Yamanashi

Pretty much the same photos of Oshoumi presser over on X: Incidentally, Oshoumi (Fukasawa Seiya) is a native of Tsubasa, a small city in the hills north of Kanazawa.

And not winning much against opponents with winning scores, unfortunately.

On Instagram (sorry, no embedding), some photos from Oshoumi's press conference. Naruto Oyakata looks ecstatic, Oshoumi as usual looks mildly amused [actually, he always looks very shy]. https://www.instagram.com/p/C0N8D8VrFWn/?img_index=1

The endless staredown didn't make any sense when it happened: endless cringe-inducing stare, not against an old rival, but against an M4. "Oh, they went to the same high school" or something: still doesn't make any sense. Did he do this when they met in Aki? It seemed random and arbitrary to do this. Was there too much time left before six o'clock, and NHK gave him the "draw it out" sign?

If there are more than six men in the Y-O slots at any time during the year, it's statistically impossible to do this. Having a lack of Y/O makes this at least possible.

Though, to be fair, they give them these shikona with that in mind. It's not an accident, after all.

Who cares what I think®, but "Lower division celebs" seems to be about either kids on their way up, or well-known veterans on their way down, or unique individuals (some hafu, for instance). For next basho, Takerifuji and Oshoumi should fall up. Kayo should follow soon. I guess sons and brothers are permanent, so ... If Kazekeno and Otani have peaked and continue slumping, they should leave the list [I don't care what University or heya is involved].

Weird, isn't it? Even if everyone is wearing a yukata, X i s sure they're going to whip them off and parade around in their diapers at any moment.

Post-basho group photo: My guess, Top L to R: Marusho, Oshoumi, Oshoma, Naruto Oyakata, Okamisan, Mishima, Karino, Mukaida, Gyoji Komei, Yobidashi Kenta Bottom L to R: Tokoyama Toko, Oshoryu, Hoshuzan, Yamane, Murayama, Oshozan, Oyamada, Honma, Kawamura, Manager Daigo Emoto (ex-Kotodaishin)

It's getting dark pretty early this time of year (~5:15 PM). maybe that had something to do with it.

Kitaharima went through the rank Ms2 five times.

Well, what about the fifth time?

It's possible for Kitaharima to fall in the Ms2-Ms4 range next January. Amazingly, he reached M2 for the first time in the Hatsu 2011 basho. The Yokozuna was Hakuho; Kaio, Baruto, Kotooshu and Harumafuji were the Ozeki; Sekiwake were Kisenosato and Kotoshogiku; Komosubi were Tochiozan and Kakuryu.

Sorry, I checked the last example of M14w 11-4, and it was M4; of the other 7 examples in history, 6 ended up at M6. M14e would have been luckier: Tobizaru did it in 9/2020. Incidentally, M2 has faced M4 18 times in the last two years, and M2 vs M5 16 times, but M2 vs M6 only 9 times.

Narutobeya Kyushu 2023 results and comments Format: Rikishi, Rank 11/2023, match record, predicted rank 1/2024 (career high in italics), comments Oshoma, J3w, 6-9, J6 He came back in the last two days to cushion the fall. You might say that he can bounce back at this lower rank, but it's the lower rankers that he has trouble with. Oshoumi, Ms2w, 4-3, J14 A real highlight; he seems like such a humble and nice guy. Now the heya has its second sekitori. Oshoryu, Ms30w, 5-2, Ms18 Oshoryu climbs back toward his career high Ms7. If he can do this again, he'll be there. Hoshuzan, Ms34w, 2-5, Ms50 Hits the wall at his career high rank; the next basho will tell the tale about his chances for advancement. Marusho, Ms50e, 5-2, Ms35 He'll be near his CH Ms31. Murayama, Sd2w, 3-4, Sd16 Hits the wall at his CH. He lost his first two matches to Sd1 and Sd3, but won his last two against Sd2 and Sd9; he may be over his nerves and ready to advance to Makushita. Oyamada, Sd23e, 5-2, Ms58 Another highlight performance; the skinny fellow who entered the heya at 23 has had only one MK in 8 baso. Now it gets serious. Kanazawa, Sd46e, 3-4, Sd58 Down slightly from his CH is Sd20, so he could match that. In 10 basho he's 39-28 with 6 KK's, so let's see if he's got more in the tank. Kawamura, Sd46w, 5-2, Sd19 His CH Sd20 was in September. Kyujo for 3 basho in 2021, he's been slowly climbing ever since. Honma, Sd64w, 1-6, Jd7 Veteran Honma has a bad basho (injured?). He was out all of 2020 with a gruesome foot injury, but has been in lower Sandanme for 11 of the last 12 tournaments. Mukaida, Sd67w, 3-4, Sd82 He's been in Sandanme 23 of his 33 basho; looking like a regular. Mishima, Sd75w, 0-0-7, Jd40 No word on his injury (of course); CH Ms38. Oshozan, Jd33e, 5-2, Sd86 The first of Naruto's deshi gets back to Sandanme for the fourth time. Yamane, Jk15w, 5-2, Jd71 The 20-year-old, who still looks like a character from "Ponyo", steadily worked up to Jd8, then was kyujo for 10 basho. This is his first comeback basho. Karino, Bg He's still active on the website; has never had a bout. Anzai Who? Basho comments: Very good news from Makushita with Oshoumi, Oshoryu and Marusho. Oyamada continues to impress beyond expectations, and Kawamura shows steady improvement. The heya W/L record is concerning. Usually the rikishi start slow, but then they accelerate around day 8 and finish near the top in W/L percentage. That did not happen this time [their burst came with a 7-2 mark on day 15], and they end up only 17th out of 44 heya. KK/MK is 7/6 (not counting kyujo).