Primary School Banzuke 2018 - Grade 6

[mikawa 1,794]

Following on from yesterday's Grade 5 banzuke, we have here the banzuke for Grade 6. The top part of this banzuke is totally different to how it was last year and the year before, and it's all come about because someone in Makuuchi won their first ever Yusho in 2018.

This banzuke takes into account the following tournaments:

• 34th Wanpaku National Championships
• 31st National Primary School Championships
• 9th Hakuho Cup

 

East Yokozuna - Hayashi Rei (林 玲), Nagano
West Yokozuna - Takei Ginji (武井 銀士), Shizuoka

East Ozeki - Uehara Koki (上原 煌貴), Ishikawa
West Ozeki - Nishide Daiki (西出 大毅), Wakayama

East Sekiwake - Fukuhara Joichiro (福原 丈一朗), Ehime
West Sekiwake - Nishijima Yura (西島 悠来), Chiba

East Komusubi - Kawajiri Amon (川尻 亜門), Ishikawa
West Komusubi - Nakanishi Kaishin (中西 海心), Wakayama

 

East Maegashira 1 - Tanaka Sora (田中 壮來), Kumamoto
West Maegashira 1 - Nakano Kanato (仲野 奏人), Fukui

East Maegashira 2 - Sumida Taichi (住田 太智), Kochi
West Maegashira 2 - Shino Soma (篠 宗磨), Niigata

East Maegashira 3 - Usuda Tetsuro (臼田 哲朗), Aichi
West Maegashira 3 - Kuroda Soma (黒田 颯真), Tokyo

East Maegashira 4 - Ueno Kyosuke (上野 響哉), Tokyo
West Maegashira 4 - Tanji Jun (丹治 純), Fukushima

East Maegashira 5 - Kagaya Rui (加賀谷 琉), Akita
West Maegashira 5 - Koyama Tomoki (小山 幸輝), Okayama

East Maegashira 6 - Tanaka Yuya (田中 佑哉), Gifu
West Maegashira 6 - Tamura Sota (田村 蒼汰), Yamagata

East Maegashira 7 - Shinoda Masato (篠田 征杜), Tokushima
West Maegashira 7 - Bayasugaranmunfu Munfubireguun (バヤスガランムンフ ムンフビレグーン), Mongolia

East Maegashira 8 - Ota Seiya (太田 晴也), Kanagawa
West Maegashira 8 - Yamamoto Juzo (山本 十蔵), Kyoto

East Maegashira 9 - Hirano Shurato (平野 修良斗), Kanagawa
West Maegashira 9 - Saito Rikimaru (斉藤 力丸), Hokkaido

East Maegashira 10 - Saito Taishi (斎藤 太志), Yamagata
West Maegashira 10 - Hattori Koyo (服部 公洋), Gifu

East Maegashira 11 - Sugimoto Chitose (杉本 智斗勢), Wakayama
West Maegashira 11 - Takei Haruto (武井 陽音), Gunma

East Maegashira 12 - Mizusawa Tomonori (水澤 知紀), Niigata
West Maegashira 12 - Fukuzaki Maaru (福崎 真逢輝), Kagoshima

  

Sanyaku Photos

East Yokozuna - Hayashi Rei (林 玲), Nagano

 

West Yokozuna - Takei Ginji (武井 銀士), Shizuoka

 

East Ozeki - Uehara Koki (上原 煌貴), Ishikawa

 

West Ozeki - Nishide Daiki (西出 大毅), Wakayama

 

East Sekiwake - Fukuhara Joichiro (福原 丈一朗), Ehime

 

West Sekiwake - Nishijima Yura (西島 悠来), Chiba

 

East Komusubi - Kawajiri Amon (川尻 亜門), Ishikawa

 

West Komusubi - Nakanishi Kaishin (中西 海心), Wakayama

 

Comments

One year ago, if you had asked me to predict who would be at the top of this banzuke, I would have said that Fukuhara Joichiro and Nishide Daiki would be the 2 Yokozunae. However, something happened in Ozumo that had far-reaching consequences. The occasion was the 2018 Nagoya Basho, when the Nagano native Mitakeumi clinched his first ever Makuuchi title. As the people of Nagano rejoiced in his Yusho, 2 boys from Kiso Junior Sumo Club were greatly inspired by this, and vowed to train harder to try and follow in his footsteps.

Kiso Junior Sumo Club was where Mitakeumi first learned the ways of sumo, and it was thanks to the coaches at Kiso that Mitakeumi was able to improve so much so quickly. So when the Hayashi twins, Rei and Ryu, watched their Kiso club senpai win the Nagoya Basho on television, it sparked a desire in them to emulate their senpai's success. And so, 2018 was a break-out year for one of the twins, namely Hayashi Rei, as he would finish runner-up at the Wanpaku Tournament and win the Primary School Championships. Oh yeah, he also reached the semi-finals at the Hakuho Cup. Who knew sports idols could have such a big impact on their young fans?

However, 2018 was for the most part a disappointing year for Fukuhara Joichiro, our 2-time Wanpaku Yokozuna. His sumo has not looked quite as convincing as it had in 2016 and 2017, and he would have been in danger of not making it to sanyaku if not for finally finding his form to win the Hakuho Cup last month. His biggest weapon? Being able to get a morozashi (double-inside) grip when it really matters.

Speaking of the Hakuho Cup, could we please take a moment to offer our condolences to a certain Nakanishi Kaishin, the "Department of Techniques" in this year group? He has now reached the final of the Hakuho Cup 4 times over the past 5 years, only to lose every single time. And it's not like he's not been in those bouts either. Every other person in this year group who have reached a national final has won at least one of them. But not Kaishin. I think the following bout perfectly sums up how unlucky he has been: (from 1:52)

 

During the summer of 2017, a previously unknown Ueno Kyosuke stormed the Wanpaku Tournament to finish second. He might have been able to go one step further as well, if not for giving away a double inside grip in the final (but then again, his opponent was Fukuhara Joichiro, so that was kind of inevitable). Here he is being interviewed by dailyWOW:

 

Three years ago, I posted my first ever article here on the Sumo Forum - the 9th Chinju-no-Mori Sumo Tournament. While most of the winners were household names in their respective year goups, the Grade 3 winner was somewhat unexpected. Even though I have seen his name elsewhere prior to that tournament, it was because of that result which got me to pay more attention to him, and which prompted me to include him as a contender for the 2016 Wanpaku Tournament.

His family name was 平野, which translated to Hirano, that was easy enough, but how on earth should his first name, 修良斗, be pronounced? With that question on my mind, I travelled to Tachikawa Renseikan (the sumo club he belongs to) during my first day in Tokyo. Everyone I met there was very nice, and when I showed Hirano's mum the preview post on this forum of that week's Wanpaku Tournament, she was very happy and proudly exclaimed "That's my son!" She confirmed that her son's full name was Hirano Shurato, and it's a name which has gradually played a bigger and bigger part in my life ever since.

It was because of Hirano Shurato that I was able to get to know the coaches, members and parents at Tachikawa Renseikan. That has allowed me to watch a training session there in 2016, and again in 2017, and even got a chance to train with them in 2018. That was truly an unforgettable experience. It took me three visits to the Wanpaku Tournament to finally see Hirano Shurato win a bout there, but it was well worth it, and here he is on the Grade 6 banzuke.

Fun facts about Hirano Shurato: his favourite rikishi is Tochinoshin, closely followed by Goeido. He has three younger brothers, his dad attended Saitama Sakae High School back in the day. His favourite anime is Detective Conan (aka Case Closed), and anime theme tunes which he was able to recognise instantly include One Piece, Attack on Titan and Neon Genesis Evangelion. He likes Prawn Cocktail-flavoured crisps.

Edited March 27, 2019 by mikawa

[mikawa 1,794]

We will be moving onto the Middle School Banzuke tomorrow, but before that, I would like to give special thanks to Yusei's mum, Keijiro's mum and Shurato's parents (among others) for all their help over the past three summers. Tokyo may be thousands of miles away from where I live (in the middle of England), but they've certainly made the place feel incredibly welcoming.

Edited March 27, 2019 by mikawa