Asashosakari

Lulit was on location: (The Kyokai's picture coverage is included in her message, matches 1 and 4 listed West-to-East there for who knows what reason.)

Day 3 The action starts at 1:45 if you're not into enjoying the pre-session atmosphere. Results: Mz1 Chiyoryusei (0-1) Mz4 Kyokugosei (1-0) Mz2 Asasubaru (1-0) Mz5 Kyokutaiyo (0-1) Mz3 Shosei (1-0) Mz6 Kyokurenma (0-1) Mz8 Ito (0-1) Mz7 Nakazato (1-0) Taped-up Chiyoryusei wasn't the biggest test, but ex-baseball player Kyokugosei looked decently competent there. More pure aggression than actual sumo skills for now, but if people can hype up the likes of Hikarumusashi on little more than the same thing... Kyokugosei's two heyamates didn't fare as well today - Kyokutaiyo looked honestly a bit clueless out there (this ain't judo, looking for a collar grip won't do much good), and Kyokurenma had the misfortune of going against Shosei who is probably the best in the field here. Asasubaru has a two and a half year age advantage on Shosei though, so perhaps it's not a foregone conclusion who's going to finish 3-0. The final bout was a bit of a nothingburger, and probably would have been even if Ito had managed to get a proper tachiai going. Will be difficult for Ito to get a win in this crowd. Standings: Mz2 Asasubaru Takasago 1-0 E | Mz1 Chiyoryusei Kokonoe 0-1 E Mz3 Shosei Nakamura 1-0 E | Mz5 Kyokutaiyo Oshima 0-1 W Mz4 Kyokugosei Oshima 1-0 W | Mz6 Kyokurenma Oshima 0-1 W Mz7 Nakazato Tatsunami 1-0 W | Mz8 Ito Kokonoe 0-1 E Tomorrow's pairings will be easy to make if Chiyoryusei stays in, but he probably won't.

Final administrative notes before we get to the coverage: Nakazato is indeed competing in maezumo under his real name, so he's only going to become Teruyutaka at a later time. (Or perhaps not at all if they're getting other ideas all of a sudden...) Meanwhile, Nakamura-beya's Tanaka has been sent to the dohyo under his real given name, competing as Shosei 翔盛 しょうせい. The Nakamura-beya website includes given names and readings for them, so we'll find out his eventually, but currently he has no profile yet. And finally, one of six banzuke-gai rikishi has signed up as Kokonoe-beya's Chiyoryusei is accompanying shindeshi stablemate Ito to maezumo. This is already his third time through maezumo - and would be the fourth if his original dohyo debut hadn't been derailed by the pandemic back in 2023. He only did one bout the other two times he came back from banzuke-gai status and (spoiler) judging from his match today it's likely that it's going to go the same way again.

Oh, one thing that I...didn't forget to mention, but rather intentionally skipped at the time: That Daily Sports article unusually claimed that while the Teruyutaka shikona has already been thought up for Nakazato, it's planned for him to use it "starting with the March tournament". I didn't put much stock in it at the time that I read it - I thought it's just some obtuse writing by a journalist who thinks that only banzuke-printed shikona matter - but I've since seen a fan claim that they were told the same thing by Nakazato personally. I for one don't see much of a point in him doing maezumo and especially the shusse presentation under his real name when they already know what shikona to give him, but it's possible that we'll be seeing it play out like that for his maezumo debut in a few hours anyway. So, don't be surprised if there's "Nakazato" rather than "Teruyutaka". (Tatsunami-beya as a whole has no history of doing things that way, so that's not where it's coming from.)

