Chiyozakura

What I would be interested in is a republication of Clyde's book on the Makuuchi rikishi of the Showa era or a collection of his biographies on the Yokozuna and other historically significant rikishi. Despite the experience with Sumo World in the last ten years he is still one of the most knowledgebale guys regarding Sumo history.

Do you also have an idea about this one?

I have purchased a collection of Tegata but cannot identify some of them. I hope some of you can help. I have an assumption about the first and third but no idea about the last two, although I actually already owned the last one but did not make a note who it was... No. 1: No.2: No.3: No.4: Do you have any ideas?

Thanks! Kirinji is what I thought, too, but I had never seen one of his tegata so far. Shimotori seems to be right. I have another one of his where the second kanji looks totally different but I assume this one is from the time he changed his shikona to Shimootori. Hoo and Ryogoku should be correct as well. Good job!

I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere so I will add it here. Hakuho's Yusho was actually a historic one as he has now beaten Taiho's record of eight 15-0 Yusho and now leads the zensho yusho list with nine ahead of Taiho's and Futabayama's eight.

Hi Adminstrators, I cannot login with my old account anymore. I guess it has something to do with the e-mail address login. Is it possible to connect my old Chiyozakura account with the e-mail address I have used for this login? Thanks!

Shibatayama has elaborated on his three-pronged plan today: 1. Taking away all sekitori mobile phones during a basho. "This is what started this whole mess, so it's natural we start with that," he explained. This suggestion will certainly be met with a lot of opposition by the rikishi who will not be able to communicate with family, friends and koenkai members. 2. Torikumi announced the same day. Today, Makuuchi is announced the morning before and Juryo the evening before. Ample time to plan stuff. This plan will shorten that time. 3. During a basho, the rikishi will be isolated. "I don't know how far we can go with this, but we have to consider it," said Shibatayama. It is possible to rearrange the shitakubeya at the KKan, but the other venues are more difficult to control. They could bring in people to watch over the rikishi (so they don't interact) or they can make the tsukebito wear different color pants for the east and west shitakubeya, so it will be easy to spot any person entering from the other side. "I don't know what the sumo world will be like from now on, but we have to eliminate all unfairness!" summed the cakebaker maker. This sounds so ridiculous. Is it April Fool's Day already? You want to forbid grown up men a cell phone? Announcing the torikumi the same day will not bring much. Sekitori basically know who they will face in the course of a basho so you can still make plans on a big scale. Or you make the torikumi totally random. Musubinoichiban on senshuraku is Hakuho vs Moriurara. As he did not expect that he probably could not have bought him so we will see good and fair sumo. Well, at least it does not sound as impossible to implement as #1 and 3. I mean, how do they want to make sure for example non of Harumafuji's tsukebito will be placed on the other side of the dohyo and thus in the opposite shitakubeya on a given day? Sounds like torikumi making will become a complicated job.

The yusho and kensho money should be quite sufficient. Don't forget that Asashoryu was accused by Shukan Gendai of having bought 11 (!) wins in a single basho at something like 800,000 yen per bout...whatever one may think about the veracity of that claim, that's still only about one third of what he made that basho (~9 million yen from two months of salary and the personal basho bonus, 10 million yen for the yusho, ~8 million yen net from kensho). But that money is the same for everybody. All other rikishi could earn the same kensho, salary and yusho bonus. A Japanese might even be able to earn more from sponsors than Asashoryu or Hakuho could. So why did, for example, Tochiazuma not simply buy his way up to more Yusho and Yokozuna promotion if it was so easily possible? The only possible answer I see is that this only works for rikishi like Asashoryu where the opponents believe they will lose anyway, so better take a small money than nothing. But that could only happen if most of his matches before had been gachinko and he had proven his dominance, which would on the one hand mean that there would not be that many yaocho bouts and on the other makes me wonder why that superior rikishi should buy wins in the first place.

Strongest but maybe he didn't want to run the risks.... Nobody wants to run any risks if they can be avoided. What I do not understand among rumours for the top ranked rikishi: How can they finance it? If these were Japanese in Mongolia I could see the possibility of being so much more wealthy but the other way round? From where should Hakuho and Asashoryu have so much money? Don't tell me they pay it from the money they earn as a rikishi because than the guys selling the bouts would be incredibly stupid to not win yusho themselves and take the whole sum. So it could only be a part of the matches. And why should you buy some bouts if you are superior anyway? This does not add up so I stay sceptical. And then my next question would be: Why is not a Japanese rikishi smart enough to buy himself up to Yokozuna instead of swapping wins around to rarely stay in Juryo?

While I can understand the decision to cancel the basho I wonder when they will declare the problem solved. You will never be able to proof that yaocho does not occur anymore. Whenever a 7-7 rikishi wins has last bout against somebody who does not need the win to improve his rank it will look fishy. The same goes for an Ozeki in danger of going make koshi against an already kachi koshi Ozeki. An these are just the obvious ones. The current scandal is about matches where the importance of the outcome does not meet the eye directly. If the case is further investigated and no proof is found it can be interpreted the way that the others were just smart enough not to get caught. There is just too much trust destroyed.

Hasn't former Kasuganishiki just taken over the Takenawa name? Looks like his Oyakata career will be a short one. But seriously, this could be the biggest blow to sumo. I guess most of us suspected rikishi to share victories when some friends needed one (I give you the kachi koshi this time, and you help me next time), but now the whole thing sounds way bigger than I expected it to be. I still do not believe that as Peterao suggests the NSK scripts most of the bouts. If they did I doubt they would find it great to not have a Japanese Yusho winner during the last five years.

Is it already known whether Kasuganishiki leaves the NSK? He would be a logical choice as he is Tochiozan's sempai.

Kokonoe Beya seems to have a good generation of prospects for the next decade: - Chiyonokuni (20, 4-2 at Ms17) - Chiyootori (18, 3-3 in Makushita debut as Ms32) - Chiyozakura (23, 4-2 as Ms35 in only fifth basho on the banzuke) - Chiyoarashi (19, 5-1 as Ms42) - Chiyomaru (19, 4-3 as Sd7, so probable Makushita return) Add this Meigetsuin guy and you have a good mix of rikishi that should produce at least three sekitori.

:-) Happy Birthday! Former Dairyugawa is now a pensioneer, the Kiyomigata kabu is available again and Futeno has had his seventh bout. Any news already?

That is sad to hear. I still love to look into the old Sumo World issues from time to time. He has done an excellent job with that magazine for nearly 30 years. What a pity that it does not exist in its former format anymore.

I see three major reasons for this: 1. General disinterest in sumo. Since the mid 90's attendence and ratings have gone down steadily. Sumo has become an old people's sport with less and less young fans. I see this as the major problem for the NSK. 2. No strong Japanese rikishi. The winningst Japanese rikishi last year was Tochiozan. That says it all. He may be a talent, but he just had one good basho at Sekiwake. No Yusho race, no serious attempt at Ozeki. He is an also-ran. Kisenosato has not improved in the last two years and I see no other Japanese rikishi with the potential to seriously fight for the Yusho out of the joi-jin at least once. It is a sad situation if you have to hope for 16year old Sandanme kid like Tatsu to be the next Japanese to do it. 3. No competition for the Yusho. With Asashoryu's retirement Hakuho's Yusho has been a foregone conclusion in each and every basho. The Ozeki all stopped performing after being promoted. None of them has had more than one really good basho at that rank. Having one Kaio hang on forever is nice, but having guys ten or more years his junior just hanging on to their ranks is boring. I do not have the feeling that any of them are seriously gunning for the Yusho or have a chance to join Hakuho at the top rank. And this is not Hakuho's fault, but the other rikishis'. He can deal one loss to each of them per basho, not more. So why can nobody at least go 11-4 constantly and light a little hope of taking it one step further?

Sounds like Tosanoumi as the owner of the Tatekawa kabu will retire tomorrow and Kaio will carry on.

I have had the impression for the last year or so that Kyokutenho has been doing low risk sumo with the intent of staying injury free in low-mid level makuuchi until retirement day arrives. It always seemed to me that he and Kyokushuzan never really did more than they needed to savely stay in Makuuchi for a very long time. For Kyokushuzan that might be true but I think it is an unfair statement regarding Kyokutenho. He became a Sanyaku regular in his late 20's / early 30's and even now at 36, although not as strong as he used to, is still a permanent member of the joi-jin. I think he has made a lot out of his possibilities. The fact that he is now weakening should be credited to age and not to a lack of commitment to competition.

The others were not in the Modern Era. Thanks for the interesting Wiki link. Except for Futabayama the others were not really winning streaks but undefeated streaks. Back in the days many bouts were ruled hikiwake draws. For example in the January basho of 1880 Umegatani had no wins at all despite being in the middle of his winning streak. His result was four hikiwake and five (according to sumo reference six) absences. So talking about consecutive wins without draws or absences Hakuho now is indeed #2 after Futabayama.

The next Oyakata to retire is Kiyomigata from Dewanoumi Ichimon's Mihogaseki Beya, which only has Aran as Sekitori now. So that one might be free for members of the Dewanoumi ichimon. 2012 Iwatomo will turn 65 and could make room for another Kasugano man. I wonder who will take over Mihogaseki Beya? The share will be free in three years, and all possible successors have left the stable already.

Well said. In the end the likes of Kotomitsuki are to blame, no matter how you judge the overall situation. He should have known that his behaviour would be unacceptable if known to the public. Hopefully there will be others with Takamisakari's attitude as well.

A record that seems easier to reach for Hakuho is the zensho Yusho record. Futabayama and Taiho lead in that category with 8 zensho, followed by Kitanoumi and Chiyonofuji with 7. Hakuho now has 6 and has achieved that milestone quicker than anybody else in the 15 day era. On fifth position on that list is Asashoryu with 5, so Hakuho has after the most wins in a calender year managed to overtake Asashoryu in that respect as well. I am very sceptcial about the 69 straight wins, though. Besides good health you also need a good portion of luck and to go rensho, and with dangerous opponents like Kotooshu, Harumafuji and Baruto he will need a lot of luck to stay undefeated for another two basho. Not to mention my personal upset of the decade against Shotenro...

Any background stories on why Oshima should have troubles with two of his most successful deshi?

As the usual Asashoryu defenders seem to be on vacation I feel the urge to take their place: This is all racism. Businessmen only sue him because he is a gaijin. It is all part of a major plan to get him out of sumo and stop him from breaking Taiho's yusho record. First the media, then the NSK, now businessmen. And he only did it for the children, can't they see? Phew, I feel better now...