ryafuji

Was never gonna happen was it...

I don't know the answer but Futagoyama with 11 sekitori in the mid-90s has got to be up there.

Well I predicted that Terunofuji would get no higher than upper makushita upon his comeback, so what do I know... but if he has the motivation, he could become a sanyaku regular at least. Ōzeki again might be quite a lot harder.

Terunofuji looking decidedly shaky this basho and yet still doing miles better than any of the ōzeki.

I've always understood a henka to be a sidestep specifically at the tachi-ai. Must have missed that broadening of the definition.

Could I get a kosho? Have been offline a couple of days.

It's Doitsuyama's site, whether he is solely responsible for running and maintaining it day-to-day I'm not sure.

And also Chiyonofuji's 46th vanquished opponent in his unbeaten streak in 1988, breaking Taiho's postwar record of 45. Chiyo must have enjoyed facing him.

I have downloaded it from Apple Podcasts in the US without any issue.

Isegahama will turn 65 on July 6 2025, so he has just over three years and three months left.

Wow, Sawaisamu really leaps out at me on this list. Been going since 1992, 45 years old, 169 cm and 105 kg, one kachi-koshi since 2014... That's dedication.

John Gunning mentioned Kotonawa briefly in his article on banzuke-gai here. It may simply be that they wanted to leave the door open to a possible return, as obviously once the papers are handed in, that's it.

Makimoto is shown with his given name as "Eisuke" throughout his whole career, but according to the Japanese Wikipedia his full shikona from January 1963 to January 1969 was 轟 亘, Todoroki Wataru (?), which is interesting as it's only two kanji in total (stumbled across this while reading about Sakigake, the only other sekitori since the Showa era to have only two kanji).

I'm always pleased when an ex-sekitori manages to return to juryo after years of toil in makushita, so well done to him for making it back in January 2020 after 30 tournaments away, even if it was only briefly. Also he was apparently only the second sekitori since the beginning of the Showa era to have only one kanji in both parts of his shikona, which is a great piece of trivia.

No.