mikawa

As far as I know, the rikishis from high school apply to the universities that they want to attend, with their reputation for sumo being a major considering factor. I believe that club members don't actually live together, but they do spend a lot of time together for practice and meals. In Toyo University's case, they have keiko daily from Tuesdays to Sundays each week. The team positions are decided by their coaches, and are mainly arbitrary (except for the 5th position being in deciding bouts and possibly the 1st position being in opening bouts).

第52回全日本大学選抜相撲十和田大会 Individual Competition Winner - Watanabe Ryo (渡辺 亮, Kindai University) Runner-Up - Nakajima Nozomi (中島 望, Nihon University), left in photo Semi-Finals - Sato Takashi (佐藤 崇, Nippon Sport Science University), right in photo Semi-Finals - Nishizawa Motoyasu (西澤 元康, Nippon Sport Science University) Team Competition Winner - Toyo University Shiroyama Seira (城山 聖羅) ･ Nishino Tomonori (西野 倫理) ･ Terasawa Itsuki (寺沢 樹) ･ Fukai Takuto (深井 拓斗) ･ Shiroishi Masahito (白石 雅仁) Runner-Up - Kindai University Watanabe Ryo (渡辺 亮) ･ Yamaguchi Reo (山口 怜央) ･ Tanioka Iori (谷岡 伊織) ･ Motobayashi Kenji (元林 健治) ･ Higo Yuta (肥後 勇太) Semi-Finals - Nihon University Semi-Finals - Takushoku University Videos Last 32 - Final Team Semi-Final #1 - Nihon University vs Kindai University Team Semi-Final #2 - Takushoku University vs Toyo University Team 3rd Place Play-off - Nihon University vs Takushoku University Team Final - Kindai University vs Toyo University Comments Toyo University sure are unbeatable at the moment, having won their nth consecutive team yusho, and with the exact same team as well. Shiroishi Masahito is proving to be a reliable anchor, as he wins yet another deciding bout (he's been doing that ever since middle school). Kindai University have done very well though, considering that they have a couple of young guys on their team, notably last year's High School Yokozuna Yamaguchi Reo. If Kindai's members continue to develop, their yusho will surely not be far away. Speaking of, Toyo University weren't able to get the individual title this time around, as Kindai University's Watanabe Ryo came home with the win.

One of the coaches at Tachikawa Renseikan mentioned earlier this month that Yuriki would join Ozumo in Aki. He also commented that Yuriki's sumo is strong, but is slightly lacking in power

A TV show pitted Takatoriki against 2-time Wanpaku Yokozuna Yamashita Shosuke (山下 昇介), which Takatoriki was able to win pretty comfortably. And so, they decided to see how he would fare against some top middle schoolers, one from each grade (1-3), really liked their choices btw. First up, we have 1-time Wanpaku Yokozuna, 2-time Primary School Yokozuna and multiple Hakuho Cup winner Uchida Kyota (内田 京汰). Though a bit shy, Uchida is a very skilled rikishi (having also learnt Judo), and has a very good strategical mind. However, his one weakness is that Uchida lacks raw power (he almost never wins by oshidashi). Let's see if Takatoriki can take advantage of that. And next, we have Primary School Yokozuna and Hakuho Cup winner Kawazoe Fuma (川副 楓馬), who is as good academically as he is sporting-wise (4th in his whole year group). Kawazoe has incredible power as well as superb fighting spirit, and thinks quickly during bouts. Can Takatoriki find a way to beat him? Finally, we have Middle School quarter-finalist Nobehara Toma (延原 闘真), who doesn't like studying, but is an all-round rikishi.

第28回全国都道府県中学生相撲選手権大会 This second biggest sumo tournament at Middle School level took place today at the Kokugikan Stadium, and features 3 categories - Lightweight, Open Weight and Team competition. Open Weight Competition Winner - Mukainakano Shingo (向中野 真豪, Tottori) Runner-Up - Yamamoto Takeru (山本 剛瑠, Mie) Semi-Finals - Kume Kiyoshi (粂 貞, Yamagata) Semi-Finals - Ito Yasuki (伊藤 寧, Chiba) Quarter-Finals - Ezure Haruki (江連 春樹, Ibaraki) Quarter-Finals - Nobehara Toma (延原 闘真, Osaka) Quarter-Finals - Ochiai Tetsuya (落合 哲也, Tottori) Quarter-Finals - Takei Sakutaro (武井 朔太郎, Shizuoka) Lightweight Competition Winner - Kawakami Ryusho (川上 竜昌, Kumamoto) Runner-Up - Mizunuma Waku (水沼 湧, Ehime) Semi-Finals - Yamashita Tatsuma (山下 立真, Ishikawa) Semi-Finals - Inoue Goshi (井ノ上 豪志, Wakayama) Quarter-Finals - Banba Yuta (番場 裕太, Kanagawa) Quarter-Finals - Soma Ryosuke (相馬 良亮, Aomori) Quarter-Finals - Kato Masaki (加藤 真基, Tokyo) Quarter-Finals - Matsunaga Hayato (松永 颯斗, Gifu) Team Competition Winner - Team Kumamoto Runner-Up - Team Ishikawa Semi-Finals - Team Tochigi Semi-Finals - Team Tottori Quarter-Finals - Team Tokyo Quarter-Finals - Team Kochi Quarter-Finals - Team Miyagi Quarter-Finals - Team Kagawa Comments It just so happens that 7 of the top 8 in the open weight competition are familiar names from their Wanpaku days, the only one who isn''t is the big and powerful Mukainakano Shingo (向中野 真豪), and he went on to win the whole thing. However, that is not to say that he isn't a big name from his primary school days, as Mukainakano is actually a 2-time Primary School Yokozuna, he's just never appeared at the Wanpaku Tournament. The same is true for his then Ise (Mie) compatriot Kakuda Toraki (角田 虎紀), who is also a Primary School Yokozuna. Apparently, this is because their club chose not to enter the Wanpaku qualifiers in Mie for various reasons. As such, Mukainakano winning the tournament is no surprise at all, as he was one of the favourites today. What was surprising though, is the fact that he's now representing Tottori instead of Mie, which suggests that he's moved there to receive a better education / sumo education, as Tottori is home to one of the best high schools for sumo in the country - Tottori Johoku High School, where the newly-crowned High School Yokozuna is from. A lot of the contestants today have moved to a different prefecture since primary school, including the still 1st years Narita Rikido and Sosorufu, yes, THE Narita Rikido and THE Sosorufu. Speaking of, Narita Rikido looked very impressive today, including winning a belt battle against 3rd year Yoshioka Yudai, which is no mean feat. He's now at a higher level compared to his long time rival Uchida Kyota, so expect to see Narita become Middle School Yokozuna in 2 years' time. The person who stopped Narita today was runner-up Yamamoto Takeru, who also beat Narita in their team match, though Mie went on to lose 2-1 to Tottori. Yamamoto has had some very impressive wins today, including against the much bigger Ito Yasuki in the semi-final. The only non-3rd year in the top 8 is 2nd year Ochiai Tetsuya, who is one of my favourite rikishi from his year group. He's kinda similar to Kodama Hayato in the sense that he's got good power and skills, along with a rikishi's body. The difference is, Ochiai is always there or thereabouts but not quite. In the lightweight competition, Kawakami Ryusho showed great skills today to win the yusho. It says a lot that Team Kumamoto put him in the last position on the team, which he repaid by winning some very important bouts for the team today. It was nice to see Aomori's Soma Ryusuke and Gifu's Matsunaga Hayato getting some more spotlight again, as they are part of the reason why their year group is my favourite one. To see Soma's strength, please take a look at 47:12 in this video, and for Matsunaga's skill, 23:55 in this video. Team Kumamoto finally broke their curse of being perpetual runners-up earlier this year in the 7th Hakuho Cup, and they have now gone on to win this tournament as well. I was puzzled as to how on earth Udo Junior Sumo Club, with their team of all-stars failed to win the National Club Championships back in 2013. Now I know. Honda Gotaro nearly always bottles his potential when it really matters, while Hanaoka Masaki, despite being a 2-time Wanpaku Yokozuna, is VERY inconsistent, as he has shown today. Though luckily for them, every time Hanaoka failed to win their opening bout, the very powerful Kawazoe Fuma (former Primary School Yokozuna and still in his 2nd year) and today's lightweight champion Kawakami Ryusho were always able to come up with the goods to win the match 2-1. This was also the case in the final. On paper though, Team Tottori were probably the favourite for today, as their team was made up of Mukainakano Shingo, Narita Rikido and Ochiai Tetsuya. They had strong showings all the way through the tournament, but in the semi-final against Team Ishikawa, the 2-year age gap was a bit too much for 2-time Wanpaku Yokozuna and last year's Primary School Yokozuna Narita Rikido; while Ochiai Tetsuya, despite being on the front foot in the deciding bout, fell victim to an utchari. Hence the comment "there or thereabouts but not quite". I was supporting Team Tokyo today, which was led by Tachikawa Renseikan's Gohara Takatoshi, who is a college senpai to Yoshikaze. The team, which was made up of Tachikawa Renseikan's Ichikawa Taiyo (市川 太陽), Komatsuryu Dojo's Yanagisawa Tsubasa (柳澤 翼) and Mitaka Sumo Club's Hanafusa Kai (花房 海). They did very well to reach the quarter-finals, and 2nd year Hanafusa won his fair share of deciding bouts along the way. One of the highlights from today was a group of kids from Komatsuryu Dojo, who were sitting together near one of the entrances, shouting TSU-BA-SA, TO-CHI-GI (Kitano Soma) and YU-U-DAI (Yoshioka Yudai) etc. at the top of their voices whenever a club-mate was involved in a bout. They'll probably be shouting SA-KA-I this time next year Edit: Many oyakatas and rikishis were there in the Kokugikan, presumably to scout out potential new recruits, including Sadogatake-oyakata (former Kotonowaka) and Naruto-oyakata (former Kotooshu)

Surprised to hear that about Naya Konosuke, he seemed to have a good body for sumo when he reached the Wanpaku final in Grade 4. Guess things went off track for a while since then?

Spoke with Sasaki Chikara's dad today, who revealed that Chikara is currently a member of his high school's sumo club, and will be going on to college. As for joining Ozumo? That's no longer going to happen. (However, someone else from Tachikawa Renseikan is planning to turn pro this coming basho)

A House for Training Location - Suwa Shrine, Tachikawa, Tokyo Keiko - Tuesdays (6pm - 9pm), Saturdays (6pm - 9pm) Situated within the grounds of Susa Shrine (諏訪神社) in Tachikawa City, Western Tokyo, Tachikawa Renseikan Sumo Dojo (立川練成館相撲道場) is one of the oldest sumo clubs in Japan, having been founded all the way back in 1952. They are one of the few clubs in Japan to have 2 dohyos instead of the usual 1 (one for middle school students, the other for primary school students). The annual National Club Championships (全国少年相撲選手権大会) was formerly known as the National Junior Sumo Tachikawa Championships, which attracted more than 800 junior rikishi from across the country at one point. In fact, such is Renseikan's establishness, that there are even road signs in Tachikawa pointing to their location: Like Komatsuryu Dojo, Tachikawa Renseikan have also been featured in many TV programs and documentaries, the most notable of which is probably "Chikara - The Sumo Wrestler's Son", as the protagonist in the video, Sasaki Chikara (佐々木 主税), was a member of Renseikan at the time. The training opponent that he couldn't beat in the video is the club's ace in recent years, Yoshida Yuriki (吉田 優力). There is also this TV program about sumo by German series Galileo, which follows a kid called Moro Yamato (毛呂 倭) as he learns sumo for the first time with Tachikawa Renseikan: Tachikawa Renseikan have a number of coaches, most of whom are established members of the amateur sumo scene. For example, their Vice-Chairman Gohara Yoshitada (郷原 義忠) was the head shimpan at the 31st Wanpaku Tournament. Below is a list of the club's current coaches, all of whom are alumni of College and/or High School Sumo Clubs: Hamada Kazuro (浜田 和郎) - Nippon Sport Science University Gohara Yoshitada (郷原 義忠) - Komazawa University Sagawa Toshihiko (佐川 聡彦) - Meiji University, Nakano High School Gohara Takatoshi (郷原 貴利) - Nippon Sport Science University Kono Shunji (河野 俊志) - Tokyo University of Agriculture Shirakura Sho (白倉 昇) - Meiji University, Nakano High School Goto Kenji (後藤 健志) - Senshu University Under such tutelage, Tachikawa Renseikan have produced many prominent rikishi during their long history, including: Saito Kazuo (斉藤 一雄) - Amateur Yokozuna, High School Yokozuna Kato Koichi (加藤 耕市) - Amateur Yokozuna, High School Yokozuna, Middle School Yokozuna Tanaka Yasuhiro (田中 康弘) - Wanpaku Yokozuna Nishimura Yoshikane (西村 嘉兼) - Wanpaku Yokozuna Ishida Tetsuya (石田 哲也) - Middle School Yokozuna Tateno Suguru (立野 卓) - High School Sumo Kanazawa Championships Shinzato Masaya (新里 昌也) - Wanpaku Yokozuna、Primary School Yokozuna Nakamura Daiki (中村 大輝), aka Hokutofuji - Student Yokozuna、High School Yokozuna、Middle School Yokozuna Sawada Hideo (沢田 日出夫) - Wanpaku Yokozuna, Primary School Yokozuna Like Mitaka Sumo Club, Tachikawa Renseikan also maintain a blog each week. They have their keiko on Tuedays and Saturdays, from 6pm to 9pm. The walls of their training ground is lined with various trophies, certificates, newspaper articles and event information. They even have wood blocks with their members' names on the wall (a very nice touch): Team Purple:

And one more thing. I asked the club members there who their favourite rikishi was. Quite a few of them said Hakuho, 2 of them said Chiyonofuji, and other answers included Abi, Hokutofuji (their club senpai), Asashoryu and Ura

Tachikawa Renseikan's Sagawa-sensei was kind enough to let me watch their keiko today to make notes on what happens during a keiko session at a local sumo club. Here's what happened during today's keiko, which was 3 hours long. The notes are based on how many times any particular club member does each activity, so we are thus able to see exactly how much exercise a club member gets during their twice-a-week keiko sessions, and to see if we ourselves are able to take it. 18:10 - Some club members have changed into their mawashi belts, and start to sweep the dohyo 18:30 - The sweeping is done and more members have arrived, so they spray some water on the dohyo 18:32 - Some warm-up exercises, which includes Swinging their arms clockwise and anti-clockwise 24 times Stretching their arms and body 48 times Move their head sideways, forward, back, and in a circle 32 times Do the bow stance 4 times 18:36 - Do shiko 100 times (by the end of it, they were all VERY tired and covered in sweat)，then do the drop stance 12 times 18:48 - Suriashi, which includes Doing it slowly 6 times Doing it quickly 9 times Doing it quickly and then moving rightwards 14 times Doing it quickly and then moving rightwards, then leftwards, then rightwards again 3 times Doing it quickly 5 times 18:56 - Suriashi finishes, the club members get some rest 19:02 - Moving sideways along the edge of the dohyo like in suriashi, changing directions as soon as the coach claps their hand (otherwise keep moving around the dohyo in the same direction) 19:03 - The above training finishes, the club members get some more rest 19:06 - Doing suriashi around the dohyo, but this time moving forwards by jumping, and holding a dumbbell in their hand 19:08 - The above training finishes, the club members get some more rest 19:10 - They sweep the dohyo, and spray some more water 19:13 - The club members are sorted into pairs, and face their paired opponent up to 12 times 19:14 - During this time, the club members who are not involved in a bout train around the dohyo, which includes Squatting Shiko Push-ups Swinging their arms Teppo 19:38 - Moshi-ai (where the winner stays on and can choose their next opponent), some club members had up to 7 bouts during this time 19:43 - Butsukari-geiko for selected club members, who do this twice against their coach, receiving advise at the same time 19:47 - More moshi-ai, some club members had up to 7 bouts during this time 19:55 - Butsukari-geiko for other selected club members, who do this twice against their coach, receiving advise at the same time 20:00 - Sanban-geiko for selected club members, who face the same opponent 3 times 20:03 - More moshi-ai, some club members had up to 7 bouts during this time 20:14 - Butsukari-geiko for other selected club members, who do this once against their coach, receiving advise at the same time 20:20 - More moshi-ai, some club members had up to 11 bouts during this time 20:31 - Their middle school club members take to the dohyo doing moshi-ai (they arrived halfway through, and were training around the dojo before that), some of them had up to 20 bouts during this time At the same time, the primary school club members are divided into 3 teams, and face each other in team battles on the other dohyo After that, the primary school club members take turns to do butsukari-geiko with Sagawa-sensei, pushing their coach across the dohyo up to 9 times at a time (and at intervals during their butsukari-geiko they needed to walk around the dohyo in suriashi fashion) 21:00 - They sweep the dohyo, creating a mound in the middle 21:04 - Some warm-down exercises, which include Swinging their arms clockwise and anti-clockwise 16 times Stretching their arms and body 16 times Repeat the above 2 steps Move their head sideways, forward, back, and in a circle 16 times Do the bow stance 4 times 21:06 - Sonkyo around the dohyo, closing their eyes and thinking about the day's training 21:07 - They spray the dohyo with water 21:10 - End of keiko

