Araiso-heya branch out

[Seiyashi 4,078]

It seems ex-Kisenosato has given up on waiting for Takayasu to win his yusho. Either that, or he knows something we don't about the Nagoya yusho winner. 

Jokes aside:

Asahi Sumo reports that the rijikai has approved Araiso-oyakata's request to branch out from Tagonoura stable effective August 1st. Araiso-beya will be based in Ibaraki (possibly using the old Tatsunami premises?), and Araiso-oyakata will take Jd60e Adachi, Jk16w Nishihara, Jk17e Taniguchi, and Jk17w Kato with him, as well as makushita gyoji Kimura Takanosuke with him. 

EDIT1: More news from Hochi Sport:

The new heya will be in Ibaraki prefecture, Inashiki district, Ami town (next to Kisenosato's home base of Ushiku) and is expected to be completed in the summer of next year. For the time being, they will use temporary premises in Tsukuba city (not Tsukubamirai, where Tatsunami was).

EDIT2: Courtesy of Herouth:

Herouth points out that Adachi is clearly not Araiso-oyakata's deshi, having been his stablemate since 2002, but it "makes sense that a new heya with three baby deshi needs a mature anideshi" (and a chankocho, probably).

EDIT3: Asahi's interview with Araiso-oyakata

Araiso-oyakata confirms Hochi's reporting of the location of his heya, and says he wants to "give guidance that suits each wrestler". He says it's been 2 years since his intai, and he's heard and considered what various people have had to say in his time at graduate school. He wants to put this into practice, with an emphasis on the environment (presumably meaning the heya and training environment rather than the physical location and natural environment), and he also wants to give back to Ibaraki in consideration of the support he has received. When asked how many years it will be before he produces a sekitori, he says that he wants to do it early, but there were times when he himself was bogged down and made less progress when expected. What matters is where you finally end up, and that one doesn't fall on the way up. It doesn't matter whether it's early or late, and he's more concerned with building up the bodies of his wrestlers.

Edited May 27, 2021 by Seiyashi

[Kintamayama 45,086]

 He intends to establish a heya of the type that has never been seen before, with two keiko-bas, cameras at the keiko-ba, a meeting room, and  a souvenir shop selling heya  -related goods. At least, that is the plan.

Edited May 27, 2021 by Kintamayama

[Seiyashi 4,078]

2 minutes ago, Kintamayama said:

souvenir shop selling heya  -related goods.

He might as well set up an online heya shop at this rate selling Araiso/ex-Kisenosato merch. it'd be a refreshing addition to the pretty staid and offline merch places. I hope someone whispers the idea into his ear...

Edited May 27, 2021 by Seiyashi

[code_number3 701]

What is the significance of bringing gyoji to newly branched heya?

[Seiyashi 4,078]

13 minutes ago, code_number3 said:

What is the significance of bringing gyoji to newly branched heya?

Each heya needs one as a clerk, pretty much. Especially as the heya is so far from Ryogoku, and Tagonoura has two gyoji so one can be spared.

[Seiyashi 4,078]

Updates to the main post: Hochi reports the location of Araiso-beya's final and temporary premises, Asahi carried an interview with Araiso-oyakata, and Herouth has information on the deshi following him.

Edited May 27, 2021 by Seiyashi

[Raishu 208]

4 hours ago, Seiyashi said:

EDIT2: Courtesy of Herouth:

Herouth points out that Adachi is clearly not Araiso-oyakata's deshi, having been his stablemate since 2002, but it "makes sense that a new heya with three baby deshi needs a mature anideshi" (and a chankocho, probably).

I am also surprised to see a deshi following him, who has basically joined Ozumo one basho after Araiso-oyakata himself.

I guess they have naturally bonded over time, probably also due to the fact, that Adachi served as Kise's tsukebito for many years. And Tagonoura won't lose a rikishi with much room for improvement, since Adachi is already 35 years of age.

Good luck to the new shisho!!

[Yamanashi 3,839]

52 minutes ago, Raishu said:

I am also surprised to see a deshi following him, who has basically joined Ozumo one basho after Araiso-oyakata himself.

I guess they have naturally bonded over time, probably also due to the fact, that Adachi served as Kise's tsukebito for many years. And Tagonoura won't lose a rikishi with much room for improvement, since Adachi is already 35 years of age.

Good luck to the new shisho!!

Adachi is one of the four remaining active rikishi from the original Naruto stable: Terunosato (43 yo), Adachi (35), Takayasu (31) and Sekizuka (24).  Adachi has spent 93 of his 113 basho in Jonidan; in July 2019 he was in the Jonidan Yusho race up to day 13, when he lost to Marusho, one of the three rikishi from the new Naruto who fought a three-way playoff.

