RabidJohn

You could edit the title from 'rumour gaining traction' to 'baseless rumour'.

He's the one guy who failed to capitalize on his opportunities when so many yusho were available to rikishi other than yokozuna. But the recent situation of having more than 10 yusho winners in makuuchi is very rare, if not unprecedented. The reality of the big picture is only a tiny minority of rikishi win a makuuchi yusho.

Who's in line to become Hakuho's next probation officer when Isegahama turns 65?

I know the NSK has got to capitalize on popularity where it can, but all this focus on a former ozeki who threw his career away seems OTT. Japanese copium consumption must be off the scale.

I feel ya! The article was unavailable to me, so I am left wondering: why? I know he's due to retire in July, so is he going to be the Singing Sanyo?

I used to be regularly last one on my feet at parties. I think I could've maybe managed one bottle, but I've been properly arseholed and thoroughly regretting it the next day. 6.3l of that stuff (assuming they managed half each) is, frankly, beyond belief.

Tales from drinking parties at Nishonoseki-beya are even more unsurprising than they seemed.

Maybe, but not as peeved as the guy at Ms1e when a sekitori retires after the banzuke is set.

An Onosato yusho in May will secure his promotion. The score won't really matter, only the fact of back to back yusho. Recent events suggest it'll likely be either 12-3 or 13-2 with an outside chance of a 14-1. It's not going to be 11-4, as they seem (subjectively) even rarer than zensho. I don't want him to get an easy ride, and I don't believe he needs one.

It was a peculiar bout, but also one I really enjoyed. I've been pondering this for a while now... Both of them have this ability to make their opponent suddenly retreat like they're trying to avoid getting their ribs tickled, but Ura is a master of retreating and resetting against the tawara. --- Re: no sansho for Tamawashi. 10 wins was a superb performance from the oldest rikishi in the division, for sure, but he's a two-time yusho winner so the standard has to be higher for him.

As a 35yr-old former ozeki with a 20yr ozumo career, 14 in makuuchi, and now 3 makuuchi yusho-doten to his name, I reckon it's fantastic that Takayasu can show he's still relevant. But I'm glad he didn't win. I said earlier in the basho that I thought a Takayasu yusho would be pointless, but that's a little unfair. What I meant is that it's not going to lead to anything at his age, whereas a 3rd Onosato yusho is the start of another tsuna run. I'd have preferred something a bit stronger, but here we are. Nishonoseki now needs to control the celebrations. We don't want another yusho followed by a 9-6. Congratulations also to the Aonishiki flag wavers. You were right: he's definitely worth keeping an eye on.

I'm still not rooting for Takayasu, but I do like a sustained tsuppari barrage, and that was the most effective I've seen in a while. Credit where it's due. Onosato is going backwards far too much. Suggestions that he's carrying an injury seem credible. I've got little fan investment in Kotozakura, but I'm strangely relieved he's a proper ozeki again. He's looked more in control of himself in the second week.

Hard work? My mistake. I believed that the foolish decision to announce Hoshoryu as tsunatori on the strength of a sole jun-yusho was the only thing that afforded Takadagawa-san the opportunity to unilaterally announce his promotion, railroading the NSK into closing ranks so as to not look even more foolish, though not without a little leakage of discontent to the press. Please don't expect me to get any less cynical, though. And call me idealistic, but a 13-2Y is worth way more than a 13-2D, which is itself worth more than a 13-2J. Same numbers, but ask Takayasu whether that Y matters.

If yokozuna promotion was about the number of wins, I'd agree, but it's about winning yusho. Announcing Hoshoryu as tsunatori on the strength of a 13-2J left them no option when he put in a worse performance but won the following yusho. Few would be happier than me to see Onosato promoted, but IMHO only a yusho should start an officially announced run. They can always do a day 14 "yusho = promotion" announcement at the next basho, like they did with his shisho. 13-2 ain't going to be a J this time, though: at worst it's going to be a D, but even that wouldn't convince me to announce a run if I were Hakkaku.

I will be very complimentary if he manages it, but I just don't believe he's got it in him to stick at 1 loss, so it'll be in the play-off, probably against Onosato. I sincerely hope not. They made that mistake in November and it's just come back to bite them. No need to double down. Then again, I'm fully aware that hope and sumo don't mix well.

He is Hoshoryu the Unready, for sure. He's not been a dominant rikishi and is unlikely to become one. But he's only 25, so he ought to be able to improve somewhat. --- I'm bloody annoyed with Onosato losing to Takayasu. I know there are forum members who will be thrilled if the former ozeki can get a yusho, but it feels pointless to me.

I was going by the "9-2" I saw before the bout. Even if 1 of the 2 was a fusensho, it still adds up to 10 actual bouts, doesn't it - or was one of Takayasu's 9 a fusensho, too?

I don't know. Yesterday he was up against a rikishi he'd only beaten twice in 11 attempts, and today it was a rikishi he's never beat. Going kyujo now would look shady. If he loses tomorrow against Ura, with whom he's at 8-5, then an injury kyujo would at least look more plausible. Then there's pride, face, or whatever you want to call it. Maybe he's going to be an Onokuni/Wakanohana type, who'll keep trying for a KK until he goes MK.

Seeing the h2h before the Hoshoryu-Takayasu bout was like a spoiler for the result. How is Takayasu kryptonite for the yokozuna? At that rate, the former ozeki could be getting a pay rise for nearly every basho he can remain in the joi.

Maybe among the foreign fans on social media, but I expect Japanese fans will take a very long time to get fed up of a dominant Japanese rikishi. I also suspect I'm not alone in hoping for a decent rivalry between heavyweight powerhouse Onosato and mid-weight technician Hoshoryu, akin to what we last saw with Akebono and Takanohana.

I agree that any side step is a henka, but the slight shoulder check sets 'em up for the uwatenage follow through, which makes it visually and technically distinct from a side step that totally avoids frontal contact. I see 'HNH' (Harumafuji non-henka) as a tongue-in-cheek shorthand to describe that distinction. I'm not mad about it, even though I know it's bollocks. I would've called it a Chiyonofuji non-henka, but he wasn't the originator, either - and it's still a henka. I'm just into my 10th year of watching ozumo again, so I missed Ama/Harumafuji moaning about henka. That's hilarious.

@Kintamayama Not a problem for me - I click on the videos too quickly to process the thumbnails. I'm nowt but grateful.

Yeah, it seems to have just gone out of fashion, which is a shame because it adds to the entertainment when done properly. They were all at it 40 years ago: now it's notably uncommon.

I take it you never saw Chiyonofuji. My recollection is of the 'death stare' occurring before each of his matches. It never went on for long, though. So I don't believe it breaks hinkaku for a yokozuna. The stare-down between Hoshoryu and Gonoyama that caused all the comment a while ago was problematic because it just went on and on, and time is a constraint. Hoshoryu's always musubi-no-ichiban currently, so I imagine he gets told the time available while he's waiting in the hanamichi, and it's usually not excessive.

Ah, yes. Osaka zabuton are green - when did that happen? Desultory green drizzle...