On a side note, the mother and younger brother of Sasaki Chikara (a sumo wrestler's son) were also there today, Chikara's brother is also good at sumo

Introduction The Wanpaku Tournament (第33回わんぱく相撲全国大会) is possibly the largest tournament in amateur sumo in terms of number of participants, with over 40,000 primary school kids from all over Japan (and parts of Mongolia) vying for a place in the Wanpaku National Championships, which is held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan end of July / start of August. Only about 400 make it to the finals, where entry is free. The Wanpaku National Championships is the first real chance to see who has what it takes to make it in Ozumo, and who has the potential to become Makuuchi regulars, or even sanyaku regulars in the future. Size is a bigger factor at Wanpaku level compared to middle school and beyond, and as such, other aspects of their sumo provide a better indication of their future potential in Ozumo, such as skill (Furukawa Haruki), fighting style (Takakeisho), power (Onosho) and fighting spirit (Kawazoe Fuma). Because of this, not many Wanpaku Yokozuna actually succeed in Ozumo (Futeno and Goeido are exceptions), though it can be said that most of the Japanese rikishi we see in Makuuchi today have done well at Wanpaku (Kisenosato and Tochiozan are both Wanpaku quarter-finalists, and Ikioi was a runner-up). Below are a selection of famous rikishi from back in their Wanpaku days (from left to right: Kisenosato, Tochiozan, Futeno, Goeido, Mitakeumi): In recent years, Wanpaku has become an international tournament, with qualifiers in Mongolia for 4 years running (since 2014), and in Hawaii 2 years ago. There will be live coverage of this year's event on Niconico (http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv301588206).

Here's a newspaper article reporting on Kodama Hayato's win yesterday. It reads: The 33rd Wanpaku National Championships took place on the 30th at the Kokugikan Stadium in Tokyo, around 400 competitors took part. The Grade 4 competition was won by Tokyo's Kodama Hayato, won also won the Hakuho Cup (which is sponsored by Yokozuna Hakuho). By being crowned Wanpaku Yokozuna, he has "returned the favour" to the Dai-Yokozuna, who extended his Yusho record to 39 at the Nagoya Basho. Osaka's Team Kawachiondo won the team event. Following the Hakuho Cup in February, Kodama Hayato has now won 2 straight championships (this year). A big fan of Hakuho, he's said that "I hope that Hakuho-zeki can carry on taking down loads of opponents. I also want to get loads of victories". At home, he records NHK's Ozumo broadcasts everyday in order to learn techniques from the strongest Yokozuna himself. He travels from his home in Inagi, Tokyo to Mitaka Sumo Club 3 times a week (note: he started attending all 3 of Mitaka's weekly keiko sessions since a few months ago, in preparation for the Wanpaku Tournament), and approaches keiko with a similar eagerness to Hakuho himself. "I was nervous, but as I was able to get good tachi-ais, I had confidence in myself", Kodama Hayato proudly said.

Full Report (Grade 6) Winner: Tasaki Masami (田崎 正美), Osaka Runner-Up: Aino Shogo (相野 祥吾), Chiba Semi-Finals: Matsuda Ten (松田 天), Tottori Semi-Finals: Suzuki Masane (鈴木 真実), Shizuoka Quarter-Finals: Yamashita Shosuke (山下 昇介), Kagoshima Quarter-Finals: Nakagawa Kyutaro (中川 球大郎), Osaka Quarter-Finals: Ichikizaki Daisuke (市来崎 大祐), Kagoshima Quarter-Finals: Takeguchi Hiroto (竹口 広徳), Ishikawa As Yamashita Shosuke overpowered Yokoyama Tsukasa the same way he did in last year's semi-final, I thought that his Super Saiyan Mode would bring about the three-peat. However, as you can see, someone had other ideas. So how was Tasaki Masami able to achieve his first ever win over the 2-time Wanpaku Yokozuna? By keeping him off the belf and getting the edge in a battle of strength of course (sound familiar? Please refer to the Grade 5 report above). With Yamashita Shosuke losing in the quarter-finals, this means that his younger brother, Yamashita Masakiyo, actually bettered him this time (who would have thought?) Tasaki Masami's final against Aino Shogo was an excellent bout all round. It was classic battle of strength and swung both ways before Tasaki pushed Aino out. Power sumo was also the story with Matsuda Ten and Suzuki Masane's road to the semi-finals. However, it was a disappointing tournament for Ote Kira and Onozawa Ayato, as both of them had the advantage in their respective bouts, but both found themselves to be at the wrong end of reversal wins. However, for me, the story of this year group has to be the much anticipated bout between the Kinboshi club-mates, Munakata Seiren and Kanazawa Sorato. The two of them battled hard at the edge, and then Sorato executed a wrestling move, only for the gyoji to judge that Sorato touched the dohyo first. Mono-ii. Torinaoshi. Sorato hurt himself during the fall, so the bout had to be moved to a later slot. The torinaoshi was an equally as exciting affair, with Sorato again trying wrestling moves on his friend. Alas, he was pushed out before he could execute the throw. This 2-bouts-for-the-price-of-1 seemed a very fitting conclusion to the Kinboshi Sumo Club story (surely Towa won't go on to win the Wanpaku now, would he?)

Full Report (Grade 5) Winner: Fukuhara Joichiro (福原 丈一朗), Ehime Runner-Up: Ueno Kyosuke (上野 響哉), Tokyo Semi-Finals: Jo Goki (城 皓貴), Osaka Semi-Finals: Shino Soma (篠 宗磨), Niigata Quarter-Finals: Yabugasaki Akihito (藪ケ崎 晃仁), Hyogo Quarter-Finals: Nakano Kanato (仲野 奏人), Fukui Quarter-Finals: Mizusawa Tomonori (水澤 知紀), Niigata Quarter-Finals: Takei Ginji (武井 銀士), Shizuoka "All paths lead to Rome" is probably the most appropriate phrase when describing what happened in this year group. How the tournament played out was entirely different to last year's Wanpaku, and yet, the all-round rikishi Fukuhara Joichiro was once again able to emerge victorious. He controlled his opening bout from start to finish against last year's runner-up Sugimoto Chitose. He morozashi'd his way to a yorikiri win against the 4-time Hakuho Cup winner Nishijima Yura, just like the way he did a year ago. And when it came down to the final, Fukuhara Joichiro won it by exactly the same way as he did previously, morozashi → yorikiri against Ueno Kyosuke, the Yokoyama Tsukasa of this year group. Who knows, maybe he took a leaf out of Sakamoto Shoma's book, the way he went about those bouts . Out of the other notable rikishi, only Nakano Kanato and Takei Ginji were able to make it to the quarter-finals today, with Nakano showing exactly how you should approach a bout against Nakanishi Kaishin, which is to keep him away from your belt and use oshidashi. Speaking of Nakanishi, the parents from Wakayama always shouted "hencho*, hencho, Ka-I-Shin; hencho, hencho Wa-Ka-Ya-Ma" (*that's what it sounded like) or a variation of it whenever a rikishi from Wakayama took to the dohyo. Nakanishi today showed us a fraction of what he's capable of, but last 16 would be as far as he would go this year. I don't know what Nakano was trying to do in his quarter-final bout, it looked like a tsuppari-attack, but it wasn't doing much. Goki, Soma, Akihito (yes, that's his name) and Tomonori all had very good tournaments today to get as far as they did. In particular, Mizusawa Tomonori recovered from a very nasty looking injury today in his opening win over Hirano Shurato (where he had to be "rolled" onto a stretcher and carried down the hanamichi), but thankfully he returned in time for the 3rd round and carried on where he left off. It was a rather disappointing showing for the skilful trio of Saito Chugo, Hirano Shurato and Nasukawa Shoki, and Samejima Hikaru still can't make it past his second bout, but c'est la vie. Interesting point - during some of the Grade 5 bouts, a European guy came and sat down nearby, oohing and ahhing as the bouts unfolded. There was this one time when he said "That's not fair" when Fukuzaki Maaru went up against some who was much bigger than him, only to be super impressived when Fukuzaki won. That's why we love sumo right?

Full Report (Grade 4) Winner: Kodama Hayato (児玉 颯飛), Tokyo Runner-Up: Kobayashi Umeta (小林 梅太), Kumamoto Semi-Finals: Otani Natsuki (大谷 夏希), Okayama Semi-Finals: Yamashita Masakiyo (山下 正清), Kagoshima Quarter-Finals: Furukawa Daiki (古川 大喜), Aichi Quarter-Finals: Okazaki Ryotaro (岡崎 良太郎), Aomori Quarter-Finals: Hashimoto Taisei (橋本 泰成), Kumamoto Quarter-Finals: Negami Kohei (根上 航平), Shizuoka The Wanpaku Tournament was always going to be a test of Kodama Hayato's metal, even despite his 2 Hakuho Cup victories. As it turned out, Kodama Hayato really did have to earn it today, as besides his opening bout, he was given very tough opponents all the way through to the final. One of his opponents was Yamashita Masakiyo, who is the younger brother of 2-time Wanpaku Yokozuna Yamashita Shosuke, and who looked very impressive today. Not only did Kodama Hayato beat them all, he did it in extremely convincing fashion, showing superior skills (including against a henka) and incredible strength. Speaking of, Mashiko Takuya is probably the only person in his entire year group who can match Kodama Hayato in a power battle. His performance today was simply majestic, despite being very nervous throughout (he was shrugging his shoulders and twirling his hands before every bout to ease the tension in his body). I now have an even higher opinion of him than before (if that's even possible ). Next target - Primary School Yokozuna. In other news, Yoshioka Ryudai won 2 bouts today (though the second of which was a henka), thus making him the most successful Wanpaku rikishi amongst his brothers. Also, someone in Grade 4 successfully executed an Ipponzeoi today, while another pulled off an Ushiromotare.

Report Seriously though, today's Wanpaku Tournament has been better than previous years as the bouts have been more interesting, and there were more long bouts / mono-iis, and overall more stories in every year group. They even decided to change the transition from the opening ceremony to the initial Grade 4 bouts for the first time ever, which actually made it more efficient and smooth The announcer, however, made her fair share of mistakes today, so she was repeating "shitsurei shimasu" over and over again. And for some reason, the initial Grade 4 bouts were in a strange order (missing participants maybe?) Overall though, it's been an excellent and exciting tournament today, well worth the watch. As always, I will be writing a full report for each year group later today, so please stay tuned!

Results Kodama Hayato won. The end.

I'll be in Tokyo for this weekend's Wanpaku Tournament (and also for 2 other tournaments next week). Feel free to drop by on Sunday if you have the chance, as entry is free.

Notable Rikishi (Grade 6) For those in Grade 6, this is their last chance to win the Wanpaku Tournament. Here are some names to watch out for in the Grade 6 competition (as before, the numbers represent their order of appearance): #1 Yokoyama Tsukasa (横山 司), Tokyo This huge kid from Bunkyo Harigaya Sumo Club announced his arrival onto the amateur sumo scene by winning the Wanpaku Tokyo qualifiers last year, overcoming multiple Hakuho Cup winner and twice Wanpaku runner-up Sakamoto Shoma (Tokitsukaze Oyakata's younger son) in the final. He then stormed his way into the Wanpaku semi-finals last year by beating notable names such as Onozawa Ayato and Aino Shogo along the way, only to be stopped by the defending champion, Yamashita Shosuke. This year, he may be getting a rematch against Yamashita Shosuke in the last 16. #12 Yamashita Shosuke (山下 昇介), Kagoshima Yamashita Shosuke has been in Super Saiyan mode for the past two years, winning 2 Wanpaku titles, a Hakuho Cup and a Primary School Championship along the way, as well as having a runner-up and a semi-final performance to boot. 2016 was a year to remember for him, as Yamashita achieved the "Grand Slam" of primary school sumo (winning all 3 national tournaments), and holding the titles of Wanpaku Yokozuna and Primary School Yokozuna simultaneously. Yamashita is a very strong kid who has a sturdy body and superb tactical awareness in the ring, though I personally feel that skill-wise he still has room for improvement. His biggest threats this weekend is probably Kumamoto's Ote Kira and Kagoshima's Ichikizaki Daisuke. Chances are it will be a Kyushu affair in this year group, as Sakamoto Shoma failed to qualify this year. #18 Tasaki Masami (田崎 正美), Osaka Tasaki Masami is a strong rikishi who has consistently done well in major tournaments, winning the 9th National Chinju-no-mori Kids Sumo Tournament last year as well as reaching a number of quarter-finals and semi-finals in other competitions. You can expect another quarter-final performance from him this weekend. #19 Kitayama Keigo (北山 慶悟), Fukui A Wanpaku quarter-finalist from 2 years ago, he will be Tasaki Masami's biggest threat during the earlier rounds. #40 Ote Kira (大手 希星), Kumamoto When Ote Kira lost in his debut bout at Wanpaku 2 years ago (to Onozawa Ayato), I had thought that Udo Junior Sumo Club's long line of top-level club members had ended. Boy was I wrong. He came back last year with a quarter-final performance, including a superb win against Tasaki Masami in the last 16. Ote Kira then followed this up by winning this year's Hakuho Cup, beating 2-time Wanpaku Yokozuna Yamashita Shosuke in the semi-final, and then beating 2-time Wanpaku finalist Sakamoto Shoma in the final. He has simply gone from strength to strength, getting better and better as each year passes. I won't be surprised if he goes on to win the Wanpaku Tournament this year. #46 Suzuki Nozomi (鈴木 希), Shizuoka Remember when Kinboshi Sumo Club's ace, Kanazawa Sorato, made an impressive start to last year's Hakuho Cup using that brilliant nage? Well, he would then go on to face Suzuki Nozomi in the next round, and discovered that he still has much to learn about sumo. He reached the last 16 at both of his Wanpaku appearances, and was a semi-finalist at last year's Primary School Championships. If he reaches the last 16 again this year, then Ote Kira will likely be waiting there. #55 Munakata Seiren (棟方 聖蓮), Aomori Anyone who has followed the Kinboshi Sumo Club episodes should be no stranger to Munakata Seiren, who is a relative of Kimigahama Oyakata (former Maegashira Hochiyama). He has been with the club since after the 6th Hakuho Cup in 2016, and with the help of the coaches and his dad, has been steadily improving. He has now earned a place in the Wanpaku National Championships, a great achievement considering how strong Aomori is when it comes to sumo. His team name (Team Goshogawara) suggests that Munakata Seiren actually won the Aomori qualifiers. #57 Kanazawa Sorato (金澤 空大), Chiba In wrestling, he is already a 5-time national champion; in sumo, he carried Kinboshi Sumo Club to its first and only win over another sumo club by beating Kodama Hayato in the decisive bout against Mitaka, and also become their first club member to qualify for the Wanpaku National Championships. Kanazawa Sorato has transcended the boundaries of wrestling to light up the world of amateur sumo (you should have seen all those comments on Niconico when he stepped onto the dohyo last summer). If Kanazawa Sorato were able to win his opening bout this weekend (as he did last year), then this could possibly set up a clash with his club-mate Munakata Seiren in the next round. That really would be a story. #69 Aino Shogo (相野 祥吾), Chiba He is a Wanpaku quarter-finalist from 2 years ago, and was the only person to beat Kanazawa Sorato in the Chiba prefectural qualifiers last year. #89 Ichikizaki Daisuke (市来崎 大祐), Kagoshima Former Primary School Yokozuna and Hakuho Cup finalist Ichikizaki Daisuke is probably the biggest threat this year to Yamashita Shosuke's title defense. The two of them have met many times before in regional tournaments in Kyushu, and Ichikizaki has the strength and body to match Yamashita. The tachi-ai and initial jostling will be very important if they face each other this weekend. #101 Suzuki Masane (鈴木 真実), Shizuoka Club kohai to last year's Wanpaku Yokozuna Uchida Kyota at Yaizu Sumo Club, Suzuki Masane made use of his strength to reach the Wanpaku quarter-finals 2 years ago, but succumbed to a moro-zashi last year. However, he bounced back to finish runner-up at last year's Primary School Championships, losing to Yamashita Shosuke in the final. #120 Onozawa Ayato (斧澤 亜矢斗), Saitama Easily my favourite rikishi of this year group, the always well-mannered Onozawa Ayato was a key member of Iruma Junior Sumo Club when they won back-to-back National Club Championships. His sumo is very well-rounded, and has reached the last 16 in both of his Wanpaku appearances. Last year, he put up a very good fight against the big Yokoyama Tsukasa, but wasn't quite enough to get to the quarter-finals, though he does have a better draw this time around.

