Akinomaki 41,182 Posted January 29, 2024 (edited) Name change or not is a secret till Wednesday - taking the name Kotozakura is a promise to granddad, but not the day he takes it the road to ozeki 1 with granddad ooo o dohyo-iri with dad o first time with mawashi, age 2 o age 4 o age 5 o dad becomes Sadogatake o o interhigh Saitama Sakae high yusho (with Naya 2 - the present one) o shindeshi, shin-juryo Saitama Sakae kesho mawashi, shin-nyuumaku o oo with Kototsurugi o oo with the family -zakura-dogs: Cherry III & IV (born on his birthday) o o o Edited February 4, 2024 by Akinomaki 9 7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Katooshu 3,416 Posted January 31, 2024 Looks like mom 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 41,182 Posted January 31, 2024 (edited) Ceremonies today - grandad always near o o o o o o o oo o oo o the fishy part o oo oo o ooo ooo oo oo a sujo video at the heya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvyezMOAAXE at the grave of granddad oo o at his localities - Obanazawa is obviously the main https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YbNrKKVI60 Gogai extra paper distributed vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4N2mmkCla4 Chiba pref. o o o vid the locals in granddad's hometown Kurayoshi at the Kotozakura museum congratulate - but they look a bit flustered about the change delay o vidoovid The Tottori paper https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8niSE0ZLfZc name plate in the heya now at ozeki o Edited January 31, 2024 by Akinomaki 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 41,182 Posted January 31, 2024 The road to ozeki II oo yusho as 3rd year at Saitama Sakae high: Kanto tournament June 2015 & junior world championships heavy weight o o Entry to Sadogatake-beya decided: with Saitama Sakae head coach Yamada o o as you may notice in this photo, he was all the time only a small dot away from ozeki, 琴ノ若 傑太関 Kotonowaka Masahiro-zeki o Hatsu basho the 14th (d1), win over Abi and day 14 win over Kirishima oo senshuraku party o o 3 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yamanashi 3,988 Posted January 31, 2024 4 hours ago, Akinomaki said: a sujo video at the heya A great behind-the-scenes look at the ceremony as seen by the well-wishers outside. The view from behind as the rikishi try to support Kotonowaka for his "on the shoulders" pose is delightful. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 41,182 Posted February 2, 2024 press conference o congratulations - in Matsudo, Chiba oo Obanazawa o Kurayoshi at the Kotozakura museum, also there a gogai extra paper o the road to ozeki III o first dohyo-iri (8m) o dad becomes Sadogatake o preparing for his last bout last bout of Kotonowaka I vs. his son at the intai-zumo o after the win on dohyo debut o Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 41,182 Posted February 6, 2024 On 29/01/2024 at 12:41, Akinomaki said: o Grandma looked like the twin sister of mom in this photo - now after the senshuraku party last week o 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Seiyashi 4,109 Posted February 7, 2024 Still can't tell them apart, tbh. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 41,182 Posted February 13, 2024 (edited) New ozeki Kotonowaka was at Saitama Sakae today to announce his ozeki promotion - 2000-2200 kohai from middle and high school attended o oo impressive entry oo o words from head coach Yamada & flowers oo the other day at the charity ozumo o at the health check on the 7th o Edited February 13, 2024 by Akinomaki Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 41,182 Posted February 15, 2024 On 13/02/2024 at 11:01, Akinomaki said: New ozeki Kotonowaka was at Saitama Sakae today to announce his ozeki promotion - 2000-2200 kohai from middle and high school attended It's something different if a descendant of famous rikishi gets to ozeki - similar to the sons of ozeki Takanohana and nephews of yokozuna Wakanohana - looks like we're getting a new sumo boom, now he only needs a proper rival - Oho isn't qualified for that oo o oo oo oo vid after that a press conference with head coach Yamada oo 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dingo 1,388 Posted February 15, 2024 Looking at the fierceness of their head to head bouts, the rival could be Takakeisho. But Takakeisho is in decline and Kotonowaka in ascent, so it'll have to be someone else. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
themistyseas 242 Posted February 15, 2024 1 hour ago, dingo said: Looking at the fierceness of their head to head bouts, the rival could be Takakeisho. But Takakeisho is in decline and Kotonowaka in ascent, so it'll have to be someone else. Surely it's Onosato? I know there are those who think he might be the next coming of Ichinojo and we haven't seen him have a sustained run at the top of the division but he seems a decent bet. This may strike some people as being a bit mad but Takakeisho's stable is closing in 2 years and he may only be 29 at that time, but given his challenges to remain consistently fit, it seems like he could rack up another yusho or two and then hang up the mawashi. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Godango 1,054 Posted February 15, 2024 Onosato, Hakuoho, Atamifuji, and let's not forget Kirishima and Hoshoryu. Gonna be a fun 5-10 years. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 41,182 Posted February 16, 2024 (edited) Kotonowaka today was at the city hall of his hometown Matsudo (heya location) to report his ozeki promotion to the mayor, as the first new ozeki from Chiba pref. for 69 years - and grant him the request to try sumo with him. Kotonowaka: There's still one rank above on the banzuke and I haven't got a yusho yet. I'll aim for that and devote myself to keiko. vid o o oo oo o oo Apart from flowers he also got 281kg of local vegetables for the heya. The mayor hopes for a yusho parade after 8 years again - Kotoshogiku had one then at the heya location - later also one at home. oo o Edited February 17, 2024 by Akinomaki Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RabidJohn 1,944 Posted February 17, 2024 12 hours ago, Akinomaki said: Apart from flowers he also got 281kg of local vegetables for the heya. That's a very specific weight - does the number have any significance? Is it a metric conversion of traditional Japanese weights & measures, or did they just bung him some random amount? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 41,182 Posted February 20, 2024 On 17/02/2024 at 11:37, RabidJohn said: That's a very specific weight - does the number have any significance? Is it a metric conversion of traditional Japanese weights & measures, or did they just bung him some random amount? Other sites only report about 300kg or no weight at all: most likely random 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 41,182 Posted February 20, 2024 (edited) More food for the heya On the 19th Kotonowaka I&II were home at the next prefecture: Yamanashi seems to be the main ATM, as long as he's Kotonowaka - reported by local Sakuranbo TV on FNN as the first return to the prefecture (ken-gaeri) after promotion - wording used for one's home prefecture, it is only that of dad though - a slip of the tongue by the announcer, in the text reported correctly as ken-iri, coming to o. First a meeting with the governor to report the promotion oo vidvid oo ooo a tegata for the governor and a rice bale replica for him: he gets 1 proper bale of Yukiwakamaru rice (60kg) and 20kg of local chicken oo o o o o and in the evening a party to celebrate the promotion, with about 350 guests vid Kotonowaka: "The rank of yokozuna has firmly come in sight" - every sentence from supporters is about yokozuna now He also got a kesho mawashi from the local koenkai Edited February 21, 2024 by Akinomaki 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 41,182 Posted February 22, 2024 Chiba really seems to be a minor location compared to Yamanashi: the next day Kotonowaka met with the governor of Chiba, only one pic of that, only the Kyodo article http://www.47news.jp/news/10551653.html at least a detailed video appeared from the visit to the mayor of his Chiba hometown Matsudo (with about 280kg of vegetables) More food from the 3rd location, Kurayoshi in Tottori: rice etc. produced by the students of Kurayoshi agricultural high school, where Kotozakura was member of the sumo club till he quit school in 2nd year o the mayor received the list for the heya o 1 bale of special award Enmusubi rice, 2 bales of local original rice brand Hoshizoramai and 90 portions of retort-pouch curry with wild boar meat Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
