dingo

I don't think having licenced major global players broadcasting sumo will change anything regarding takedowns. Even if the police is different, the laws aren't.

Kisenosato also likely had his hands full doing Kyokai jobs, koenkai and community relations, PR and who knows what else. Dunno how much he was actually be able to be at the stable. As far as I understand few oyakata are able to be at the stable premises 24/7 and police their rikishi. And if Nishonoseki was away what were the other coaches who are supposed to be responsible doing!? Sure, it's the oyakata's job to make sure nothing unseemly happens and not being present doesn't relieve Kisenosato from responsibility but in my mind that also doesn't relieve the rikishi living and training there from the duty of being a decent person. The functioning of a heya has to be based on mutual trust to some extent at least. The sheer stupidity of all those directly involved boggles my mind. Especially the older rikishi, and especially Tomokaze who I thought is a decent guy but turns out is an idiot in the best case and an evil psychopath in the worst. Eye for an eye (ass for an ass?) seems to be a fitting punishment...

With the risk of opening this can of worms again, I guess I'm more of a literal person so I'd see honbasho talk as anything going on during honbasho and ozumo discussions as the place for everything between honbasho. If the lines are blurred then an argument could be made that a lot of threads should be here, even some kabu discussions since they're sometimes related to retirements during or soon after the basho. Also intai news, yokozuna and ozeki promotions (directly related to performance at honbasho) etc.

I guess that 9 in the middle was damning. 9 wins is not exactly strong ozeki candidate territory. Maybe with 10 he would've gotten it.

Sure, I suppose Takayasu will be there.

Maybe Fuji TV is hoping the sumo event will cleanse their collective sins and shame resulting from the scandal Also, big pressure to perform well for the new yokozuna?

Very long quote, but all valid points from the pont of view that the Kyokai is desperate for another yokozuna quickly and Hoshoryu just happened to fit he bill, barely. I mean one more loss over 2 basho and he wouldn't be a candidate. What I don't understand is why the rush. As mentioned, they're putting a lot of credits down and if it doesn't work out for some reason then we have another yokozuna who will be kyujo half the time cause he can't stop losing. But that's the negative point of view, it's up to Hoshoryu to avoid that situation.

I'm not a fan of weak yokozuna promotions. I know the pickings are meager and the Europe events are coming but couldn't the Kyokai at least wait for a yokozuna who can string together at least 14 wins in one basho? Hoshoryu's 13-2 last basho was his single highest win count in his career. On the other hand he has a record of an 8-7 once per year. I guess having yokozuna privileges can paper over the potential weak performances in the future but that doesn't change the fact that almost everyone in makuuchi, including Shodai, can start milking kinboshi soon. I suppose that also happened when Terunofuji was injured but that was a different case. And I can only agree with Asashosakari, I hope this is now the new threshold for yokozuna promotion. Then we can probably have a few soon, and perhaps a few additional ozeki as well.

Maybe I'm strange, but the tail-shaking before tachiai that both Aonishiki and Shishi do is really annoying. Especially Shishi who can't stop bouncing his behind up and down up until both rikishi start moving. Now that I'm done complaining about my pet peeve for this basho, let's look at today's bouts. Hakuoho beat Endo by pure power only. You could sense how Endo was trying to get a better position to execute one of his smooth throws but Hakuoho did really well on the belt and in the end was simply stronger and more stable. Shonannoumi again more nimble than one would expect of a rikishi of his size. This time Ichiyamamoto was the target of his deft moves and somewhat surprisingly Shonannoumi is kachikoshi with a day left. Ichiyamamoto has to get his tomorrow, but at least he won't have to face his doppelganger, who incidentally has the same score as him. Shodai's mid-basho surge that started with his win over Hoshoryu was in the end too short as he ends up makekoshi at the hands of Midorifuji. Midorifuji himself is about to complete a wondrous turnaround similar to Shonannoumi, with a chance to grab his 8th win tomorrow. Gonoyama easily read Tobizaru's lame henka attempt and sent the monkey flying (pardon the pun, couldn't help it). Somehow Tobizaru hasn't been able to figure out a way to win against Gonoyama and he'll have to try again next basho. Mitakeumi keeps the record of the worst makuuchi performance so far as he loses to Atamifuji. Although Atamifuji has also a bad record with 10 losses, today his sumo looked miles better than Mitakeumi's. Even a fusensho would've been better looking than what Mitakeumi offered. Oho again with an excellent plan B, keeping himself in the yusho and sanyaku race. Actually, if either Abi or Wakatakakage loses tomorrow he won't even have to push too hard for the latter. I'm praying to sumo gods that his performance this basho is not a blip and he can finally step up. Takanosho on the other hand is not yet quite at the level that Demon Kakka predicted. Kinbozan! He went face to face with Kirishima and bested him fair and square, no ifs or buts here. Like hakutorizakura, I too thought he would be at a disadvantage going yotsu with Kirishima but he was excellent. As Kintamayama said, a performance definitely worthy of the yusho. Takerufuji gave up an inside grip disappointingly easily and from then on it was all Hoshoryu. The yusho result might be out of his hands tomorrow but I'm sure he's mentally ready for a playoff. Tomorrow -- I'm an Oho fan but I'm rooting for Kinbozan to get his well deserved yusho with an excellent 13-2 score. Also because I sincerely believe Oho's time will come soon.

