mikawa

#9 Keisuke Yoshida (吉田 圭佑), Aichi

#8 Ryuta Takagi (高木 立太), Ishikawa, Takaryu, Kise (March 2014 - May 2021)

#7 Koichi Kataoka (片岡 孝一), Chiba

#5 Daisuke Sasaki (佐々木 大輔), Aomori, Sasakiyama, Kise (Jan 2010 - )

#4 Shuji Higashi (東 秀次), Nagasaki

Thanks, I wasn't sure how to make the "Class of" series more engaging / appealing, which was why I decided to delete the original posts. What do you think about this new format, and do you have any suggestions please going forward? I've since added a few more rikishi to this list, including one Tsurugisho. His highlights will be ready as soon as YouTube allows me to upload more videos lol

#3 Minoru Ikejiri (池尻 実), Hyogo

#2 Shota Minami (南 翔太), Chiba

#1 Shogo Kawabata (川端 翔伍), Osaka, Daishomaru, Oitekaze (March 2014 - )

The annual Tachikawa Citizens Sumo Tournament (立川市民相撲大会) was held today at Tachikawa Renseikan Sumo Dojo in Tokyo. There was both an individual competition (by year group) and a team competition (where the participants were divided into four teams). This was the first time that I got to meet Wycliff Palu, the former Australian professional rugby player. His son Muti was a national semi-finalist last year, so it wasn't a surprise that Muti came through the tournament today undefeated. One of his opponents even tried a hassou-tobi (jumping upwards at the tachi-ai to avoid the charging opponent) but to no avail. Muti first got into sumo at a local tournament, and was invited by Renseikan's Coach Gohara to come and join the club. Since then, sumo has helped him build self-confidence, make new friends, and he really loves the sport now. There was also a Nepalese kid at the tournament today (amateur sumo is also getting multinational these days). He started sumo about a year ago because he was too large to play soccer, and has also grown to really enjoy the sport. What I didn't expect today was to be invited to act as a ring-side shimpan (east side) for part of the tournament, a completely new experience for me. As a shimpan, you have to concentrate very hard throughout each bout to check who wins and who loses (a lot of pressure there), and whenever a contentious decision arises and a mono-ii (shimpan discussion) occurs, you have to state your version of events and be sure about it. In my first mono-ii, I said that ""one of the wrestlers accidentally stepped out first, probably (tabun)", and was told off for not fully committing to my judgement. I don't know whether or not it's the same in Ozumo, but today, whenever the shimpan couldn't agree on a single decision, that's when a torinaoshi (redo) was called. Here are some photos from the event:

From Chiba (where I'm currently living) to Kanagawa, with this documentary about the Asahigaoka High School sumo club, their 2 Mongolian members, and their team captain Shigeki Yoda (big and strong, he is). The video shows the club training, eating, mountain-climbing, meeting the school's orchestra club who came to cheer them on, as well as their showing at the 106th Kanazawa tournament.

Was too slow to get a photo of Takayasu when he exited the Kokugikan, but got this instead:

All of the shindeshi who went up onto the dohyo today:

They have a lottery draw after the bouts, today’s was done by ex-Kotoyuki

Some kids were shouting “Abi, ganbare!” over and over and over again (despite rules forbidding any shouting). Abi went on to get pushed out quickly……

Huge gasps when Terutsuyoshi grabbed a huge handful of salt and loud claps when he threw them into the ring (and even louder claps when he won)

They bring in much larger cushions for the Makuuchi wrestlers to sit on, never noticed that before

The crowd here in the Kokugikan clapped loudly when Wakatakamoto came on, but were disappointed when he got clapped (excuse the pun)

Apparently he really is injured

With his younger brother Ryoma coming in, it's almost like Takuma never left......

Instead of Raizo "Asashoryu Impersonator" Taniyama, I think I might call him Raizo "the Demon" Taniyama from now on, seeing that he's comparing himself to Hattori Hanzo......

