Leaderboard

I would stop doing this in a heartbeat if a real alternative pops up. The NHK recap the guys do in English is perfect but come on- an eight hour delay till it starts makes no sense. If I can do this in half an hour, they can do it in a minute. I have always said I would stop , but i never did (contrary to what I keep hearing..) because an alternative is lacking. And yes, it is a time-consuming thing- it's not like I take NHK's program as is and rebroadcast it. I turn 2 hours into 15 minutes. I like to think I'm (and Natto, to a much greater degree) adding some value. I don't want to be paid -I just want to be left alone to put this out there. BUT, as an aside, the NSK official youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@sumo-video is slowly but Shirley putting up all major bouts about an hour later with no commentating whatsoever in glorious HD, hopefully as a sign to what may come. They even put up the last four Makushita bouts from today. 14 bouts in all, a few from Juryo as well. It started out with two bouts a day about a year ago, and is slowly evolving into something that I am hoping will make us all happy. Looks like a pilot to me. BUTT, we've had our share of disappointments re these hopes for many years, so..

Hoshoryu isn't the only new yokozuna for Haru

The Final countdown- looks like we somehow made it..

It's official. Committee vote was unanimous. Hoshoryu is our newest Yokozuna. Congrats to Hoshoryu. May you have a fruitful career at sumo's highest rank with plenty of yusho, minimal kyujo, and an outpouring of hinkaku.

No more backups-so be alert.. 24 hours and poof.

Hi guys, I'm the admin in Natto's Discord and was responsible for his Telegram channel. I'll quickly go over what happened and what is happening. At the beginning of December, myself and some others in his Discord server were actually getting copyright strikes WITHIN Discord for posts that contained links to Natto's videos. My account got muted for 24 hours and then eventually the Discord just wasn't there anymore. They didn't give us a chance to remove to links or anything, just gone. They also took down Natto's personal website by contacting his webhost directly. This was all done by a company who specialised in protecting Japanese companies IP overseas, who NHK have obviously hired to chase him down. So over December we decided that the only option going forward was to switch to Abema footage, and to (at least initially) drastically reduce the number of people who had access to his videos in the hopes of shaking off this company. Hopefully both of these things combined will allow us to regroup a little and see how things go. There's just so much noise around his videos usually it's impossible to run any sort of experiments like this. So: - Natto's Discord is back, but it's semi-private for now. The only way you can get Discord to remove individual posts for copyright is a manual process via email and involves quoting to them the unique ID of a post. This means someone had to come in the server, find the posts and email them to DIscord's copyright reporting process. So for now, we're keeping membership limited to keep people like that out to the best of our abilities. - Natto is making videos, but they're being distributed on a limited scale while we try out what we can get away with. I'm not even going to fully say how we're distributing the videos, to keep some air of secrecy. Someone else is then taking the videos and putting them on their own Telegram channel (the SumoCuts Telegram channel Akinomaki mentioned above), which we're aware of, and then someone has taken the videos from there and is doing their own Russian commentary over them. Neither of them are Natto himself though. Anyone pretending to be Natto on Youtube and especially Facebook are scammers trying to solicit donations in his name. There's a guy seemingly from Vietnam who has been doing this for years now, but Natto is NOT on Youtube and NOT on Facebook. If you get to watch the videos that's great but don't give anyone any money unless you're getting it from the legit source. If you don't know the legit source, then simply do not donate. Natto isn't really that concerned with people reuploading his videos (especially since it means it's other Telegram channels and Youtube channels in the firing line and not him) but the people trying to make money off others under false pretences are certainly nothing to do with him. Reddit is absolutely swamped with people asking for the videos but I'm sorry, unless we know who you are you'll have to miss this one out. The Reddit discourse is just a clusterfuck and anything I said in there would be buried but hopefully here I can get something across. I highly suggest joining the SumoCuts Telegram channel if you're that desperate for Natto, if not you're stuck with the official sources. Sorry to post this diatribe but hopefully it clarifies things. If things don't calm down then maybe Natto will never go "public" again, but NHK's actions are forcing our hand.

It has been some time since my last post on this forum but this thread itches my fingers too much as there is so much wrong information in it. There are no clear rules as to what will happen in regards to promotions. The people in charge change all the time, public reception changes, business situation changes, etc. pp and thus something that has been done a year ago could be handled the opposite way now. On the positive side it makes it interesting but on the negative side your favourite rikishi can suffer under it. The suprisingly positive side of it is that they basically got Yokozuna promotions right. There are hardly any career Ozeki who have done way better than the worst Yokozuna. There is a guideline, not a rule, that an Ozeki with back to back yusho will be promoted but they can be promoted with less and also not be promoted with it. We have not had the case, yet, but in 1996 we had Musashimaru winning an Ozeki yusho at 11-4 and the NSK publicly declared he was not on a Tsuna run the next basho as 4 losses were not Yokozuna material. So it is not a given, but still might be done some day. Chiyonoyama was a completely different case. The NSK wanted to promote him but his Oyakata sad he was still too immature. The whole thing was based on then-Dewanoumi (Ex-Tsunenohana), not on the rest of the NSK or YDC. Konishiki's case is always brought up again but I can assure you it was more of an international affair than something that was a major topic in the sumo world when it happened. His middle tournament of 12-3 looks way better on paper than in real time. He got his third loss on day 7 and was out of the Yusho race. The headlines were on 19-year old Maegashira Takahanada who went 14-1 and got his first yusho and the the second topic was Akebono, a 21-year old Komusubi finishing 13-2. So it was not even close to a jun-yusho for Konishiki but an also-ran behind the future of sumo. When he went into the next basho there was a consenus that he was not on a Yokozuna run. There are no internet forums to check that up but Sumo World magazine is a nice contemporary witness. If you read the roundtable discussions with guys like Andy Adams, David Shapiro, Clyde Newton, Doreen Simmons and others you will find that they do not even discuss Konishiki's promotion but discuss how he was weak mentally by blowing it in the first week and overall not being Yokozuna material. There is no promotion talk after his last yusho, however they are surprised by the international uproar during the July issue. And Sumo World was known for highlighting the Hawaiian rikishi as Americans were probably their main readership. These days, however, Konishiki's results may warrant promotion as they have become more lenient again. By the way, the best example for someone not being promoted to Yokozuna despite outstanding results is Asahifuji in early 1989 with five straight basho of 12 plus jun-yushos, three straight tournaments with a maximum of two losses and two play-off appearances and already a Yusho to his credit from the year before. I am pretty sure Kotozakura would be promoted somewhere along the way if he were to put up the same numbers now. But given sumo's state of having no outstanding rikishi at the moment he might win five yusho with those results.

There are no regulations about whether a rikishi's chonmage should curve to the right, left or even go straight down the centre, but almost all rikishi curve theirs to the right. One rikishi bucks the trend - Aonishiki currently curves his to the left, reviving an old tradition of Hawaiian rikishi. First class tokoyama Tokojin, who prepares Aonishiki's mage, explained that former Sekiwake Takamiyama started doing it because, as he was left-handed, it was easier for him to curve it left if nobody was around to help. Other Hawaiian rikishi, whether right or left-handed, copied him and the tradition was born. At the Kyushu basho, where Aonishiki made his Juryo debut, Tokojin suggested curving it to the left. Aonishiki was rather shy and only tried it a few times, but recently he has specifically asked Tokojin to curve it left. Musashigawa-oyakata (former Yokozuna Musashimaru) also used to have his chonmage curved left, but there were times on jungyo when a tokoyama wasn't aware and curved it to the right. "It felt strange, so I got a comb and pulled it to the left. Takamiyama was the first because he was left-handed. Then Konishiki, Akebono, me... I was the last, but all the rikishi from Hawaii curved their chonmage to the left." Musashigawa was happy to learn that the tradition had been revived. "The rikishi of today don't know so much about the past. Aonishiki is doing it? That's great!" Rikishi can show off their individuality through the kimono and obi. But it seems even in the chonmage, if you look closely, there are hidden expressions and traditions on display.

