mikawa 1,794 Posted April 6, 2018 Over the course of this month, I will be publishing the banzuke for amateur rikishi from the past academic year (which, in Japan, lasts from April to March). The banzukes will cover rikishi from primary school all the way up to university, and are created by adding up their results in national competitions during the past 12 months. Every banzuke will list the top 42 rikishi in each category. This particular banzuke takes into account the following tournaments: 33rd Wanpaku National Championships 30th National Primary School Championships 8th Hakuho Cup East Yokozuna - Kodama Hayato (児玉 颯飛), TokyoWest Yokozuna - Yamashita Masakiyo (山下 正清), Kagoshima East Ozeki - Kuraoka Yuta (倉岡 優太), KumamotoWest Ozeki - Furukawa Daiki (古川 大喜), Aichi East Sekiwake - Okazaki Ryotaro (岡崎 良太郎), AomoriWest Sekiwake - Hashimoto Taisei (橋本 泰成), Kumamoto East Komusubi - Negami Kohei (根上 航平), ShizuokaWest Komusubi - Otani Natsuki (大谷 夏希), Okayama East Maegashira 1 - Kobayashi Umeta (小林 梅太), KumamotoWest Maegashira 1 - Ito Hirohide (伊藤 博英), Kumamoto East Maegashira 2 - Niizeki Shion (新関 梓桜), YamagataWest Maegashira 2 - Handa Shosei (半田 翔誠), Ishikawa East Maegashira 3 - Urayama Shoei (浦山 将瑛), ToyamaWest Maegashira 3 - O. Baasandoruji (O・バーサンドルジ), Mongolia East Maegashira 4 - Sasaki Kaichi (佐々木 開地), MiyagiWest Maegashira 4 - Sato Shunri (佐藤 駿吏), Tochigi East Maegashira 5 - Yamanouchi Daitoku (山之内 大徳), ShizuokaWest Maegashira 5 - Shimajiri Taishi (島尻 大詩), Gifu East Maegashira 6 - Eguchi Shunta (江口 秀太), GunmaWest Maegashira 6 - Tanaka Shosei (田中 翔盛), Oita East Maegashira 7 - Ishizuka Keito (石塚 慶虎), IbarakiWest Maegashira 7 - Shibayama Teppei (芝山 哲平), Ehime East Maegashira 8 - Nishimura Kazuma (西村 和真), KyotoWest Maegashira 8 - Maro Kosho (マロー 高尚), Aomori East Maegashira 9 - Nakazawa Musashi (中澤 睦士), TokyoWest Maegashira 9 - Nakatani Kenshu (中谷 拳州), Tokyo East Maegashira 10 - Ino Hibiki (井野 響稀), AichiWest Maegashira 10 - Kitamura Yuma (北村 有真), Wakayama East Maegashira 11 - Furukawa Yu (古川 裕), SagaWest Maegashira 11 - Yoshioka Ryudai (吉岡 竜大), Chiba East Maegashira 12 - Yoshida Naoki (吉田 直輝), WakayamaWest Maegashira 12 - Okuda Soma (奥田 蒼真), Osaka East Maegashira 13 - Yamashiro Manatsu (山城 真捺), OkinawaWest Maegashira 13 - Iwamoto Jin (岩本 仁), Osaka East Maegashira 14 - Takemika Yusuke (武甕 悠介), KyotoWest Maegashira 14 - Kawata Naoto (河田 直人), Osaka East Maegashira 15 - Horanai Kensuke (洞内 健輔), HokkaidoWest Maegashira 15 - Shibutani Taiyo (渋谷 太陽), Aomori East Maegashira 16 - Taguchi Yamato (田口 大和), AkitaWest Maegashira 16 - Kikuta Ryuga (菊田 流雅), Ibaraki East Maegashira 17 - Tani Mirai (谷 望来), KagawaWest Maegashira 17 - Kaneko Riku (金子 利玖), Yamaguchi Sanyaku Photos East Yokozuna - Kodama Hayato (児玉 颯飛), Tokyo West Yokozuna - Yamashita Masakiyo (山下 正清), Kagoshima East Ozeki - Kuraoka Yuta (倉岡 優太), Kumamoto West Ozeki - Furukawa Daiki (古川 大喜), Aichi East Sekiwake - Okazaki Ryotaro (岡崎 良太郎), Aomori West Sekiwake - Hashimoto Taisei (橋本 泰成), Kumamoto East Komusubi - Negami Kohei (根上 航平), Shizuoka West Komusubi - Otani Natsuki (大谷 夏希), Okayama Comments No surprise at the top, as the spirited Kodama Hayato has been the most successful rikishi in Grade 4 by far, winning the Wanpaku Tournament and the Hakuho Cup, and coming second in the Primary School Championships. I've been hyping him up for two years now, and so far, he's been living up to everyone's expectations, and then some. In some ways, Kodama Hayato is following in the footsteps of Narita Rikido, only he's winning these tournaments three years later. While there's a 5-point gap between the two Yokozuna, there's only a 1-point difference between Yamashita Masakiyo, younger brother of 2-time Wanpaku Yokozuna Yamashita Shosuke, and the current Primary School Yokozuna, Kuraoka Yuta. Kuraoka could easily have come second in the banzuke, if he didn't have to face Kodama Hayato so early (second bout) in last year's Wanpaku Tournament. Saying that, both of them have been steadily improving, so expect to see a tighter battle between the top 3 this year. According to his mum, West Maegashira 8 Maro Kosho was actually born in the UK to an English dad, but they have moved to Japan now. He spent a few weeks last summer training with Kodama Hayato at Mitaka Sumo Club, and has gained valuable experience from it. Two of the rikishi on this list, Nakazawa Musashi and Yoshioka Ryudai, are members of Komatsuryu Dojo, John Gunning's club. It would be interesting to see whether their club-mate Mashiko Takuya can make the banzuke this year, as he was one of only 2 rikishi to beat Kodama Hayato in 2017. 1 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites