Yamanashi

Ah. I misread as "Araiso" and thought "Woah, look at Kise, getting all political!" However, good for Sokokurai, who was Chinese, making it more pointed.

Of course they aren't trying to do that. It just struck me that the statistics is set up so that losing as a sekitori will run up losses faster, but if you lose enough so you fall to Ms, your losing potential is cut in half. A year at 4-3, 3-4, ... gets you 21 losses. A year at 8-7, 7-8 gets you 45. Even a whole career of 1-6 basho can't keep up with the 8-7, 7-8 guy.

What a delicate dance that is, to rack up plenty of losses in 15-match bashos without falling into the less productive 7-match bashos

Waning Autumn Sun, Creatures wait for November, October Forum

Go to the Public Feedback tab in Non-Sumo-Related topics, under "Sanyaku Promotion", for a recent discussion. It was news to me, too!

#7 on the list, Daishiryu Daigo, is one of those rare cases (are there others?) that reached Jonidan w/o a winning record. He went 24 basho without a kachi-koshi, including a trip back to Maezumo after a kyujo, and finally leapt from Jk19w to Jd133e in May 2008 with a commanding 3-4 record. His first KK was 3 basho later. After a career high of Jd58 in 2016, he is still toiling away with a 2-5 at Jk8. For those of you lucky enough to visit the Kokugikan this November, can you track him down and ask him if he'd rather have the Yusho or be an Ozeki?

Yah, Kyokutenho, what's that loser been up to for the last few years? He doesn't even have his own Youtube channel!

The good news, 9 of the people above him have gone intai, so they're sitting targets. Somewhat bad news, the fellow just above him went kyujo in Aki at Jd108, so he'll be racking up the Jk basho again for awhile, unless he goes intai at age 27.

This is a fascinating story. One question I have: since you didn't make it to sekitori when you left, how did you receive two Fighting Spirit awards? Were they given to Makushita rikishi back in the day?

And, to be fair. Kotooshu and Baruto didn't exactly slide down the banzuke before retiring.

I recognize Oshoryu from Naruto. Good! He needs some challenging keiko outside the heya if he is going to break out of Makushita.

And you made Ozeki in 2 years! And closing in on the big prize, I see. Sincerely, Yamanashi (1 post closer to 1500).

Congratulations on reaching the top of Sanyaku. I remember you from when I joined. I've always liked the picture with the big fish!

Yeah, and the Japanese are renowned for their plucky "never say die" attitude, but if you're ten years into a career that peaked at Ms 85 and you haven't sniffed Sandanme in 20 basho, you're probably thinking about maybe a slot at your brother's trucking company. Start talking about "getting a kabu" and no one wants to do keiko with you.

There must be a significant stockpile of that tea over at Miyaginobeya; they probably "gift" it to the Koenkai members.

Agree, but that's beside the point. Most rikishi never make it to Makuuchi, so the topic we're discussing is moot. And the vast majority of those who make it to maegashira neither win a Yusho nor make Ozeki. Here's a study I did: for rikishi with hatsu-dohyo on or after 1960, 1) how many have a Yusho w/o reaching Ozeki? 2) how many reached Ozeki and never had a Yusho? 1) 2) I reached the copy limit, but there are seven Ozeki who never had a Yusho: Maenoyama, Yutakayama Katsuo, Asahikuni, Daiju, Masuiyama, Miyabiyama and Takayasu. All retired on this list (i.e. not Takayasu) have received kabu. Now, some on either list are "ronin" who never owned a kabu; I will let the cognescenti of this Forum determine the relative worth of these worthies. This tells me that the Oyakata opportunities are not cut-and-dried on either side. That leaves me with history and reputation, which for me falls on the side of the Ozeki. [Of course, the best way to play this game is the "Kirk cheats at the Kobayashi Maru scenario" approach: win a Yusho and get to Ozeki!]

That's a nice take. Maegashira yusho winners will be remembered fondly and asked to speak about their experience after they retire. Ozeki's will be oyakata after they retire. One gets his lunch tab picked up, the other gets a career.

Is it because it's a long, tedious pain in the ***?

I can't disagree about anything in Seiyashi's long post. It has slowly dawned on me, though, that when I read about or see bouts of some rikishi of the past, if I find they made Ozeki I think "well, that's a historic status." Sekiwake ... nice career. Aoiyama has a career high as Sekiwake. Historic (other than as a Bulgarian)?

Now if it were already cooked ... In my imagination I see some young Jonidan, mouth open under the chute, gurgling "Oi...shi!!!"

Sometimes I turn on the "Highest rank" tag and view old banzuke. It's amazing how many Makuuchi have Sekiwake as their high-water mark. Example: Natsu 2017 has 15 out of 36 non-Y/O who were or had been as high a Sekiwake in their career.

The blurb says "don't miss the Fighters' Steak and the Victors' Steak". I expected sea bream, but maybe that's only seasonally available.

I get your point, but if you're going to store something half the weight of a compact car, you probably can't get it all on a typical storage shelf.

Thanks for the info. I guess the weight is my concern. 1000 kg = 2200 lbs. Guess it goes on the floor!

This project is very important as a piece of historical documentation, and I thank you for taking it on. [There's still some work to be done: several mismatches between names and portraits.]