Here are the LKS selection stats for Hatsu 2026, featuring 17 entries for the second basho running (including new players Hisui and Hakumadashi, welcome!). Player Onosato Aonishiki Yoshi Yume Kotozak Asano Asaha Fujir Toshi Yoshii Chiyo Nishi Kazuma TB Cons Athenayama + 11-4 + 12-3 + + + 9-6 + + + + - - - + 14 1.32 Fashiritētā + 11-4 + 12-3 + + - 8-7 + + + + - - - + 13 1.38 Masutarida - 10-5 + 12-3 + - + 9-6 + + + - - - - + 14 1.10 Profomisakari - 10-5 + 13-2 + - - 8-7 + + + - + - - + 14 1.29 ryafuji - 10-5 - 11-4 + + + 9-6 + + + - - - - + 13 1.15 Oskanohana + 11-4 - 11-4 + - - 8-7 + + + + - - - + 14 1.20 Jejima - 8-7 - 8-7 + + - 8-7 + + + + + + + + 16 1.81 Tetsuarashi - 10-5 - 11-4 + - + 9-6 + + + + - - - + 15 1.04 Hisui + 11-4 - 10-5 + - + 9-6 + + + - - - - + 13 1.10 Hakuryuho + 11-4 - 11-4 + - - 8-7 + + + + - + - + 14 1.48 Pandaazuma - MK - 10-5 + + - 8-7 + + + - + - - + 15 1.34 Holleshoryu + 12-3 + 14-1 + - + 9-6 + + + - - - - + 12 1.17 Sakura - 8-7 - 9-6 + - + 10-5 + + + - + - + + 16 1.40 Bunbukuchagama - 10-5 - 10-5 - + - 8-7 + + + - - - - + 13 1.54 Asashosakari - 10-5 + 12-3 + - + 9-6 + + + - - - - + 13 1.10 Hakumadashi + 11-4 + 12-3 + - + 10-5 + + + + + - - + 15 1.32 chishafuwaku - 10-5 - 11-4 + - + 9-6 + + + + + - + + 12 1.42 7:10 7:10 16:1 6:11 10:7 17:0 17:0 17:0 8:9 6:11 2:15 3:14 17:0 Results 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lots and lots of lopsided selections this time including four unanimous ones that now unfortunately won't impact the game at all, other than in the tiebreaker score. Fortunately the three sanyaku-ranked ballot members attracted very diverse picks - all eight possible combinations of their results are represented. Amid suspicions of a late-basho injury from November still affecting him, yokozuna Onosato has received much lower expectations that we're used to seeing for him. His Hatsu basho target record stands at only 11-4 (down from the usual 13-2), and even that attracted only minority support. Conversely, freshly promoted ozeki Aonishiki is said to finish at least 12-3 by almost half of us, up from 11-4 despite the usual thinking that the promotion festivities should impact a debuting ozeki's results negatively. Lastly, senior ozeki Kotozakura has been tabbed for a 9-6 target this time, up from 8-7. (And notably, hasn't attracted any MK votes for a change.) With so many (near-)unanimous choices it's no surprise that there are many very similar entries. Around half the player pairs share at least 10 out of their 13 picks, topped by six pairs that only differ on one pick (Asashosakari/Holleshoryu, Athenayama/Fashiritētā, chishafuwaku/Sakura, Hakuryuho/Oskanohana, Hisui/Holleshoryu, Holleshoryu/Masutarida), and even one duo that have submitted entirely identical lineups. Fortunately Asashosakari/Masutarida have different TB picks, so there's going to be some way to separate them if needed. The average agreement amounts to 9.3 slots or 72%, which I'm pretty sure is by far the highest it's been since I started to quantify it a couple of years ago. Incidentally, the lowest agreement comes courtesy of Holleshoryu/Jejima with a mere 5 picks in common. Based on the previous details, it won't shock you that Jejima's drone-y entry has also come in as the most uncommon ballot, perhaps helped to that position by usual contender WAKATAKE's absence this basho. Even so there are only 5 non-mainstream picks on Jejima's ballot, but going against the two heavily MK-expected rikishi Chiyotaiyo and Nishinoryu has driven the unusualness to heights unreached by any other entrants. Nevertheless, Fashiritētā's entry also features five minority choices, while Athenayama/Hakumadashi/Hakuryuho each have four. The most average entry was produced by Tetsuarashi, having bet against the majority only with Toshinofuji's KK (the closest-run slot we have this basho). Asashosakari/Hisui/Masutarida follow right behind, all selecting one minority choice as well (but 7:10 rather than 8:9), with ryafuji also on their heels (with a single 6:11). Lastly, a nice spread of picks for the tie-breaker score, without any particular insanities. 5 entrants each went for the most favoured choices 13 or 14, and a couple or three took 12, 15 or 16. Good luck to everyone!

Detached retina, says the heya.

