New recruits for Haru 2013

[Itachiyama 121]

Nonetheless, a quite disappointing number!

[Asashosakari 20,280]

Nonetheless, a quite disappointing number!

Hatsu+Haru combined has improved nearly 40% on last year's (55 after 40), and the total is already almost what it was during the entire last year (56). Not sure what you were expecting...

[Itachiyama 121]

Nonetheless, a quite disappointing number!

Hatsu+Haru combined has improved nearly 40% on last year's (55 after 40), and the total is already almost what it was during the entire last year (56). Not sure what you were expecting...

Well, expecting is not the right expression, rather what I hoped or wished. I've only compared the Haru Basho's of the last years. 40 % sounds maybe good, but the total numbers are still poor. The benchmark can't be the last couple of years. Everything below 50 for the Haru Basho is low and will not stop the decline in total at least on the medium term.

[Asashosakari 20,280]

Well, expecting is not the right expression, rather what I hoped or wished. I've only compared the Haru Basho's of the last years. 40 % sounds maybe good, but the total numbers are still poor. The benchmark can't be the last couple of years. Everything below 50 for the Haru Basho is low and will not stop the decline in total at least on the medium term.

The recovery has to start somewhere - it's unrealistic to expect (or wish) things to get back to good from one year to the next. They're on course now for 70-75 shindeshi on the year, they only need to get back to 80-90 annually to be in good shape in the long run, IMO.

[krindel 688]

Besides, an even better metric for judging the influx of recruits should be tenacity, not just appearing for the tests.

I don't have the numbers, but I get the impression that last years batch contained an unusually large percentage of guys who quit after only a few months. Then again, without checking I could be wrong about that...

[Asashosakari 20,280]

Besides, an even better metric for judging the influx of recruits should be tenacity, not just appearing for the tests.

I don't have the numbers, but I get the impression that last years batch contained an unusually large percentage of guys who quit after only a few months. Then again, without checking I could be wrong about that...

As it happens I just took a quick look at that before my previous post. :-) The usual washout rate of late seems to be about 30-35% within the first two years, though with some fairly large variation within that (sometimes many first-year quitters, sometimes more in the second year). Based on that the 2012 classes don't look too unusual to me so far at 0/6 Hatsu, 7/34 Haru, 2/10 Natsu. And occasional high washout rates aren't a new development - Haru 1999 had 101 recruits, but 45 were already gone after two years. (Hatsu and Natsu weren't any better that year - 4/11 and 5/10 gone.)

I agree though that that's an often overlooked aspect. I'm actually hopeful that the massive influx of fresh blood among heya owners over the last few years (which isn't finished yet) will have a positive effect on rikishi longevity, simply because they're a bit more in tune with today's youngsters.

Edited February 28, 2013 by Asashosakari

[Akinomaki 41,847]

Takumi Kondo (17) born in Fukushima pref., now Niigata, new to Otake-beya, judo background, 168cm, 75 kg.
Was impressed by an ippon-zeoi from Sagatsukasa. He himself made a phone call to the heya and had a trial week there in December, going to greet Taiho once then.
He wants to gain weight till 125 kg and aims for juryo. He also likes Takanoyama and Satoyama, hobby is sumo and training.

Edit: this time I was a few minutes in front - and why not multiple very much different posts on the same subject - that is nothing compared to all the redundancy within quotes

Edited February 28, 2013 by Akinomaki

[Asashosakari 20,280]

A 17-year-old judo practitioner has joined Otake-beya, putting it into the news for something other than Taiho's death again. Takumi Kondo 近藤　匠 hails from Murakami-shi in Niigata prefecture and he enjoys sumo, but so far only watching, not doing. He's been following the goings-on intently for about three years now and as might be expected his favourites all come from the more technical side - Sagatsukasa, Takanoyama, Satoyama - with Sagatsukasa's ipponzeoi a couple of years ago having left an especially strong impression.

He called up the stable and arranged to spend a week testing the waters last December. Kondo took to the atmosphere immediately and quickly decided that pro sumo was his thing. On getting to see Taiho briefly during his stay, he recalls, "I was very tense meeting him. He told me to keep at it, and I'll do that and gambarize." Moving into the stable for good he brought some 20 DVDs of past sumo greats with him (including some of Taiho, naturally) and intends to keep studying them alongside practice. Other than his lack of sumo experience his size is an issue for now - he clocks in at just 168 cm / 75 kg. Well aware of it, Kondo plans to get to about 125 kg eventually. "I want to do sumo that will excite the audience. My first goal is juryo!" he proclaimed enthusiastically.

Edit: Oops, too slow.

Edited February 28, 2013 by Asashosakari

[Asashosakari 20,280]

Takanohana-beya will become the first stable ever to have two pairs of twins simultaneously with the introduction of 15-year-olds Tsuyoshi 剛 and Satoshi 賢 Kamiyama 上山. They're from Sakai-machi in Ibaraki and represented their prefecture nationally in basketball, reaching third place. Their 22-year-old sister Eri also used to play soccer in national competitions during high school, so they're from a very sportive family background. No sumo experience for the brothers yet, but their father really wanted them to go into Ozumo and apparently it's been clear for some five years that they'd be taking this path eventually. They've chosen Takanohana-beya (or maybe their father has...) due to his reputation from his active days.

Older brother Tsuyoshi (distinguished by a mole near his upper lip) measures 186 cm / 120 kg and "wants to become a sumotori who can win both with technique and with power", while 187 cm / 125 kg Satoshi "wants to do sumo that takes advantage of my height and athleticism". They'll be the sixth pair of twins currently active.

Takatoshi, Satoshi, Tsuyoshi, Takageppo:

Edit: Do they look like 120 kg to you?

Edited February 28, 2013 by Asashosakari

[Asashosakari 20,280]

Powerhouse Sakaigawa-beya has attracted another promising recruit. 18-year-old Toshiki(?) Sakae 榮豊志樹 has just graduated from - no, not Saitama Sakae, however appropriate that would be - Kagoshima Commercial HS, another staple on the amateur sumo circuit of late. The 173 cm / 117 kg Sakae was prompted by his sumo enthusiastic father back in his kindergarten days and turned out to like the sport himself. An oshi specialist, he won a Kyushu regional tournament last year and reached the quarterfinals in last year's Kokutai junior competition. (He also captained the team to the Kokutai quarterfinals - to be seen in action

and

- and the National Inter-High semis.) Originally he hails from Amami-oshima, a small island in the prefecture that's a hotbed of sumo - Sakae will be the 7th active rikishi from a population of under 70,000.

His club manager commends Sakae, "His enthusiasm for sumo is second to none, and he always did his best and never complained in his three years here." On Thursday he received a ceremonial send-off from his school, with some 800 of his co-students in attendance. "I want to repay all the people who helped me along by becoming sekitori as quickly as possible", Sakae offered in one of the less original statements ever produced by shindeshi. His inspiration is same-middle school, same-high school alum Satoyama. "I've been looking forward to turning pro. I'm not nearly strong enough yet but I'm determined to work hard and become a rikishi who does enjoyable sumo," Sakae added. He is the fourth member of the high school sumo club to go pro.

At the ceremony:

Edited March 1, 2013 by Asashosakari

[Yubinhaad 11,975]

15-year-old Katsumasa(?) Yakabe 矢ヶ部克将 from Moriguchi-shi in Osaka prefecture is joining Chiganoura-beya

Katsumasa is right, and Chiganoura-beya also have a second recruit named Kimura Masaya, who is from Aichi and that's all I have.

Meanwhile, according to the Oitekaze-beya website they'll have a total of four newbies this basho. We already know about Endo and the Mongolian Shijirbayar, although the latter has now been given the shikona Daishoho (大翔鵬).

The other two are both 15 years old. Omae Hokuto is 170cm, 110kg and from Kagawa, and will be Daishozen. Shimogama something 歩樹 is 181cm, 115kg and from Hyogo, and will be Daishoki.

Endo and Shijirbayar/Daishoho:

Daishozen and Daishoki:

Edited March 2, 2013 by Yubinhaad

[Kintamayama 47,329]

Takasago has two new guys, very promising it seems. 22 year old Nishimura, 1.85/146 trained by ex-Makuuchi Fujinokawa at Toukai Gakuen. The other guy is 19 year old monster 1.90/176 Ueno. "I'd like to become a sekitori in three years," said Nishimura. Ueno studied to become a civil servant for one year after his high school graduation. "I just hope I don't get injured. I really have no idea regarding the banzuke," he said, seemingly wanting to let things take their natural course.

Takasago have had a sekitori for 135 consecutive years. This record is now in danger as their last sekitori Asasekiryuu is down at Juryo 11. "I hope Nishimura will be able to help keep the streak going," said ex Fujinokawa.

"Both guys have large bodies, so it seems there is a lot to expect.. Looking good.." said Takasago Oyakata.

This is shaping up to be an interesting class.

Edited March 2, 2013 by Kintamayama

[Akinomaki 41,847]

Shindeshi-kensa today. All 39 cleared the criteria. From this time on only for the Haru basho, for those expected to get their graduation from middle school the height limit is lowered to 165 cm from 167 cm.
These 2 passed with 165 and 166 cm, Ryuta Motokashiwa (Hakkaku, Hiroshima) and Shinya Kimura (Chiganoura, Aichi, 133kg), both 15 of course.




Endo

Takanohana-beya will become the first stable ever to have two pairs of twins simultaneously with the introduction of 15-year-olds Tsuyoshi 剛 and Satoshi 賢 Kamiyama 上山. They're from Sakai-machi in Ibaraki

Edited March 2, 2013 by Akinomaki

[krindel 688]

OK, something is seriously wrong with this recruit batch... Where are the baseball dropouts and windmill career changers we are used to?

These seem like young people who actually intend to do sumo and look to have a fighting potential. Impressive!

Really seems like a (small) ray of hope.

Edited March 2, 2013 by krindel

[Asashosakari 20,280]

I have to say, ever since this, I just can't get enough of those "Tochiazuma measuring shindeshi with a studious look on his face" pictures...

[Asashosakari 20,280]

OK, something is seriously wrong with this recruit batch... Where are the baseball dropouts and windmill career changers we are used to?

Those tend to populate the Natsu to Kyushu classes. The ones in Hatsu and Haru are usually kids who actually knew that they wanted to go into Ozumo.

[Yubinhaad 11,975]

A few more from the shindeshi kensa, at which Endo was studiously measured at 184cm and 143kg.

[Akinomaki 41,847]

These 2 passed with 165 and 166 cm, Ryuta Motokashiwa (Hakkaku, Hiroshima) and Shinya Kimura (Chiganoura, Aichi, 133kg), both 15 of course.

Both had some treatment for being bigger on the day.

Motokashiwa is usually 163cm, Hakkaku-oyakata tread on his back in the morning to get the 2cm. In the past he used a device for growing longer by dangling. Now he wants to show that a small one can win, too. In school he was always involved in brawls: "Exercise is my strong point. I want to rise as fast as possible."

Kimura let his hair grow the last two years and bought a "dream stretcher" machine with New Year gift money about a year ago and also used supplements for children mixed in milk. He started sumo at primary 3rd grade, being 3rd at a wampaku sumo tournament in 4th grade, also entering a national tournament.

Another 15 year old is Tatsunami-beya's Shouta Nakata from Amami-ooshima (Kagoshima pref.), starting sumo at 5th grade in primary school. His village headman is acquainted with Tatsunami-oyakata (Asahiyutaka).

Takanohana-beya will become the first stable ever to have two pairs of twins simultaneously with the introduction of 15-year-olds Tsuyoshi 剛 and Satoshi 賢 Kamiyama 上山. They're from Sakai-machi in Ibaraki

The heya formerly was Futagoyama (twins mountain).

Tsuyoshi, the elder, was 183 cm, 115 kg: "Cause my younger brother has a bigger physique, I win by technique"

Satoshi, 186cm, 122kg: "I don't worry about my elder brother. My rival is me myself."

back strength measured (who?)

Edited March 3, 2013 by Akinomaki

[Yubinhaad 11,975]

Four new recruits for Hakkaku-beya as well. From left: Aoto, ?hashi (掛橋), Motokashiwa and Yamada.

[Asashosakari 20,280]

Yubinhaad, on 03 Mar 2013 - 17:29, said:

Four new recruits for Hakkaku-beya as well. From left: Aoto, ?hashi (掛橋), Motokashiwa and Yamada.

My trusty database offers Kakehashi as the reading for that.

[Mark.Buckton 68]

Yubinhaad, on 03 Mar 2013 - 17:29, said:

Four new recruits for Hakkaku-beya as well. From left: Aoto, ?hashi (掛橋), Motokashiwa and Yamada.

My trusty database offers Kakehashi as the reading for that.

that is correct most of the time, although Kakebashi is an alternative reading my neighbor has lived with for many years.

[Naganoyama 6,043]

NSK data:

SHIKONA	KANJI	NAME	HEYA	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	DOB	BIRTHPLACE
Aoto	青砥	Yoshikazu Aoto	Hakkaku	180	142	25 - June - 1997	Shimane
Asano	朝野	Ryuya Asano	Michinoku	178	120	28 - June - 1991	Kagoshima
Endo	遠藤	Shota Endo	Oitekaze	184	143	19 - October - 1990	Ishikawa
Fujita	藤田	Ryo Fujita	Isegahama	183	92	09 - April - 1997	Aichi
Fujiwara	藤原	Ryutaro Fujiwara	Michinoku	181	129	13 - June - 1997	Kagoshima
Honda	本多	Asaki Honda	Tomozuna	177	121	28 - January - 1995	Aichi
Imamura	今村	Yusuke Imamura	Nishikido	175	93	06 - November - 1994	Nagano
Ito	伊藤	Ryota Ito	Isegahama	170	111	18 - March - 1998	Aichi
Kakehashi	掛橋	Yuta Kakehashi	Hakkaku	170	114	15 - August - 1994	Hokkaido
Kamiyama I	上山	Tsuyoshi Kamiyama	Takanohana	183	115	13 - May - 1997	Ibaraki
Kamiyama II	上山	Satoshi Kamiyama	Takanohana	186	122	13 - May - 1997	Ibaraki
Katayama	片山	Yoshiki Katayama	Dewanoumi	176	131	23 - November - 1994	Kanagawa
Katsuyama	勝山	Mitsuo Katsuyama	Kokonoe	177	118	13 - April - 1994	Okinawa
Kawai	川合	Yusuke Kawai	Tomozuna	171	94	05 - November - 1997	Aichi
Kimura	木村	Masaya Kimura	Chiganoura	166	133	26 - September- 1997	Aichi
Koba	古場	Daichi Koba	Kise	171	153	12 - March - 1991	Saga
Kojima	小島	Ken Kojima	Sadogatake	177	122	25 - July - 1997	Tokyo
Kondo	近藤	Takumi Kondo	Otake	170	75	18 - August - 1995	Niigata
Matsuda	松田	Takahiko Matsuda	Minezaki	179	89	19 - September- 1994	Nagano
Motokashiwa	元柏	Ryota Motokashiwa	Hakkaku	165	76	07 - August - 1997	Hiroshima
Nakada	中田	Shota Nakada	Tatsunami	185	108	09 - January - 1998	Kagoshima
Nakamura	中村	Hiromu Nakamura	Kise	173	120	29 - January - 1998	Hyogo
Nishimura	西村	Masahiro Nishimura	Takasago	186	147	16 - February - 1991	Osaka
Okamoto	岡本	Kenta Okamoto	Fujishima	180	105	12 - March - 1997	Fukuoka
Omae	大前	Hokuto Omae	Oitekaze	170	109	17 - October - 1997	Kagawa
Sakae	榮	Toshiki Sakae	Sakaigawa	175	116	19 - November - 1994	Kagoshima
Sakai	酒井	Takayuki Sakai	Naruto	168	102	12 - December - 1997	Aichi
Sato	佐藤	Takashi Sato	Kasugano	172	162	28 - April - 1994	Tokyo
Sekizuka	関塚	Tomohiro Sekizuka	Naruto	178	90	21 - April - 1997	Aichi
Shimogama	下釜	Ibuki Shimogama	Oitekaze	180	116	05 - May - 1997	Hyogo
Takane	高根	Kosei Takane	Kitanoumi	182	118	17 - January - 1998	Shizuoka
Takashima	高島	Hosei Takashima	Nishikido	185	147	24 - June - 1997	Tokyo
Takei	竹井	Kentaro Takei	Tamanoi	180	135	07 - January - 1998	Chiba
Tanikawa	谷川	Sho Tanikawa	Miyagino	181	135	23 - December - 1997	Hokkaido
Tsunekawa	常川	Ryosuke Tsunekawa	Arashio	180	140	17 - October - 1994	Toyama
Ueno	上野	Daisuke Ueno	Takasago	189	181	25 - May - 1993	Toyama
Yakabe	矢ケ部	Katsumasa Yakabe	Chiganoura	173	156	21 - April - 1997	Osaka
Yamada	山田	Yuki Yamada	Hakkaku	178	141	15 - June - 1994	Hokkaido
Yanagihara	柳原	Daisuke Yanagihara	Sadogatake	175	112	28 - February - 1998	Shiga

[Akinomaki 41,847]

Okamoto being the one for Musashigawa-beya.
How will they announce Kamiyama I and II ?

Edited March 11, 2013 by Akinomaki

[Sakana 46]

Shodaime and Nidaime ?

[Naganoyama 6,043]

Okamoto being the one for Musashigawa-beya.

How will they announce Kamiyama I and II ?

I guess they will both get shikona straight away. Like Takatoshi and Takageppo did.