Found a short documentary interviewing coach Hayashi and various club members, along with some practice and competition footage. The footages are from last year, and are filmed by Spanish director Rupen Ventura.

Part 1 - The Eagle Takes Flight Location - Mitaka City Sogo Sports Centre, Mitaka, Tokyo Keiko - Tuesdays (19:00 - 21:00), Thursdays (19:00 - 21:00), Saturdays (12:00 - 15:00) Based near the city hall in Mitaka City in Western Tokyo, the rise of Mitaka Sumo Club (三鷹相撲クラブ) over the past few years is a story of how to successfully manage and expand a sumo club, and how hard work and dedication pays off in the end. Mitaka Sumo Club was founded in 2008, far younger than most other sumo clubs around Japan, though they do have close ties with several sekitori, Tamawashi and Sokokurai to name a couple. They are on very good terms with Sumida District Sumo Association (墨田区相撲連盟), often inviting them over to Mitaka to particiapte in joint keiko sessions, one of which is shown in this episode of Begin Japanology: Mitaka's club motto is "日々努力 ・ 日々感謝" (work hard everyday, be thankful everyday), and they have a blog which is regularly updated, documenting tournaments and keikos (which take place on Wednesdays and Sundays). They are managed by Wada Mitsuhiro (和田 光広, left in photo), and are coached by Hayashi Kentaro (林 健太郎, right in photo) When they were invited to participate in the 1st Asashoryu Cup in 2009 (where Komatsuryu Dojo came second), Mitaka Sumo Club finished their first round match with a 0-5 loss. One of their members at the time, Sugahara Ichinosuke (菅原 市之助), did manage to get a rare win in the repechage, but they lost that match as well, by a score of 2-3 (including a fusensho): http://www.geocities.jp/hirameki_golf/sumou.htm Fast forward to 2015/2016, when they are officially the second best club in the whole country, claiming 2 titles at both the recent 9th National Chinju-no-mori Kids Sumo Tournament and the prestigious Hakuho Cup (among others), not to mention having more than 30 members enrolled in the club. Their remarkable rise in only 6 years is mainly down to two factors - the first is that their coaches regularly organize sumo taster and training sessions to kids in and around Mitaka (which is a great way to attract new members); and the second is that they've been able to produce 2 top-class rikishi, namely Hanafusa Kai (花房 海): and Kodama Hayato (児玉 颯飛):

Notable Rikishi (Grade 5) More information is available for those in Grade 5, who are aiming to better their results from last year's Wanpaku Tournament (or in the case of Fukuhara Joichiro, to repeat their result from last year). Here are some names to watch out for in the Grade 5 competition (as before, the numbers represent their order of appearance): #36 Nakanishi Kaishin (中西 海心), Wakayama There are 2 rikishi in this year's Wanpaku Tournament that I am most looking forward to seeing - Grade 4's Kodama Hayato (see above) and this kid. I was very surprised to see that Nakanishi didn't qualify for last year's Wanpaku, but as it turns out, also attempting to qualify from Wakayama City is Nishide Daiki, who happens to be a Wanpaku semi-finalist as well as Primary School Yokozuna (the winter tournament) last year. Which means that this year, Nakanishi Kaishin qualified for Wanpaku at the expense of Nishide Daiki. Nakanishi is shorter than other contenders in his year group, but he is able to use this to his advantage by maintaining a lower center of gravity. Off the belt, he has the strength to pull off oshidashis; on the belt, he has a whole plethora of techniques which he can use one after another. It is with this that he was able to reach the final of the Hakuho Cup for the past 4 years running, each time losing out to Nishijima Yura, perhaps unluckily every time (from 1:51). He'll certainly be exciting to watch. #46 Nakano Kanato (仲野 奏人), Fukui A Wanpaku quarter-finalist from last year, Nakano was also able to reach the quarter-finals of the Primary School Championships. #56 Uchiyama Ryunosuke (内山 龍之介), Niigata A Wanpaku quarter-finalist from last year, Uchiyama lost to Fukuhara Joichiro, the eventual winner. This year, he has a tough opening bout against Amami Oshima's Fukuzaki Maaru. #57 Fukuzaki Maaru (福崎 真逢輝), Kagoshima A quarter-finalist at last year's Primary School Championships, Fukuzaki lost to Nishide Daiki, the eventual winner. Amami Oshima has produced many strong rikishi over the years. #58 Samejima Hikaru (鮫島 輝), Saitama Samejima was a key member of Iruma Junior Sumo Club's team when they retained their title in the National Club Championships. #67 Fukuhara Joichiro (福原 丈一朗), Ehime Introducing the defending champion, Fukuhara morozashi'd his way to the Wanpaku Yokozuna title last year. He beat Nishijima Yura in last year's semi-finals, becoming the first rikishi to do so in a national tournament, but lost to Nishijima in the quarter-finals of last year's Primary School Championships. His first bout this Sunday will be a tough one, as it will be a repeat of last year's Wanpaku final. #68 Sugimoto Chitose (杉本 智斗勢), Wakayama Sugimoto finished runner-up in last year's Wanpaku, and has a chance to avenge his defeat to Fukuhara in his opening bout. #75 Nishijima Yura (西島 悠来), Chiba Already a 4-time Hakuho Cup winner, Nishijima Yura is Kanazawa Sorato's kohai at Kashiwa Junior Sumo Club. His superior size and strength has also helped him to reach the semi-finals at last year's Wanpaku and Primary School Championships. This year, he remains one of the favourites to take the title. #76 Tanji Jun (丹治 純), Fukushima A semi-finalist at this year's Hakuho Cup, Tanji Jun defeated Tachikawa Renseikan's Hirano Shurato in his first bout last year. This time, he'll be up against Nishijima Yura, whom he lost to in this year's Hakuho Cup. #83 Saito Chugo (斉藤 忠剛), Tokyo Komatsuryu Dojo's Saito Chugo might be small for a rikishi, but he is very skilful and clever in the ring, managing a giant-killing in his first bout at last year's Wanpaku, inciting tremendous applause and excitement from all around the Kokugikan. John Gunning said that he is the "son of Kabutoyama oyakata (former Oikari)", so sumo runs in the family. #93 Hirano Shurato (平野 修良斗), Kanagawa A member of Tachikawa Renseikan, Hirano Shurato won the 9th National Chinju-no-mori Kids Sumo Tournament a year ago. #100 Hattori Koyo (服部 公洋), Gifu A Wanpaku quarter-finalist from last year, Hattori Koyo follows in a long line of skiful rikishi hailing from Gifu Prefecture. #103 Yamamoto Juzo (山本 十蔵), Kyoto A semi-finalist at last year's Primary School Championships and also at this year's Hakuho Cup, Yamamoto's record speaks for itself. #108 Takei Ginji (武井 銀士), Shizuoka Another strong rikishi coming out of Shizuoka, Takei Ginji reached the quarter-finals at last year's Wanpaku, and finished runner-up in last year's Primary School Championships. #115 Nasukawa Shoki (奈須川 将輝), Kanagawa Sometimes, a kid will step onto the Wanpaku dohyo seemingly too thin to be a sumo wrestler, but you know that they are so skilful that they have no problem taking down bigger opponents one after another, kinda like this kid (from 23:56). Nasukawa Shoki is precisely someone who fits into that category, as he shocked his way to the last 16 at last year's Wanpaku. Expect more of the same this Sunday.

Thanks for the support Grade 5 preview to come tomorrow and Grade 6 on Wednesday

Notable Rikishi (Grade 4) For the kids in Grade 4, this is their first time competing at the Wanpaku National Championships, so not much is known about them at this point. However, taking into account their results in other competitions (the Hakuho Cup being the main source for information), here are some names to watch out for in the Grade 4 competition (the numbers represent their order of appearance): #91 Yoshioka Ryudai (吉岡 竜大) From Kinboshi Sumo Club, we have the 3 Kanazawa brothers, and from Komatsuryu Dojo, we have the 3 Yoshioka brothers. Yoshioka Ryudai, or "Ryu-chan" as he is affectionately referred to at Komatsuryu Dojo, qualified for this year's Wanpaku Tournament by winning the Ichikawa City qualifiers and then the Chiba prefectural qualifiers, successfully following in his older brothers' footsteps, as Yoshioka Kodai (吉岡 功大) and Yoshioka Yudai (吉岡 友大) have both made appearances at Wanpaku. However, because Kodai and Yudai both lost in their opening bouts at Wanpaku (very unlucky in both cases, as their opponents would eventually become Middle School Yokozuna and Wanpaku Yokozuna respectively), Ryudai will be aiming to do something which neither of his brothers were able to accomplish during their time, which is to win a bout at Wanpaku. Ganbatte ne! #116 Kodama Hayato (児玉 颯飛) Introducing this year's favourite, Mitaka Sumo Club's Kodama Hayato is undoubtedly the best rikishi in this year group. Here's a list of his major accomplishments so far: Grade 2 - Qualified for the finals of the 28th National Primary School Championships, in the Grade 4 or lower category Grade 2 - A key member of Mitaka Sumo Club's team that finished runner-up in the 12th National Club Championships (the other one being Hanafusa Kai) Grade 2 - Won the 6th Hakuho Cup Grade 2 - Won the 9th National Chinju-no-mori Kids Sumo Tournament Grade 3 - Qualified for the finals of the 29th National Primary School Championships, in the Grade 4 or lower category Grade 3 - Won the 7th Hakuho Cup It is also worth mentioning that his biggest rival, Komatsuryu Dojo's Mashiko Takuya, lost to Kodama Hayato in the Tokyo qualifiers, and as such, won't be appearing at this year's Wanpaku. To quote myself from before - "This is a kid whose size, strength and skill are all well built for sumo, and has the drive and determination necessary to succeed. We could be seeing a star of the future being born with this kid."