Preparations of the masses-March 2015

[Andreas21 163]

Osunaarashi is in hospital with erythema infectiosum (slapped cheek syndrome, fifth desease).

Am I the only one to see the irony of this? It's like Takamisakari would be diagnosed with tetanus or Kotoyuuki with whooping cough.

Wicked!

[Yubinhaad 10,101]

A bit of a picture flood kicks off with visit to asageiko at Tamanoi-beya.

Butsugari-keiko starts things off, with Tsugaruumi lending his chest to rookie Suga, who entered ozumo a few months ago.

The heya's affiliated sewanin, former Juryo Ohidake, offers some advice as he watched over this session.

Iida pushes Mihamaumi back to the edge in this practice bout.

Fujiazuma instructs Suga at the teppo pole. [2]

Takei (left) and Tsugaruumi begin a practice bout.

I imagine Tsugaruumi won this one with a solid right hand grip on Takei's mawashi.

Fujiazuma does some squats with a weight bag and then some suriashi along the side of the keikoba. [2]

Azumaryu, now in Makushita, does some leg and hip exercises.

The suriashi train makes its way around the dohyo. [3]

Basic exercises bring this session to an end.

The dohyo is swept and salted ready for the next day's keiko session.

A rare and welcome visit to Kitanoumi-beya now, which is based at a Buddhist temple called Jo-onji for each Haru basho. The heya will have three new recruits who can be seen in the set.

Entrance to the temple grounds, and heya nobori flying high. [2]

Shimada, Isshinryu and Ota are in the ring for some moshiai keiko in these shots. [3]

Hakiai warms up with some suriashi around the dohyo.

Kitataiki is also warming up outside the dohyo, grappling with Amamidake. [2]

Juryo-ranked Kitaharima observing keiko.

Isshinryu now doing some shiko.

Aiyama and former Maegashira Nionoumi begin a practice bout.

Aiyama stays in the ring for a bout with Hakiai now.

And Nionoumi wins this bout against Hakiai.

Another look at Aiyama as he prepares to start some practice bouts. [2]

Veteran Tenichi doing some exercises with the rubber tubing.

As mentioned, Kitanoumi-beya will have three new recruits taking part in maezumo this basho. Here, Suzuki and Takeuchi have a practice bout. [3]

The third rookie is Okuma, shown having a practice bout with Shimada. [3]

The heya's sekitori, Kitataiki and Kitaharima, join the rest of the rikishi for some meditative sonkyo as the keiko session comes to an end.

Orora and Hatachijo get some fresh air following the end of keiko.

The grounds of Jo-onji hold the graves of several famous rikishi of the past, including the 5th Yokozuna Onogawa. [2]

Hatachijo and Orora offer prayers at the graves. On the Friday before every Haru basho, the whole heya will come here to pray and clean up the area.

[Yubinhaad 10,101]

Now some scenes from Oguruma-beya, where Ikioi, Shohozan and Okinoumi visited for degeiko.

Heya signboard and nobori outside. The nobori on the right is a new one for shin-Juryo Amakaze. [2]

Nearest the camera is the shisho, former Ozeki Kotokaze. On the far side is Nakamura-oyakata (former Sekiwake Kotonishiki).

Amakaze warms up with some suriashi along the side of the keikoba.

Now in the ring for some practice bouts.

Amakaze and visitor Okinofuji begin a bout.

Nakamura-oyakata gives some advice to visitor Ikioi.

Now some tachi-ai guidance for Amakaze. [2]

Takekaze warming up with some suriashi and then on the teppo pole. [2]

Okinoumi also warms up suriashi in this black-and-white shot.

Visitor Shohozan tries to turn at the edge and throw down Amakaze.

Ikioi and Amakaze about to collide at the tachi-ai of this bout.

Ikioi and Okinoumi grapple in this all-visitor bout.

Time for some butsugari-keiko now, Amakaze driving Okinoumi across the ring.

Suriashi train.

Meditative sonkyo brings the session to an end.

Okinoumi pays his respects to Oguruma-oyakata.

Amakaze and Yoshikaze chat following the end of keiko.

Looking after the sekitori keiko mawashi here is newly-renamed Sorokaze, previously known as Shirai.

Amakaze goes all shy. [2]

Finally, Yoshikaze is outside getting some fresh air and is not shy about flexing his muscles.

Big session at Kasugano-beya yesterday, with degeiko visitors including Yokozuna Hakuho and rikishi from Tagonoura and Sakaigawa-beya.

Hakuho and Toyohibiki have a practice bout. [2]

Takayasu now takes his turn in the ring with the Yokozuna. [2]

Kisenosato observing keiko from the side.

Myogiryu also keeping a watching brief while waiting to get involved.

My favourite picture of this set - Kisenosato and Hakuho.

Hakuho.

Kisenosato.

Hakuho and Toyohibiki back at it in the ring.

Iwatomo-oyakata (former Maegashira Kimurayama) and his interesting hair.

The Sakaigawa-beya delegation: Sadanofuji, Sadanoumi, Toyohibiki and Myogiryu.

Takayasu pushes Toyohibiki out of the ring in this practice bout.

Black-and-white shot from the back of the keikoba.

Takayasu hits the deck during a vigorous butsugari session with Hakuho, but gets up for more. [4]

Toyohibiki chats with Takenawa-oyakata (former Sekiwake Tochinonada).

Tochiozan lends his chest to an unidentified lower division rikishi. [2]

Tochimaru, at a new career-high rank on the banzuke for this basho.

Iwatomo-oyakata again. He still puts on the white mawashi for asageiko.

Finally, Tochiozan and Hakuho chat with Mihogaseki-oyakata (former Maegashira Tochisakae). On the right edge of the pic is Kasugano-oyakata (former Sekiwake Tochinowaka).

[sekihiryu 51]

A set of pictures from the Kyokai of asageiko at Shikoroyama-beya.

Main entrance and nobori outside the heya's Osaka lodgings‹

.

Actually its Yamatotakada in Nara, just down the road from me I go every year and watch

The keikoba appears to be situated in some kind of warehouse.‹

Indeed it is, its an empty warehouse in the compound of Daiwa Gas. The rikishi stay in the dormitory for workers. The president of Daiwa gas, forget his name, I call him the silver fox, comes in every day to watch keiko, he also owns a luxury golf course in Southern Nara. The empty warehouse is also used as a indoor baseball batting cage, big green nets up on the opposite side of the dohyo.

http://tinyurl.com/onrk3ps you can see it here in the background of streetview

I have been going to watch Shikoroyama for the past 10 years, the evolution if the keikoba has been interesting to see, in the beginning there was nothing, a bit of dirt and that was it.

There have been many albums and photos I've posted over the years on this forum,a bored sumo fan might go trawling through if they were so inclined.

Edited March 5, 2015 by sekihiryu

[Manekineko 200]

Takayasu hits the deck during a vigorous butsugari session with Hakuho, but gets up for more. [4]

Dohyo sticks nicely to Takayasu's hairy back. :-P

[Washuyama 579]

‹

"This isn't a bad book, but the the plot is kind of transparent..."

[Kintamayama 38,284]

Osunaarashi is in hospital with erythema infectiosum (slapped cheek syndrome, fifth desease).

If adults catch it, it may take long to be cured. The fever is down, he may even leave hospital today: there is no talk of kyujo, but he hasn't trained at all so far.

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2015/03/02/kiji/K20150302009902350.html

Back in training since March 3rd.No sumo done yet, just butsugari. "He has lost 10 kilos and will be taking it slowly while checking out how he feels," said his Oyakata. Edited March 6, 2015 by Kintamayama

[ALAKTORN 346]

10kg? Damn, he’s done.

[Akinomaki 31,771]

Kagayaki, from Ishikawa-pref., aims for makuuchi.

Kagayaki (Tatsu)
Accordingly his new shikona Kagayaki alludes to the train that will start operation in the Hokuriku region on March 14th, 2015

- during this basho.
On the Tokyo-Kanazawa (Ishikawa) Hokuriku-Shinkansen extension the fastest train is the Kagayaki.
Kagayaki wants to live up to that name. Takadagawa-oyakata had consulted with former prime minister Mori (from Ishikawa) and others in deciding to give him the shikona (as PR for Ishikawa).

In addition to his new shikona, Kagayaki has also changed his given name to 大士, the same kanji as distant relative, former Yokozuna Wajima. However, Kagayaki's new name will be read as Taishi rather than Hiroshi.

http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/sumo/20150306-OHT1T50326.html

[Benevolance 2,155]

Has the Kyokai tapped the chia pet market yet, because I see an opportunity here...

[Kasutera 258]

It's kind of funny how even among the Asian rikishi you can always tell which are mixed-race by who has back hair or not.