mikawa

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Everything posted by mikawa

  1. mikawa

    Tanaka Toranosuke to join Ozumo

    Not revealed yet, but possibly Tatsunami Beya, the same as his grandfather, ex-Sekiwake Kurohimeyama
  2. Just seen news that Tanaka Toranosuke, winner of the 27th Middle School Student Championships 2 years ago, will be turning pro, most likely during the Natsu basho. He is best known for being featured in Begin Japanology's episode on sumo, whom Peter Barakan referred to as "a boy who is devoted to sumo training day in and day out":
  3. Following on from the Grade 5 banzuke, here is the banzuke for Grade 6 rikishi, which is created by adding up their results in national competitions during the past 12 months. Every banzuke will list the top 42 rikishi in each category. This banzuke takes into account the following tournaments: 33rd Wanpaku National Championships 30th National Primary School Championships 8th Hakuho Cup East Yokozuna - Tasaki Masami (田崎 正美), Osaka West Yokozuna - Aino Shogo (相野 祥吾), Chiba East Ozeki - Yamashita Shosuke (山下 昇介), Kagoshima West Ozeki - Ote Kira (大手 希星), Kumamoto East Sekiwake - Ichikizaki Daisuke (市来崎 大祐), Kagoshima West Sekiwake - Munakata Seiren (棟方 聖蓮), Aomori East Komusubi - Suzuki Masane (鈴木 真実), Shizuoka West Komusubi - Uno Iori (宇野 伊央里), Ehime East Maegashira 1 - Nakagawa Kyutaro (中川 球大郎), Osaka West Maegashira 1 - Kunitsugu Kosuke (國次 晃輔), Okayama East Maegashira 2 - Matsuda Ten (松田 天), Tottori West Maegashira 2 - Igarashi Sho (五十嵐 翔), Toyama East Maegashira 3 - Yokoyama Tsukasa (横山 司), Tokyo West Maegashira 3 - Takeguchi Hiroto (竹口 広徳), Ishikawa East Maegashira 4 - Kurosaki Seiru (黒﨑 碧琉), Niigata West Maegashira 4 - E Javkhlantugus, Mongolia East Maegashira 5 - Tsubakihara Masatsugu (椿原 将嗣), Osaka West Maegashira 5 - Ikemoto Soma (池本 颯茉), Gifu East Maegashira 6 - Ito Kota (伊藤 航太), Miyagi West Maegashira 6 - Kitayama Keigo (北山 慶悟), Fukui East Maegashira 7 - Kudo Keita (工藤 佳太), Iwate West Maegashira 7 - Hayashi Yuta (林 悠太), Nagasaki East Maegashira 8 - Masuya Ryosuke (桝屋 良輔), Nagasaki West Maegashira 8 - Yokoo Haruto (横尾 悠翔), Hokkaido East Maegashira 9 - Iga Chikanosuke (伊賀 慎之助), Kagawa West Maegashira 9 - Kohiga Enzo (小比賀 円蔵), Ibaraki East Maegashira 10 - Obata Reo (小畑 玲央), Akita West Maegashira 10 - Hoshi Ryuki (星 龍希), Chiba East Maegashira 11 - Matsunaga Akane (松永 聖鐘), Hyogo West Maegashira 11 - Ishii Fumiya (石井 郁也), Saitama East Maegashira 12 - Takebayashi Kenshin (竹林 顕信), Aichi West Maegashira 12 - Wakayama Shogo (若山 将吾), Aichi East Maegashira 13 - Taniguchi Yusa (谷口 優冴), Hyogo West Maegashira 13 - Suzuki Nozomi (鈴木 希), Shizuoka East Maegashira 14 - Osanai Fudo (長内 風道), Aomori West Maegashira 14 - Abe Yuma (阿部 佑磨), Fukushima East Maegashira 15 - Saito Shintaro (齋藤 芯太郎), Hiroshima West Maegashira 15 - Kamijima Kosei (上島 晃成), Kyoto East Maegashira 16 - Uemura Kotaro (上村 光太郎), Kumamoto West Maegashira 16 - Uezato Ryuki (上里 琉希), Okinawa East Maegashira 17 - Sasaki Kaito (佐々木 快都), Miyagi West Maegashira 17 - Hyodo Kotaro (兵頭 虎大郎), Ehime Sanyaku Photos East Yokozuna - Tasaki Masami (田崎 正美), Osaka West Yokozuna - Aino Shogo (相野 祥吾), Chiba East Ozeki - Yamashita Shosuke (山下 昇介), Kagoshima West Ozeki - Ote Kira (大手 希星), Kumamoto East Sekiwake - Ichikizaki Daisuke (市来崎 大祐), Kagoshima West Sekiwake - Munakata Seiren (棟方 聖蓮), Aomori East Komusubi - Suzuki Masane (鈴木 真実), Shizuoka West Komusubi - Uno Iori (宇野 伊央里), Ehime Comments East Yokozuna for Grade 6, Tasaki Masami, has had the exact same year as East Yokozuna for Grade 5, Fukuhara Joichiro. Both of them won the Wanpaku Tournament and the Hakuho Cup, and both of them reached the second round of the Primary School Championships. Tasaki's incredible strength and power has always been his greatest weapon, and it has proven to be more and more useful as of late. His only loss this past year was to Aino Shogo, who also does power sumo. Speaking of, the equally as strong Aino Shogo fully deserves his West Yokozuna spot. Although Aino has not won any national tournaments yet, his performances last year have been exceptional, and I still believe that he would have won the Primary School Championships if he hadn't had to face Tasaki, Ote AND Yamashita on his way to the final. Beating any one of them would have been a very impressive feat. Beating all 3? That's Yokozuna level. It has been a relatively unsuccessful year for Yamashita Shosuke, but that's only because of how successful he has been in Grades 4 and 5, winning four championships out of six. Yamashita is not as strong as the 2 Yokozuna, but he has very good ring sense and a bigger build. However, this is no longer as effective as it used to be, so Yamashita needs to expand his arsenal if he wants to keep up with Tasaki and Aino's progress. It has been a mixed year for Kumamoto's Ote Kira. On one hand, he was able to reach the final of the Hakuho Cup; but on the other hand, he was only able to reach the last 32 at last year's Wanpaku. There's no doubt that his results over the past 3 years have been very good, even winning the Hakuho Cup in Grade 5, but Ote's simply not been as consistent as the top 3. Hailing from the legendary Uto Junior Sumo Club, Ote Kira has carried on the success of his club-mates, and that's saying something. In the position of West Sekiwake is a certain Munakata Seiren. As you may recall, Munakata only started sumo when Kinboshi Sumo Club invited him to join them two years ago. In two years' time, Munakata has risen to become the sixth best rikishi in his entire year group. One can only imagine how much hard work he must have put in to improve this much. Over to you, Kanazawa Towa. Yokoyama Tsukasa, whom you can see in the background of Uno Iori's photo, was featured in Inside Sport: Japan's episode on last year's Wanpaku Tournament. He has done very well during the past two years, but Yamashita Shosuke proves to be an obstacle that he doesn't have an answer for, at least not yet. West Maegashira 9's called Kohiga Enzo, he's quick.
  4. Well, there are many girls who practice sumo in clubs / dojos across Japan, and they actively participate in all sorts of tournaments (like the girl in the Japan Times photo), some of them are actually really good. Surely doing keiko with the pros is far safer compared to the bouts they have during practice and in competitions?
  5. Following on from the Grade 4 banzuke, here is the banzuke for Grade 5 rikishi, which is created by adding up their results in national competitions during the past 12 months. Every banzuke will list the top 42 rikishi in each category. This banzuke takes into account the following tournaments: 33rd Wanpaku National Championships 30th National Primary School Championships 8th Hakuho Cup East Yokozuna - Fukuhara Joichiro (福原 丈一朗), Ehime West Yokozuna - Nishijima Yura (西島 悠来), Chiba East Ozeki - Ueno Kyosuke (上野 響哉), Tokyo West Ozeki - Nakanishi Kaishin (中西 海心), Wakayama East Sekiwake - Usuda Tetsuro (臼田 哲朗), Aichi West Sekiwake - Nishide Daiki (西出 大毅), Wakayama East Komusubi - Yamamoto Juzo (山本 十蔵), Kyoto West Komusubi - Takei Ginji (武井 銀士), Shizuoka East Maegashira 1 - Jo Koki (城 皓貴), Osaka West Maegashira 1 - Sugimoto Chitose (杉本 智斗勢), Wakayama East Maegashira 2 - Mizusawa Tomonori (水澤 知紀), Niigata West Maegashira 2 - Fukuzaki Maaru (福崎 真逢輝), Kagoshima East Maegashira 3 - Shino Soma (篠 宗磨), Niigata West Maegashira 3 - Tani Towa (谷 音和), Kagawa East Maegashira 4 - Nakano Kanato (仲野 奏人), Fukui West Maegashira 4 - Maeda Yuki (前田 優希), Yamaguchi East Maegashira 5 - Yabugasaki Akihito (藪ケ崎 晃仁), Hyogo West Maegashira 5 - Uehara Koki (上原 煌貴), Ishikawa East Maegashira 6 - Nakada Riku (中田 李空), Chiba West Maegashira 6 - Kato Aito (加藤 哀翔), Aichi East Maegashira 7 - Okamoto Jurian (岡本 樹梨按), Hyogo West Maegashira 7 - Kono Shujiro (河野 修志郎), Hokkaido East Maegashira 8 - Tamura Sota (田村 蒼汰), Yamagata West Maegashira 8 - Kasuda Rio (粕田 理生), Akita East Maegashira 9 - Mita Yoshiki (三田 慶希), Miyagi West Maegashira 9 - Tanji Jun (丹治 純), Fukushima East Maegashira 10 - Ito Jun (伊東 潤), Shizuoka West Maegashira 10 - Sato Hiro (佐藤 尋), Fukushima East Maegashira 11 - Ajioka Hiroto (味岡 大斗), Shizuoka West Maegashira 11 - Kokubun Natsu (國分 夏), Fukushima East Maegashira 12 - Ogura Mirato (小倉 未来翔), Aichi West Maegashira 12 - Hirano Tomonari (平野 智成), Chiba East Maegashira 13 - Hattori Koyo (服部 公洋), Gifu West Maegashira 13 - Matsuda Daiki (松田 大輝), Kumamoto East Maegashira 14 - Matsuno Shota (松野 将太), Aomori West Maegashira 14 - Hayashi Rei (林 玲), Nagano East Maegashira 15 - Hayashi Ryu (林 琉), Nagano West Maegashira 15 - Kawamura Kanata (河村 奏太), Toyama East Maegashira 16 - Yoneda Mizuki (米田 海輝), Kanagawa West Maegashira 16 - Fujimoto Daito (藤元 大斗), Kumamoto East Maegashira 17 - Endo Shota (遠藤 正太), Yamagata West Maegashira 17 - Takashima Kazuto (高島 一人), Toyama Sanyaku Photos East Yokozuna - Fukuhara Joichiro (福原 丈一朗), Ehime West Yokozuna - Nishijima Yura (西島 悠来), Chiba East Ozeki - Ueno Kyosuke (上野 響哉), Tokyo West Ozeki - Nakanishi Kaishin (中西 海心), Wakayama East Sekiwake - Usuda Tetsuro (臼田 哲朗), Aichi West Sekiwake - Nishide Daiki (西出 大毅), Wakayama East Komusubi - Yamamoto Juzo (山本 十蔵), Kyoto West Komusubi - Takei Ginji (武井 銀士), Shizuoka Comments A stunning Wanpaku title defense followed up with a first Hakuho Cup victory was enough for Fukuhara Joichiro to top the banzuke, despite a second-round exit to Usuda Tetsuro in the Primary School Championships. Fukuhara has very strong arms, and can nearly always take full advantage of this in his bouts. His not-so-big stature may become a hindrance in the future, but he has been getting better and better over the past couple of years. Fukuhara thoroughly deserves to be East Yokozuna. Coming a close second is Nishijima Yura, the current Primary School Yokozuna who hails from Kashiwa Junior Sumo Club. He has won 4 Hakuho Cups in a row, that is, until Nishide Daiki got the better of him 2 months ago. Nishijima's quest for the Wanpaku title has twice been thwarted by Fukuhara Joichiro and a morozashi grip, so he will be hoping for a better result this summer. The results have not been so kind to Nishide Daiki this past year, as he was twice a runner-up, and failed to qualify for the Wanpaku Tournament (that's because there's only one qualifying spot for him and Nakanishi Kaishin, it's one or the other). However, he is still one of the best rikishi in this year group, so expect him to do well this year. It's been a tight battle between the pair of Komusubi, Yamamoto Juzo from Kyoto and Takei Ginji from Shizuoka. Both of them have been consistent with their results, and are no strangers to the latter stages of tournaments, they're just not quite as good as the top tier rikishi. Last year, Yamamoto was a whisker more successful than Takei, but who will it be this year? The big Ueno Kyosuke announced himself onto the scene last year with strong performances all round, while Aichi's Usuda Tetsuro has the honour of being the only rikishi to get the better of Fukuhara Joichiro during the past 12 months. There's a bit of sibling rivalry going on between the Hayashi twins from Nagano, and believe it or not, there's actually an Endo Shota on the list (正太 as opposed to 聖大).
  6. The yumitori-shiki perhaps?
  7. Over the course of this month, I will be publishing the banzuke for amateur rikishi from the past academic year (which, in Japan, lasts from April to March). The banzukes will cover rikishi from primary school all the way up to university, and are created by adding up their results in national competitions during the past 12 months. Every banzuke will list the top 42 rikishi in each category. This particular banzuke takes into account the following tournaments: 33rd Wanpaku National Championships 30th National Primary School Championships 8th Hakuho Cup East Yokozuna - Kodama Hayato (児玉 颯飛), Tokyo West Yokozuna - Yamashita Masakiyo (山下 正清), Kagoshima East Ozeki - Kuraoka Yuta (倉岡 優太), Kumamoto West Ozeki - Furukawa Daiki (古川 大喜), Aichi East Sekiwake - Okazaki Ryotaro (岡崎 良太郎), Aomori West Sekiwake - Hashimoto Taisei (橋本 泰成), Kumamoto East Komusubi - Negami Kohei (根上 航平), Shizuoka West Komusubi - Otani Natsuki (大谷 夏希), Okayama East Maegashira 1 - Kobayashi Umeta (小林 梅太), Kumamoto West Maegashira 1 - Ito Hirohide (伊藤 博英), Kumamoto East Maegashira 2 - Niizeki Shion (新関 梓桜), Yamagata West Maegashira 2 - Handa Shosei (半田 翔誠), Ishikawa East Maegashira 3 - Urayama Shoei (浦山 将瑛), Toyama West Maegashira 3 - O. Baasandoruji (O・バーサンドルジ), Mongolia East Maegashira 4 - Sasaki Kaichi (佐々木 開地), Miyagi West Maegashira 4 - Sato Shunri (佐藤 駿吏), Tochigi East Maegashira 5 - Yamanouchi Daitoku (山之内 大徳), Shizuoka West Maegashira 5 - Shimajiri Taishi (島尻 大詩), Gifu East Maegashira 6 - Eguchi Shunta (江口 秀太), Gunma West Maegashira 6 - Tanaka Shosei (田中 翔盛), Oita East Maegashira 7 - Ishizuka Keito (石塚 慶虎), Ibaraki West Maegashira 7 - Shibayama Teppei (芝山 哲平), Ehime East Maegashira 8 - Nishimura Kazuma (西村 和真), Kyoto West Maegashira 8 - Maro Kosho (マロー 高尚), Aomori East Maegashira 9 - Nakazawa Musashi (中澤 睦士), Tokyo West Maegashira 9 - Nakatani Kenshu (中谷 拳州), Tokyo East Maegashira 10 - Ino Hibiki (井野 響稀), Aichi West Maegashira 10 - Kitamura Yuma (北村 有真), Wakayama East Maegashira 11 - Furukawa Yu (古川 裕), Saga West Maegashira 11 - Yoshioka Ryudai (吉岡 竜大), Chiba East Maegashira 12 - Yoshida Naoki (吉田 直輝), Wakayama West Maegashira 