Out of curiosity, I tried to dig somewhat deeper than photographic evidence can give us. Among other things, I noticed the following patterns. The new yokozuna has free of choice in choosing his style, with asterisks. General freedom: Kisenosato chose Unryu despite his late oyakata (Takanosato) were a Shiranui practictioner. Referencing is still strong: the vast majority of Shiranui practictioner belong to the Isegahama ichimon - and that's not because of Asahifuji. It can be traced back to Tachiyama, the first modern practitioner of this style. Besides from exception, a yokozuna deshi almost always follows the style of his yokozuna Oyakata. The teacher virtually always belong to the same ichimon of the new Yokozuna. Teachers from other ichimon actually appear barred from teaching the dohyo-iri new yokozuna from another ichimon. The only documented exception to that is Takanohana (Takanohana) teaching Kakuryu (Tokitsukaze) - but the Tokitsukaze Ichimon had literally no Yokozuna available. By the rule mentioned above, Kakuryu should have been taught by Kashiwado - who died sixteen years before his promotion. Kotozakura (I) was taught by Taiho (same Nihonoseki ichimon) likely because the Yoshibayama belonged to the Isegahama ichimon. The Oyakata (whether being a yokozuna who practiced the same style) is the preferential teacher over other yokozuna of the same ichimon. Those considerations helped me to re-create the most likely "lineages", going back to the late 19th century but not before, for reasons I will explain in the following lines, including little evidence for an ichimon system before this time. The first 5 Yokozuna up to Onomatsu didn't have anyone that could tech them the style - it was also very new back then. I also believe that the yokozuna dohyo-iri was once the same dohyo-iri made in group by the other wrestlers. The latter became increasingly stylized as the number of wrestlers increased and room for movements was reduced. There was then little reason to believe that they were taught the movements by anyone but their oyakata himself as the basic dohyo-iri. Things start to be more complicated with the elevation of Inazuma as the 7th Yokozuna (1830), while the 6th Yokozuna Onomatsu was still active. It is not impossible that Onomatsu taught the dohyo-iri to Inazuma, but I think it's unlikely. There was no such tradition back then, and there is no evidence that the dohyo-iri already represented the status symbol it became later on. Anyway, Inazuma himself didn't become an oyakata after his retirement (1839) apparently, although both him and Onomatsu could have been around when the 8th Yokozuna Shiranui (I) was elevated to the rank (1840). Also, Onomatsu and Shiranui were both oyakata when the 9th yokozuna Hidenoyama got the rank (1847). However, their involvement in either case it's pure speculation. Then we come to the first "dohyo-iri stars" of Ozumo, the 10th Yokozuna Unryu (1861) and the 11th, Shiranui II (1863). It is most likely that Unryu created his style himself (paradoxically the Shiranui style), while in the latter case we have the first virtually ascertained passage, Shiranui I > Shiranui II, he former being the oyakata of the latter. For those who didn't catch up with the news, it is virtually certain today that Unryu invented the Shiranui style, and Shiranui II the Unryu style, only for their names to be mixed up later on. The main piece of evidence is an 1869 photo of Shiranui II and newly promoted 13th Yokozuna Kimenzan (see here), the former showing the unryu style to the left, while the other mimicking the Shiranui style to the right - there are several other photos showing Shiranui doing Unryu, so they weren't imitating each other there. That's also enough evidence for concluding that also Kimenzan used the Shiranui, which give us the passage Unryu > Kimenzan (1869), Unryu being an oyakata at the time. That's harder to say who taught the 12th Yokozuna Jinmaku (1867, a documented Unryu practitioner) and the 14th Yokozuna Sakaigawa (1877). In theory, Unryu was still alive back then (died 1879), but their promotion is to be framed in the context of the Boshin War, which destabilized also the sumo world and produced several unofficial Yokozuna in absence of a recognized authority. We reach some safer ground with the 15th Yokozuna, Umegatani I (promoted 1884). Although not assured, it is likely that we have Sakaigawa > Umegatani I. Both men belonged to the Dewanoumi ichimon (if more modern factions are to be trusted), and anyway Sakaigawa was the only Yokozuna that remained as an oyakata (Jinmaku covered several official posts in his retirement). The death of Sakaigawa himself in 1887 also leaves Umegatani I as the only available teacher for Nishinoumi I (1890), while it is possible that the latter taught his stablemate Konishiki the ritual (1896). The same might have been done by Konishiki when Ozutsu was promoted (1901). Also, notice that those Yokozuna, from Nishinoumi I to Ozutsu, were successive - a new one was selected when the previous retired. Teaching the style might have constituted a moment of "passing the torch", possibly. After him, both Hitachiyama and Umegatani II (1903) were likely taught by Umegatani I, being all part of the Dewanoumi ichimon. Therefore, we have the following likely succession schemes leading to the present day:

