themistyseas

I think there's also a presumption that you want to be an oyakata. Ignoring all the retirement privileges, I tend to be a subscriber to the "flags (in this case portraits) fly forever (in this case, a few years)" philosophy, but the privileges of an Ozeki rank career wise probably outstrip that in terms of its impact on the remainder of your career, nevermind the mochikyukin system. So I think it's important to take that into consideration. But I would personally probably be more attracted to the idea of doing a Mainoumi-style media career (although I appreciate NSK members get an enormous amount of media opps) alongside opening a restaurant business as many ex-rikishi tend to do, rather than take a kabu. I know it's an incredibly stable career path for those who dedicate their life to sumo, but after 20+ years in a house with sweaty guys, you want another 30 years of that? #nope So all of that to say, in spite of the immediate career benefits and long term stability of reaching Ozeki, I'd probably rather have the yusho. As Akinomaki implies, outside the last couple years, it was a very rare and special achievement.

That, and of course as Churaumi stated above, there is the Mochikyukin system that augments the salary. Some sports have performance bonuses, but certainly none that I know of are as comprehensive as this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochikyūkin Unless there has been some change in the system I'm not aware of or that hasn't been published, the compensation Hakuho gets from the Association for putting up GOAT numbers would dwarf 60M yen/600K USD. I'm not sure I'm able to do the maths but would love to see someone have a go!! :)

Fully. Something that has been a breath of fresh air is just how much he has enjoyed this incredible experience. His personality is an extremely welcome addition to the top division.

10000%. Mitakeumi has been shocking. One thing that's been glossed over is he was gifted a couple of extremely easy wins midway through the tournament. I don't think his overall performance was by and large any better than Daieisho's 5-10. Not taking anything away from his two yusho (I was there for the last one), but how many more future Ozeki will pass him by?

Tobizaru's ugly cry at the end was everything. Wow. A match worthy of the yusho.

I found myself cursing the TV for him not doing his back-bend just one more time. Without trying to read too much into it, it looked like he was taking in the last salt toss and his exit from dohyo itself.

Fully agree. Kotoshogiku put up a better fight today than I expected, but it wouldn't surprise me to see him eke out zero or one more win. I'm fully expecting an intai announcement after the basho (could also see a scenario where we get one before the end if he does get a final win). It's a subtle thing but in the last tournament and start of this tournament he had changed the angle of his tachiai, which after his return from kyujo here has been abandoned. That's part of what makes me think he's just playing this out to enjoy his last days. Also the fact that there's no hometown basho for him in front of his home fans in November this year. I should recant what I said above at least to some extent about Ishiura. He probably isn't safe from demotion even by winning out, but 4-5 wins would land him much nearer the top of a pretty underwhelming Juryo slate with a very good shot to bounce back. Just the two puts him in need of a strong tournament next time out. IMHO If he can beat Hoshoryu into make-koshi territory tomorrow, the return from kyujo was probably worth it.

I know where you're coming from, but I don't know that I'd bracket the two of them. While Ishiura looked awful today, I'd at least say he has a chance at getting the (4? 5?) wins required to stay in the division or at least limit his drop with some of the sumo he's displayed, and can understand why he entered. I think Kotoshogiku may look at this as: if he's going to be relegated to Juryo either way, and longstanding precedent would suggest as a former Ozeki then go intai (Terunofuji excepted), he'd rather go out on the dohyo than on the sidelines.

Doesn't look like the missing good luck charm has affected his results so far - he's a win away from the yusho and a new career high rank!

Jk29e Osuzuki

Jk30E Yutakanami

1. X 2. X 3. A 4. A 5. A 6. A 7. A 8. B 9. B 10. A 11. B 12. A 13. B 14. A 15. B 16. A 17. A 18. A 19. B 20. A 21. X

In some ways, as an outsider, it feels remarkable to come out and say this. Not that I think rikishi pay a ton of attention to each others' media quotes.... but if you are watching video of your opponents and know you'll likely be facing Terunofuji, surely you'd have a plan for hatakikomi?

Tateyama oyakata (Homarefuji) doesn't appear to be attached to an ichimon on the Kabu page. Also the ichimon for Isegahama-beya (and others) is referred to as Tatsunami despite Tatsunami-beya being in another ichimon. This should be Isegahama, right?

One wouldn't say his oversight of Gokushindo's development has been stellar either. Not that most stables are bereft of drama but I don't know he in particular is who you'd want inheriting a Yokozuna candidate. Nevermind that those of us with a particular interest in the success of rikishi with western roots will have been sad to see the Ryuga intai.

I don't believe it's been announced yet. If you used a third party vendor, it might be worth checking with them to see how they are handling it. My ticket vendor (BuySumoTickets) issued communication to customers that they were processing some refunds in good faith before the NSK's advice. If you used the NSK's official ticketing service, they've promised an announcement on how refunds will be handled "soon."

Jd74 Senho

Kabu page lists Asahiyama, Asakayama, Isegahama, Miyagino, Tomozuna beya as being in Tatsunami ichimon even though Tatsunami beya itself is listed in Dewanoumi ichimon. This should probably be Isegahama ichimon, right?

Jk28w - Yutakanami

Would it be possible to start a Patreon or something similar for the DB to get on a more stable environment or hosting solution @Doitsuyama? It is such a great and useful resource for many sumo fans/writers/forum members etc. I know I and many others would be happy to kick in a couple dollars/euro/hundred yen a month if it would help. While the site itself is up and down, some of the components don't seem to be quite working at the moment. I attempted to submit a request via feedback form for an update to the Kabu page to reflect the recent changes (Onomatsu, Homarefuji etc) and that threw a 404 even though the rest of the site seemed to be functional for the time being.