Ooshima beya-future?

[Kintamayama 43,585]

Ooshima Oyakata is slated to retire in April meaning this is his last basho as boss. "For his sake, all of the guys will be going all out to get good results," said heyagashira and number one candidate to take over the heya Kyokutenhou. But he is not that keen on quitting. "I still have the hunger.. I want to go on a bit more", he said. At his point, there is a real chance the heya will be closing down, and Ooshima is said to be looking around for a heya that can absorb all his people.

Now, this could all be a smokescreen that the Oyakata and Kyokutenhou are creating so that Kyokutenhou can retire without unnecessary pressure, or it could be what will actually happen.

We shall see.

[Asashosakari 18,158]

Too bad Kasugafuji already won the Hamanishiki sweepstakes. ;-)

[Asashosakari 18,158]

Too bad Kasugafuji already won the Hamanishiki sweepstakes. ;-)

Unless Oshima ends up merging with Kasugayama-beya, of course, as somebody on 2ch helpfully points out. (Laughing...) Another obvious fact mentioned over there - if Oshima has trouble finding suitors for a stable with three active sekitori, he'd be doing it wrong. And from my own brain - given that Kyokutenho is eligible to establish a new heya (thanks to >60 makuuchi tournaments) after a one-year waiting period, it could well be possible to re-establish Oshima-beya shortly after his eventual retirement, and almost certainly taking along all current Oshima rikishi again. That's probably the main issue that could give possible merger partners second thoughts, but I can't imagine it's a deal-breaker.

Unsurprisingly the 2ch discussion has brought up just about every stable in the Tatsunami group already, and among those I'll have to say that - other than Kasugayama - I think I like Asahiyama-beya best, given that its shisho is also retiring in three years, and so this could solve both the issue of Kyokutenho buying some time and the need to find a successor for that once-prestigious stable. And at 10 and 7 rikishi they're both of a size that they could use a merger anyway.

All that being said, as Kinta says this could all just be a smokescreen and Tenho will be intai by senshuraku.

Edited March 5, 2012 by Asashosakari

[Asashosakari 18,158]

Chunichi Sports claims that Miyagino-beya is the likely destination and that it will be officially accepted by the board of directors sometime during the basho.

[Asashosakari 18,158]

Whoah - it's Tomozuna-beya. Official merger request by Oshima and Tomozuna to be put to the board of directors tomorrow.

[Yubinhaad 11,319]

Oshima-oyakata (former Ozeki Asahikuni) held a retirement party at a Tokyo hotel the other day, in advance of his reaching the Kyokai's mandatory retirement age on the 24th of April. Some 400 people attended the celebration, including former Rijicho Musashigawa, Yokozuna Hakuho and new Ozeki Kakuryu.

Also present was Oshima's first Mongolian sekitori Kyokushuzan, who said: "Oshima-oyakata was like my father in Japan. If he hadn't been the shisho, I doubt I would have made it in sumo, and then I wouldn't be doing what I do now." (he's a member of the Mongolian parliament)

The oyakata established Oshima-beya in 1980 and raised the 63rd Yokozuna Asahifuji, now Isegahama-oyakata and also a guest at the party. Oshima-beya also brought in the first wave of Mongolian rikishi in 1992 - one of those, Kyokutenho, is still active now. He and the rest of the rikishi will transfer to Tomozuna-beya on the 17th of April, when Oshima-beya will formally close. I think I was wrong on that - the rikishi have started training at Tomozuna-beya as of the 17th, but the heya will formally close on the 24th when Oshima-oyakata turns 65 and retires.

Oshima-oyakata gives his retirement speech:

Edited April 17, 2012 by Yubinhaad

[Mark.Buckton 68]

might nip along to the Sky Tree beya keiko this Weds to see what happens.

[Asashosakari 18,158]

Commemorative photograph being taken at the final practice session on the 16th:

[Kintamayama 43,585]

Commemorative photograph being taken at the final practice session on the 16th:

No Kyokutenhou.. Kaisei and Takamisakari?

[Sashohitowa 6]

I wonder what are the options now in front of Kyokutenho. When he retires, if he decides to open his own heya, will he have any "rights" to take all the ex-Oshima sumotori? Or it will be totally up to Tomozuna to agree with that.

[Asashosakari 18,158]

No Kyokutenhou.. Kaisei and Takamisakari?

Beats me. In any case, this wasn't the usual "all-hands" type of commemorative photo, but one for the hometown crowd (all the folks in the background) that visited Oshima-oyakata that day. That's also why Kyokutaisei is in there as the only toriteki, as he hails from Asahikawa-shi on Hokkaido, right next door to his shisho's home place.

[specialweek 2 136]

Gee who would have thought back in September last year that Kyokutenho wouldn't become Oshima oyakata? ;-)

[Sasanishiki 57]

I guess that Kyokutenho had it right all along, didn't he? Amazing turn up for the books. I wonder what Oshima oyakata thinks of this?

[ryafuji 802]

I guess that Kyokutenho had it right all along, didn't he? Amazing turn up for the books. I wonder what Oshima oyakata thinks of this?

That if Kyokutenho had done this just one tournament earlier Oshima would have had its first yusho since Asahifuji in 1991?

[Asashosakari 18,158]

Speaking of Asahifuji - the whole thing reminds me a bit of Mutsuhokkai who was the long-time heya-gashira at ex-Mutsuarashi's Ajigawa-beya, but just couldn't get over the hump to juryo, spending over eight years in makushita. In early 1993 his shisho passed the stable to ex-Asahifuji for health reasons, and Mutsuhokkai promptly went 6-1, 7-0 in the next two tournaments to earn his juryo debut. "He found the strength to do it as soon as I was gone...", Mutsuarashi mused afterwards.