One thing I enjoy about sumo is how competitors of various builds can have major success. Takakeisho was an example of this, regularly blasting opponents who towered over him, and not being far off the highest rank at just 5'8 or so. While lacking yotsu sumo and often called one-dimensional, he struck me as being complex in his own way - he could blast you off the dohyo, but was also very good at timing pivots, pull downs, feints, and adding in the occasional henka to keep opponents guessing and to exploit misjudgments. I also believe his ring sense and positioning helped him keep his balance more than most other pusher/thrusters. Highly educated oshi sumo I would call it. Anyway, best of luck to him and I hope he doesn't hurt too much in retirement. I'm sure we'll see him plenty as an oyakata in the years to come.

I promise this is the only offtopic post I'll make here. Soo out of that bunch, it got Kusano, Miyagi, Otsuji, Tochimaru, Matsui, Ishizaki and Chiyomaru right. Most of those are their real surnames (all except Tochimaru and Chiyomaru) so they're way more likely to be translated correctly. Still, that's better than 4%! Shoutout to ms11e Heavy Drinker.

Ugh, no. Just no.

NHK, if you're lurking here. Let's have a moment of real talk. Quite frankly, if you just do what the pirates do, problem solved. Your coverage for people outside Japan is...poor. The NHK World digest is appreciated, but it isn't complete and comes out too late to be relevant in a world where results get spoiled by Twitter or Instagram. It may be easy for me to say, but do what Natto or Kintamayama do and make it accessible to foreigners and the audience will come. After all, the reason you are having to constantly squash pirates is because there is demand. I know the return on your investment is going to be small but we don't need much in terms of production. I know there's probably contracts and all, we can wait patiently for that to get worked out. Love, Churaumi

Day 1: https://rumble.com/v5e42tx-aki-basho-2024-day-1.html

English schoolboy Nicholas Tarasenko may just be two months past his 15th birthday but he is already training in Minato Stable with the aim of becoming a professional sumo wrestler upon completion of compulsory education next summer. At 187 cm and 108 kgs the Hull native already has the size needed to compete in ozumo and is still growing.

In a few years sumo might have its own version of NFL Network, with live streaming of basho, documentaries, historical footage AOD, studio debate shows etc all in English. Some major players in global media are eyeing Japan's national sport with a view to making all that a reality

Day 3: https://rumble.com/v5ohmbb-day-3-kyushu-basho-2024.html

Kitanofuji returns to the NHK broadcast after a year and a half of absence for Kyushu.

Official now. For the first time in 28 years all 15 days at the Kyushu basho have sold out. That also means all 90 days of sumo in a single year have sold out for the first time since 1996

Talk about being unable to "read the heya".

Some of you might be interested in this interactive graph showing Kimarite trends over the years. https://sumo.stuartmcgill.org/ The data is from @thatsumoguy's https://www.sumo-api.com/ and I'll refresh after each basho. It just about works on a mobile but really the graphs are best viewed on a bigger screen. If you find any bugs please let me know - I'm sure there will be some :)

My earliest memories of sumo go back to late 1995, followed by many wonderful evening broadcasts on Eurosport on German television. Until one day I came across a channel of a certain legend of this forum on the internet and have been a loyal viewer ever since. I've probably been a guest on sumoforum with its exceptional experts and enthusiastic members for just as long. Well, until now. My fondest sumo moment was when Moti-san has blurred Aoiyama. It was so spontaneous spot on and incredibly hilarious that other people ran into my room and asked me why I was laughing so hard. As I have not been able to see my all-time favourite rikishi live, I thought I would at least engage in a more personal exchange with all of you on this forum as you share your knowledge and deep love of sumo with us less linguistically gifted in Japanese and also share your private encounters with the rikishi. A versatile representative of the grandees was incredibly responsive to my simple comment and helped me to overcome the validation e-mail wall, that kept me from joining the forum for quite some time. Thank you once again Asashosakari. So now here i am and see you all later!

Day 7: https://rumble.com/v5ewf11-aki-basho-2024-day-7.html

Day 6: https://rumble.com/v5esvcl-day-6-aki-basho-2024.html