Featured Club / Dojo - Iruma Junior Sumo Club

[mikawa 1,794]

A Promise to a Friend

Location - Irumashi Sports Park, Iruma, Saitama
Keiko - Mondays (18:00 - 20:00), Wednesdays (18:00 - 20:00), Saturdays (14:00 - 16:00), Sundays (9:00 - 11:00)

"To my best friend Nishizawa - please, I leave everything to you now."

Saito and Nishizawa Masao (西澤 正夫) are best friends from kindergarten all the way through to college. Both of them are sad to see the lack of opportunities kids in Iruma have to practise sumo, and so, they decided to take it upon themselves to develop grassroots sumo in Iruma. That was 1998, and the start of Iruma Junior Sumo Club (入間少年相撲クラブ).

However, just when things were starting up, Saito was diagnosed with leukemia, and passed away not long after. Before he died, Saito wrote a letter to Nishizawa, passing on his dreams and ambitions to his best friend, and hoping that Nishizawa would make sumo popular again in Iruma. 20 years on, as the result of his best friend's hardwork and dedication, Saito will not be disappointed:

Number of participants at the Iruma Wanpaku Qualifiers in 1996 - 68
Number of participants at the Iruma Wanpaku Qualifiers in 2010 - 1067

The number's increased by more than 15 times in just 20 years! As a contrast, the total number of participants in the Wanpaku Tournament nationally has fallen from 70,000 down to 40,000 during the same period.

 

Nishizawa's achievements don't stop there. In March 2015, a team consisting of Onozawa Ayato (斧澤 亜矢斗, front left), Suzuki Hayato (鈴木 覇都, front right), Yoshino Issei (吉野 一颯, front center), Konno Kanato (今野 哉翔, back right) and Kamiyama Ryuichi (神山 龍一, back left) were triumphant in the 11th National Club Championships, making Iruma Junior Sumo Club officially the best club in Japan:

Here's a video of their final match against Fuji Wanpaku Sumo Club, Mochizuki Masaya's team:

 

Even more incredibly, a few months later in October 2015, Iruma Junior Sumo Club would go on to successfully defend their title in the 12th National Club Championships, with a team made up of Samejima Hikaru (鮫島 輝, front right), Onozawa Ayato (斧澤 亜矢斗, front left), Kobayashi Arashi (小林 嵐, back center), Yoshino Issei (吉野 一颯, back right) and Kamiyama Ryuichi (神山 龍一, back left):

Their opponents in the final, Mitaka Sumo Club, made a remarkable run to get that far, but in the end Iruma won 3-2 (their only losses were to Kodama Hayato and Hanafusa Kai), becoming the first ever club to win this tournament back-to-back, something that not even the great Tsugaru Sumo Club teams of 2011 - 2013 were able to do. Here's a video of the final:

 

Apart from winning back-to-back National Club Championships, Iruma Junior Sumo Club can also claim to have won back-to-back Middle School Championships, as the 44th Middle School Yokozuna Tsukahara Takaaki (塚原 隆明) and the 45th Middle School Yokozuna Kamiyama Ryuichi (神山 龍一) are both former club members:

 

And on top of all that, with Iruma Junior Sumo Club having also won the team competition at the 3rd Hakuho Cup in 2013, we can safely say that Nishizawa Masao has done a job his best friend would have been proud of.

[Akinomaki 39,770]

Start of keiko on the 6th by the now 11 members of the Iruma sumo club, age 3rd grade to 2nd year middle school - aiming to become like sempai Hokutofuji.

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[Akinomaki 39,770]

Also this year keiko started on the 6th at Iruma sumo club - 12 members now - local NHK vid.: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/saitama/20190106/1100004417.html

o

Edited January 7, 2019 by Akinomaki

[Akinomaki 39,770]

The traditional start of keiko this year on the 6th at the Iruma boys sumo club saw 14 members this time. OBs Tsukahara and Tochikamiyama were there - one girl took part in the event as well.

vid

o o

 

[mikawa 1,794]

A music video showing a training session at 2-time national champions Iruma. Their club captain last year, West Maegashira 1 Kobayashi Arashi, gave some of his kohai a real workout in the video.

 

[Akinomaki 39,770]

The traditional start of keiko this year on the 6th at the Iruma boys sumo club saw 14 members again, no OBs from ozumo, only ex-student yokozuna Kanno (Chuo univ. 4th year). This year starts with masks o

Edited February 9, 2021 by Akinomaki

[Jakusotsu 5,806]

Do they really think those masks will prevent anything in that environment?

[Akinomaki 39,770]

The traditional start of keiko this year on the 6th at the Iruma boys (shonen) sumo club (1 girl is a member). Local NHK

vid

The club has only 8 members now, primary and middle school http://mainichi.jp/articles/20220107/ddl/k11/050/129000c

o o

Edited January 9, 2022 by Akinomaki

[Akinomaki 39,770]

New PR video from the Iruma club coach

[mikawa 1,794]

SumoTuber Amita's sumo club series starts off in Iruma, Saitama, as he attends and films their training session:

 

[Katooshu 3,132]

Kobayashi, currently attending Saitama Sakae, just finished 3rd in individual competition at the National Usa High School Tournament. Getting pushed around and punched by his juniors seems to have paid off.

Edited September 5, 2022 by Katooshu

[Akinomaki 39,770]

On 08/01/2022 at 14:26, Akinomaki said:

The traditional start of keiko this year on the 6th at the Iruma boys (shonen) sumo club (1 girl is a member). Local NHK

vid

Still with 8 members. They prepare for the national tournament in the kokugikan next month (on the 12th) - nice to have the (13th) Hakuho cup called that

After Hokutofuji and Daieisho, now Tochimusashi is an active rikishi of aspiration for the kohai at the club.  o

[Akinomaki 39,770]

On 08/01/2023 at 01:04, Akinomaki said:

On 08/01/2022 at 14:26, Akinomaki said:

The traditional start of keiko this year on the 6th at the Iruma boys (shonen) sumo club (1 girl is a member).

Still with 8 members.

Start of keiko this year at the club with 12 members (1 girl) - going up again. The captain Hiromi Nakamura (15, 185cm, 127kg) will go to Saitama Sakae high next.  o