[pricklypomegranate 730]

From my sumo report on a Discord channel far far away...

Araiso-oyakata gains approval for new heya in Ibaraki

Source 1: Nikkan Sports

Source 2: Spoinichi

Source 3: Sports Hochi

During the JSA Board of Directors meeting in the Kokugikan today, they also approved the establishment of Araiso Stable, thus affirming Araiso-oyakata's (moto-Kisenosato) independence from Taganoura-beya. According to Araiso-oyakata, who has been interviewed on behalf of the newspaper, the new heya will be completed around next summer in Ami-cho, Inashiki-gun, Ibaraki. Until it is completed, a temporary heya will be based at Tsukuba University in Tsukuba City. The Ibaraki-born stablemaster said, "It has been two years since I've retired. I have thought about [heya-management] after listening to various people, including those in graduate school. I think I can do what I want to do, which includes promoting sumo, to a large proportion of the country. I thought that I would be able to take on a variety of challenges with an emphasis on the environment. I also wanted to give back to my hometown in Ibaraki Prefecture." Four people who currently belong to Taganoura-beya will be transferred (Jk Nishihara, Taniguchi, Kato, Jd Adachi, Ms Gyoji Ryunosuke Kimura). "My goal is to make the disciples, who were entrusted to me by their parents, stronger and grow. I want to inherit [sumo's] traditional culture and pass it on to my disciples." said Araiso-oyakata. After retiring at Hatsu 2017, he completed a one-year master's course in Waseda University's graduate sports science program. His master's thesis was called "A New Way of Managing Sumo Heya" and won best paper*. 

On the subject of coaching rikishi, he bases it on his own experience. "I rose quickly to Juryo, but there were times where I was sluggish. That's why it's important to know where you want to be at the end. Even it you rise quickly, it is important not to fall once you reach the top. I don't think it matters how fast or slow you are. I want [my students] to take the time to build the body of a rikishi. As a master, I will try to assess each rikishi and teach them to develop their individual skills. To do this, the basics are important, so I want to emphasise training that is faithful to the basics. On top of that, I would like to give guidance that suits each rikishi individually."

*Some of his insights are that although it is common knowledge that there should be one dohyo per heya, two dohyos should be considered to increase training efficiency. In addition, multiple cameras should be installed in the training room. There should also be a meeting room where the stablemaster and his disciples can talk, and souvenir corner with original goods for tourists. Althought there is the problem of securing space, Araiso-oyakata imagined a new kind of heya that is not bound by stereotypes.

Edited May 27, 2021 by pricklypomegranate

[rhyen 1,834]

2 hours to the kokugikan by train, I hope the city hall is going to subsidise the train fares. 

[Seiyashi 4,078]

10 minutes ago, pricklypomegranate said:

Ms Gyoji Ryunosuke Kimura)

Takanosuke, not Ryunosuke.

http://sumo.or.jp/IrohaKyokaiMember/gyoji/

But otherwise, yeah, it tallies very closely with what I've found on Twitter to start the thread with and what Kintamayama has added.

10 minutes ago, pricklypomegranate said:

common knowledge that there should be one dohyo per heya,

Headscratchers, this. Is there any reason for this other than "it has always been this way"?

Edited May 27, 2021 by Seiyashi

[Yaochozuna 137]

Some time ago there were posts here in the forum about him not really moving anywhere, only talking, etc. I think he's clever and takes things "a bout at a time" – first his thesis and graduation and now the big step forward. I'll repeat myself but I actually like this Araiso guy much more that I ever liked Kisenosato. I wish him luck in his endeavours.

[ryafuji 814]

1 hour ago, Seiyashi said:

Headscratchers, this. Is there any reason for this other than "it has always been this way"?

Can't offer any insight on that one ( @John Gunning maybe?) but I remember reading years ago that although one dohyo is standard, a few do (or have had) two.

[Tsuchinoninjin 1,269]

The message with two dohyou or keikobas to me is pretty clear: More trust in the coaches and elevating the importance of coaches instead of making sure everything must take place under the eyes of the oyakata.

[Asashosakari 19,308]

2 hours ago, ryafuji said:

Can't offer any insight on that one ( @John Gunning maybe?) but I remember reading years ago that although one dohyo is standard, a few do (or have had) two.

And apparently in the old days many of the smaller heya had none, and daily training was jointly held at the stable those small ones had branched out from.* I don't know when that changed, but I'd conjecture it was when heya started moving further apart from each other due to increasing real estate prices, and it became necessary to have practice grounds in every single one of them.