It's now time for the final banzuke in our "Amateur Sumo Banzuke" series for 2019. Every year, there are 10 national level tournaments on the college sumo calendar, some of which also feature wrestlers from other walks of life (such as corporate sumo). The red numbers next to each rikishi denote which year group they are in. Without further ado, let's get started! This banzuke takes into account the following tournaments: 36th All Japan College Sumo Uwajima Tournament 59th All Japan College Sumo Usa Tournament 29th All Japan College & Society Sumo Kyushu Tournament 57th All Japan College & Corporate Sumo Wakayama Tournament 9th All Japan College Sumo Kanazawa Tournament 54th All Japan College Sumo Towada Tournament 67th All Japan College & Corporate Sumo Kariya Tournament 74th Kokutai (Senior Division) 97th National Student Championships 68th All Japan Amateur Championships But before that, here are the top 10 Universities of the past year, based on their results in the team competitions: 1 - Nippon Sport Science University (日本体育大学), Tokyo 2 - Toyo University (東洋大学), Tokyo 3 - Nihon University (日本大学), Tokyo 4 - Chuo University (中央大学), Tokyo 5 - Kindai University (近畿大学), Osaka 6 - Tokyo University of Agriculture (東京農業大学), Tokyo 7 - Takushoku University (拓殖大学), Tokyo 8 - Doshisha University (同志社大学), Kyoto 9 - Kyushu Institute of Information Sciences (九州情報大学), Fukuoka 10 - Meiji University (明治大学), Tokyo Comments Last year turned out to be a three-horse race for the title of best college sumo club in Japan, with only a whisker separating Nippon Sport Science University, Toyo University and Nihon University. In fact, those three teams were level on points going into the final two team events (Kariya and National Student). Winning the Kariya Tournament ultimately proved to be the difference for Nippon Sport Science University as they only just pipped their two challengers to top spot Whilst NSSU were impressive in the best-of-5 matches, they were almost unbeatable in the best-of-3s. Usually they would just race to a 2-0 win because of how good their first two members are (you'll see just how good they are when I publish the banzuke tomorrow). Even during the off chance that one of them gets taken down, their final member Ishizaki Takuma would just step in and finish what they started. This was precisely what happened when they faced Wakayama Prefectural Office in the final of the Kariya Tournament. It was such an important win for them as it gave them enough separation for them to ensure the #1 spot. NSSU are in the blue mawashi: Toyo University were the best college sumo team for the past two years running. A major reason for this was their effective recruiting of high school talents. Another reason was that they were led by the best college rikishi for both 2017 and 2018. That man, Shiroyama Seira, was set to lead them to a third win in a row when, after just three tournaments, he suddenly went AWOL (more on that tomorrow). Just imagine, Toyo University were able to secure second spot without their club captain, what would they have been capable of if they had Seira for the entire year? The year started slowly for Nihon University, NSSU's biggest rivals, as they could only manage a quarter-final finish in the first two tournaments. However, they gradually got better and better as the year went on and won three of the last four tournaments. They were even able to secure key victories against the super strong NSSU team, mainly thanks to one of their members, Yersin Baltagulov (all credits to John Gunning for the spelling), figuring out NSSU's virtually unbeatable Nakamura Taiki. Speaking of, here's when Nihon University faced Nippon Sport Science University (blue mawashi) in the semi-finals of the National Student Championships. One of the best college team matches of the year for sure.

Thanks to Coach Hirano, I went to the Taito Riverside Sports Center in Tokyo earlier today to watch a training session at Komatsuryu Dojo (John Gunning's club), the recently crowned Hakuho Cup team champions. Their keiko on Saturdays starts at 1:30pm. Because it was their first training session of the new school year, once they are all warmed up, Ryudai "Strategic Genius" Yoshioka was introduced as Komatsuryu Dojo's team captain for the upcoming year. Everyone gathered around him, and they bowed in all directions. As Komatsuryu Dojo is situated up the river from the Kokugikan, they get visits from Ozumo wrestlers from time to time. In fact, most of their coaches are actually retired rikishi / oyakata. Ten points if you can recognize which former Makuuchi wrestler was there today? Unlike many other clubs, where they save butsukari-geiko (pushing practise) until last, Komatsuryu actually started off their training with this part. That took us to about 2:30pm, when practise bouts started. These are done in a winner-stays-on format, but instead of the winner choosing their next opponent, Komatsuryu actually have a queueing system to determine who's next up. Half an hour for the youngest wrestlers in the club, one entire hour for the older elementary school wrestlers (Grades 4-6), and then half an hour for the middle schoolers. Because Komatsuryu only have one dohyo, the wrestlers would do various muscle training around the room when it's not their turn. There are all sorts of equipment around the room to help them do this. There's a water bag, a couple of tires, some dumbbells, and even a couple of Mjölnir (everyone there is worthy lol). This is the third club where I've watched keiko, and I have to say, the training bouts at Komatsuryu are so much more intense. I mean, there were multiple instances today where blood was drawn. Their wrestlers also displayed a wider skillset, with all sorts of moves being attempted and executed. Look who's here? If it isn't "Japan's 10-year-old sumo champion" (according to Reuters' video), and recent Hakuho Cup winner, Kyuta Kumagai? However, I was much more impressed by the left-most boy, Ikko Taira. He is the son of Coach Taira (Komatsuryu's head coach), and is very good at lateral movement during his bouts. He uses this talent to set up all sorts of different techniques, such as throws and trips. Like father like son eh? (The one in the black mawashi is their new team captain, Ryudai Yoshioka) Many thanks to Coach Hirano and Coach Taira for allowing this visit!

I can't find any information regarding why he quit the Toyo University sumo club. It might be that something happened, but he didn't want to make anything public? We may never know......

Some bonus images of the Kokugikan Stadium at sunset and of various things inside Ryogoku Station: