Retirees after Haru 2022

[Katooshu 2,400]

There is a pair of good Mongolians in their final year at Nippon Sports Science University, and a good Mongolian in his final year at Tottori Johoku - they could be contenders I suppose.

Edited April 20, 2022 by Katooshu

[shumitto 416]

On 18/04/2022 at 18:36, Seiyashi said:

I must have missed something, but Nankairiki looks awfully thin for an ex-rikishi only in his 30s. Is he ill, or does he just have good genes to be able to shed his fighting weight that fast (+ a delay in the danpatsu from his actual last bout, which the DB says is only 6 months ago)?

I don't know any specifics about Nankairiki, but I have seen many rikishi start losing weight way before their intai, for health reasons or just because they know they don't need that much weight anymore.

[Muhomatsu 147]

The mandatory retirement (rule of 65) for Wakaimonogashira Kotochitose is in two days.  I often wonder what is "wakai" about that group - the youngest among them is 50 year old Torafusayama.   That will bring the number of Wakaimonogashira to six. I believe that there were "naturally" eight slots for the wakaimonogashira and sewanin.  Sewanin expanded to thirteen for some time, I recall, but has reduced back to eight by attrition (and the aforementioned Torafusayama's switch to wakaimonogashira).  I imagine that there would be two slots open for wakaimonogashira.  Who does the group think could be called on to fill these positions?  Yamahibiki's Nionoumi or Kitaharima? Oshiogawa's Amakaze? Tamanoi's Yoshiazuma or Fujiazuma? Oshima's Kyokutaisei? 

 

[Seiyashi 3,458]

1 hour ago, Muhomatsu said:

I often wonder what is "wakai" about that group

Less a descriptor of their age and more a descriptor of their function - the kanji are perhaps better (and less ambiguously) parsed as "leaders of the youth (i.e. young rikishi)" rather than "youth leaders". "Wakaimono" translates as a noun rather than an adjective, which its direct translation as youth in English would otherwise imply in the word order of the literal translation. I prefer to see it a bit more as a snarky and ironic in-joke, a bit like how the term Senator derives from the Latin from old men, but of course there are many people who are Senators in various capacities worldwide who are neither old nor men.

Edited April 20, 2022 by Seiyashi

[shumitto 416]

On 20/04/2022 at 14:49, Muhomatsu said:

The mandatory retirement (rule of 65) for Wakaimonogashira Kotochitose is in two days.  I often wonder what is "wakai" about that group - the youngest among them is 50 year old Torafusayama.   That will bring the number of Wakaimonogashira to six. I believe that there were "naturally" eight slots for the wakaimonogashira and sewanin.  Sewanin expanded to thirteen for some time, I recall, but has reduced back to eight by attrition (and the aforementioned Torafusayama's switch to wakaimonogashira).  I imagine that there would be two slots open for wakaimonogashira.  Who does the group think could be called on to fill these positions?  Yamahibiki's Nionoumi or Kitaharima? Oshiogawa's Amakaze? Tamanoi's Yoshiazuma or Fujiazuma? Oshima's Kyokutaisei? 

 

I had never checked Kotochitose's career before, but with 5 Makuuchi and 32 Juryo basho under his belt, including two Yusho in the latter division, he is much better than I expected him to be.

I wonder if they are ever going to fill these spots. One of them has been free for quite a while now with no lack of good candidates, like retired Sagatsukasa and about to turn 45 Yoshiazuma, but nothing has happened.

In Japan I always had a feeling that there were more "helpers" than needed, like an old man guiding people to an obvious detour at a construction site, or an young lady kind of watching people getting into the elevator inside a fancy department store. Maybe sumo is like this and they realised they don't need a new wakaimonogashira now, if at all.

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by shumitto
TYPO

[Muhomatsu 147]

Kotochitose is no longer listed amongst the youth leaders anymore:  https://www.sumo.or.jp/IrohaKyokaiMember/wakaimono_gashira/

I also wonder if they plan on filling these spots.  I recall a few years back that they expanded the Sewanin category by a bit - with some sort of explanation that they needed more helpers/hands on deck.  Seems that may no longer be the case.

 

[Asashosakari 16,846]

IIRC, the expansion to the sewanin positions back in 2003 was partly motivated by needing more working hands during jungyo. Since then, they've drastically curtailed the size of the travelling party for those tours, so maybe the workload just isn't there anymore. I don't have any real idea about the wakaimonogashira. Have there been relevant changes at the sumo school, perhaps, such as using more external lecturers etc., or have some of their roles been shifted to the handful of oyakata who are assigned to the school?

As for (late response) Shibatayama-beya's foreigner spot, unless there's already some under the table deal with whoever is going to absorb the stable in five years, I'm skeptical about seeing a new foreigner join a heya whose owner has that little time left and no in-house successor.

Edited April 28, 2022 by Asashosakari

[Yubinhaad 10,608]

Kotonawa's lengthy absence was caused by a cerebellar infarction. He had felt something wasn't quite right with his head but didn't report it, head and neck problems are inevitable in sumo and he was still able to train and fight. He has no recollection of what happened but at some point during asageiko he collapsed, waking up later in the intensive care unit of a local hospital.

Only after moving from the ICU to a general ward does his memory improve. Hemiataxia had affected the left side of his body, at first he could not stand unaided or eat solid food, and struggled to speak clearly. A long rehabilitation began, in which he took as his mantra the saying "a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step". With the support of his family and friends he gradually improved - after mastering walking with a cane he was discharged from hospital to continue his rehabilitation at home, and has gone on to make a full recovery.

He attended a vocational school where he studied acupuncture, which he found helpful during his rehabilitation. After training for three years he is now a professional acupuncture and moxibustion therapist at a clinic in his hometown of Fushimi, Kyoto prefecture. He is keen to help treat others who have suffered the same injury and aftereffects as him.

Kotonawa in his work uniform.

[Sue 457]

On 30/07/2022 at 12:17, Yubinhaad said:

 

My first instinct was to try to figure out which Star Trek series he was from, and what rank a purple rectangle indicates. He's not wearing a comm badge, though.

[Chartorenji 159]

On 30/07/2022 at 09:17, Yubinhaad said:

Kotonawa's lengthy absence was caused by a cerebellar infarction. He had felt something wasn't quite right with his head but didn't report it, head and neck problems are inevitable in sumo and he was still able to train and fight. He has no recollection of what happened but at some point during asageiko he collapsed, waking up later in the intensive care unit of a local hospital.

Only after moving from the ICU to a general ward does his memory improve. Hemiataxia had affected the left side of his body, at first he could not stand unaided or eat solid food, and struggled to speak clearly. A long rehabilitation began, in which he took as his mantra the saying "a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step". With the support of his family and friends he gradually improved - after mastering walking with a cane he was discharged from hospital to continue his rehabilitation at home, and has gone on to make a full recovery.

He attended a vocational school where he studied acupuncture, which he found helpful during his rehabilitation. After training for three years he is now a professional acupuncture and moxibustion therapist at a clinic in his hometown of Fushimi, Kyoto prefecture. He is keen to help treat others who have suffered the same injury and aftereffects as him.

Kotonawa in his work uniform.

Good for him! And what a crappy injury he went through. Hope he can truly help others through injuries similar to his.