Asashosakari

Rookies who had to wait until Day 4 for their ranked debut, since 1989: 1996.05 Jk70e Kaitanaka* 1996.11 Jk54e Tochiakagi* 2002.07 Jk49e Tamashinzan 2003.03 Jk34w Hizume 2003.07 Jk40w Maeamami 2004.11 Jk40w Maekawa 2006.03 Jk35w Urata 2007.03 Jk36e Akatsuki 2008.05 Jk43w Kanaya 2010.01 Jk28w Kohiyama 2010.09 Jk32w Tamayuki** 2011.07 Jk23w Kumamoto 2011.11 Jk18w Ashitakayama 2016.05 Jk31w Sawanofuji 2022.11 Jk16w Kokiryu 2025.03 Jk18w Asakawasumi** Via this query. * = second-last spot on the banzuke, ** = third-last. All others were at the very bottom. One of these rikishi tipped me off to another rare thing. Since 1989, there have been 89 jonokuchi rikishi who competed in eight matches for scheduling reasons. Of these, only two went through all eight matches in under 13 days: 11 days (Day 4 to 14): 2011.07 Jk23w Kumamoto 12 days (Day 3 to 14): 2011.01 Jk28w Yamada

The 2016 one had three 6-0's after they inexplicably used 5-0 Onosho as a Day 10 filler in juryo, going 4x 5-0 -> 3x 6-0 -> 2x 7-0 as a result. The first two were part of a period in which they seemingly tried to - at least sometimes - avoid giving zensho rikishi an easy pathway to juryo, so they would test 6-0's against other promotion contenders or against juryo rikishi, rather than letting them face the other, low-ranked 6-0. I think it was motivated at least in part by the tendency of too few demotion spots materializing in many tournaments (which, as we came to find out in 2011, was likely because trading wins was a common thing in juryo). Frequently one or the other 6-0 lost (or even both), so 7-0 playoffs were still rare despite that approach. I thought I might have made a list of those at some point, but I can't find any post like that just now, so... 1996.01 Ms9w Kyokutenho faced Ms2w Saigo 5-1 (and won), rather than Ms60Td Kaiho (who also won) -> 7-0 playoff 1997.03 Ms8e Kogawa faced J12w Kyokutenho 6-6 (and lost), rather than Ms42e Kotonomine (who also lost) -> 6-1 playoff 2002.07 Ms15w Furuichi faced Ms4e Kinkaiyama 5-1 (and lost), rather than Ms54e Kyokunankai (who also lost) -> 6-1 playoff 2008.05 Ms12w Tamaasuka faced Ms2w Aran 5-1 (and won), rather than Ms56w Sadanishiki (who lost) 2008.07 Ms12w Hoshkaze faced Ms1w Yamamotoyama 5-1 (and lost), rather than Ms33w Yotsuguruma (who also lost) -> 6-1 playoff 2008.11 Ms10e Kotokuni faced Ms1w Fukuoka 5-1 (and won), rather than Ms42e Sensho (who also won) -> 7-0 playoff 2009.09 Ms10e Gagamaru faced J12e Hoshikaze 5-7 (and won), rather than Ms46w Kaisei (who also won) -> 7-0 playoff 2013.05 Ms7e Osunaarashi faced J13e Akiseyama 5-7 (and won), rather than Ms43e Taiga (who lost) In addition there was 2009.01 Ms1e (!) Fukuoka faced J11w Kitazakura 4-9 (and won), rather than Ms21e Ri (who lost) That was right after the aforementioned 2008.11 case where they ended up unable to promote Fukuoka to juryo despite him going 5-2 at Ms1w, and I think they were just scared what might happen if they didn't throw absolutely every available makushita contender at the at-risk-of-demotion juryo guys. Turned out to be justified, that basho again ended with just two demotions (and the most recent case of a top five 6-1 not getting promoted). The list might be incomplete, I used this query as the starting point. (Which also includes irrelevant cases like same-heya 6-0's or a single 6-0.)

Day 4 / Group A Hashimoto continues to be absent for now. The 1-win group saw the two Oshiogawa deshi shifted to the West side as expected, while the winless half of the field underwent larger changes with both Tamanoi rikishi going East and Nishikido's Futagawa the other way. Regular match-making ensued after those setup activities, the wrestlers from each side being paired up in order. Results: Mz11 Kido (1-1) Mz4 Asahirai (0-3) Mz12 Teranishi (1-1) Mz22 Futagawa (0-2) Mz27 Sumiyoshi (0-2) Mz26 Hokutonada (1-1) Mz31 Terui (0-2) Mz4 Asahirai (1-3) Mz1 Umeyama (1-1) Mz16 Kazekodai (2-0) Mz8 Shunta (2-0) Mz20 Yamanobe (1-1) Mz28 Uchima (2-0) Mz23 Kazeoka (1-1) Mz30 Matsuda (1-1) Mz29 Asarikimaru (2-0) Mz1 Umeyama (1-2) Mz20 Yamanobe (2-1) Mz30 Matsuda (2-1) Mz23 Kazeoka (1-2) Some bonus sumo today as the four losers of the 1-0 playoffs were paired up again to produce two more qualifiers for tomorrow's ichiban shusse presentation. Asahirai was called upon for an extra match once more as well, this time against Terui (who had to switch sides before his match). Terui proved just the right opponent to finally give Asahirai his first win, and with today's performance pretty much confirming yesterday's assessment I suspect we'll be seeing that happen a couple more times. I would have to say that I underestimated Yamanobe the other day - while he was overmatched by strong Shunta, he ended up having little trouble with his stablemate Umeyama despite the size and age difference. Kazeoka, on the other hand, arguably demonstrated his work-in-progress aspects again - while he clearly has some idea how to use his bulk, he still ended up getting outmuscled by smaller (though by no means small) opponents both times. Umeyama similarly looks like he has mastered the basics well but still has a lot to learn, and I think today's results were an appropriate outcome with him and Kazeoka becoming the two non-qualifiers out of the eight hopefuls. Joining Shunta in direct qualification was Asarikimaru - after Day 2's pulldown win a slapdown/katasukashi combination today. He seems to know very well what he's capable of, but I'm skeptical that it's going to carry him very far. Uchima is obviously a greater prospect; I'm generally far from convinced by middle schoolers who come in as big in size as he is, but he clearly isn't only big, so maybe Nishonoseki can work some magic with him over the next few years. Lastly, Kazekodai - he proved stronger than fellow high schooler Umeyama in their match-up, but I don't think the difference is very big. Certainly the low man on the direct qualifier totem pole, and most likely behind Matsuda as well. Out of the winners of the various 0-1 bouts I think I'd have to pick Hokutonada as the one who looked the best today. Standings: 2-win target achieved #01 Mz16 Kazekodai Oshiogawa 2-0 #03 Mz8 Shunta Futagoyama 2-0 #05 Mz28 Uchima Nishonoseki 2-0 #07 Mz29 Asarikimaru Takasago 2-0 #09 Mz20 Yamanobe Dewanoumi 2-1 #11 Mz30 Matsuda Sakaigawa 2-1 Still active Mz1 Umeyama Futagoyama 1-2 E | Mz21 Hashimoto Dewanoumi 0-0-2 W Mz4 Asahirai Takasago 1-3 W | Mz22 Futagawa Nishikido 0-2 E Mz11 Kido Tamanoi 1-1 W | Mz27 Sumiyoshi Nishonoseki 0-2 E Mz12 Teranishi Tamanoi 1-1 W | Mz31 Terui Minato 0-2 W Mz23 Kazeoka Oshiogawa 1-2 E Mz26 Hokutonada Hanaregoma 1-1 W I'm looking forward to the 1-win matches in this group's next round on Day 6, as outside Asahirai there are arguably no obvious winners and losers. It's also going to be interesting to see how much commitment (if any) the wakaimonogashira in charge of the action have to avoiding repeat matchups - Asahirai has already faced both Umeyama and Kido, and Kazeoka-Hokutonada has happened as well, all pairings that are likely to happen again without extra effort to get around them. The 0-win pairings are easy to set up if Hashimoto finally joins, otherwise one of them will presumably end up facing the other two. (Unless they do something else entirely and mix and match rikishi from both columns.)

Not a torn ACL, we wouldn't be talking about 3 days if that were the case. The article uses the unspecific 損傷 "injury, damage" with the ACL, and the more drastic 板損傷 "tear" for the meniscus, though I strongly suspect from the recovery estimate that even that is "only" a partial tear. (A complete rupture would likely be listed as 断裂.) In any case, Futagoyama-oyakata reported on the heya's socials that Nabatame has been able to walk, if gingerly and with pain.

All meetings of former makuuchi rikishi in sandanme or lower: Basho Day Rikishi 1 Kimarite Rikishi 2 Rank Shikona Result Rank Shikona Result 2014.11 9 Sd21e Daikiho 3-2 (4-3) oshidashi Sd22e Nionoumi 4-1 (6-1) 2016.11 5 Sd28w Yoshiazuma 2-1 (6-1) yorikiri Sd23w Jokoryu 3-0 (7-0) 2019.01 12 Sd7e Masunoyama 4-2 (4-3) hatakikomi Sd1w Nionoumi 5-1 (6-1) 2019.03 4 Jd50w Amakaze 1-1 (6-1) kotenage Jd48w Terunofuji 2-0 (7-0) 2019.03 4 Sd34e Yamaguchi 1-1 (4-3) hatakikomi Sd35w Yoshiazuma 2-0 (3-4) 2020.11 6 Sd23w Kagamio 0-3 (0-3-4) fusen Sd19w Sagatsukasa 1-2 (3-4) 2021.07 7 Sd58e Yoshiazuma 3-1 (5-2) oshidashi Sd55w Tomokaze 4-0 (6-1) 2021.07 9 Sd77e Sagatsukasa 5-0 (6-1) hikiotoshi Sd55w Tomokaze 4-1 (6-1) 2023.03 4 Sd56w Amakaze 2-0 (5-2) hatakikomi Sd55w Kyokutaisei 1-1 (6-1) 2023.07 7 Sd7e Nionoumi 1-3 (4-3) yorikiri Sd4w Fujiazuma 0-4 (2-5) 2025.03 2 Sd12e Chiyonoo 0-1 (0-2) yorikiri Sd12w Yago 1-0 (Culled by hand from this brute-force query, which uses all such rikishi who were ever ranked low enough as input.)

Day 3 / Group B Even two absences here in the second half with (Koto)Terao and Sato, but as they were the highest-"ranking" deshi on each side of the dohyo it arguably didn't change anything for everybody else's matchups. Again some camera pan across the waiting masses first, so skip ahead to 0:50 for the action. Results: Mz7 Kazeoki (1-0) Mz5 Yasuda (0-1) Mz9 Ikazuchishu (0-1) Mz6 Kadomura (1-0) Mz10 Ikazuchiarata (0-1) M13 Yamagishi (1-0) Mz14 Sawazaki (0-1) Mz17 Wakahasegawa (1-0) Mz15 Kazenohana (0-1) Mz18 Wakajin (1-0) Mz24 Ryugi (0-1) Mz19 Satomatsunaga (1-0) Mz25 Yamauchi (0-1) Mz32 Imada (1-0) I'm not sure anybody had "Nishiiwa-beya recruits wrestlers who are good enough for a 3-0 day in maezumo" on their 2025 sumo bingo card, but here we are. But first things first: The day started off with a nicely competitive match between middle schoolers Kazeoki and Yasuda, ended with a rather violent kirikaeshi(?) legsweep takedown - somewhat surprisingly not executed by Yasuda, the kid with the karate background, but rather by Kazeoki, about whom we haven't read anything yet. (May have to go searching...) A mono-ii worthy bout came next, but the typical Haru basho skeleton crew of just two shimpan didn't move, so the win went to Kadomura unchecked. Impossible to tell from the stream footage whether that was actually correct, thanks to a camera operator's head obscuring Kadomura's hand as it touched down. The bout itself was over so quickly that I have no idea what to think about the one-year Nittaidai member's skills yet (nor about those of his aite Ikazuchishu, really). A pretty awkward tachiai by Yamagishi in the third bout, at least by "high schooler with sumo club experience" standards, but although he had to contend against the biggest deshi in this group (170 kg after middle school!), Yamagishi was easily capable of besting Ikazuchiarata. I think ex-Kakizoe's gonna have a lot of work to do with the latter at Ikazuchi-beya... (And why was he trying to step off the dohyo directly without using the step carved into its side? That looked super awkward.) Next up, the three victories by Nishiiwa's motley crew of Waka(no)Sato-named recruits (aged 20, 18 and 15 in order of appearance). Looked pretty good, too, albeit against not a lot of resistance by any of their three opponents, it must be said. Sawazaki tried to lead with his shoulder which we frequently see from rookies who are still somewhat afraid of going straight ahead in the tachiai, and it put him in a bad position for the entire duration of the bout. Kazenohana, at just 71 kg the lightest deshi in this month's maezumo, was simply overpowered altogether, and Ryugi appeared to be without much of a match plan, just trying to hang on against Satomatsunaga's onslaught. It was just one bout each, but Satomatsunaga actually looked the best to me despite being the youngest of the three Nishiiwa guys, and I wouldn't be particularly surprised if, in just a couple of years' time, he'll be the heya's second-highest ranked rikishi (behind Mikinosato)...Nishiiwa is that barren for talent. And lastly, the match that the assembled press had been waiting for. Yamauchi tried to hang on to the best of his abilities, but judo champion and literal rocket scientist Imada made the expected short work of him. BTW, I wonder if that was the maezumo matchup with the greatest age difference ever? 2010-02-05 vs 2000-09-10, so 9 years 148 days. (But it might be exceeded in a couple of days anyway...Satomatsunaga is a conceivable second opponent for Imada, and he's another 18 days younger than Yamauchi.) Standings: Mz6 Kadomura Isegahama 1-0 W | Mz2 Kototerao Sadogatake 0-0-1 E Mz7 Kazeoki Oshiogawa 1-0 E | Mz3 Sato Isegahama 0-0-1 W Mz13 Yamagishi Otowayama 1-0 W | Mz5 Yasuda Isegahama 0-1 W Mz17 Wakahasegawa Nishiiwa 1-0 W | Mz9 Ikazuchishu Ikazuchi 0-1 E Mz18 Wakajin Nishiiwa 1-0 W | Mz10 Ikazuchiarata Ikazuchi 0-1 E Mz19 Satomatsunaga Nishiiwa 1-0 W | Mz14 Sawazaki Onoe 0-1 E Mz32 Imada Otowayama 1-0 W | Mz15 Kazenohana Oshiogawa 0-1 E Mz24 Ryugi Tagonoura 0-1 E Mz25 Yamauchi Tagonoura 0-1 E An emphatic West side performance in this group, so lots of deshi will be finding themselves on the opposite side from today to make the Day 5 torikumi work.

Opening notes: My recent Youtube playlist obsession continues with one for this maezumo, in case you find yourself with a desire to rewatch the bouts without having to scroll all through this thread again. Incidentally, if anybody has questions about what I'm posting, do feel free to ask. I try to consider which aspects of maezumo might need explaining, but obviously I'm likely to take some stuff for granted that isn't widely known. BTW, somehow it hasn't really been remarked upon in any place I've seen discussing the new recruits: This year's crop is bringing us our first six rikishi born in the 2010s. Apologies if pointing that out makes you feel old(er), but if so I'm at least no longer the only one now. Day 2 / Group A Abema was nice enough to start off the session with some close-ups of the waiting deshi and gyoji, so there's about two minutes of optional content in the video that you may want to skip. As mentioned, Dewanoumi's Hashimoto was not in action so this group got out of the blocks with 15 participants for now. Results: Mz1 Umeyama (1-0) Mz4 Asahirai (0-1) Mz8 Shunta (1-0) Mz11 Kido (0-1) Mz16 Kazekodai (1-0) Mz12 Teranishi (0-1) Mz22 Futagawa (0-1) Mz20 Yamanobe (1-0) Mz23 Kazeoka (1-0) Mz26 Hokutonada (0-1) Mz27 Sumiyoshi (0-1) Mz29 Asarikimaru (1-0) Mz28 Uchima (1-0) Mz31 Terui (0-1) Mz30 Matsuda (1-0) Mz4 Asahirai (0-2) An odd number of rikishi means an extra appearance for the loser of an earlier bout, generally the first one among those who entered the day with the same wins as the rikishi who needs an opponent. (Today everybody started 0-0, of course.) So, this session started and ended with Asahirai losing, after he unfortunately ran into not one but two opponents that were older, (likely) more experienced, and outweighed him by some 40 kg, to boot. A good start by the two Futagoyama rookies Umeyama and Shunta, the latter showing off some nice densha-michi sumo right off the bat. Conversely two losses for Tamanoi, although Teranishi was (unlike Kido) involved in a competitive bout. The next match saw a victory by the smallest rikishi of this group, yokozuna great-great-grandson Yamanobe, though I suspect he'll have greater difficulty attaining his next win. A relatively quick loss for former rugby player Hokutonada in bout five, but I have to say that his form already looked better than that of other recent recruits with that sort of background, namely Ono and Kikuchi, who retain an unhelpful tendency to lean too far forward and keep their head way too low (as though they're pushing in a scrum). There's some of that in Hokutonada, too, I think, but perhaps it helps that he has already done at least some sumo in school before going pro now. His opponent Kazeoka obviously knows what he's doing, but it remains to be seen how much talent there truly is behind his (ahem) balanced build of 177 cm / 177 kg. (The largest weight among all the maezumo shindeshi, and only 4 kg behind collegiate tsukedashi Goshima who's three and a half years older.) Three one-sided matches closed out the day; their next bouts should prove more interesting (to us and them) for Asarikimaru, Uchima and Matsuda. The latter showed very good form, but that's to be expected from a Tottori Johoku grad. Terui looked about like we all probably expected, and on what we've seen in this session he's arguably the top contender for finishing this group winless. Standings: Mz1 Umeyama Futagoyama 1-0 E | Mz4 Asahirai Takasago 0-2 W Mz8 Shunta Futagoyama 1-0 E | Mz11 Kido Tamanoi 0-1 W Mz16 Kazekodai Oshiogawa 1-0 E | Mz12 Teranishi Tamanoi 0-1 W Mz20 Yamanobe Dewanoumi 1-0 W | Mz21 Hashimoto Dewanoumi 0-0-1 W Mz23 Kazeoka Oshiogawa 1-0 E | Mz22 Futagawa Nishikido 0-1 E Mz28 Uchima Nishonoseki 1-0 E | Mz26 Hokutonada Hanaregoma 0-1 W Mz29 Asarikimaru Takasago 1-0 W | Mz27 Sumiyoshi Nishonoseki 0-1 E Mz30 Matsuda Sakaigawa 1-0 E | Mz31 Terui Minato 0-1 W Unlike maezumo in the other five annual tournaments, rikishi will finish their participation in this one as soon as they have two wins, rather than the usual three, so the next round on Day 4 will already see the first set of qualifiers. As the East side dominated today's bouts there are going to be some temporary side adjustments in both subsets - the 1-winners should see either the Futagoyama duo or the Oshiogawa pair switching to the West side, among the winless ones it's less obvious who's going East since we don't know whether or not Hashimoto is joining the battle.

On a meta note: January's Isegahama recruit Aoki didn't get a shikona for the banzuke this basho either, and this month's rookies Yasuda, Kadomura and (presumably) Sato are also appearing in maezumo under their real names. Just speculating: Is that an early policy implementation by whoever the next Isegahama shisho will be?

The maezumo competition groups with 32 shindeshi and no returnees, so a neat 4x8 split - which was promptly made irrelevant for the actual competition by three deshi being absent for the starting days. Maezumo Haru 2025, Group A (even-numbered days) Rank Name Heya Born Height Weight Shikona Shi-k Info East side Mz1 Umeyama Sotaro Futagoyama 2007 177 cm 143 kg Mz8 Soma Shunta Futagoyama 2010 177 cm 139 kg Shunta 駿太 Mz16 Yokose Haruto Oshiogawa 2007 173 cm 130 kg Kazekōdai 風紅大 Mz22 Futagawa Kosen Nishikido 2009 168 cm 123 kg Mz23 Ishii Oshi Oshiogawa 2006 177 cm 177 kg Kazeōka 風凰花 Mz27 Sumiyoshi Yuma Nishonoseki 2009 166 cm 101 kg Mz28 Uchima Haruma Nishonoseki 2009 183 cm 158 kg Mz30 Matsuda Ten Sakaigawa 2005 172 cm 146 kg West side Mz4 Hirai Seiya Takasago 2009 171 cm 101 kg Asahirai 朝平井 Mz11 Kido Taiga Tamanoi 2006 177 cm 154 kg Mz12 Teranishi Ren Tamanoi 2009 176 cm 139 kg Mz20 Yamanobe Chikara Dewanoumi 2010 168 cm 77 kg Mz21 Hashimoto Yamato Dewanoumi 2009 174 cm 101 kg Mz26 Osanai Kaimu Hanaregoma 2007 175 cm 126 kg Hokutonada 北斗洋 Mz29 Kyoda Rikimaru Takasago 2002 183 cm 123 kg Asarikimaru 朝力丸 Mz31 Terui Ryusei Minato 2006 180 cm 89 kg Maezumo Haru 2025, Group B (odd-numbered days) Rank Name Heya Born Height Weight Shikona Shi-k Info East side Mz2 Terao Shota Sadogatake 2010 175 cm 108 kg Kototerao (?) 琴寺尾 Mz7 Ginya Koki Oshiogawa 2009 172 cm 121 kg Kazeōki 風桜輝 Mz9 Hashimoto Tatsuyuki Ikazuchi 2008 173 cm 115 kg Ikazuchishū 雷修 Mz10 Fukada Shinpei Ikazuchi 2009 173 cm 170 kg Ikazuchiarata 雷新 Mz14 Sawazaki Ko Onoe 2010 166 cm 107 kg Mz15 Kumai Ao Oshiogawa 2006 173 cm 71 kg Kazenohana 風ノ華 Mz24 Takasu Aoi Tagonoura 2009 175 cm 139 kg Ryūgi (?) 隆葵 Mz25 Yamauchi Toshihiro Tagonoura 2010 170 cm 119 kg West side Mz3 Sato Ryoun Isegahama 2009 182 cm 123 kg Mz5 Yasuda Shoma Isegahama 2009 187 cm 114 kg Mz6 Kadomura Issa Isegahama 2005 175 cm 128 kg Mz13 Yamagishi Aoi Otowayama 2006 178 cm 117 kg Mz17 Hasegawa Keiji Nishiiwa 2004 172 cm 117 kg Wakahasegawa 若長谷川 Mz18 Jin Teppei Nishiiwa 2007 173 cm 108 kg Wakajin 若神 Mz19 Matsunaga Sera Nishiiwa 2010 171 cm 131 kg Satomatsunaga 里松永 Mz32 Imada Kosei Otowayama 2000 173 cm 120 kg Thankfully the absences by Hashimoto (Dewanoumi version), Terao and Sato didn't hinder the identification of who belongs where, so this should be accurate; Hashimoto and Sato have to be where their respective Dewanoumi and Isegahama stablemates are, and Terao must be in the last remaining spot in Group B East that wasn't otherwise being assigned already. The Oshiogawa quartet was split two and two between the two groups. Somewhat unusual but not unheard of - I guess they're seeing 4 out of 16 as potentially problematic from a match-making perspective. The adopted shikona are confirmed other than Kototerao - educated guess based on the usual heya policy - and Ryūgi for whom the Kyokai made the kanji available in a tweet after the Day 3 matches but which I'm not entirely sure isn't actually Ryūki. Also not confirmed at this time is whether absent Hashimoto and Sato are going to use a proper shikona or their real surnames. (The double Hashimoto problem has already been solved by the Ikazuchi one, though.) Some summary notes about the class (these counts include the two tsukedashi). Recruits by heya: 4: Oshiogawa 3: Isegahama, Nishiiwa 2: Dewanoumi, Fujishima, Futagoyama, Ikazuchi, Nishonoseki, Otowayama, Tagonoura, Takasago, Tamanoi 1: Hanaregoma, Minato, Nishikido, Onoe, Sadogatake, Sakaigawa The count of 18 different heya having recruiting success this spring is actually identical to last year's Haru basho despite there being 7 more rookies in total. Recruits by age: 15 (middle school graduation age): 17 16 (one year beyond middle school): 1 - Ikazuchishu 18 (high school graduation age): 10 19 (one year beyond high school): 2 - Kadomura (left university) and Matsuda (worked) 20 (two years beyond high school): 1 - Wakahasegawa 22 (university graduation age): 1 - Goshima (MsTd) 23 (one year beyond university): 1 - Asarikimaru 24 (two years beyond university): 1 - Imada Asarikimaru's March 2002 birthdate normally implies a university class of 2024 membership, but the articles about his joining Takasago-beya mentioned that he only got into university one year after graduating from high school, so his university graduation is now. For completeness the data of the two tsukedashi: Tsukedashi Haru 2025 Rank Name Heya Born Height Weight Shikona Shi-k Info Ms60Td Goshima Masaharu Fujishima 2003 180 cm 181 kg Ms60Td Fukuzaki Maaru Fujishima 2007 172 cm 143 kg I'll be populating the "Info" column of the tables with links to posts within this thread at a later time. Various stuff that's arguably mostly of interest for DB maintenance @Doitsuyama: Several rikishi adopted (parts of) their given names as part of their new shikona, so their shikona given names might now be different from their real ones: Mz7 Kazeōki - the ki 輝 is part of his real given name Kōki Mz8 Shunta - that's his real given name turned shikona wholesale as he's the brother of Futagoyama heyamate Soma, who already uses the surname as shikona (though I wouldn't be surprised if both change for the next basho) Mz10 Ikazuchiarata - the arata 新 is part of his real given name Shinpei (read as shin there) Mz23 Kazeōka - the ō 凰 is part of his real given name Ōshi Mz24 Ryūgi - the gi 葵 is an alternative reading of his real given name Aoi Ms29 Asarikimaru - real given name Rikimaru, shikona given name confirmed as Tetsuji 哲次 in the preceding comment (A small unrelated note since we hadn't mentioned the Ikazuchi names in the thread yet: Ikazuchishu's 修 kanji likely comes from his alma mater Shutoku HS, boss_jonokuchi notes. As he's only 16, he presumably dropped out.) University Sumo club tags: Goshima - Takushoku, Kadomura - Nippon Sports Science (Did Asarikimaru ever represent Chiba University in competition even though it has no club? Not sure it should be noted on the DB... One of these days we may have to revisit the "non-sumo university" topic.) And lastly, as Akinomaki pointed out, Imada's proper ima kanji should apparently be different from the one that the Kyokai posted on his profile.

A list of all rikishi who are active in Haru but had not been before (= missed at least the end of Hatsu), and how long they had been out, multi-basho absences in bold: J3e Roga - Hatsu Day 7 J8e Hokutofuji - start of Hatsu J9e Wakaikari - Hatsu Day 12 Ms12e Asakoki - Hatsu Day 12 Ms27w Yuma - Hatsu Day 12 Ms50w Kurohimeyama - start of Hatsu Sd18w Sadanohikari - Hatsu Day 5 Sd20w Kamitani - start of Hatsu Sd21w Asanoyama - Nagoya 2024 Day 5 Sd29w Chiyosakae - Aki 2024 Day 4 Sd33w Asagyokusei - Hatsu Day 6 Sd75e Kisenoumi - Hatsu Day 8 Jd3w Seigo - start of Kyushu 2024 Jd32e Okinohama - Kyushu 2024 Day 10 Jd79e Shotaimu - Hatsu Day 6 Jk4e Amanofuji - Hatsu Day 14 Jk9e Masuminato - start of Kyushu 2024 Jk9w Matsuzawa - start of Hatsu Jk12w Shoryu - start of Hatsu Jk13e Daitensho - start of Hatsu

Seki-Oracle (play): Despite the iffy pre-basho reports about Terunofuji only five* Oracle entrants dared to predict fewer than 8 wins for him, but still none of them was able to win the yusho with that gambit. The best, Asashosakari, finished jun-yusho one point behind tournament champion Wamahada. It was a competitive edition of the game, with almost 20 players within 10 points of the top score. Like in November there were only small differences in performance between the upper and lower makuuchi players, but an effective 3-win gap between them and juryo. He already admitted to his fate directly after the basho, and sadly I have to make it official now as well that this Seki game has also lost a yokozuna after Oskanohana missed the KK line by a single point to pick up his third straight makekoshi. As always it means a restart from the bottom of the banzuke (presently Ms2w), but I'm sure we'll be seeing you in the top ranks again in no time at all! That leaves only Kaito (9-6 in Hatsu) as Oracle yokozuna, and it's going to stay that way at least for the next couple of basho. Kaito is safe in the rank for now, but I wouldn't suggest a MK for him this month, as he's already at 2 in the last four basho and can afford a bad performance only in one of Haru and Natsu basho. No ozeki are entering Haru with tsuna hopes - kadoban chishafuwaku produced a fine 10-5 record but at overall 8th place it wasn't strong enough to kickstart a promotion run, and freshly repromoted Andoreasu (the Kyushu yusho winner) has fallen straight to kadoban again with a 6-9 score. Two ozeki runs had been carried over from Kyushu: Norizo finished Hatsu basho with a bare 8-7 kachikoshi, so that was an easy thumbs down and barring something truly spectacular in Haru his run is probably dead altogether. Choshu-yuki, however, extended her attempt like this: 2024.07 M1e 12-3 J (2nd place) 2024.09 S1e 10-5 (5th-6th place) 2024.11 S1e 9-6 (8th-14th place) 2025.01 S1w 11-4 (6th-7th place) The basho 2-4 total performance is actually lower than that of 1-3 and not particularly close to the established promotion standards, and judged pro-rata even the whole thing is still borderline in much the same way as it was two months ago, but...I expected to see a credible extension of the original run and that's exactly what Choshu-yuki delivered, and pulling off this level of performance for 4 tournaments is unquestionably superior to doing it for just 3. So, promotion it is - congrats to our former yokozuna! Speaking of former yokozuna: Despite his kachikoshi the new banzuke sees Norizo pushed out of the S1e slot as Pandaazuma went 11-4 as komusubi and easily deserved to leapfrog him. ScreechingOwl joined him on the K->S trek with the minimum promotable score of 9-6. The Owl doesn't have much in the way of a promotion run going right now, but the Panda certainly does, and not only that... 2024.09 M9e 9-6 (5th-6th place) 2024.11 M4w 12-3 (3rd place) 2025.01 K1w 11-4 (6th-7th place) That would have been an easy promotion to ozeki if it had started from a higher rank, but sadly not like this. Won't take much this month to make it all count, though! Three other sanyaku-ranked players went makekoshi, including Beeftank who ended a run of 8 straight KK and five tournaments as sekiwake. They (and Oskanohana) were replaced by three joi maegashira with promotable records - two of them, Joaoiyama and Torafujii, in very convincing fashion with top 5 results that converted to 12-3 - plus Asashosakari who was ranked just outside the joi for his 2nd place finish. Yusho winner Wamahada was given as much of a banzuke push as I could justify, but more than M2w just wasn't possible from his previous position of M12w. For the record, his points total that converted to 11-4 according to the lower makuuchi formula would have been worth a 13-2 in the joi. Similar "would have been more if feasible" considerations applied to Oortael who rounded out the top 5 finishers and went M11w -> M4w on a 10-5 actual / 12-3 joi equivalent. (For Asashosakari it was also 11-4 actual / 13-2 joi.) Kaito (Ye 9-6) Y - chishafuwaku (Oe 10-5) O1 Andoreasu (Ow 6-9) - O2 Choshu-yuki (S1w 11-4) Pandaazuma (K1w 11-4) S1 Norizo (S1e 8-7) ScreechingOwl (K2e 9-6) S2 - joaoiyama (M3e 12-3) K1 Torafujii (M4e 12-3) Asashosakari (M6w 11-4) K2 DeRosa (M2w 9-6) Beeftank (S2e 7-8) M1 Bunbukuchagama (M2e 8-7) Kishikaisei (K1e 7-8) M2 Wamahada (M12w 11-4 Y) Balon (S2w 6-9) M3 TochiYESshin (M1e 7-8) Flohru (M1w 7-8) M4 Oortael (M11w 10-5) Ganzohnesushi (M8w 9-6) M5 Susanoo (M10w 9-6) Oshirokita (M4w 7-8) M6 Pitinosato (M5e 7-8) Kitakachiyama (M3w 6-9) M7 Kakushoyama (M10e 8-7) BlackPinkMawashi (M6e 7-8) M8 Frinkanohana (M5w 6-9) GONZABUROW (M7e 7-8) M9 Gansekiiwa (M7w 7-8) Andrasoyama (M14e 9-6) M10 Mariohana (M12e 8-7) Bill (M9w 7-8) M11 Hisui (M8e 6-9) Asapedroryu (M14w 8-7) M12 Kobashi (M9e 6-9) Yarimotsu (M13e kosho) M13 Papayasu (J2w 12-3) Profomisakari (M13w 7-8) M14 Shatsume (J4e 12-3) Unkonoyama (J1w 10-5) M15 Kirinoumi (M15e 7-8) Ruziklao (M15w 7-8) M16 - Joputosu (J7e 11-4) J1 Sukubidubidu (J2e 8-7) Athenayama (J4w 9-6) J2 Holleshoryu (J3w 8-7) Saruyama (J1e kosho) J3 itchynotoe (M11e 4-11) Kaiowaka (J5e 8-7) J4 Hakase (J9w 10-5) Kachikoshi (J7w 9-6) J5 Warusaru (M16e 5-10) Sakura (NR 12-3) J6 Kotononami (J5w kosho) Andonishiki (J10w 9-6) J7 Takanorappa (J6w 7-8) Terukaze (J8e kosho) J8 Kasamatsuri (J6e 6-9) Metzinowaka (J3e 3-12) J9 Akagitsune (NR 8-7) Hakunojo (J10e 6-9) J10 Anjoboshi (J12w 6-9) Doreikishi (J8w 4-11) J11 lonewolf (J12e 5-10) Gusoyama (J11e 4-11) J12 Fujisan (J11w 4-11) reeeen (J14e 5-10) J13 ballerscuba (J13w 4-11) Terarno (J13e 2-13) J14 Multimikstar (J14w kosho) WAKATAKE (Ms1e kosho) Ms1 Tyerenex (NR 3-12) Kamibaka (J9e 0-0-15) Ms2 Oskahanada (Yw 7-8) * Those Terunofuji predictions for posterity: Asashosakari 2 wins, 2nd place Choshu-yuki 7 wins, 6th place tie Susanoo 4 wins, 8th place tie Andonishiki 2 wins, 45th place ballerscuba 0 wins, 61st place

Seki-Toto (play): For the first time in four tournaments we got a yusho line better than 12-3, but a different trend continued in that Hatsu basho was the third straight edition won by a player outside of the top division: Juryo-ranked Terarno posted the tournament's only 13-2 record to take the championship. Well done! It was a pretty competitive game all around, with the makuuchi players thankfully not dominating for a change. Only 7.7 wins on average, with 23 KK against 19 MK, while the juryo division produced an almost balanced line of 187-188-15 with 11 KK and 15 MK. That gave me hopes of an unimpeded banzuke-making session. All 12 sanyaku-ranked players were active in the tournament, but only a single one scored better than 9-6 and half of them went makekoshi. (Optimism levels rising further...) Let's get the unfortunate big news out of the way first: Yokozuna Kaito, who was on the tsuna-chopping block after an 8-7 in Aki and a makekoshi in Kyushu, found himself MK again on Day 14 and fell afoul of the intai criteria at that point, so I'm really sorry to declare the end of his time at the game's top rank after just five tournaments. Here's hoping your second career turns out as well as that of our previous retired yokozuna Susanoo, who was back in the maegashira-joi after just one year and an ozeki again after two and a half - Best of luck! The other two yokozuna Norizo and Pandaazuma posted unspectacular 9-6 scores. Another sad outcome occurred at the ozeki rank where Ganzohnesushi has produced consecutive 7-8 records to ticket his demotion to sekiwake. Shin-ozeki GONZABUROW went 7-8 as well and will be kadoban for Haru basho, and Joaoiyama has also left himself at risk of demotion for the upcoming basho after back-to-back 8-7's (= equal to one makekoshi). Just Susanoo kept his name clean by going 9-6. Nevertheless, Susanoo's not our only ozeki who won't have to worry about losing the rank after Haru. Two months ago I wrote the following: Talk about rising to the occasion: Andoreasu produced one of Hatsu's two 12-3 jun-yusho scores to give himself 34 wins, making this an easy call for promotion. Congrats! This will be Andoreasu's second time as ozeki in Toto, following an ill-fated stint back in 2020 that was over after just three tournaments. His run in tabulated form: 2024.09 M7e 11-4 J (2nd-6th place) 2024.11 M1w 11-4 (3rd-8th place) 2025.01 S2w 12-3 J (2nd-3rd place) Hatsu's other two sekiwake didn't do nearly as well; Kobashi had 21 wins from Aki and Kyushu but only went 8-7 to put a serious damper on his promotion hopes, and ScreechingOwl posted a double-digit makekoshi. As both komusubi went MK as well and no high maegashira excelled either, there was only one feasible candidate for the second sekiwake slot: demoted ozeki Ganzohnesushi. The komusubi rank also enters Haru basho with the minimum population of two, but both players (Chijanofuji and DeRosa) have moved up with records that were promotable by the numbers, so no luck was required for them. If you've been scoring along at home, your sanyaku count will be just 10 now. Seki-Toto has been practically nailed on for 12 sanyaku spots during the last several years (and frequently I would have needed even more than that, requiring harsh decisions to avoid it), so this is unusual indeed. For posterity, the list of tournaments since 2016 that had something other than 12 sanyaku: 13: 2016.07 11: 2024.01, 2021.07, 2020.11, 2020.09, 2020.07, 2019.05 10: 2020.03, 2019.11, 2019.09 9: 2020.01 So, other than a brief period from mid-2019 to late 2020 - that era had three yokozuna but mostly just one or two ozeki - it's been hard to cut back the titled ranks even to 11, let alone to 10. I welcomed the unexpected opportunity, which was slightly bad news for several players who came close to qualifying for a promotion to komusubi, but the banzuke ended up working out fine even with the reduction-induced downward force on everybody's nominal ranks, so there was no need to hand out any extra slots. Not much else to say about this banzuke. Winner Terarno and jun-yusho maegashira Oortael received small discretionary boosts but, other than that, all top division ranks were filled straight by the numbers, as was the upper half of the juryo division. Norizo (Y1e 9-6) Y Pandaazuma (Y1w 9-6) Susanoo (O1e 9-6) O1 Joaoiyama (O1w 8-7) GONZABUROW (O2w 7-8) O2 Andoreasu (S2w 12-3) Kobashi (S1e 8-7) S Ganzohnesushi (O2e 7-8) Chijanofuji (M2e 9-6) K DeRosa (M3w 9-6) Itchynotoe (M4e 9-6) M1 Gernobono (M6w 10-5) Jakusotsu (M2w 8-7) M2 Unkonoyama (M3e 8-7) Oortael (M12w 12-3) M3 Athenayama (Kw 7-8) Andonishiki (M10w 11-4) M4 Oskahanada (M1e 7-8) TochiYESshin (Ke 6-9) M5 Asapedroryu (M7w 9-6) ScreechingOwl (S1w 5-10) M6 Kajiyanosho (M1w 6-9) Toonoryu (M8e 8-7) M7 Flohru (M8w 8-7) Kotononami (M4w 7-8) M8 Kitakachiyama (M5e 7-8) Konosato (M9w 8-7) M9 Terarno (J6e 13-2 Y) Asashosakari (M13e 9-6) M10 Balon (M15w 10-5) Effinojo (M14e 9-6) M11 Gansekiiwa (M12e 8-6-1) Chishafuwaku (M6e 6-8-1) M12 Chelseayama (M15e 9-6) Metzinowaka (M5w 5-10) M13 Kintamayama (M11e 7-8) Bill (M7e 5-10) M14 Papayasu (J3w 10-5) Kachikoshi (J4e 10-5) M15 Kaiowaka (M13w 7-8) Biloumaru (J2e 8-7) M16 Anjoboshi (J2w 8-6-1) Kuroimori (M9e 4-9-2) J1 Rowitoro (M11w 5-10) BlackPinkMawashi (M10e 4-11) J2 Kishikaisei (J10w 11-4) Gaanaag (J7w 9-6) J3 Saruyama (J3e kosho) Takanorappa (J8e 9-5-1) J4 Bunbukuchagama (J6w 8-7) Onakaderu (M14w 5-10) J5 FujiSlava (J11e 10-5) Holleshoryu (J1w 6-9) J6 Andrasoyama (J8w 8-7) Oyama (J4w 7-8) J7 Frinkanohana (J1e 5-10) Warusaru (Ms1w 10-5) J8 Unagiyutaka2 (Ms3w 10-3-2) Profomisakari (Ms2e 9-6) J9 Gawasukotto (J9w kosho) Ulishimaru (J5e 5-3-7) J10 Hana-ichi (J5w 5-10) WAKATAKE (J9e 6-9) J11 Choshu-yuki (J10e 6-9) Chudorj (J12w 7-8) J12 Mariohana (J13e 7-8) Getayukata (NR 10-5) J13 Gusoyama (J12e 6-9) Joputosu (J14w 7-8) J14 Ahokaina (J7e 3-11-1) Ketsukai (J14e 6-9) Ms1 Katoomaru (Ms3e 7-8) Beeftank (J13w 5-10) Ms2 Benihana (Ms4e 7-7-1) Sakura (NR 8-7) Ms3 Hisui (NR 8-7) Fujisan (Ms1e 5-7-3) Ms4 Umigame (Ms5e 6-9) Achiyama (J11w 2-8-5) Ms5 Hokuseiho (Ms5w kosho) Dan Koloff (Ms4w 5-10) Ms6 Akishiki (Ms6w 4-11) Hakunojo (Ms2w 2-13) Ms7 Raiden (Ms7w kosho) Multimikstar (Ms7e 1-0-14) Ms8 Nantonoyama (Ms6e 0-2-13) Backeido (Ms8w 0-0-15) Ms9 Terukaze (Ms9e 0-2-13) Kaito (Y2e 7-8) Ms10 -

Seki-Quadrumvirate (play): The Hatsu edition of Quad had a sole leader on Day 14 - who proceeded with a senshuraku win while all three pursuers lost, giving us one of the rare tournaments with a two-win gap between champion and field. An impressive showing by Oortael! Overall it was a fairly average honbasho for Quad with 48.1% winning days and only a slight advantage of the makuuchi players (48.8%, 17 KK / 25 MK) over the remaining participants (47.5%, 17 KK / 27 MK). As those numbers indicate, significant parts of the new banzuke ended up as a "finding players to fill space" exercise, rather than one of finding space to put players. The ozeki-ranked players charted rather different paths for themselves in Hatsu basho. Going top to bottom by ranking status: Ganzohnesushi was one of the co-leaders on Day 11, but dropped off hard with four consecutive losses. The resulting 9-6 record was still good enough to him to be the best ozeki, however, and in fact for the second straight tournament. Kaito also entered the tournament with a clean slate, but a 4-11 means soft kadoban for Haru. That's okay for now, but you won't want to add a second makekoshi or you'll end up like... Norizo, who was already hard kadoban in Hatsu and thus at risk of demotion, and his minimum KK score of 8-7 has done nothing to change that for Haru. Or even worse, like... Jakusotsu, for whom Hatsu basho was already his third hard kadoban appearance (scores of 7-8 / 6-9 / 8-7 / 8-7 since Natsu 2024). This time he wasn't able to avoid the makekoshi, and his 7-8 result means demotion. We're entering Haru basho with four ozeki anyway, though, as a familiar name has done enough to earn promotion. Kobashi already was ozeki from Haru 2020 to Kyushu 2023, an impressively long stint, and in the seven tournaments since demotion he has posted the following scores (shown with adjustments where such happened): 2024.01 S2w 8-7 2024.03 Se 9-6 -> 8-7 2024.05 Se 10-5 2024.07 S1e 7-8 2024.09 K2e 8-7 2024.11 K1e 14-1 Y -> 12-3 2025.01 Se 10-5 J There's no arguing with a 30-in-3 run, but the yusho / jun-yusho combo is really strong enough on its own already regardless of the Aki 8-7. A well-deserved (re)promotion, congrats! Hatsu basho's other sekiwake Unkonoyama had been on a streak of seven straight kachikoshi (started from M8), no mean feat in a game as volatile as Quad, but they had largely been 8-7's so it wasn't enough for ozeki consideration at any point, and unfortunately he'll have to start over completely now after going 5-10. Two komusubi, Joaoiyama and ScreechingOwl, posted matching 9-6 scores to earn the almost-automatic promotion to sekiwake, while Kuroimori and Flohru stay komusubi after 8-7's, and 7-8 Mariohana drops back into the maegashira ranks. The two demoted players were replaced in the titled ranks by the only two maegashira who produced properly promotable records. I spent quite some time trying to decide where to put Pandaazuma (M1e 10-5) and yusho winner Oortael (M3w 12-3) - the first draft still had them both at the back of a komusubi quartet, but the final version sees them treated more generously with Oortael jumping directly to sekiwake in recognition of his excellent performance and Pandaazuma becoming the top-ranked komusubi ahead of the two 8-7 incumbents. Outside of a bit of preferential treatment for players who were part of the 10-5 jun-yusho crowd, the banzuke-making proceeded in standard fashion - until the MK excess became too large to handle, so from M14w onwards all ranks were determined by equating one win to 2.5 ranks rather than the normal 2. Ganzohnesushi (O1e 9-6) O1 Norizo (O2w 8-7) Kaito (O1w 4-11) O2 Kobashi (Se 10-5) joaoiyama (K1e 9-6) S1 Oortael (M3w 12-3 Y) ScreechingOwl (K2w 9-6) S2 Jakusotsu (O2e 7-8) Pandaazuma (M1e 10-5) K1 Kuroimori (K1w 8-6-1) Flohru (K2e 8-7) K2 - Mariohana (K3e 7-8) M1 Unkonoyama (Sw 5-10) Bunbukuchagama (M7w 9-6) M2 Choshu-yuki (M5w 8-7) Athenayama (M2e 7-8) M3 TochiYESshin (M9e 9-6) Ketsukai (M9w 9-6) M4 Andrasoyama (M1w 6-9) Frinkanohana (M13e 10-5) M5 Achiyama (M4e 7-8) chishafuwaku (M8w 8-7) M6 Oskahanada (M4w 7-8) Gernobono (M2w 6-9) M7 Kitakachiyama (M5e 7-8) GONZABUROW (M3e 6-9) M8 BlackPinkMawashi (M12w 9-6) Bill (M6w 7-8) M9 Asapedroryu (M7e 7-8) Gansekiiwa (M14e 9-5-1) M10 Kamibaka (M8e 6-8-1) Kishikaisei (M11e 7-6-2) M11 Hogashi (J4w 10-5) Asashosakari (M10e 6-8-1) M12 Kyodaitimu (J5w 10-5) Kotononami (M6e 4-11) M13 Kaiowaka (J1w 8-7) reeeen (M12e 6-9) M14 lonewolf (J9e 10-5) Terarno (J4e 8-7) M15 DeRosa (M15w 7-8) Balon (M11w 5-10) M16 - Andonishiki (M14w 6-9) J1 Susanoo (M15e 6-8-1) Chocshoporyu (M10w 4-11) J2 Hakase (J12e 10-5) Kachikoshi (J9w 9-6) J3 Kajiyanosho (M16e 6-9) Rowitoro (J10w 9-6) J4 Warusaru (J8e 8-7) Metzinowaka (J3e 7-8) J5 Kakushoyama (J3w 7-8) Andoreasu (J1e 6-9) J6 Kasamatsuri (M13w 4-11) Takanorappa (J12w 9-5-1) J7 Gusoyama (J5e 7-8) Saruyama (J7e kosho) J8 Oyama (Ms2w 10-5) Hironoumi (J2w 5-8-2) J9 itchynotoe (Ms1w 9-4-2) Kintamayama (J13e 8-7) J10 Furanohana (J13w 8-7) Sukubidubidu (J8w 7-6-2) J11 Joputosu (J6e 6-9) Papayasu (J6w 6-9) J12 KonyaGaYamada (J2e 4-11) Getayukata (J10e 7-8) J13 Hisui (J11e 7-8) Ruziklao (Ms3e 8-6-1) J14 Jejima (J11w 6-7-2) Fujisan (J7w 4-7-4) Ms1 Profomisakari (Ms2e 7-8) Akagitsune (NR 8-4-3) Ms2 Sakura (NR 8-7) WAKATAKE (Ms5e 7-8) Ms3 Doreikishi (J14e 5-10) Tetsukabe (Ms3w 6-9) Ms4 Nantonoyama (Ms1e 5-9-1) Beeftank (Ms4w 6-9) Ms5 Holleshoryu (Ms5w 5-10) Unagiyutaka (Ms6w 5-8-2) Ms6 ballerscuba (Ms7e 5-7-3) Terukaze (J14w 2-12-1) Ms7 Tyerenex (NR 5-8-2) aderechelseamaru (Ms8e kosho) Ms8 Anjoboshi (Ms4e 3-11-1) Hakunojo (Ms7w 4-11) Ms9 Netsuzakura (Ms6e 0-0-15) Multimikstar (Ms8w 0-1-14) Ms10 -

The new yokozuna leads the way - will he make it to 20 kachikoshi and with how many wins? 1. Hoshoryu 19 [score?] 2. Onosato 11* [score?] 3. Aonishiki 8* 4. Tochimaru 6 5. Inami 6* 6. Daieisho 5 [score?] 7. Kusano 5* 8. Takakento 5 9. Okaryu 5* 10. Noda 5* 11. Mishima 5 12. Yurikisho 5 13. Hakuoho 4 TB: [pick?] (* marks rikishi with no makekoshi since debut) The scoring and thus your game assignment: For sanyaku: Please predict an exact record for each rikishi. The target record will be calculated after the deadline and will be chosen so that it bisects the predictions as evenly as possible. The predictions will then be converted into + and - votes as usual; one point for each correct prediction. For lower-ranked rikishi: Please predict for each rikishi if he will finish KK or MK; one point for each correct prediction. (For clarification: If you're expecting an outright makekoshi for one of the sanyaku high-rankers, just predict MK, exact records are only needed on the kachikoshi side of things.) First tie-breaker: From among those 13 guys up there and the further 11 rikishi who are currently just shy of a 5-KK streak (9 'veterans' + 1 newcomer from maezumo + tsukedashi Ishizaki), please guess how many KK you expect in total. Your tie-breaker guess may be anything from 0 to 24. Only exactly correct guesses qualify at this tie-breaker stage. Note: Sanyaku count as correct for the tie-breaker if they achieve KK, they do not need to meet their target records. Next 12 tie-breakers if needed: Correctly predicted rikishi, one-by-one in ballot order, i.e. starting at Hoshoryu. Extra tie-breakers, should two or more players have entered identical ballots: Proximity of their tie-breaker guesses to the correct number, followed by proximity of their sanyaku rikishi guesses to the correct records (one-by-one in ballot order). Final tie-breaker: earliest entry. Note: Rikishi who show up on the before-shonichi kyujo list will be excluded from scoring (even if they end up joining the basho later), so it is not necessary to re-submit your entry if you picked such a rikishi as a KK; he will not count for points anyhow. You may, however, notify me if you'd like to reduce your tie-breaker guess by one point to compensate for the "missing" rikishi. Your position on the entry list (for final tie-breaker purposes) will be deemed unchanged in this special situation. Any other changes to a ballot will be considered a new entry, with correspondingly lower priority for the final tie-breaker. Deadline: Shonichi 2pm JST. ----- Simplified entry template: 1. Hoshoryu W-L 2. Onosato W-L 3. Aonishiki KKMK 4. Tochimaru KKMK 5. Inami KKMK 6. Daieisho W-L 7. Kusano KKMK 8. Takakento KKMK 9. Okaryu KKMK 10. Noda KKMK 11. Mishima KKMK 12. Yurikisho KKMK 13. Hakuoho KKMK TB xx ----- Good luck!

10 Hoshoryu 12 Onosato + Aonishiki + Tochimaru - Inami 10 Daieisho + Kusano - Takakento - Okaryu - Noda + Mishima - Yurikisho + Hakuoho TB 14

Quad and Oracle are available on the game site now, comments to follow tomorrow.

https://www.sumo.or.jp/EnHonbashoBanzuke/index/ Makuuchi Hoshoryu (O1w 12-3 Y) Y - Onosato (O2w 10-5) O Kotozakura (O1e 5-10) Daieisho (S1w 11-4) S Oho (M3w 12-3 D) Kirishima (M1w 11-4) K Abi (K1e 7-8) Wakatakakage (K1w 7-8) M1 Wakamotoharu (S1e 6-9) Gonoyama (M3e 8-7) M2 Chiyoshoma (M5w 9-6) Tobizaru (M2e 7-8) M3 Takanosho (M1e 6-9) Takayasu (M6e 8-7) M4 Ichiyamamoto (M6w 8-7) Ura (M4w 7-8) M5 Kinbozan (M14w 12-3 D) Hiradoumi (M5e 7-8) M6 Takerufuji (M11w 10-5) Shodai (M4e 6-9) M7 Tamawashi (M10e 9-6) Atamifuji (M2w 5-10) M8 Oshoma (M9w 8-7) Hakuoho (M15e 10-5) M9 Endo (M7e 6-9) Nishikigi (M12e 8-7) M10 Shonannoumi (M13e 8-7) Midorifuji (M11e 7-8) M11 Meisei (M10w 6-9) Takarafuji (M8w 5-10) M12 Onokatsu (M12w 7-8) Nishikifuji (M17e 9-6) M13 Shishi (J4w 13-2 Y) Ryuden (J3e 11-4) M14 Churanoumi (M9e 4-11) Aonishiki (J5w 12-3) M15 Sadanoumi (J1e 9-6) Asakoryu (J2w 9-6) M16 Kotoshoho (M13w 5-10) Mitakeumi (M7w 2-13) M17 Shirokuma (J4e 9-6) Tokihayate (M17w 7-8) M18 - Simple style full banzuke:

Probably not?

(I registered for the full article, San-in Chuo Shimpo allows for 5 article views per month for free) While he's attending school in Shimane, 18-year-old Minami himself is from Tsuyama-shi, Okayama prefecture. 180 cm / 111 kg, and part of the sumo club only in his final school year just now. Nevertheless, he got to participate in the prefectural high school championship, the national Inter-High and the National Sports Festival, for the reason mentioned by Akinomaki. (As they say in real estate, "Location, location, location"...) Somebody involved with Hidenoyama-beya spotted Minami at the Inter-High and followed up with him again after the NSF, ultimately convincing him to give up his original post-graduation plan of attending nursing school. "I happened to see some sumo videos and it just looked so cool, so I went in", Minami explained the relatively late discovery of his passion for the sport. A youngster with a sincere character which, Hidenoyama says, will help Minami progress and grow as a professional, he's expected to make his debut in the Natsu honbasho. According to the Oki Fishery HS sumo club, Minami will be the first member to go into ozumo since Okinofuji, who joined in 2006 and retired last year.

Tatsunami's Tatsuosho was doing it during the December tour, before the Akua/Kamito training attempts became known, but he was absent in January and he's kyujo again this basho.

The file has been updated for Haru basho.

I was recently asked about personnel movements in the shimpan department, and to my dismay I realized that I had completely lost track of changes that happened as little as a year ago. And researching that stuff on the forum turned out to be quite arduous, because so far shimpan updates have been posted in all manner of places (the kabu thread, rikishi status, basho talk, completely separate threads...), which makes them rather hard to find later if you don't already know what you're looking for. So, I'm hoping that this thread may become the future one-stop place for shimpan news. In addition, there will be each basho's shimpan shift lineups, so if you're ever watching a live broadcast and wondering who's sitting around the dohyo at that moment, this thread will hopefully allow you to find the answer. All data is sourced from the official torikumi sheets, such as this one from Nagoya 2017 Day 1.

The Day 1 torikumi is out on the Fanclub blog, and with that we've got our new shimpan rotations. Fairly significant lineup changes have occurred even though just three individual shimpan were replaced (outgoing shimpan in italics, new ones in bold). Old: Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Onaruto Tatekawa Urakaze Tamagaki Edagawa Hanaregoma Takenawa Futagoyama Asahiyama Azumazeki Oshima Tanigawa Naruto Ikazuchi Takasago Tokitsukaze Takekuma Ajigawa Nishonoseki Hidenoyama New: Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Onaruto Tatekawa Urakaze Tamagaki Hanaregoma Azumazeki Oshima Futagoyama Tanigawa Ikazuchi Takasago Tokitsukaze Ajigawa Naruto Nishonoseki Hidenoyama Otowayama Tateyama Kiyomigata Takekuma The Urakaze group has simply seen a direct replacement of their Dewanoumi-ichimon representative, Kiyomigata (ex-Tochiozan) for stablemate Takenawa (ex-Tochinonada). The other three were altered more thoroughly; Onaruto in particular had his* entire group exchanged. We continue with one group having two Dewanoumi guys and nobody from Takasago, but rather than Onaruto's group (with himself and Takekuma) it's now the Tamagaki group (with Futagoyama and Takekuma). Tateyama (ex-Homarefuji, M6) is the first shimpan in five years who did not reach at least the rank of maegashira 1 as an active rikishi. * It's not really "his" group, of course; he's just the most senior member.

Yeah, I agree, but it's definitely rare that high up the rankings (Kimura Katsunosuke's no newbie at 8 years of experience) - and so confidently wrong, too, that's what struck me most about it. But beyond that, by "what he was doing" I also meant that odd leg lift he did during his shobu-ari. Just puzzling all around.

Not sure I'll be able to keep up the required daily pace, but anyway... For what to expect in this thread, I'll just quote from the Kyushu thread: One thing I didn't mention: When I'm including the kimarite in the video title, it's one that is sufficiently rare to warrant mention. I worked up the kimarite frequencies of the lower divisions for 2024 and I'll generally mention them whenever it's a kimarite that averaged less than 5 per basho, with kimarite that averaged less than 2 probably* getting featured in video every time they occur. (Between 2 and 5 I'll only include the bout if it was sufficiently interesting on its overall merits, but when I do I'll also mention the kimarite.) Yes, I do realize that the kimarite serves as a spoiler of sorts, but I'm considering these bout compilations to be mainly for entertainment, not for suspense. * Uwatehineri is very rare (just 10 lower-division occurrences in 2024), but it's testing my personal limits of "noteworthy kimarite".