So it might be that the intended emphasis in "it's customary to have one dohyo in a stable" is more on "have" than on "one".

 

* Supposedly part of the reason they had that "rikishi within each stable group can't face each other" matchmaking rule for a couple of decades post-WWII. Same logic as in today's no matches among stablemates rule, just with bigger scope because certain heya were always training together.

Edited May 27, 2021 by Asashosakari

[Seiyashi 4,078]

1 hour ago, Asashosakari said:

And apparently in the old days many of the smaller heya had none, and daily training was jointly held at the stable those small ones had branched out from.* I don't know when that changed, but I'd conjecture it was when heya started moving further apart from each other due to increasing real estate prices, and it became necessary to have practice grounds in every single one of them.

So it might be that the intended emphasis in "it's customary to have one dohyo in a stable" is more on "have" than on "one".

Wow. I wonder what the point of branching out in those cases was, if you didn't even have your own dohyo.

Might also be a bit too early to call it, but I wonder what the higher-ups think of Araiso's choice of location nearer to his "power base". So far, heya not in Tokyo (or even Ryogoku) are the rare exception. Are Araiso's proposed innovations enough to justify heya being more spread out from each other? I guess we shall see.

In any case, if his plans come to fruition, sounds like it's worth paying his heya a visit someday - although one would have to find some other attractions in Ibaraki to put together a day trip itinerary. (It's not even en route to Utsunomiya and Nikko, which are the only other things I can think of that are day-trippable north of Tokyo.)

[rhyen 1,834]

Kairaku en in Mito? It is still on the Joban line that connects into Tokyo. 
or you could double back into Matsudo city and queue for tomita ramen. 

Edited May 27, 2021 by rhyen

[Tochinofuji 381]

5 hours ago, Seiyashi said:

Takanosuke, not Ryunosuke.

http://sumo.or.jp/IrohaKyokaiMember/gyoji/

But otherwise, yeah, it tallies very closely with what I've found on Twitter to start the thread with and what Kintamayama has added.

Headscratchers, this. Is there any reason for this other than "it has always been this way"?

All I can offer is speculation (and hopefully some of the forum veterans and community insiders will chime in), but in many Japanese martial arts there is some significant value placed on "mitorigeiko" (見取り稽古), the practice of learning by observation, especially of one's seniors. Even if one keikoba means you don't get in as many physical reps, you should be practicing and learning the whole time by actively watching and analysing. 

As @Tsuchinoninjin points out, there likely is an element of keeping deshi under the watchful eye of the stablemaster himself as well. 

[rzombie1988 158]

The double dohyo's really aren't too big of a deal.  I really don't think doing sumo on grass or something is really going to have too much affect on your performance.

If Kise wants to do well, he should just recruit a bunch of big guys. You can get to Juryo no problem if you are 190cm or more with enough weight.

Edited May 27, 2021 by rzombie1988

[Gurowake 4,050]

15 minutes ago, rzombie1988 said:

doing sumo on grass

I know what you meant, but my first thought was "no one trains while high on cannabis".

[Tsuchinoninjin 1,269]

30 minutes ago, Gurowake said:

I know what you meant, but my first thought was "no one trains while high on cannabis".

This is the most likely heya where you might find cbd oil in the nabe.

[Katooshu 3,219]

1 hour ago, rzombie1988 said:

You can get to Juryo no problem if you are 190cm or more with enough weight.

 Don't think it's quite that easy.....

[sahaven111 176]

1 hour ago, Tsuchinoninjin said:

This is the most likely heya where you might find cbd oil in the nabe.

The tsuna is made of hemp, you know... 

[Asashosakari 19,308]

3 hours ago, rzombie1988 said:

If Kise wants to do well, he should just recruit a bunch of big guys. You can get to Juryo no problem if you are 190cm or more with enough weight.

Nothing learned in five years, impressive.

I guess I'll just quote my response from back then.

On 06/12/2016 at 11:09, Asashosakari said:

A selection of tall rikishi (190+ cm) who haven't made it anywhere near juryo, or in case of early retirement didn't show anything to indicate that they could (debuts after 2000):

Daishodake
Teraomaru
Orora
Kotokaneko
Nakatsunishiki
Daishowaka
Echizenyama
Yamane
Tochiminato
Otakayama
Yoyonohana
Kitasatsuma
Komatsukasa
Kasugashin
Hokutoo
Kosei
Kaminoyama
Oazuma
Dewanojo
Dewaizumi

 

[code_number3 701]

21 minutes ago, Asashosakari said:

Nothing learned in five years, impressive.

I guess I'll just quote my response from back then.

 

Orora was just too much