12 - Okuda Soma (奥田 蒼真), Osaka East Maegashira 13 - Yamashiro Manatsu (山城 真捺), Okinawa West Maegashira 13 - Iwamoto Jin (岩本 仁), Osaka East Maegashira 14 - Takemika Yusuke (武甕 悠介), Kyoto West Maegashira 14 - Kawata Naoto (河田 直人), Osaka East Maegashira 15 - Horanai Kensuke (洞内 健輔), Hokkaido West Maegashira 15 - Shibutani Taiyo (渋谷 太陽), Aomori East Maegashira 16 - Taguchi Yamato (田口 大和), Akita West Maegashira 16 - Kikuta Ryuga (菊田 流雅), Ibaraki East Maegashira 17 - Tani Mirai (谷 望来), Kagawa West Maegashira 17 - Kaneko Riku (金子 利玖), Yamaguchi Sanyaku Photos East Yokozuna - Kodama Hayato (児玉 颯飛), Tokyo West Yokozuna - Yamashita Masakiyo (山下 正清), Kagoshima East Ozeki - Kuraoka Yuta (倉岡 優太), Kumamoto West Ozeki - Furukawa Daiki (古川 大喜), Aichi East Sekiwake - Okazaki Ryotaro (岡崎 良太郎), Aomori West Sekiwake - Hashimoto Taisei (橋本 泰成), Kumamoto East Komusubi - Negami Kohei (根上 航平), Shizuoka West Komusubi - Otani Natsuki (大谷 夏希), Okayama Comments No surprise at the top, as the spirited Kodama Hayato has been the most successful rikishi in Grade 4 by far, winning the Wanpaku Tournament and the Hakuho Cup, and coming second in the Primary School Championships. I've been hyping him up for two years now, and so far, he's been living up to everyone's expectations, and then some. In some ways, Kodama Hayato is following in the footsteps of Narita Rikido, only he's winning these tournaments three years later. While there's a 5-point gap between the two Yokozuna, there's only a 1-point difference between Yamashita Masakiyo, younger brother of 2-time Wanpaku Yokozuna Yamashita Shosuke, and the current Primary School Yokozuna, Kuraoka Yuta. Kuraoka could easily have come second in the banzuke, if he didn't have to face Kodama Hayato so early (second bout) in last year's Wanpaku Tournament. Saying that, both of them have been steadily improving, so expect to see a tighter battle between the top 3 this year. According to his mum, West Maegashira 8 Maro Kosho was actually born in the UK to an English dad, but they have moved to Japan now. He spent a few weeks last summer training with Kodama Hayato at Mitaka Sumo Club, and has gained valuable experience from it. Two of the rikishi on this list, Nakazawa Musashi and Yoshioka Ryudai, are members of Komatsuryu Dojo, John Gunning's club. It would be interesting to see whether their club-mate Mashiko Takuya can make the banzuke this year, as he was one of only 2 rikishi to beat Kodama Hayato in 2017.
  8. Carrying On a Tradition Location - Funabashi Martial Arts Center (船橋市武道センター), Funabashi, Chiba Keiko - Sundays (9am - 11am) About 15 minutes' walk north of Daijingushita Station, Funabashi Star Sumo Club (船橋市スター相撲団) is located on the second floor of the Funabashi Martial Arts Center. They are represented by Murai Takao (村井 隆夫), and are coached by Fukazawa Eiji (深澤 英治). They are a relatively new sumo club, having been founded in April 2002, and currently have 19 members. Funabashi Star Sumo Club are so named because their original team captain wanted club members to "become a shining person through the training of their body and heart through sumo". Their best results have come in the biennial National Chinju-no-mori Kids Sumo Tournament, though one of their members, Komatsu Kaito (小松 海斗), has gone one step further by finishing in the top 16 at the Wanpaku Tournament two years ago, losing to the Mongolian phenom Sosorufu. Komatsu is probably better known for his appearance at the Hakuho Cup, where he faced Kinboshi Sumo Club's Yasuda Hikaru in the second round. However, Funabashi Star Sumo Club are probably best known for their involvement in the annual Funabashi Shrine Ceremonial Sumo Tournament, which is held over a weekend in October (usually around the 20th), with the adults tournament on Friday, and the kids tournament on Saturday. The tournament is always held at the Funabashi Shrine, which is in the vicinity of Daijingushita Station, and is a major tradition in Funabashi. Legend has it that back in 1590, whilst on his way to hunting animals in Togane, Tokugawa Ieyasu stayed for a bit at Funabashi Palace. In order to entertain the warlord, the people of Funabashi arranged for some fisherman's children to sumo wrestle in his presence, and so this tradition was started. Videos of the event can be found on YouTube. Below are some photos I took whilst visiting Funabashi last summer. They were taken at the Martial Arts Center and at the Funabashi Shrine.
  9. mikawa

    Basho Talk Haru 2018 (SPOILERS)

    That was Yokozuna sumo today from Kakuryu, Ichinojo got both hands on his belt in the bout but it didn't matter. A poor basho so far for Mitakeumi though. I do hope that Sokokurai recovers soon, same with Takakeisho.
  10. The third year students take their final exams in January, are off school in February and have their graduation in March, so this is a good time for high schools to figure out what their best teams would be for the new academic year.
  11. 第69回全国高校相撲高知大会 This is a national high school sumo tournament for First and Second Year pupils, as March is the final month in the Japanese academic year. The individual competition features 3 different weight classes - 80 kg, 100 kg, and Open Weight. Individual Competition (Open Weight) Winner - Hanada Hidetora (花田 秀虎), Wakayama Commercial High School (Wakayama) Runner-Up - Suzuki Yuto (鈴木 優斗), Hiryu High School (Shizuoka) Semi-Finals - Kamiyama Ryuichi (神山 龍一), Saitama Sakae High School (Saitama) Semi-Finals - Daraibaatoru (ダライバートル), Asahigaoka High School (Kanagawa) Team Competition Winner - Hiryu High School (Shizuoka) Runner-Up - Saitama Sakae High School (Saitama) Videos Open Weight Quarter-Final #1 - Ishizaki Ryoma (石崎 涼馬) vs Hanada Hidetora (花田 秀虎) Open Weight Quarter-Final #2 - Kamiyama Ryuichi (神山 龍一) vs Tsuzawa Taichi (津澤 太一) Open Weight Quarter-Final #3 - Suzuki Yuto (鈴木 優斗) vs Sato (佐藤) Open Weight Quarter-Final #4 - Daraibaatoru (ダライバートル) vs Isa (伊佐) Open Weight Semi-Final #1 - Hanada Hidetora (花田 秀虎) vs Kamiyama Ryuichi (神山 龍一) Open Weight Semi-Final #2 - Suzuki Yuto (鈴木 優斗) vs Daraibaatoru (ダライバートル) Open Weight Final - Hanada Hidetora (花田 秀虎) vs Suzuki Yuto (鈴木 優斗) Team Final - Saitama Sakae High School (Saitama) vs Hiryu High School (Shizuoka) Comments Hanada Hidetora was a runner-up in the Middle School Championships two years ago. He has good skills, and really knows his way around the dohyo. This came in handy in his semi-final, where he outmanoeuvred the former Middle School Yokozuna Kamiyama Ryuichi, and in the final, where he skilfully rounded the oshi-specialist Suzuki Yuto. Suzuki then tried to use an Uchigake (inside leg trip) as Hanada gained the better position at that time, but Hanada cleverly countered with a Shitatenage (underarm throw), throwing Suzuki to the dirt. You can see Suzuki's disappointment at the end, as he felt that he should have finished off the bout with his oshi-attack when he had the chance. Hanada Hidetora is about to enter his second year at High School, and will be a name to watch out for in the High School sumo scene for the next couple of years. Three years ago, Iruma Junior Sumo Club from Saitama became National Club Champions when then defeated Fuji Wanpaku Sumo Club from Shizuoka, at a time when talented rikishi began to emerge from the two prefectures. It comes as no surprise then that the team final last weekend was contested by teams from Saitama and Shizuoka, which even featured Iruma Junior Sumo Club's captain back then, Kamiyama Ryuichi. The strong Saito Daisuke of Saitama Sakae was very impressive in the opening bout of the team final, as his opponent struggled to deal with his pushes. However, Saito was perhaps a bit over-eager to end the bout, as he lost his balance following a dodge from his opponent, 1-0 to Shizuoka. Suzuki Yuto then turned his opponent around at the last minute to make it 2-0 to Shizuoka, before Kamiyama Ryuichi made it 2-1 by throwing out Tsuchiya Kazuya, salvaging some pride for Saitama Sakae, the best high school sumo team in the country. This was an impressive win by Hiryu High School, who now have a strong enough roster to challenge for titles. As a side note, whilst I was checking the year in which Kamiyama Ryuichi became Middle School Yokozuna, this video showed up in the search results. It is from a kids sumo tournament organised by a TV show called PIRAMEKINO, featuring young rikishi from various clubs from around the Kanto region, and held at Tachikawa Renseikan Sumo Dojo. Kamiyama won the Yusho.
  12. mikawa

    Basho Talk Haru 2018 (SPOILERS)

    Guess that's one way to keep Tochinoshin off your belt, but it's not gonna get Goeido any fans though
  13. mikawa

    Basho Talk Haru 2018 (SPOILERS)

    "No one can move him if he doesn't move" (Sumo - East Meets West) Just about sums up Ichinojo at the moment.
  14. mikawa

    Basho Talk Haru 2018 (SPOILERS)

    That was a bit of a wild bout between Takakeisho and Tochinoshin, but thing is though, Takakeisho is most effective off the belt, while Tochinoshin is most effective on the belt. Kakuryu has looked solid so far, but then again he looked solid for most of the Hatsu basho as well, so...... Endo's now beaten both Ozeki, maybe his sanyaku debut's not far off?
  15. 第8回白鵬杯 Around a decade ago, Yokozuna Asashoryu started up an annual tournament for aspiring rikishi from around Japan and Mongolia, and titled it the Asashoryu Cup. However, following Asashoryu's early retirement, the tournament ceased to exist. A year later, in December 2010, Yokozuna Hakuho decided to take up the mantle, and held the first ever Hakuho Cup. We've now come to the 8th edition of this tournament, which has seen competitors from Japan, Mongolia, South Korea, China, USA, Australia, Estonia, Bulgaria come together to sumo wrestle. The 8th Hakuho Cup has just finished, so here's a bried report of the results. A full report will follow once later on, and videos of the event once they become available (the full, live video is available on nicovideo.jp). Brief Report Grade 1 - Kodama Sosuke (児玉 想介), younger brother of Wanpaku Yokozuna Kodama Hayato, finished runner-up today. It runs in the family. Grade 3 - Aoki Kanta (青木 貫太, left in photo), of Yaizu Junior Sumo Club, finished runner-up. This follows his semi-final performance last year, and runner-up the year before that. Grade 4 - A three-peat in the Hakuho Cup for Wanpaku Yokozuna Kodama Hayato (児玉 颯飛). He beat the same opponent from last year's Hakuho Cup final, the current Primary School Yokozuna Kuraoka Yuta (倉岡 優太). Yamashita Kiyomasa (山下 正清) reached the semi-finals. Grade 5 - A third successful final between these 2 rivals didn't come to pass, as both Nishijima and Nakanishi lost in the semi-finals. The tournament was won by 2-time Wanpaku Yokozuna Fukuhara Joichiro (福原 丈一朗), who is technically gifted, and very clever with his sumo. He beat former Primary School Yokozuna Nishide Daiki (西出 大毅) in the final. Grade 6 - Wanpaku Yokozuna Tasaki Masami (田崎 正美) came back from a disappointing Primary School Championships by winning his first ever Hakuho Cup. He beat Kumamoto's Ote Kira (大手 希星) in the final, who won this tournament last year. It was another semi-final result for the previously unbeatable Yamashita Shosuke (山下 昇介). Middle School - The favourite came out on top, as Mukainakano Shingo (向中野 真豪, left in photo) proved too big and too strong for his opponents. Ibaraki's Ezure Haruki (江連 春樹) finished second. Team Competition - Team Kumamoto does it again, as Kawakami Dojo win the Hakuho Cup for the second year running. Teams in the Hakuho Cup are made up of a Grade 4, a Grade 5, a Grade 6 and two middle school rikishi, which is slightly different to the team configuartion for the National Club Championships, where there is only 1 middle school rikishi per team. This was advantageous for Kawakami Dojo, as they could send out the former Primary School Yokozuna Kawazoe Fuma (川副 楓馬) and the former Wanpaku Yokozuna Hanaoka Masaki (花岡 真生) together. As if that wasn't enough, they also had Ote Kira and Kuraoka Yuta on their team, who are both top-level rikishi in their respective year groups. National club champions Kashiwa Junior Sumo Club capped off a successful few months with a second place finish today, giving Nishijima Yura a second medal for the event, to go with the Sponsor's Belt that was awarded to him. This was also another medal for Kanazawa Sorato, who is certainly not regretting his decision to start practising sumo with Kinboshi Sumo Club. Kagoshima's Sumiyo Sumo Club reached the semi-finals, who will be featured in an upcoming article in the Featured Club / Dojo series.
  16. mikawa

    8th Hakuho Cup (2018-2-12)

    That's Mahato, Hakuho's son
  17. mikawa

    Basho Talk Hatsu 2018 (SPOILERS)

    Congrats to Tochinoshin, fully deserved the Yusho!
  18. mikawa

    Basho Talk Hatsu 2018 (SPOILERS)

    Five Yokozuna losses already, and we're not yet a third of the way in, incredible. However, with how well Kakuryu's been performing so far, the Yusho may yet go to a Yokozuna.
  19. Happy new year everyone! As we now reach the end of another year of amateur sumo, let's take a look back at some of the highlights of the year, and see who has impressed the most in each category. College Rikishi of the Year There are a number of contenders for the college rikishi of the year, such as Nakashima Nozomi, this year's Student Yokozuna, who also came second at the Towada Tournament; and Kizaki Shinnosuke, who won the Kariya Tournament, and was runner-up at 2 other events (he was also semi-finalist at this year's All Japan Amateur Championships). However, I feel that the most consistent performance was by Toyo's Terasawa Itsuki, who won both the Kanazawa and the Usa Tournaments, and has also reached the latter stages of at least two other events. In addition, Terasawa has been a key figure in Toyo's continued dominance of the team competitions. College Club of the Year Toyo University, the same as last year. What can you say? Toyo are winners of the Uwajima Tournament, the Kanazawa Tournament, and the Towada Tournament. On top of all that, they have also been finalist at the Usa Tournament and semi-finalist at the Kariya Tournament. Toyo have dominated the team events for a second year running, and with the strength and depth that they have, who's to say that they won't continue this trend in 2018? As a sidenote, look out for Toyo's Shiroyama Seira. He's only in his second year at university, and is already coming close to winning a number of different tournaments. High School Rikishi of the Year This surely has to go to Naya Konosuke, grandson of the late Dai-Yokozuna Taiho. He's been impressive all year long, a direct result of a change in his eating habits, and topped that off by winning the Kokutai in October. Not only that, Naya also won the Kochi tournament and finished runner-up at the Usa Tournament, which will certainly give him confidence when he enters Ozumo next year. High School Club of the Year As much as I would like to award this to Kumamoto's Buntoku High School or Niigata's Kaiyo High School, Saitama Sakae High School are once again worthy winners in this category. They are winners at the Kanazawa and Kochi Tournaments, and won the Kokutai to boot (and they were semi-finalist in two other tournaments as well). It would be interesting to see how well they perform next year following two of their key members, Naya Konosuke and Tebakari Toshiki, deciding to turn pro, but I'm sure they'll still be there or thereabouts regardless. Middle School Rikishi of the Year Goes to the big and powerful Mukainakano Shingo. He blazed through the competition at the Middle School Student Championships, and was unlucky not to win the Middle School Championships as well. Although he was ultimately denied the title of Middle School Yokozuna, Mukainakano has undoubtedly been the best middle school rikishi this year. Grade 6 Rikishi of the Year 2017 has been an interesting year for Grade 6, with Ote Kira winning the Hakuho Cup, Tasaki Masami winning the Wanpaku Tournament, and Ichikizaki Daisuke winning the Primary School Championships. However, the one most deserving of this award goes to Katsushika Shiratori Sumo Club's Aino Shogo. Although he wasn't able to win anything this year, he did finish runner-up on two occasions - one was a good bout but a narrow defeat against Tasaki at Wanpaku, and the other was after he had disposed of 3 contenders on his way to the final of the Primary School Championships (Ote Kira, Tasaki Masami and the 2-time Wanpaku Yokozuna Yamashita Shosuke). It's true that he didn't win anything, but he did enough to lay claim to being the best rikishi in his year group this year. Grade 5 Rikishi of the Year This has to go to this year's Primary School Yokozuna, Nishijima Yura. Although he didn't do well at this year's Wanpaku Tournament (getting knocked out by the eventual winner, Fukuhara Joichiro, who incidentally beat Nishijima in last year's Wanpaku as well, both times after getting a morozashi grip), he did win the Hakuho Cup for a fourth successive time, which was courtesy of yet another narrow victory over his eternal rival, Nakanishi Kaishin. His bout in the final of the Primary School Championships against the defending champion Nishide Daiki had to go to a mono-ii, but it was enough to give him the win, his first time in the competition. This is an intriguing year group, as no one truly stands out amongst all the different styles of sumo that are present. Grade 4 Rikishi of the Year The one and only Kodama Hayato. I've been praising this kid for a couple of years now, even going as far as saying that he's my favourite Wanpaku rikishi of all time. He won the Hakuho Cup for the second time running at the start of this year, and became Wanpaku Yokozuna at the first time of asking. An unlucky loss in the final of the Primary School Championships meant that he couldn't complete the "grand slam" this year, but there's no doubt that he stands heads and shoulders above every other rikishi in his year group. Sumo Club / Dojo of the Year Goes to (officially) the number one club in the country this year, Kashiwa Junior Sumo Club. They have produced many talented rikishi over the years, including the aforementioned Tebakari Toshiki and Nishijima Yura, and won this year's National Club Championships for the first time in the competition's history. The Kanazawa brothers of Kinboshi Sumo Club must have been very sad to leave their friends in Aomori, but they were very lucky that by moving down to Chiba, they were able to become members of Kashiwa Junior Sumo Club, and with it, Kanazawa Sorato became a national champion in sumo, a mere two years after taking up the sport.
  20. mikawa

    TBS Documentary - Vanished Prodigy

    So Kanazawa Sorato is actually a young Takanohana in disguise? Many thanks for sharing the post, it was nice to see that Kato was able to return to sumo and achieve the success that his potential deserved. Interesting that they chose Kashiwa Junior Sumo Club as the venue for the re-enactment of the bout between young Kato and young Hanada. Even more interesting was when Hanada's mum commented "is that really a primary school kid?" when Kato appeared on the dohyo, when in fact his actor, Sakamoto Hirokazu, is actually in his final year at junior high school. It also confirmed that Sakamoto Hirokazu was indeed a member of Kashiwa when they became national club champions a month after the program.
  21. Tokyo Broadcasting System Television have an ongoing series called "Vanished Prodigy" (消えた天才), which features sporting prodigies who, for one reason or another, failed to fulfil the potentials that they had when they were young. One of the prodigies that was featured on their program from 3rd January was Hata Mitsuhide (秦 光秀), a 3-time national champion in sumo during his primary school days, and an opponent whom Wakanohana III, back then, just couldn't beat. As sporting prospects, both Hata and Hanada (Wakanohana) joined Nakano Junior High School, but instead of joining the sumo club at their school, Hata decided to join the judo club. A couple of years later, Hata became a national middle school champion in judo, beating future world champion Nakamura Yoshio in the final. When asked about why he decided to join the judo club at middle school instead of the sumo club, Hata revealed that he didn't actually have an interest in sumo (but won three national championships anyway). During high School, Hanada chose to enter Ozumo to be protect his younger brother (Takanohana), while Hata aimed to win a medal at the Olympics someday. However, at the end of his first year at University, Hata injured his meniscus, and wasn't able to recover from that. For the next few years, his life reached a new low, even comtemplating killing himself, until, at the age of 22, he saw his childhood rival Wakanohana winning his first Makuuchi Yusho. This helped him realise that it's okay to retire from judo and find another job to do, as long as you work hard on it. Hata is now a TV personality in Nagano, and is doing very well at it. Here's a video of the program, Hata's documentary starts from 1:11:21: And here's a photo of the program being produced, with the club members of Tachikawa Renseikan Sumo Dojo:
  22. We'll find out once the new academic year begins in Japan, so that's from April onwards
  23. mikawa

    Banzuke for Hatsu 2018

    So Mitakeumi needs 16 wins to reach Ozeki? Seriously though, the new guys are really starting to make their mark on lower sanyaku, they now occupy 2 komusubi and a sekiwake spot, and on top of that, maegashira east 1 as well
  24. 第30回全日本小学生相撲選優勝大会 This tournament took place inside the Kokugikan Stadium last Sunday, just before the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships. The winners gain the title of Primary School Yokozuna. Grade 4 or Lower Winner - Kuraoka Yuta (倉岡 優太, Kumamoto) Runner-Up - Kodama Ha (児玉 颯飛, Tokyo) Semi-Finals - Yamashita Masakiyo (山下 正清, Kagoshima) Semi-Finals - Nishimura Kazuma ( 西村 和真, Kyoto) Grade 5 Winner - Nishijima Yura (西島 悠来, Chiba) Runner-Up - Nishide Daiki (西出 大毅, Wakayama) Semi-Finals - Usuda Tetsuro (臼田 哲朗, Aichi) Semi-Finals - Kamihara Keiki (上原 煌貴, Ishikawa) Grade 6 Winner - Ichikizaki Daisuke (市来崎 大祐, Kagoshima) Runner-Up - Aino Shogo ( 相野 祥吾, Chiba) Semi-Finals - Suzuki Masane (鈴木 真実, Shizuoka) Semi-Finals - Yamashita Shosuke (山下 昇介, Kagoshima) Videos Grade 4 or Lower Grade 5 Grade 6 Comments The grade 4 or lower competition was expected to be the next chapter in the Kodama-Mashiko rivalry, but it turned out that Mashiko Takuya was absent from the tournament, possibly due to injury. That meant Kodama Hayato was the clear favourite, despite being drawn into the more difficult half. Kodama didn't disappoint, as he powered his way into the final, where he faced Kumamoto's Kuraoka, whom Kodama beat on his way to the Wanpaku title this summer. The bigger Kuraoka knows all about Kodama's superior strength, so he decided that hatakikomi would be the better way to go about the bout, and that worked like a treat. This was only Kodama's second loss this year in all competitions (incidentally, both losses came in this competition), but it was enough to make Kuraoka a Yokozuna, exactly 2 years after his Uto City compatriot Kawazoe Fuma managed the same feat. For Kodama, he is still the best rikishi in his year group, and will be targeting a 3-peat in the Hakuho Cup in a couple of months' time. In the grade 5 competition, Kashiwa Junior Sumo Club's Nishijima Yura (Kanazawa Sorato's kohai) avenged his semi-final loss to Nishide Daiki this time last year by narrowly beating him in this year's final. This was Nishijima's first Yokozuna title, though he does have 4 consecutive Hakuho Cups to his name. Nishide Daiki, who is last year's Primary School Yokozuna, did very well in the final after giving away the morozashi, and very nearly forced a torinaoshi. Meanwhile, it should be mentioned that Nakanishi Kaishin's bouts are always so interesting to watch. He doesn't usually win his bouts the easy way, but always shows a plethra of techniques. Nakanishi is on the right hand side at 11:09. The grade 6 competition went pretty much as expected, with the big names doing what they do best, though it was a surprise to see Ichikizaki Daisuke winning his second Primary School Championships, as he has gradually faded away from the spotlight over the past couple of years. One reason for this could be that those who pose the biggest threat to Ichikizaki, such as Wanpaku Yokozunae Yamashita Shosuke and Tasaki Masami, as well as this year's Hakuho Cup winner Ote Kira, were all knocked out of the tournament by Katsushika's Aino Shogo, who in turn no longer had enough strength left to counter that uwatenage in the final. It was interesting to see Yamashita Shosuke face Sakamoto Shoma again, in their first bout as well, considering that they contested the Wanpaku final for two years running, with Sakamoto Shoma once again getting thrown to the ground. The aforementioned Ote Kira is reminiscent of his club senpai Honda Gotaro, in the sense that both of them should be top 5 rikishi in their year group, but always seem to lose bouts which they perhaps should be winning (at least Ote Kira has a national championship to his name). Elsewhere, Kinboshi Sumo Club's Munakata Seiren has improved a lot since his appearance in the show, he's probably a top 10 rikishi in his year group at this point.
  25. mikawa

    2017 All-Japan Amateur Championship

    Here are videos of the tournament: Preliminaries, Round 1 Preliminaries, Round 2 Preliminaries, Round 3 Last 37 and Last 32 Last 16 - Final