Eikokurai

Hey, all. Long time no see. I can’t quite say why but I lost my passion for sumo around the time NHK and NSK began cracking down on the YT digest channels. That wasn’t the reason I lost it—I guess it had been slowly on the wane for a while—but it was a natural break and I never got the bug back. I keep forgetting basho are even on, though I have at least checked the banzukes and final results even if I haven’t watched a single bout for months. I’ve missed a lot of changes! People gone, rookies on the rise. Yet I just can’t muster the enthusiasm I once had to watch the daily recaps. Are they even still available? It’s becoming harder to follow this sport.

Thanks. I'm going to try and drag myself back into it.

As of May 2021, Terunofuji has four yusho, just two less than recent retiree Yokozuna Kakuryu and five fewer than Harumafuji. Who of these will he surpass and how many can he manage in total?

Hey, guys. This is a personal request. I’d like to connect with an old girlfriend of mine in Osaka, but have no idea how to trace someone living in Japan. She’s not on Facebook and her old emails all bounce back. She had bipolar disorder, and was often in periods of deep depression, so I want to see how she’s doing. It’s been 13-14 years since I last saw her. I’ve tried a few times over the years to find her again, but no luck. I know her name and vaguely remember the street she lived on, but I don’t have much else to work with. Anyone know how to find people in Japan short of flying out and lurking on her old street to see if she passes by (where she might no longer live anyway)? Any tips would be welcome.

I’ve worked around this by following online chess.

The only question is whether that’s motivating enough for people like Kintamayama to do. Small audience, no likes on YouTube, etc.

Or even just a Google drive link. I have a guy who uploads uncensored issues of The Economist (which aren’t sold in China) to a Google drive link and his followers can get them there if they have a VPN (he used to put them in a Chinese cloud server but felt it was too risky).

Is it possible to create an FTP site with videos and just share the link with a private group of members?

Just saw the video of his final 'bout' against his son on Twitter and I'm not going to lie, I choked up a little. It made it final. When he retired, it was post-tournament so we didn't know we'd seen his last fight at the time we watched it. Although this one was a humorous exhibition, it was still emotional knowing it was the last time we'd see him on the dohyo in a mawashi. For me personally, that's significant because my time watching sumo began shortly before his Yokozuna promotion (Haru 2007, when he won the first of the two Ozeki yusho), so basically the entirety of the Hakuho era was my era as a sumo fan.

Leads me to wonder what the record is for number of shisho and heya. That must be up there.

No complex calculations required: that’s a promotion. We’re talking about a guy with a solid record of JYs backing up three existing yusho, not some new kid on the block. That string of records there is unambiguously a promotion run.

With Takakeisho’s newfound love for kotenage (his two this basho account for 50% of his career total), I wonder if he’s learned from Tamawashi, another pusher-thruster who makes use of that kimarite when the oshi attack fails.

We have only two historical precedents of an Ozeki going 12-3 twice in a row with a Y>JY/D or JY/D>Y sequence, and they were both in 1956 and actually the same guy doing it twice over three basho: Wakanohana between March and September. (Fewer tournaments in those days as this was pre-1958 reforms.) For D>Y or Y>D specifically, same as Takakeisho, there is only the one precedent. http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Query.aspx?show_form=0&columns=3&form1_rank=O&form1_wins=12&form1_y=on&form1_yd=on&form1_jy=on&form2_rank=O&form2_wins=12&form2_y=on&form2_yd=on&form2_jy=on Also, re: soft promotion. That ignores all the other context about his previous 2 yusho and 8 jun-yusho, of which 3 were dotens. He’s not starting from nothing.

On Takakeisho, I’m not fully convinced a 12-3 would be enough for everyone in the Kyokai, but I think he’d still have sufficient support to get the nod. 13-2 or above will do it for sure. He has two yusho to his name already, both part of Y>JY or JY>Y combinations, so not like he’s a new arrival in sanyaku making his first attempt. He’s also been in very solid Ozeki form recently. His previous three records are 11-5, 10-5 and 12-3D. He already has a better-than-Kisenosato-like case with 2 x Y, 3 x D and 5 x JY. Add a third Y and it should be a straightforward ‘yes’.

Sad. Sounds like a career-ender, tbh. If he’s weak enough to fall two whole divisions in two basho, how does he come back?

What’s up with Terutsuyoshi? 0-15 last time around in Makuuchi and now 1-7 at J10. Makushita bound if this continues.

Shodai didn’t even try to regain his Ozeki rank this basho, did he? 2-6. I don’t think he’ll even be a Sekiwake in March.

Ha! True. Double Yokozuna-Ozeki in March?

Very exciting bout but not sure Midorifuji’s strategy was the wisest. Getting into a harite exchange with Takakeisho is the Ozeki’s game and not a great way to try and move him. It looked great, but Taka absorbed it all fairly easily. Mido was also too immobile, even pausing mid-bout to reload, which also gave short-stamina Takakeisho a chance to breathe. Taka his no sideways mobility, so instead of returning to a slapfest head-on, Mido should have used more lateral movement. Still, top marks for entertainment!

Shodai has to survive 8 days unbeaten. Not going to happen. We are about to permanently lose our second Ozeki in as many basho.

Roga beat Terunofuji for the Jonidan yusho while the future Yokozuna was on his way back. Sure, Teru wasn’t in his absolute best of health, but he was still a former Ozeki at 7-0 and Roga was a rookie.

Mitakeumi-Shodai on day one was just weird. And Shodai loses, suggesting we may just have to get used to them meeting on day ones.

Konishiki reviewing sumo scenes from movies on YouTube. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z9wVo4TgW0

Injuries/the body doesn’t work like that though, especially as you age. I’ve pulled muscles in my back just shifting in my seat. Something catches and … that’s it. Just because Takayasu is used to butting heads doesn’t mean the next headbutt won’t be an issue.

Just a bit of fun for the year, this is a tracker for sumo win streaks inspired by New Zealand rugby’s Ranfurly Shield. That’s a shield won by a challenge system. The holder retains the shield for as long as they’re winning, but then whoever beats them takes the shield and tries to hold it as long as possible. We’ll start with Terunofuji as the ‘holder’ since he won the most recent bout in 2021. Whoever beats Terunofuji first takes the ‘shield’ until he himself loses. We’ll see at the end of the basho (and year) who held it most and for longest.