Banzuke-gai Kyokuhayate will not be part of maezumo, as Oshima-beya reports him as still sidelined by a foot/ankle injury. I also came across a brief fan tweet indicating that Toramusashi was seen in a recent Musashigawa-beya video, but no idea if that means he's good for a return.

Appears to happen anytime the forum gets flooded by thousands of "guests" (search engine bots would be my guess). Currently very slow again, and the guest count is 6,500.

His heya profile has him as Asasubaru Shichigoro 朝昴 七五郎 あさすばる しちごろう. (Via boss_jonokuchi on X and that in turn via an attentive user on Discord.) Nakamura-beya's Tanaka will also need a proper shikona as there's already a Tanaka on the banzuke. That heya's website currently still has him as Tanaka (in the hoshitori at the bottom of the page), but already with a "name to be changed" disclaimer attached.

Confirmed by the heya.

1. Onosato 10-5 2. Aonishiki 12-3 3. Yoshinofuji KK 4. Yumenofuji MK 5. Kotozakura 9-6 6. Asanoyama KK 7. Asahakuryu KK 8. Fujiryoga KK 9. Toshinofuji MK 10. Yoshii MK 11. Chiyotaiyo MK 12. Nishinoryu MK 13. Kazuma KK TB 13

FWIW, I reported that back when the banzuke display was added ahead of Aki basho, and it's apparently related to players not having signed up for the new basho yet. I'm not entirely sure why it works differently from the other games and if/when it's going to be fixed.

A fan on Discord - who IIRC was also very early reporting Sukhbat's introduction to Asahiyama-beya in the first place - says it's Hakugetsurō. Quite a mouthful if true.