Looking at Nabatame's presence, Futagoyama beya's YouTube channel certainly seems to have a decent amount of admirers. No wonder other heya are following their example.

It's probably the prime minister as Akinomaki posted just above.

Congratulations to Tamawashi on starting the new year with a kachikoshi with two days to spare, teaching some young upstarts a thing or two as well. I'm hoping the ironman won't get rusty for the rest of the year either. Mitakeumi hasn't offered much the entire basho. At best he seems to be able to resist attacks for a bit until he's taken out. Not counting the absentees, Mitakeumi has the most losses in makuuchi as of now. Despite that I'm not sure he will retire quite yet, perhaps he wants to have another go next basho. But it doesn't look good for him in his current shape. Endo's henka counted on the fact that Shonannoumi would actually move forward which to Endo's disappointment he didn't do much. After a dismal start, Shonannoumi is on the verge of kachikoshi. Endo has to win out but even if he goes makekoshi his sumo has been OK on most days which should give him hope for the rest of the year. Hakuoho grabbed his second ever makuuchi kachikoshi, beating Hiradoumi with solid sumo. He hasn't been spectacular this basho but give him a few basho to settle in makuuchi and I'm sure he'll mix it up in the joi soon. I'm sure he's looking forward to meeting his once-rival Onosato in a match again soon. Oho successful got over his bad record with Ura to remain in the yusho running. Once he started pulling I was prepared for the worst but Oho managed to maintain his stability well, keep his distance and exploit Ura's forward momentum. Not beautiful sumo but certainly effective. After Wakatakakage's win over Shodai it looks likely that in order to get promoted to sanyaku Oho has to force his way there so every win counts. After having been given a trial by fire by Hoshoryu, Kinbozan didn't show the slightest of nerves against Kotozakura. With two days to go he stays in the lead and will have to hold on for two more bouts to get a yusho that sounded ridiculous before the basho. Kirishima tomorrow will be a big test, but if he wins I'll guess there'll be just one of the Waka brothers left, neither of whom are in prime condition this basho.

Great analogy! This is how Takerufuji got a new nickname

We are getting close to the and and things are really starting to get interesting now. Nishikigi was unusually quick today as he moved close in to Tokihayate and easily escorted him out. One of Nishikigi's best bouts this basho. Tamawashi surprised everyone including himself by getting the better of Hakuoho on the belt. To be honest I was mentally prepared to give up on Tamawashi's kachikoshi chances after seeing this matchup and looking at his sumo in the recent days, but now he has three whole days to grab his missing one win. Pretty good start for the veteran. Hilarious loss by Shonannoumi. He huffed and he puffed and he wasn't looking at all what his feet are doing. Whereas Oshoma basically stood there and looked on as Shonannoumi just fell over. He could've easily been within one win of his kachikoshi but alas. It was not Oho's best sumo this basho as he was overwhelmed by Kirishima and managed to get into a very disadvantageous position. But perhaps at this stage we shouldn't expect too much from Oho anyway. Besides, he's already done really well and I'm hoping he'll at least get a sanyaku debut as a reward. But Kirishima stands in his way and unless Wakatakakage goes makekoshi Oho might unfortunately miss out again. For the last five days Shodai is a different man. I can't help but be again and again surprised how good his sumo can be if he only wants a little bit. Can he actually get a kachikoshi? Why did Wakamotoharu resort to a henka now? He's already makekoshi, wouldn't it have made more sense to try it a bit earlier? Yeah he could potentially land at komusubi if he wins all remaining bouts but in his current shape it doesn't look likely. So today looked like he was just letting out his frustration on poor Hiradoumi. Pretty disappointing. Kinbozan is not yet ready to tussle with the big boys in decisive moments. But that shouldn't be held against him as he simply hasn't got enough experience. He's still in the lead but it's growing thin and pressure is building. Kotozakura did everything right and then just crumbled. More than his loss today he's probably concerned about the kadoban which he's facing unless he wins all remaining three, including Hoshoryu who's relishing the opportunity to get revenge for last basho. On the other hand, Kotozakura has the excellent opportunity to ruin Hoshoryuu's basho again. In this shape it'll be difficult for Kotozakura but stranger things have happened in sumo (see also Shodai vs Hoshoryu five days ago). The bulldozer was at work again as Chiyoshoma found out just how much power Onosato has. As everyone pointed out, tomorrow is a crucial bout for bot Onosato who can stay at least in theoretical yusho running as well as Hoshoryu who needs all three remaining wins to keep a tsuna run somewhat alive. Saying that, it's increasingly starting to look like a 11-4 yusho might actually be likely. I'm not saying it will happen but there's enough opportunities for everyone to stumble so that we might be scratching our heads on senshuraku wondering how did we end up like that.

I'm sure they'll accommodate Kinbozan should the need actually arise. To my knowledge Japan has in recent years become much more aware of the restrictions other faiths have. Some universities serve halal food in their cafeteria etc. I don't think it'd be a big issue to fill the giant cup with Sprite or something.