Trivia bits

[Gurowake 4,052]

14 minutes ago, Doitsuyama said:

The record since 1909 actually is Kasachikara, believe it or not.

I figured that there might be some Jk/Jd lifer that benefitted from the smaller Jonidan size of more recent years to get a career high rank at a rather advanced age, but as I indicated, I didn't have a good way to research it, and you likely have better access to database search tools than those that are public.  So I'm not surprised it's not a record, but I did figure it had to be pretty close. 

[Koorifuu 999]

On 04/03/2021 at 08:53, Jakusotsu said:

Most consecutive Basho as Maegashira

#       Rikishi       From    To      
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
58  Kyokushuzan    1997.05     2006.11   fell from his highest rank K1w just before and never dropped to Juryo
53  Higonoumi     1993.03     2001.11   highest rank M1w, no sansho, two kinboshi against Akebono and Takanohana
45  Takamisakari  2004.01     2011.07   Komusubi twice before
43  Ozutsu        1985.01     1992.01   eleven times Sanyaku before
42  Minatofuji    1994.05     2001.03   highest rank M2e, one Kanto-sho, three kinboshi against Takanohana and Musashimaru
41  Kitakachidoki 1991.09     1998.05   highest rank M3w, no sansho, no kinboshi, can't get any more bleak than him
41  Tokitsuumi    1998.09     2005.05   highest rank M3e, four Gino-sho, no kinboshi
40  Daiyu         1965.11     1972.05   highest rank M1e, no sansho, no kinboshi, won his second Juryo Yusho right after the drop
40  Kotonowaka    1999.05     2005.11   fell from his highest rank S1w just before and dropped to Juryo only twice earlier
40  Yoshikaze     2007.07     2014.03   ended the streak with his his Sanyaku debut

Currently there's Kagayaki at 28 (no sansho, no kinboshi), Takarafuji at 25 (dropped from Sekiwake), and Kaisei with 24 before his Sanyaku debut.

I could've sworn Takekaze would've been in such a top 10...

[Sakura 1,489]

1 hour ago, Koorifuu said:

I could've sworn Takekaze would've been in such a top 10...

If it weren't for a one-basho Komusubi appearance in 2008 (promoted from M7) he'd be second on the list with 55 (? - if I counted correctly). As it is, I make his longest streak at 37.

[Koorifuu 999]

14 hours ago, Sakura said:

If it weren't for a one-basho Komusubi appearance in 2008 (promoted from M7) he'd be second on the list with 55 (? - if I counted correctly). As it is, I make his longest streak at 37.

Cheers!

I'm checking now - furthering into the "ifs", it could have been 64 if it wasn't for a one-off juryo appearance early in the run - after going kyujo for a full basho at M8.

After those two lower sanyaku basho that broke his longest run of 37, he duly put in 19 more maegashira basho before his body couldn't take it anymore.

He might not have the longest runs, but's probably got everyone beat when it comes to "% of career basho spent as a maegashira", which was helped by his speedy rise from a makushita tsukedashi spot.

Edited April 1, 2021 by Koorifuu

[Doitsuyama 1,185]

On 01/04/2021 at 15:11, Koorifuu said:

He might not have the longest runs, but's probably got everyone beat when it comes to "% of career basho spent as a maegashira", which was helped by his speedy rise from a makushita tsukedashi spot.

You are actually right, but perhaps not for long as he has an active pursuer hot on his heels...

Here is a table of all rikishi with 70% or more of their career basho in maegashira (limited to hatsu dohyo after 1934):

  ID  Shikona      mae tot ratio
--------------------------------
 1284 Takekaze      83 100 83.00
12055 Endo          39  48 81.25
   26 Higonoumi     53  66 80.30
 3823 Sakuranishiki 24  30 80.00
 3911 Ohikari       62  79 78.48
11934 Chiyotairyu   46  59 77.97
 3843 Wakasegawa    53  68 77.94
 4002 Toyokuni      36  47 76.60
   10 Tochinonada   73  96 76.04
 5967 Yoshikaze     71  94 75.53
 3876 Wakabayama    48  66 72.73
11728 Takarafuji    52  72 72.22
   17 Tamakasuga    64  89 71.91
11786 Aoiyama       50  70 71.43
   50 Tokitsuumi    50  70 71.43
 2818 Tokitenku     60  85 70.59
 3864 Hajimayama    43  61 70.49
 3871 Otachi        40  57 70.18
 3929 Kaizan        42  60 70.00

[Koorifuu 999]

2 hours ago, Doitsuyama said:

You are actually right, but perhaps not for long as he has an active pursuer hot on his heels...

