Koorifuu

I don't see how Takakeisho was a better candidate than Hoshoryu. Hoshoryu is on his 9th basho as an ozeki. No MKs yet, never been kadoban, despite injuries that have made him go kyujo. Takakeisho's longest KK streak as an ozeki was 6, and even that was an outlier as he only got past 3 twice. Hoshoryu got to 13 wins once in 8 ozeki basho. Takakeisho did it once as well, but in 30 ozeki basho.

Probably a coincidence this time. They probably settled their differences a few months ago since Tobizaru stopped going deliberately for his knees.

Well, this is disappointing.

That was araibira. He did some fantastic work, I used to watch everything every day thanks to him.

Here we go. The Naruto school of literal hard knocks strikes again.

Thanks - I guess that been implied, but I didn't make that assumption.

Happy to hear that Asashoryu's health is at a level where he can attend these.

Side note. With Virtua Fighter coming back strong into public conscience for, at least, those interested in videogames, and their rikishi character, I'd love to see some VF kensho.

You might get an answer straight from the "horse's mouth" in this very forum.

I'd probably be in!

DIfferent folks will have different opinions. But, in my book, getting money from people by deliberately misrepresenting the product you're selling them, amounts to swindling. I seriously don't believe that the organisers legitimately think their event is indeed going to be considered an official tournament. I don't doubt they'll be selling plenty of tickets to people who don't want to miss this supposed once-in-a-lifetime event where London was graced with the privilege of being the only place outside of Japan to hold a competition, but would have little to no interest otherwise.

I do. Most egregious claims are borne out of benign ignorance, but there seems to be a swindling element to this one.

This will all be my own speculative take, of course, but I wouldn't be surprised if the NSK is conniving with the organisers, particularly if their deal involves a fee for each ticket sold to a naïve foreigner and/or a share from publicity revenue. They do this infrequently enough to keep the waters calm, any pressure resulting from the false claims will just fizzle out as soon as it came. And it definitely won't get to a level where finger pointing towards the organisers wouldn't work anymore.

Thank you, the terms really come across as correct all around. If anything, I'm unsettled by their apparent conveyance of the message that this will be a competitive event on pair with honbasho, as opposed to a glorified exhibition that won't have any effect on the banzuke. That kind of deliberate misinformation, which I imagine stems from a concerted attempt to aggrandise the event in order to maximise their potential revenue, might've worked in 1991 but it won't take much for people to figure it out in this day and age.

Also this: "Who will prevail against the champion Yokozuna?" Bold of them to presume there'll be one by then!

That's the venue that was mooted for the cancelled plans from a couple of years ago. Good to see they're following through.

I might head there as well, presuming it's open to the public.

I'll be sure to print a King Shodai t-shirt in the meantime.

I'll most likely be there.

Love the topic name.

I'll place some bets on Tamashoho.

The lack of replies thus far says it all: a fairly low-key crop. Nobody really raises obvious question marks, as they all look like they've hit their ceiling and there's no public hint of any acrimonious circumstances behind their departures. All the best to everyone.

They don't even look alike, up close. It's more of a demeanour / body language thing. They give off very similar vibes.

Glad I'm not the only one.

I'm with Gurowake in that Nabatame is very likely to stay 14e, if anything, as there's Daishoho/Kotokuzan.