip, heaving wildly in languorously luscious gaburi bumping. Asanoyama was stood completely upright and pretty much helpless. Kotoshogiku beat him yori-kiri.

M9 Sadanoumi (0-2) vs. M7 Takarafuji (0-2)
And then there's this. People like Ikioi. People like Abi. People like Yoshikaze. I don't think I've ever heard someone say, "I really like Takarafuji." Or, even more ridiculous sounding, "Sadanoumi is my favorite wrestler." Maybe this is a mark of distinction--workmanlike business for these two, no fancy stuff, no flair, no fans. But here they sit, 0-2 at M7 and M9. Ooh, the blandness. The blandness. Sad Man (Sadanoumi) tried to blast the Bus Driver (Takarafuji) back; it was a decent tachi-ai. But Takarafuji caught Sadanoumi like a grizzly in an Alaskan brook gobbling a fresh salmon. Snatched him with two paws and delivered him backwards and over the straw into oblivion, yori-kiri.

M6 Okinoumi (0-2) vs. M6 Abi (0-2)
Whole lotta pushin' on each other's faces. It was kind of sloppy and weak. They then gave up and chased each other around the ring. Abi finished by delivering a too-wild face shove; Okinoumi slid away under it while grabbing the arm that had just been in his face and used that arm to lower Abi to the ground, saka-tottari (which more or less translates as "upside down arm pull," if that helps you visualize).

M7 Aoiyama (2-0) vs. M5 Onosho (2-0)
I have to say Onosho looked great the first two days: fast, dominant, and powerful. It's been over a year since he last looked like this, impressing in his initial maku-uchi rise in 2017 by getting to komusubi in just three tournaments. Hope he can keep it up. Aoiyama is also 2-0, but has looked like he always looks: a sloppy-at-best winner. Onosho tried to pry the lid off of a third straight can of whoop-ass in this one, but he was over-amped and out-of-sync--and unable to move the mountain. When Aoiyama did not move back under assault, Onosho stumbled. Aoiyama stepped to the side and whacked him down hataki-komi. At which point Aoiyama should have turned to the camera and said, "how you like 'sloppy-at-best' now, *******?"

M4 Tochiozan (1-1) vs. M4 Ichinojo (2-0)
Justin nailed it on Ichinojo yesterday: he needs to "rise from his slumber and rub his eyes." He's just so forgettable. I never think of him when considering potential winner picks, or pondering what the basho storylines might turn out to be. I have no doubt he will one day gather in a Tochinoshin/Tamawashi-style tournament victory. Perhaps more; could he become a Yokozuna all of the sudden the way Kakuryu did. But for years now he has just kind of been sitting there in upper Maegashira like a lump. An impediment. It is impossible to take him seriously as a consistent threat. Well, he's looking good this tournament, though he didn't in this match. He tried jumping to the side. He tried retreating. And he still won, pulling an ineffectual-looking Tochiozan down by the head, kote-nage. A 3-0 start from M4 looks promising, but with sumo like this I'm not optimistic.

M5 Chiyotairyu (1-1) vs. M3 Shodai (0-2)
Now this looked like fun: a freight train against an ice cream cone. Who should win? In the end melting softcream was splattered all over the tracks. Chiyotairyu knocked Shodai's upper body straight out of his waffle cone with his big tachi-ai, then oshi-dashi'ed him into the garbage can a few moments later. Right and proper.

M2 Myogiryu (1-1) vs. S Tamawashi (1-1)
Quick, what was Tochinoshin's record the tournament after he won his championship? It was 10-5. That's probably a reasonable ceiling this time out for Tamawashi. As I've said probably a dozen times, this guy is not getting promoted to Ozeki. (Then again, I never thought they'd let him win a tournament.) Ten wins would leave him with 32 over the last three tournaments: it would be good enough to save his pride, but not good enough to force the Association's hand. We shall see. In this one he barely tried. No wicked slaps. No thunderous blows. He ducked in and tried to hold on to Myogiryu's body. Myogiryu hopped to the side and let Tamawashi pursue, get pulled, and fall, tsuki-otoshi. Well, maybe Tamawashi will go real safe and win, say, eight. Sheesh.

S Takakeisho (2-0) vs. K Mitakeumi (1-1)
I never noticed this before, but Takakeisho is from Ashiya-shi, a tony suburb just west of Osaka. It is where many really rich Osaka commuters live. (And when you say it out loud it sounds like Ashi-ashi, which would mean "foot-foot.") That makes him a hometown fave in this tournament. It also makes him a far cry from the stereotypical sumo wrestlers or old, rising from the impoverished hinterlands of Hokkaido or Kyushu. He got thoroughly worked by the Nagano boy, Mitakeumi, in this one. They did a little roundhouse arm-wheeling, then Takakeisho lost his nerve and stepped out of it, pulling. Mitakeumi took instant and total advantage, getting both arms inside and driving Takakeisho out, yori-kiri. As the announcer said, "Takakeisho nani mo dekizu": "Takakeisho couldn't do a thing." I used to live in Nagano, and I remember one of the farmers in my village showing me the banzuke and finding the highest Nagano guy on it, at the time way down like in the fifth division or so. He must be feeling good now. Take that, foot-foot!

M3 Nishikigi (0-2) vs. O Goeido (2-0)
Goeido has been looking fierce this tournament, and in this anything-goes era, at home in Osaka, who knows? Yikes. He had no problem with Nishikigi either. Slapped him hard in the face. Grabbed a thick handful of belt on one side and a bit of head on the other. Turned Nishikigi around. Forced him out with a low tight push, nose practically in his navel, watashi-komi. Could it be...?

O Takayasu (2-0) vs. M2 Daieisho (1-1)
Takayasu has been such a mess. It feels like there have been half a dozen tournaments that were his for the taking, that the time was right for him, and he's never grabbed it. This is looking like another missed opportunity already, and I'm about to stop expecting anything. He couldn't get anything going. He tried to knock Daieisho upright at the tachi-ai with an uppercut. Didn't work. He fumbled at him, looking for a grip, like a guy trying to pick up a greased bowling ball. Didn't work. Meanwhile Daieisho, the Little Red Terror, was driving. And driving. As is his wont. Takayasu found himself with no grip, no momentum, no defense, no nothing: he found himself being driven out, oshi-dashi. Zoinks.

By god, who is going to win this tournament? Is it going to be Hakuho vs. Goeido? In the Osaka environment, that might be compelling.

O Tochinoshin (1-1) vs. K Hokutofuji (0-2)
Yipes. Tochinoshin is looking kind of pathetic. Like Takayasu in the last match, he couldn't get anything going and couldn't get a grip. Hokutofuji, meanwhile, kept him at bay with a smart, sharp hand to the neck. Tochinoshin committed the cardinal sin and responded with "oh well, guess I'll pull." Hokutofuji pushed back hard and drove Tochinoshin out, oshi-dashi. It really is an era of turnover at the top of the banzuke, of out with the old and in with the new. It is in slow motion but it is happening. And though Tochinoshin is new as an Ozeki, he is old as a wrestler, and represents a last gasp of yesteryear (as does Tamawashi). Maybe he doesn't last much longer at Ozeki. Over the last seven tournaments we've seen surprise first-time championships by Tochinoshin, Tamawashi, Mitakeumi, and Takakeisho. That shows the tumult the upper ranks are undergoing. It is the latter two guys who represent the future of this thing; the former two are just sunset glory.

M1 Endo (0-2) vs. Y Kakuryu (1-1)
Kakuryu stumbled a bit, got near the straw, tossed in one of his infamous pulls, and looked really vulnerable. Was he really going to let Endo beat him? He very easily could have: he had his feet on the straw and his back to the crowd. There has been many a wrestler who just said, "okay, you got me here." But Kakuryu didn't want to lose this one. Like any good rikishi should, he moved aside when in danger, letting Endo's momentum turn the match against him. He then turned to Endo and pushed him out, oshi-dashi. A guy can only take so much humiliation, and Kakuryu didn't want any more of it here.

Y Hakuho (2-0) vs. M1 Kaisei (0-2)
I heard the other day that Kaisei has never win a kin-boshi: never beaten a Yokozuna. Think about that. Think about the number of losses by Kakuryu, Hakuho, and Kisenosato, the way they've rained down kinboshi among the ranks. Yet this guy, venerable Kaisei, quality wrestler and physical mountain, in his ninth year in the upper division, has never done it? If that doesn't tell you which side the bread is buttered on you're truly a dreamer, and I envy your pleasant blue skies. Kaisei doesn't have any kin-boshi because there is nothing in it politically for anybody. Hakuho absorbed Kaisei's lunging, shlurping attack like a load-bearing beam: stabilized and stood still. After a few moments chest-to-chest, establishing that Kaisei wasn't going anywhere, Hakuho used his left outside grip to work Kaisei, unbalancing him and moving him backwards. Kaisei was left hopping on one foot closer and closer to the edge until, as physics demands, the giant top part fell over the tiny bottom part on the other side of the straw, yori-taoshi.

Tomorrow Mike sings ooby-dooby while strumming a psychedelic ukulele.

Day 2 Comments (Justin Williams reporting)
After only one day's action, well there was a bit of action, it's sort of a pleasure to witness a basho minus all the Kisenosato "will he?" or "won't he?" or "can he?" speculations we endured the last two years which bubbled continually beneath the surface like a giant Murray cod. I'm sure the most relieved person would be the man himself now that his own era has finally ended. I was never a fan of his, but I always tuned in when he fought. More often than not, he played a pivotal role in each basho and I will remember him not so much his painful, extended demise, but remarkable consistency. It was here in Osaka, two years ago where his career-ending injury occurred, setting a direct course for his decline and also that of his unfortunate foe in the play-off decider, former Ozeki, Terunofuji. Now that is all behind us, perhaps we can enjoy an organic, agenda-less basho, where victory is won on merit and hard effort, rather than supposed behind the scenes nefarious machinations.

On this note, Mike often is scathing in his analysis and his views on what goes on 'behind the noren' which may or may not be affecting the outcome of each bout.  Whether or not I agree with him is not important. For example, I'm not as convinced that Takakeisho is the beneficiary of as much yaocho as Mike does and his win yesterday over Myogiryu was, to me, 100% warranted. Time will tell and Mike has far, far more knowledge and experience than I.

I would never be so rude and churlish to dismiss his views and throw in some abuse for the hell of it. This is, after all his site, and it is from him and Sumotalk's other contributors and commentators I am learning more of the intricacies in this fascinating sport. For this I am grateful.

Now to pick over the bits with my pundit's tooth-comb.

Newcomer M16 Daishoho takes on the reigning Henka King himself, M17 Chiyoshoma, in a low-ranking battle of the Mongols. Looking at Daishoho's recent Juryo record, five consecutive 8-7 winning basho, his consistency, though admirable, doesn't signify this guy becoming a threat in this division.  Chiyoshoma obviously thinks the same, foregoing his cat-like leaps, but not a sneaky right-hand slap, then a quick-before-you-blink moro-zashi and thus complete control. Daishoho's 40kg size advantage was nullified and Chiyo then swung him twice to the right, gave himself a little time to strengthen his hand hold then effected a right-arm yank come throw, uwate-nage victory. Classy stuff from Chiyo leaving Daishoho non-plussed.

From Juryo, the "gut-buster," J1 Chiyomaru returns against M16 Yutakayama who has had sorrowful decline since injury last year. He needs a good performance this basho to arrest this and reignite what might be a promising career.  The two attacked each other with quick-fire tsuppari, Yutakayama's throat shove attempts made no impression on the gut-buster who initially was doing well moving forward until Yutakayma had enough and went in low beneath gut buster's strikes, shouldered up into his armpit and drove him out, oshi-dashi.

Another debutant, M14 Terutsuyoshi squared up against M15 Ishiura, who is rarely up against same-sized (small) opponents, in what should be an energetic contest. They are both small in sumo terms. I sometimes like to contemplate who in the banzuke has a physique that might cross-over into other sports, namely rugby. Not many could. Ishiura at 116 kgs and possessing speed, agility and feisty toughness, would fit in nicely as hooker in any front row.  Terutsuyoshi didn't pay much attention to the form guide of Ishiura who executed a henka sweeter than a Bee Gees harmony such that Ishiura barely needed to assist his falling opponent as he frog-hopped over the Tawara. I was hoping for more of a battle here. Terutsuyoshi definitely was. Two wins for Ishiura.

M14 Toyonoshima came out hard against M15 Kotoeko and looked set for a regulation force out win but he didn't anticipate a last split-second swivel to the left evasion on the ropes from Kotoeko. 'Shima couldn't adjust and rolled off the stage, presenting a full posterior greeting to the seated Kagayaki in the front row, who has obviously seen it before. If that was me, I would pay serious money to have that surgically removed from my memory bank, as soon as that medical procedure becomes available.
First win for Kotoeko.

M12 Yoshikaze gave a lack-lustre drive into M13 Kagayaki's body who barely registered the impact. And that mild effort from Yoshikaze was all he had; as ineffective as attempting to stab a fork made of jelly into a steak. Kaga merely shuffled forward, negating the limp Yoshi across the ropes for an easy win, his first for the basho. The sunset is closing in on Yoshi, he can only outrun it for so long.

M13 Tomokaze and M11 Meisei lifted the tempo with an energetic flurry of arms, none of which were doing any damage before Meisei neatly had Tomo with a left arm-lock throw which had Tomo off balance and teetering on the edge, from whence Meisei threw himself onto Tomo, barreling him out for a well-earned win.

Another good tussle between M10 Shohozan and M11 Ryuden followed. Both went looking for a belt hold with neither achieving at first. Shohozan momentarily gained a left grip which Ryuden easily rebuffed. A tight struggle ensued then Ryuden managed a smart maki-kae maneuver, and with both hands on Shohozan's belt he was then in control and able to finish him off for the force out win. I liked this bout. Technique and skill were on display and the better man won.

I also enjoyed M9 Ikioi's win yesterday against Shohozan. Usually unless his bouts are fought in linear fashion his stiffness and lack of flexibility will see him hit the dirt. Yesterday he was able to quickly adjust and reform for a surging win. Against M10 Yago, a guy I don't expect to exhibit much lateral movement, I expect this to be the type of bout Ikioi would relish. The two met in a heavy clash, Yago looking strong as Ikioi then put his head down to drive forward. Yago was happy for him to do so and obliged with some nice dexterity, enacting a slap-down win, his first for the tourney. With the loss, Ikioi reverted to his beaten and bruised persona; struggling to get up and walk, perhaps to wring pity from the on-lookers, who, because they are Japanese and thus polite, gave Ikioi some sympathetic applause. Look, I appreciate this is a hard, contact sport, but I've seen this too often from Ikioi and always when he loses. Take your beating, mate and make room for the next guy. I'm probably being too harsh.

Yet another satisfying frontal clash from M8 Asanoyama and M9 Sadanoumi. Sada was jolted back but returned fire with aggressive thrusts as Asa did likewise. Asa moved backwards gaining a slight arm hold and some pressure with his other arm to the back of Sad's neck who made it easier for Asa by flinging himself to the floor like a guilty man begging for mercy. 2nd win for Asanoyama.

M8 Kotoshogiku must love it when up against M7 Takarafuji who will do anything to avoid winning a hard impactful tachi-ai, rather to just absorb the hit. Giku was so keen he false started. Second time around he launched himself forward into Taka who naturally took the blow, retreated, and folded quicker than a surfboard business in Alice Springs, gifting Giku an easy win, yori-kiri.

M7 Aoiyama and M6 Okinoumi met solidly with Aoiyama using his size well, having Oki retreating ever so slightly, but 'yama then reverted to looking for the pull whilst moving backwards. Oki followed his lead dutifully and sort of just lumbered out of the dohyo, giving 'yama the win via a rather meek oshi-dashi. I'm with Mike on Okinoumi. He's far better than performances such as this.

M6 Abi came out arms first but M5 Onosho is built low to the ground and easily slipped under the parries, quickly moved in close and shoved Abi out. Whereas Abi was aiming high, Onosho targeted the body. Abi's game plan today proved about as reliable and as faltering as my Japanese language skills.

M5 Chiyotairyu showed how to earn the slap down win with a perfect performance against M4 Tochiohzan. 'tairyu was in complete control with a lead-up crunching hit and shove then the well-time pull. Nice work.

M4 Ichinojo v M3 Shodai
With the start of each new basho I've usually forgiven Ichinojo for his previous no-show efforts and hope he will rise from his slumber, rub his eyes, wash his face and say to himself, "right, who is on the menu today?" I like to think that Ichi has a long, long fuse, until he doesn't. Perhaps Tamawashi's yusho victory has him thinking that he may as well have a shot, too? He's had the measure of Shodai previously so today shouldn't pose much problems.
From the tachi-ai Shodai got in underneath Ichi and for a millisecond Ichi tried the slap-down, then realized his folly, wrapped his arms around Shodai and steadily walked him across the ropes, yori-kiri. Like a bottle of port before breakfast, too big and too powerful. I reckon he gave that effort about 50% and it was still an easy win.

S Takakeisho v M3 Nishikigi
In trying to come up with a nick-name for Takakeisho, I'm inclined to borrow one that of a former Aussie Rugby league player who occasionally was referred to as 'the brick with eyes." I think it suit the Sekiwake who today never gave M3 Nishikigi a chance. Three mighty thrusts were all it took, which for the defenseless Nishikigi must have been the equivalent of being repeatedly clobbered with a heavy-based cast-iron frying pan. 2-0 start for Takakeisho.

S Tamawashi v M2 Daieisho
M2 Daieisho started well against Sekiwake Tamawashi with the first couple of thrusts that set Tama back on his heels. He then countered, man-handling Daieisho and just as thought it would be a regulation win for Tama, Daieisho slipped cleverly to the side, Tama's footing slipped a tad and now off-balance was felled by Daieisho for a surprise victory. Both guys are at 1-1.

O Takayasu v K Mitakeumi
Mitakeumi came in hard and low driving 'yasu backwards who recovered well as the two guys engaged in a sort of side-on grapple with 'yasu in a dominant position with the opportunity to obtain a kata-sukashi (I think?) winning move. In any case, Mitakeumi looked toast; bent sideways with his hefty opponent leaning on top of him. They held this uncomfortable lock together for about a minute whilst Taka was considering how he should proceed. Eventually 'Yasu released his hold and simply drove a compliant, probably exhausted Mitakeumi out for what I thought was more a yori-taoshi winning move than the official one of oshi dashi. Either way it was an inglorious, rather sloppy victory for Takayasu.

O Tochinoshin v M2 Myogiryu
Excellent effort form Myogiryu. A tight, powerful launch, locking the arms of 'shin, then kept momentum with strong, low leg drive and fully deserved the push-out win. Smart tactics and delivered as planned. What's happened to the once mighty Georgian? Compared to the 2018 version, he is now looking as sterile as a bottle of Dettol.

O Goeido v K Hokutofuji
Ozeki Goeido's tactics were to hold as long at the tachi-ai and stall the rhythm of his opponent, Komusubi Hokutofuji. The sneaky, but smart ploy worked as 'fuji false-started in a nervous beginning whilst Goeido remained as cold as an Irish nun, readying himself to commence a lashing. No such delaying second time around as Goeido flew into 'fuji, ramming him over and out for his second win and 'fuji still to "break his duck" for the basho.

Happy birthday Yokozuna Hakuho, you majestic beast!
Gift-wrapped in gold cloth is a nice juicy hunk of M1 Endo, who as always, the crowd favourite, is a clear underdog. Hakuho of late seems to be waiting for his opponent to slip up rather than take him on with any decisive manner. Endo will be brave. I was watching a re-run of Game of Thrones recently and this match-up is akin to that of Ser Loras Tyrell v "The Mountain," Ser Gregor Clegane. A brutal killer vs a popular, skilled rikishi, though very much the underdog. Endo entered the dohyo, throwing flowers to the adoring fans, whilst The Hak swaggered in, the great man, swinging his dick like a lasso.
Endo gave it all as Endo does. Hak came in looking for the belt but Endo held off Hak's right arm whilst Hak held Endo's right. Hak wasn't happy with this so he released Endo then steadied as Endo came in and Hak stepped left and helped Endo out of the ring. At least Endo didn't get his skull crushed.

Yokozuna Kakuryu v M1 Kaisei
These are gratifying clashes. After a day's tsuppari and wild shoving, both guys slapped together with Kak immediately a right on Kaisei's belt with, after some jostling, the left as well. This is Kak's "power position" and from there he walked Kaisei back and out for an emphatic win.
A good finish to the day.

Tomorrow Harvye digs through the ditches and burns through the witches.

Day 1 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
In just a few months, the Heisei Era will come to a close as the current emperor retires, and the Crown Prince Naruhito takes his place. As Japan anticipates this major change in their monarchy, many of the news shows have been looking back and highlighting the top moments of the Heisei Era. As a result, NHK devoted most of their Sunday Sports News program a few weeks ago to sumo in the Heisei Era. I have the program recorded and fully intend to do a post-basho report wrapping up the Heisei Era and using some of the video footage from the program.

As part of the wrap-up, NHK invited Asashoryu into the studio to offer commentary along the way, and it's worth mentioning that as soon as the former Yokozuna walked onto the set, the place just lit up. All of the newscasters and guests on the show knew that they were in the presence of real greatness, and it was interesting to see the contrast of Asashoryu walking into the building compared to a Japanese rikishi who was just handed a cheap yusho.

The backdrop for the special highlighted the mug shots of the great Yokozuna from the era with one not so great dude thrown in there as a token gesture.



Top row: Akebono, Hokutoumi, Chiyonofuji, Wakanohana, Musashimaru
Bottom row: Hakuho, Kisenosato, Takanohana, Asashoryu

It's interesting but not a coincidence how the foreign Yokozuna are all placed around the edges while the Japanese Yokozuna are in the middle. Positioned front and center is none other than Kisenosato with Takanohana right by his side, and missing from the chart are Harumafuji and Kakuryu. I get why it's like this, but it needs to be pointed out that like this chart, most of sumo these days is guided by perception and not by actual content in the ring.

I mean, if you had to choose the top quarterbacks or strikers or pitchers or point guards from the previous era (30 years or so), how would you determine the list? You'd start off with championships. Then you'd take into calculation individual stats like goals scored or touchdown passes thrown or whatever and then determine the top 9 by achievement.  So, what would be the reasoning behind including Kisenosato on that list and not Harumafuji or Kakuryu?  Wouldn't it also make sense to order the Yokozuna by number of yusho from the center out?

This list was obviously put together politically in an attempt to project a certain perception in sumo and to keep fan interest at as high a level as possible, and this same politics unfortunately bleeds over into the results in the ring. I wish I could say that with the new era in Japan that we'd also usher in a fresh brand of sumo, but the Sumo Association has no choice at this point if they hope to survive.

Moving along to the day 1 broadcast, the majority of the focus this basho is on Takakeisho's quest for Ozeki. Whether he gets it or not will be determined by how many of his opponents let up in the ring for him, and then there's Mitakeumi. A term unknown to many in sumo is "buttsuke honban," and it's used to refer to a rikishi who is injured to the point where he can't afford to re-injure himself in pre-bout keiko, and so he enters the tournament basically cold turkey or without having fought a single bout of practice. Mitakeumi is heading into this basho cold turkey, but once again, what does it matter when politics trumps content?

M17 Chiyoshoma gave J1 Shimanoumi a nice welcome to the jungle by leaping right at the tachi-ai, grabbing the back of the Juryo rikishi's belt with his right hand, and then sending him forward and down in a half second after the blatant tachi-ai henka. Chiyoshoma's gonna give up plenty of bouts to his Japanese foes soon enough, so why not get some early?

Up next was rookie M16 Daishoho taking on M16 Yutakayama. I thought Daishoho bested Yutakayama at the tachi-ai as he looked to get the right arm inside, but Yutakayama used a nice stiff arm to keep him at bay. Despite openings to get to the inside, the rookie wasn't looking to demand a position at the belt, and so Yutakayama pushed to set up a pull giving us a bout where neither rikishi wanted to commit. In the end, when Daishoho went for a meager pull, Yutakayama finally made him pay scoring the easy push-out from there.

M15 Ishiura caught M15 Kotoeko with a nice left shove at the tachi-ai keeping Eko upright, and Ishiura ultimately parlayed that into the nice left inside position, but as he went for the quick force-out kill, Kotoeko countered nicely with a right tsuki-otoshi thrust forcing Ishiura to abandon his attack. From that point, Ishiura went for a series of pulls and swipes that created some excitement in the dohyo minus sound sumo, and after the fray, Ishiura found himself again in the hidari-yotsu position, but instead of settling in and trying another force-out attempt, he circled back and to the side pulling at Kotoeko's left arm yanking his foe down tottari style in the end. What the first two bouts lacked in excitement, these two made up for it here as Ishiura picked up the nice win.

An interesting bout on paper coming in featured M14 Terutsuyoshi, one of our rookies from nearby Hyogo Prefecture, paired against M14 Toyonoshima, who finds himself back in the big dance after injuries sent him down the banzuke the last three years. This was a classic case of a rookie not trusting his sumo and trying to pick up his first win with a pull (at least his camp didn't flat out pay for the first win). From the tachi-ai, the rookie slipped right but didn't really commit on a tsuki-otoshi or a kote-nage, and as Toyonoshima easily squared back up, Terutsuyoshi's next move was to back up to the other side of the dohyo looking for a pull. That move did cause Toyonoshima to stumble a bit, and that must have given the rookie hope, but it turned out to be false because as he went in for the oshi-dashi kill, it was Toyonoshima's turn to slightly move to the side and slap the rookie down to his first loss.  Toyonoshima is vulnerable in this division, but you gotta go straight at him.

One camp who does readily pay for debut wins for their newcomers is the Oguruma-beya (think Yago last basho), so with M13 Tomokaze stepping into the ring against a dude more than willing to give up bouts for cash in M13 Kagayaki, anything was possible. Kagayaki kept his arms out wide and feet perfectly aligned failing to go for a single shove at the tachi-ai, and he just let Tomokaze work his way into pull mode and then execute the easy hataki-komi about two seconds in. This was an easy yaocho call here as Tomokaze is gifted a debut win. After the bout as NHK showed the replay, Kitanofuji said in a puzzled tone, "Why does Kagayaki need to duck his head down like that for no reason?" Trust me, there was a reason for Kagayaki's mukiryoku sumo today.

M12 Yoshikaze was a half second late at the tachi-ai against M11 Meisei who looked to get the left arm inside, but he wasn't out to bully his lethargic foe around, so with Meisei floundering around (likely on purpose), Rip Van Kaze finally arose from his slumber and pulled Meisei down in an uneventful bouts.

On my computer, I have six folders for each hon-basho, and that's where I store all of my sumo files throughout the year.  Prior to each basho, I go and clean out the crap from the previous year, and as I did so for Haru, I came across the following picture of a lady in the suna-kaburi that looks like Kasugano-oyakata in drag:



I can't even remember if I published that picture last Haru basho or not, but sure enough, the first time they panned in close to a rikishi from the East at a certain angle, there he was again one year later in the exact same seat:



Since they don't sell season tickets to the sumos, how does a person get the same seat then year after year?  They get the sweet seats by donating tons of money to a particular stable, and then the stable comps them the seats in return.  I bring it up only to mention that this is how much of the bout fixing in sumo gets financed in my opinion.  Kensho money and fan club members.

Moving right along, M11 Ryuden charged hard into M10 Yago only to be rebuffed soundly, but Yago wasn't moving forward opting to just stand his ground, so after that first volley, Ryuden was able to finesse his way into a hidari-yotsu stance where both rikishi jockeyed nicely for the right outer grip. Yago got it first, but Ryuden's belt was loosely tied, and so Yago's right arm slipped up higher than he wanted it to be. The stroke of bad luck flustered Yago because Ryuden was able to turn the tables nicely and drag Yago over and down dashi-nage style with the left inside position. Pretty good stuff here from Ryuden while all the bouts gifted to Yago last basho are now catching up with him as his foes are easily out-maneuvering him in the ring.

M10 Shohozan slipped to his left at the tachi-ai sort of going for a kote-nage against M9 Ikioi, but Shohozan's feet were perfectly aligned and his body completely upright, so it took Ikioi a half second to adjust before he shoved Shohozan off of the dohyo in one fell swoop. This was simply a matter of Shohozan giving the hometown boy, Ikioi, an easy shonichi win.

At this point in the broadcast, they showed a replay from the Jonidan bouts where none other than Terunofuji made his return to the banzuke taking on some schlub named Wakanoguchi. Terunofuji easily defeated his foe by hataki-komi, and we'll see how serious he is about making another rise up the banzuke.

M9 Sadanoumi and M9 Kotoshogiku banged chests nicely at the tachi-ai hooking up in the immediate hidari-yotsu position, and despite grabbing the easy right outer grip, Sadanoumi stayed square with Kotoshogiku and then pulled his left arm to the outside giving Kotoshogiku moro-zashi. With Sadanoumi not looking to pivot to either side, Kotoshogiku scored the easy force-out win. This was an obvious yaocho in favor of the former Ozeki. Once a dude grabs the right outer grip, the correct play is to move to that side positioning your right foot close to your opponent's left. In this case, not only did Sadanoumi just gift the Geek moro-zashi, but he stayed completely square giving Kotoshogiku the easy win.

M8 Asanoyama led with a nice right kachi-age into M7 Takarafuji's body keeping Fuji at bay, and then after a few more shoves, Asanoyama dove in for hidari-yotsu. Takarafuji complied getting his own left arm to the inside, but he was just going through the motions. From the hidari-yotsu position and with his back close to the edge, Asanoyama went for a maki-kae with the right, and as he did, Takarafuji made no effort to counter, and so he easily gave Asanoyama moro-zashi. Asanoyama drove Takarafuji back easily near the edge before he reversed gears and felled the listless Takarafuji with an average left scope throw. Takarafuji was so mukiryoku here, he just rolled over like a log. Normally when a guy tries to win and his opponent goes for a scoop throw, there's some kind of counter attempt leading to a nage-no-uchi-ai, but not here.  Coupled with the ignored maki-kae attempt a few seconds before, this was an easy yaocho call as Asanoyama is gifted his first win.

M6 Abi gave every effort in his shove attack against M7 Aoiyama, but Aoiyama was too much of a brick wall rebuffing his foe's charge nicely. Now flustered, Abi attempted to move right going for a pull, but that's Aoiyama's game as well, so the Bulgarian was able to survive easily and then slip to his own right as Abi charged back forward sending Abi off balance and into the first row with a final slap to Abi's left butt cheek.

The second half began with M6 Okinoumi going completely mukiryoku against M5 Onosho keeping both arms high and wide and even backing up a step giving Onosho all of the momentum. As Onosho extended his arms forward, Okinoumi was even so kind as to grab Onosho's left wrist with his right arm crossing that right arm across his body and leaving Okinoumi's in an awkward position as Onosho sent him off the dohyo in about two seconds. I'm always intrigued by the politics in sumo and why some rikishi are preferred more than others. I'm sure most of it has to do with the financial backing of the stable, but Okinoumi has some of the best skills of any Japanese rikishi; yet, he's usually on the wrong end of the beating stick as Onosho is gifted his 1-0 start.

M5 Chiyotairyu gave M4 Ichinojo a few nice shoves sending the Mongolith back a short step or two, but after taking Chiyotairyu's best shot, it was Ichinojo's turn to blast forward driving Chiyotairyu back onto his heels before scoring the nice hataki-komi with with a shove into Chiyotairyu's left shoulder. It was nice to see Chiyotairyu give a better effort this basho against Ichinojo, but the latter is clearly the better rikishi.

M4 Tochiohzan raised M3 Shodai upright with a nice left tsuki from the tachi-ai, and then the wily Oh backed up to his left ducking into moro-zashi as the taller Shodai charged forward. Now with moro-zashi, Tochiohzan looked for the force-out kill, but he had the entire length of the dohyo to cover, and in the process, Shodai countered nicely with a right kote-nage that sent Tochiohzan off balance a bit. While the counter move halted Tochiohzan's momentum, Shodai just couldn't shake him out of moro-zashi, and so Oh forced Shodai across the dohyo before slipping out left and hooking that right arm up and under Shodai's right dragging him out of the ring kata-sukashi style. This was a pretty good bout from both parties, but it's evident that Tochiohzan doesn't have the strength and presence he once boasted...despite his winning today.

Moving to the sanyaku, Sekiwake Tamawashi is sorta up for Ozeki promotion this basho, but you'd never know it thanks to Takakeisho's garnering the majority of the pre-basho ink. Look, we all know that everything is being done to present the Japanese rikishi in a good light, but I think the double standard is worth pointing out. I mean, if Tamawashi was a Japanese rikishi, would he have gotten more press prior to Haru than he actually did coming off of his yusho in January? If the answer is yes, then one's race does matter in sumo.

Back to the bout itself, Tamawashi welcomed M3 Nishikigi with a methodical tsuppari charge keeping Nishikigi upright and off balance the entire way. You have to credit Nishikigi for standing his ground and making it difficult, but he never could counter Tamawashi's speed and precision to the point where he could mount an attack of his own, and so Tamawashi worked his foe around and out mixing in one brief pull attempt before scoring the easy oshi-dashi win.

Next up was Sekiwake Takakeisho who got far more applause from the audience as he threw his first handful of salt into the ring than Tamawashi did after his victory, which shows you why the NSK needs to hype Takakeisho in favor of Tamawashi.

Takakeisho's opponent was M2 Myogiryu, who has much more technical skill than the Sekiwake, but it would unfortunately not be on display today as Myogiryu just kept his arms out wide from the tachi-ai before backing his way over to the edge at the first sign of contact. Myogiryu went for a few phantom pulls, but he just backed himself out of the ring as Takakeisho tried to catch up with some late shoves to the torso. If you watch the slow motion replay here, there wasn't a single move from Takakeisho that would have warranted Myogiryu's quick retreat and backing up out of the ring, but with Kisenosato pulling guard duty on a cheap folding chair and Mitakeumi injured, this is about all they got.

In the Ozeki ranks, Tochinoshin came with a right kachi-age against M2 Daieisho looking to get the right arm inside, but Daieisho actually cut it off nicely forcing the Ozeki to resort to plan B, which consisted of hooking his left arm around Daieisho's melon while moving right and going for an easy pull that sent Daieisho down and out. We actually see this posture from Tochinoshin a lot lately where he hooks one arm around his foe's head and the other into a kote-nage or tsuki position as if to set up the pull. When he intends to win, he moves laterally and executes the pull. When he intends to lose, he just stays square and lets his opponent force him back and out. Regardless of that, it was ho hum sumo today in this bout.

There was a bit of buzz in the arena as Ozeki Goeido stepped into the dohyo with M1 Endoh, but trust me, the sumo was not worth the anticipation. Goeido actually connected on a nice hari-zashi slapping with the left and getting the right inside, but Endoh was so mukiryoku here he just put both arms up and around the back of Goeido's dome before backing up and to his right forgetting to even go for a pull. I wasn't sure if they'd rule this as yori-kiri or oshi-dashi, but how often do you see a guy win by oshi-dashi and then end up like Goeido sitting on his ass with one leg forward and one leg behind him?



And that's not to take anything away form Goeido here. The Ozeki executed an excellent tachi-ai and tried a straight up attack, but like Myogiryu a few bouts before, Endoh just backed up and out of the ring not wanting to spoil anyone's party before Goeido could really catch him with anything.  Mukiryoku sumo results in these totally unorthodox finishes we see all the time now

Ozeki Takayasu exhibited a horrible tachi-ai against M1 Kaisei coming with a right kachi-age and then immediately pulling that arm to the outside as if he wanted to grab an outer grip. A bit of hullabaloo was made coming into the basho about Takayasu's focusing on getting a right outer grip during keiko, but you need to earn the grip by establishing yourself on the left inside first. Because Takayasu failed to do that, he gifted Kaisei the easy left inside and was in no position to defend the right outer grip from Kaisei on the other side.

At first, Kaisei used a right tsuki pushing into the Ozeki's left side dangerously forcing him back, but fortunately for Takayasu, Kaisei halted that charge and then absolutely refused to grab an outer grip even though it was right there for the taking. It was obvious at this point that Kaisei was was letting up in an effort to throw the bout, and so he politely waited for Takayasu to establish the left inside position and then make some sort of force-out move. Said move was Takayasu's leading with just a weak left inside grip against Kaisei's belt, but the M1 gladly stayed upright and just walked back across the straw conveniently forgetting to go for a counter move.

In the Yokozuna ranks, Kakuryu was paired up against Komusubi Mitakeumi, who of course didn't have the strength to practice a single bout of keiko coming into the basho. But who needs keiko when your opponent will just jump out of the ring for you??  To the delight of the Osaka sheep, Kakuryu failed to apply any pressure in his oshi attack keeping his hands around Mitakeumi's jaw but not applying any pressure. For his part, Mitakeumi could do nothing but stand there, and he was open to moro-zashi if Kakuryu had wanted it or ashi-tori or pretty much any other kimiri-te in the book, but instead of trying win, Kakuryu went for a light pull after his initial oshi charge to which Mitakeumi would respond with his only waza of the bout--a right tsuki to the Yokozuna's side, and Kakuryu's reaction to that was one pirouette back to the center of the ring, and then a second pirouette in the opposite direction across the straw as Mitakeumi tried to catch up. Kakuryu was well on his way across the straw before Mitakeumi made any contact, but whatever. The agenda in sumo these days is clear, so spot Mitakeumi that first win while also saddling an elite Mongolian with an early loss.

When they interviewed Mitakeumi after the win, the first question they asked was, "What was good about your sumo content today?" Mitakeumi looked up and panted about three times deep in thought, and after about eight seconds he finally said, "My opponent went for a pull." Well, there you have it, and that pretty much sums things up these days.

In the day's final bout, Yokozuna Hakuho got his right arm to the inside from the tachi-ai as he shaded left going for a quick tsuki with the left arm, and I suppose that was all Hokutoriki could handle because he just fell to the side like a sack'a potatoes less than two seconds in. I think two obvious losses today from the Yokozuna would have been a bit much, but give Hakuho time.

Well, I can't say we're off to a blazing start here in Osaka, but this is the path that sumo has chosen to take, so we'll deal with it day by day.

Harvye's up tomorrow.