Here is a table of all rikishi with 70% or more of their career basho in maegashira (limited to hatsu dohyo after 1934):

Cheers!

That's true. Endo, as he currently is, doesn't look like he's got much left in the tank to get back into sanyaku - but barring a sudden decrease in performance (injury induced or not) he doesn't look like he's even close to being pushed out of makuuchi.

EDIT

Made the calculations and, assuming he'll continue as maegashira for the foreseeable future, his percentage will only go over 83% when he's 44/53. Next basho is a given, so he'll need 4 more after that.

Edited April 3, 2021 by Koorifuu

[Yamanashi 3,840]

This is for rikishi who never made Ozeki or Yokozuna.  Some of those fellows must have higher percentages [check: fast-rising Kotooshu 83.8%; forever Ozeki Kaio only 76.4%; Hakuho 84.0% and increasing?; it's hard to beat Wajima at 91.2%].

[Koorifuu 999]

29 minutes ago, Yamanashi said:

This is for rikishi who never made Ozeki or Yokozuna.  Some of those fellows must have higher percentages [check: fast-rising Kotooshu 83.8%; forever Ozeki Kaio only 76.4%; Hakuho 84.0% and increasing?; it's hard to beat Wajima at 91.2%].

If you mean the table that @Doitsuyama posted just above, then I believe you're thinking of "% of basho spent in makuuchi" rather than "maegashira".

[Yamanashi 3,840]

28 minutes ago, Koorifuu said:

If you mean the table that @Doitsuyama posted just above, then I believe you're thinking of "% of basho spent in makuuchi" rather than "maegashira".

Sorry, I thought I made it clear that I was extending rather than correcting that study.

[Koorifuu 999]

21 minutes ago, Yamanashi said:

Sorry, I thought I made it clear that I was extending rather than correcting that study.

Oh, alright!

In that case, then long term Y/O rikishi will definitely have an advantage over your average maegashira dweller - considering that not only they're supposed to be better, but losing their position in makuuchi is also either much more unlikely (O) or downright impossible (Y).

[Yamanashi 3,840]

10 hours ago, Koorifuu said:

Oh, alright!

In that case, then long term Y/O rikishi will definitely have an advantage over your average maegashira dweller - considering that not only they're supposed to be better, but losing their position in makuuchi is also either much more unlikely (O) or downright impossible (Y).

I got to thinking about that, and realized that:

If you have an 80% maegashira (or M + sanyaku) career, you've got your head on a swivel all the time hoping you won't get injured and drop down.

if you were on a speed run to Yokozuna, most of your career is doing dohyo-iri stuff and taking out the trash each basho.  Wajima barely got his mawashi dirty on the way up.  Even Asashoryu had a little traffic jam in Makushita, but four years after Maezumo he was Yokozuna; then 25 Yusho in 42 basho and he's gone! 

Is it like someone who becomes the Earl of Snickershire at fifteen and wonders how the lunch-bucket guys manage to get through their dreary lives? [Well, probably not, because you have to earn the rope ... ]

[Asashosakari 19,320]

Is there any matchup of rikishi that has taken place on each of the 15 basho days and as a playoff? Finding pairings that have occurred on all 15 days isn't hard, a fairly large number of the all-time most common matchups have had that, but... I checked the makuuchi playoffs manually, but the best I found were a handful that also took place on 14 of the 15 days (e.g. among others Hakuho-Kakuryu and Chiyotaikai-Tochiazuma both missing Day 4, but also more unexpected ones such as Akebono-Takatoriki on all days but Day 12). It's possible I overlooked something though, and I haven't dared to tackle juryo playoffs or even further below, in case some pair of long-time sekitori happened to have one there to complete the set.

Edited May 10, 2021 by Asashosakari

[Atenzan 1,081]

There are only two two rikishi in the SumoDB who have a basho with five rows of text in their honours column. To do that, you need some form of yusho honour (Y/D/J), plus all three sansho, plus at least one kinboshi.

The latest Oonishiki did that in 1973.09 and Kotomitsuki did it in 2000.11.

http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=4094

http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=876

[Nantonoyama 252]

Tomorrow, Natsu 2021 senshuraku, the jonokuchi yusho kettei-sen will see two Fujishima-beya guys, jk27e Fujiseiun and jk27w Suguro, face one another.

The particularity is that they are at the very bottom of the division and, consequently, of the entire banzuke

I wonder... Is there a way to know if a yusho kettei-sen between two rikishi ranked at the very bottom of any division, let alone the entire banzuke, ever took place before?

Particularly in jonokuchi, when rikishi are usually ranked by their maezumo results

[Onibushou 61]

Interesting career Onishiki had. Following his first and only appearance in the sanyaku, he managed both 7 kinboshi and 3 Juryo+1 Makushita yusho. A bit all over the place.

 

[Yubinhaad 11,683]

1 hour ago, Nantonoyama said:

Tomorrow, Natsu 2021 senshuraku, the jonokuchi yusho kettei-sen will see two Fujishima-beya guys, jk27e Fujiseiun and jk27w Suguro, face one another.

The particularity is that they are at the very bottom of the division and, consequently, of the entire banzuke

I wonder... Is there a way to know if a yusho kettei-sen between two rikishi ranked at the very bottom of any division, let alone the entire banzuke, ever took place before?

Particularly in jonokuchi, when rikishi are usually ranked by their maezumo results

FWIW, the only banzuke-jiri yusho that I know of was by Chiyonohana in the 1998 Aki basho. In that case he was returning to the banzuke after a long absence due to injury, and he must have been winless in maezumo in the previous basho.

[ryafuji 814]

1 hour ago, Onibushou said:

Interesting career Onishiki had. Following his first and only appearance in the sanyaku, he managed both 7 kinboshi and 3 Juryo+1 Makushita yusho. A bit all over the place.

 

Chronic back problems and diabetes. His health often didn't allow him to perform to the standard of which he was capable. 

[Asashosakari 19,320]

38 minutes ago, Yubinhaad said:

FWIW, the only banzuke-jiri yusho that I know of was by Chiyonohana in the 1998 Aki basho. In that case he was returning to the banzuke after a long absence due to injury, and he must have been winless in maezumo in the previous basho.

Some query digging also turned up Natsu 1948, hardly comparable to Chiyonohana's due to division size of course.

Edit: As for the original question - does the Haru 1933 juryo playoff between two unranked rikishi count?

Edited May 22, 2021 by Asashosakari

[白魔ガシ 8]

This Basho is the first since Aki 2009 in which no Sekitori at his highest career rank has achieved a KK (and thus getting a new career high). Given that only 3 Sekitori were eligible and all of them at high Maegashira (Tobizaru, Hoshoryu and Hidenoumi) and going back in the database I found Banzuke with 20 new Career highs, that might've been a record already.

[Benihana 1,929]

Endo is the first M8 having faced 3 Ozeki in a single basho.

He's not the record holder for lowest Maegashira to do so.

M9w Kotomitsuki 11/2000 (13-15), facing Dejima, Miyabiyama and Musojama, defeating all. -> lowest on consecutive days, lowest to defeat all.

M9w Hananokuni 08/1988 (11, 12, 14), lost to Hokutenyo and Asashio, but defeated Konishiki.

M9w Dewanohana 01/1985 (10-12), defeated Kotokaze, lost to Asashio and Hokutenyo.

M10w Tatekabuto 05/1941 (1, 3, 4), lost to Akinoumi, Maedayama and Itsutsushima.

M10w Matsuragata 01/1941 (1, 3, 7), defeated Itsutsushima and Maedayama, lost to Akinoumi.

M12w Sadogashima 01/1941 (1, 4, 8), defeated Itsutsushima, lost to Maedayama and Akinoumi.

M14e Fukunohana 11/1972 (11, 12, 14), defeated Wajima, lost Kiyokuni and Kotozakura.

The basho of the WWII-phase saw many low ranked Maegashira paired with Ozeki. For Akinoumi and Itsutsushima it seems rational, because their Dewanoumi-beya had 20 sekitori in makuuchi. Haguroyama (Tasunami / 4) and Maedayama (Takasago / 1) had much less intra-beya competition, but had to fight many low ranked M, too. Was there an intra-ichimon ban on bouts?

And i don't even want to speculate about the schedule these days.

[Seiyashi 4,087]

14 minutes ago, Benihana said:

Endo is the first M8 having faced 3 Ozeki in a single basho.

He's not the record holder for lowest Maegashira to do so.

M9w Kotomitsuki 11/2000 (13-15), facing Dejima, Miyabiyama and Musojama, defeating all. -> lowest on consecutive days, lowest to defeat all.

M9w Hananokuni 08/1988 (11, 12, 14), lost to Hokutenyo and Asashio, but defeated Konishiki.

M9w Dewanohana 01/1985 (10-12), defeated Kotokaze, lost to Asashio and Hokutenyo.

M10w Tatekabuto 05/1941 (1, 3, 4), lost to Akinoumi, Maedayama and Itsutsushima.

M10w Matsuragata 01/1941 (1, 3, 7), defeated Itsutsushima and Maedayama, lost to Akinoumi.

M12w Sadogashima 01/1941 (1, 4, 8), defeated Itsutsushima, lost to Maedayama and Akinoumi.

M14e Fukunohana 11/1972 (11, 12, 14), defeated Wajima, lost Kiyokuni and Kotozakura.

The basho of the WWII-phase saw many low ranked Maegashira paired with Ozeki. For Akinoumi and Itsutsushima it seems rational, because their Dewanoumi-beya had 20 sekitori in makuuchi. Haguroyama (Tasunami / 4) and Maedayama (Takasago / 1) had much less intra-beya competition, but had to fight many low ranked M, too. Was there an intra-ichimon ban on bouts?

And i don't even want to speculate about the schedule these days.

If Wikipedia is to be trusted, intra-ichimon bouts were banned till 1965 as well. That accounts for half your listed examples, I would think.

Edited May 24, 2021 by Seiyashi

[Yubinhaad 11,683]

17 hours ago, 白魔ガシ said:

This Basho is the first since Aki 2009 in which no Sekitori at his highest career rank has achieved a KK (and thus getting a new career high). Given that only 3 Sekitori were eligible and all of them at high Maegashira (Tobizaru, Hoshoryu and Hidenoumi) and going back in the database I found Banzuke with 20 new Career highs, that might've been a record already.

It's correct if you aren't counting East as a higher rank than West - Wakatakakage at M1e (previous best M1w) was 9-6, Meisei at M2e (previous best M2w) was 8-7.

Edited May 24, 2021 by Yubinhaad

[Asashosakari 19,320]

7 hours ago, Benihana said:

For Akinoumi and Itsutsushima it seems rational, because their Dewanoumi-beya had 20 sekitori in makuuchi. Haguroyama (Tasunami / 4) and Maedayama (Takasago / 1) had much less intra-beya competition, but had to fight many low ranked M, too. Was there an intra-ichimon ban on bouts?

Simple logistics. If (almost) half the rikishi are from Dewanoumi-beya, they have to have opponents from the other half for every match, which means there's no room for people within that other half to face each other either. And that's what was going on there, Dewanoumi/Kasugano/filler on one side of the banzuke, everybody else on the other, all matches East vs West. Hence the many low-ranked opponents for the yokozuna/ozeki.

The scheduling restricted by ichimon - more exactly by stable groups, most of which weren't ichimon themselves - only (re)started in 1947 and indeed lasted until the end of 1964.

Edited May 24, 2021 by Asashosakari

[Faustonowaka 129]

Last basho, only 10 out of 33 Maegashira achieved Kachi-koshi. An all-time low?

[Kamitsuumi 400]

Haru 2000 (the Takatoriki yusho) had 7 out of 28. Banzuke luck then included Kaiho's 8-7 being rewarded by M13w -> M5e