Seki-Oracle (play): Oracle's Kyushu edition ended with the top four players each one point apart of one other, a close but decisive outcome. Flohru was the champion, followed by Papayasu in the jun-yusho position, and Kirinoumi and Beeftank taking third and fourth place, respectively. Last basho's update opened with... ...and sure enough, Kyushu knocked off yet another one. Ozeki chishafuwaku fell short of kachikoshi by a single point for the second straight tournament, for the most hard-luck demotion imaginable. And we might just be without any Y/O altogether soon as freshly promoted DeRosa opened up his new stint at the second-highest rank with a makekoshi as well, making himself kadoban for Hatsu. I'm not a big fan of "emergency" promotions, but two potential candidates did give me something to think about: Andoreasu 2025.05 S2w 9-6 10th place 2025.07 S1w 14-1 Y 1st place 2025.09 S1e 8-7 18th-21st place 2025.11 S2w 9-6 6th-7th place Flohru 2025.03 M4e 9-6 7th place 2025.05 M2e 9-6 11th place 2025.07 K1w 12-3 7th-9th place 2025.09 S2w 8-7 16th-17th place 2025.11 S3e 12-3 Y 1st place 31/32 wins are very borderline as far as Oracle ozeki promotions go, and both players' runs were really hurt in my (more important) "combined finishing position" metric by those Aki basho 8-7's...usually I'm looking for the three results to total no higher than 20 places, and both runs are well beyond that with 25+. The scores prior to the last three basho were also merely adequate and don't add much oomph to the strength of their runs. Consequently I had to give a thumbs down to both cases, but they're both very much still in the running to get promoted with a strong Hatsu showing. Flohru is (quite obviously) the top-ranked sekiwake for Hatsu, while Andoreasu has only taken the S2e spot. In between there's the Kyushu fourth-place finisher who also has had "close but no cigar" results as far as a possible promotion to ozeki is concerned: Beeftank 2025.03 M1e 10-5 3rd-6th place 2025.05 K2e 11-4 4th-6th place 2025.07 S1e 7-8 2025.09 K2e 9-6 12th-13th place 2025.11 K1e 11-4 4th place That one is clearly a much easier "nope" due to the makekoshi, but that's still a very rough run to have and not get anything out of it (yet). The sekiwake ranks are rounded out by Norizo who likely needs a yusho to receive any promotion consideration (Aki was good, but Kyushu barely KK), and demoted chishafuwaku who can get back immediately with a sufficiently strong result. Best of luck to all five players, I'd really love to be able to promote at least one of you next time. The komusubi ranks are even more crowded with no less than six players having had Kyushu results that qualified them for it and the Y/O shortage making it possible to accommodate all of them without exceeding the 12-sanyaku limit. One to watch here is Kirinoumi who has posted back-to-back top 3 finishes. He was only ranked M16e and M5e for those, but yet another result like that could even see him skip straight past sekiwake. All in all this banzuke worked out without any issues. After last basho's ugly low makuuchi crunch there were exactly four demotable maegashira and four promotable juryo players this time around, making the swaps easy. DeRosa (Ow 6-9) O - Flohru (S3e 12-3 Y) S1 Beeftank (K1e 11-4) Andoreasu (S2w 9-6) S2 Norizo (S1w 8-7) - S3 chishafuwaku (Oe 7-8) Pandaazuma (K2e 8-7) K1 Kirinoumi (M5e 11-4) Torafujii (M1w 9-6) K2 Choshu-yuki (S1e 7-8) Bunbukuchagama (M2w 9-6) K3 joaoiyama (M3w 9-6) Hisui (K2w 7-8) M1 Gansekiiwa (S2e 5-10) BlackPinkMawashi (M9w 10-5) M2 Pitinosato (M7e 9-6) Papayasu (M13w 11-4) M3 Kakushoyama (K3w 6-9) Yarimotsu (M3e kosho) M4 Ganzohnesushi (M2e 7-8) ScreechingOwlet (M1e 6-9) M5 Mariohana (M6w 8-7) Kishikaisei (M4e 7-8) M6 Balon (M4w 7-8) Shatsume (M5w 7-8) M7 Wamahada (K1w 3-12) Kitakachiyama (M9e 8-7) M8 Oskahanada (M11w 8-7) Asashosakari (M7w 7-8) M9 Warusaru (M14e 9-6) Frinkanohana (M8e 7-8) M10 Asapedroryu (M6e 6-9) TochiYESshin (M15w 9-6) M11 Susanoo (M13e 8-7) Hakumadashi (J2w 11-4) M12 Andrasoyama (M14w 8-7) GONZABUROW (M11e 7-8) M13 Kachikoshi (J3w 11-4) Oortael (M10w 6-9) M14 Metzinowaka (M12e 6-9) Kaito (J5e 10-5) M15 Athenayama (J1w 8-7) Unkonoyama (J4e 9-6) J1 Bill (M10e 4-11) Asashoyu (J10w 11-4) J2 Kobashi (M8w 3-12) Oshirokita (J3e kosho) J3 Panic!attheDohyo (M15e 5-10) Tyerenex (M12w 4-11) J4 Rikioi (J8w 9-6) Kotononami (J1e 6-9) J5 ballerscuba (J8e 8-7) Holleshoryu (J2e 6-9) J6 lonewolf (J11e 9-6) Fia (J12e 9-6) J7 Kaiowaka (J4w 6-9) Joputosu (J7e 7-8) J8 tetsuarashi (Ms1w 10-5) Takanorappa (J13w 9-6) J9 Kasamatsuri (J11w 8-7) Hakase (J5w 6-9) J10 Terukaze (J10e kosho) Sukubidubidu (J6e 5-10) J11 Fujisan (J7w 5-10) Backeido (NR 10-5) J12 Hagetaka (J14w 7-8) Anjoboshi (J13e kosho) J13 Multimikstar (J9e 3-12) Profomisakari (J14e 4-11) J14 reeeen (Ms4w 6-9) Ruziklao (J6w 0-0-15) Ms1 Doreikishi (Ms1e 3-12) Gusoyama (J9w 0-15) Ms2 Terarno (Ms3w 3-12) Andonishiki (Ms4e 3-12) Ms3 Saruyama (J12w 0-0-15) Hakunojo (Ms2e 0-0-15) Ms4 glacier (Ms2w 0-0-15) Umihiyama (Ms5e kosho) Ms5 WAKATAKE (Ms5w kosho) Aisukurimu (Ms3e 0-0-15) Ms6 -

File updated for Hatsu basho: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JGiQgS_s7butYRdV5P1tTnn2STRHDzbukZTmi0XzUwA/ And since it's a new year and we might actually have some new readers after the forum update, I'll repeat the usage information: