Aki 2023 Retirements

[Muhomatsu]

Here are some pre-basho retirements found from the Futagoyama-beya Instragram Account.

Yoshino (20 years old), former Mukainooka grad (like a lot of other Futagoyama recruits).  From Kanagawa.  49-49 career record.  Highest Rank: Sandanme 63  Hatsu Dohyo: 2021 Haru

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cv1IlTYLxnl/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Miyabi (former Morita):  92-125 career record.  From Chiba.  Highest Rank: Jonidan 20.  Hatsu Dohyo: 2018 Haru.  He was one of the uchi-deshi recruited by Futagoyama Oyakata before he branched out of Fujishima in 2018.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cv08SP5PxNG/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

 

Edited to include running list of known pre-basho retirements:

 

1. Tokushōryū: Kise-beya. Former Maegashira 2.  37 years old. From Nara Japan. Jonokuchi Yūshō (Haru 2009), Sandame Yūshō (Aki 2009), Jūryō Yūshō (Aki 2018), and his famous top division Yūshō (Hatsu 2020).  The Hatsu 2020 tournament also saw him win his only Sanshō (Shukunshō and Kantōshō).  He got a Kinboshi in Haru 2020 and also had a Jun Yūshō (Hatsu 2015) in the top division. He spent 32 tournaments in the top division and 34 in Jūryō.  Career record of 553-570-1. Record in top division was 211-269.  He is out of Meitoku high school and Kinki University.  Aside from his top division win, I remember his dame-oshi after he injured Kotoyūki. 
2. Akiseyama:  Kise-beya.  Former Maegashira 12. 38 Years Old.  From Aichi Japan.  Jonokuchi Yūshō (Haru 2008) and Makushita Yūshō (Nagoya 2009). 38 basho in Jūryō. 4 basho in Makunouchi.  Career record: 472-473-29.  Record in top division: 21-32-7.  Out of Saitama Sakae high and Nihon University.
3. Setonoumi - Takadagawa-beya. Former Makushita 15. Career record 69-44-20.  19 years old. From Hiroshima Japan. Jonokuchi Yūshō (Aki 2021). A young prospect, quickly rising to Makushita as a teenager, after coming back from an injury.
4. Anzai - Naruto-beya.  Former Makushita 29.  From Tōkyō Japan.  Career record 110-82-25.  21 Years old. Frequently injured recently.  His departure from the heya was unexpected and he was quickly disappeared for some reason.
5. Hokuōzan - Naruto-beya.  Former Makushita 35. 26 years old. Half-Turkish piano player. From Hokkaido Japan.  Career record 39-17-42.  Out of Hokkaido Sapporo Toryō High and Takushoku University.
6. Fujikenshō - Fujishima-beya.  Former Makushita 50.  From Saitama Japan. Former Sandanme 100 Tsukedashi. One of the Suguro bothers (Fujitōshi). 26 years old.  Career record 35-8-41. Frequently injured, fell to Jonidan where he took the yūshō this past Haru bashō.  Guessing injury issues forced the retirement, as he had a decent pedigree.  Out of Meiji University's affiliated Nakano High School and Takashoku University.
7. Sakurai - Naruto-beya. Former Makushita 57. 26 years old. From Ibaraki Japan. Career record 81-52-42. Out of Nippon Sport Science University Kashiwa High School and then Nippon Sports Science University. He was in a Jonokuchi ketteisen his first tournament, and only spent one basho in makushita.
8. Asakoga - Takasago-beya. Former Sandanme 19. 30 years old. From Osaka Japan. Career record 171-171-8. Out of Osaka Sandai High School, and Kinki University.  However, I do not think he was officially a part of the Kinki University sumo club.
9. Makio - Musashigawa-beya.  Former Sandanme 34.  From Kagoshima, Japan.  Career record 66-65-2.  21 years old.  Out of Kakusho high school.
10. Kiryū - Miyagino-beya.  Former Sandanme 40.  20 year veteran, 36 years old.  From Yamagata Japan.  Career record 384-422-34.  Former Ounofuji. 
11. Yoshino - Futagoyama-beya. Former Sandanme 63. 20 years old.  From Kanagawa Japan. 49-49 career record. Out of Mukainooka High (students here commonly recruited to Futagoyama-beya)
12. Kirizakura - Michinoku-beya. Former Sandanme 69.  40 years old. From Kagoshima Japan.  468-532-15 career record.  Was in sumo over 24 years.  Retirement papers not handed in, but last bout flowers pictures were posted. 
13. Asanoshima - Takasago-beya.  Former Sandanme 98. 33 years old. From Kagoshima Japan.  298-356-18 career record. In sumo 18 years, was banzuke-gai for 13 tournaments early in his career.
14. Ītsuka - Tagonoura-beya.  Former Jonidan 2.  22 years old.  From Ibaraki Japan.  74-74-34 career record.  Recent injuries may have caused retirement.  Out of Tsukubamatsumi High School
15. Byakuen - Tatsunami-beya. Former Jonidan 15.  18 years old.  From Mie Japan.  41-49-1 career record.  May have briefly attended Mie Fisheries High School.
16. Miyabi - Futagoyama-beya. Former Jonidan 20.  21 years old.  From Chiba Japan.  92-125 career record.
17. Wakakaneko - Nishiiwa-beya. Former Jonidan 26.  18 years old. From Kochi Japan.  53-41-39 career record.  Brother of Satokaneko.
18. Kinseiryū - Shibatayama-beya.  Former Jonidan 45.  22 years old.  From Yamaguchi Japan. 48-78-14 career record.  Out of Kudamatsu High School.  
19. Hamasaki - Ōtake-beya. Former Jonidan 47. 22 years old. From Fukuoka Japan. 39-74-13 career record. Out of Onga High School in Fukuoka. Spent 7 tournaments banzuke-gai.
20. Satokaneko - Nishiiwa-beya. Former Jonokuchi 14. Currently banzuke-gai.  15 years old, from Kochi Japan.  2-5-7 career record. Brother of Wakakaneko.

 

Notes:  Corrected Hamasaki's name.  Added the remaining wrestlers.  Number here is 20, but 19 retirements - see Kirizakura is crossed out as his retirement papers were not handed in.

Edited September 27, 2023 by Muhomatsu

[WAKATAKE]

This would also be an Aki 2023 intai since it happened only last week:

 

[Chartorenji]

Only 3? Not bad.

[Muhomatsu]

8 minutes ago, Chartorenji said:

Only 3? Not bad.

The basho has not even started yet.  These are just announced before the tournament.  Akiseyama, as he was a former top division wrestler.  The other two are on the heya's Instagram site.  If their paperwork is not submitted by their oyakata, they may still even appear on the Kyushu banzuke.  The full (and official) list of retirees will appear the Wednesday following Senshuraku.

[Muhomatsu]

X (Twitter) has picked up another retirement, this time Half-Turkish Hokuozan from Naruto-beya.  

He was recruited for Naruto-beya out of Takushoku University and hails from Sapporo.  He made it rapidly to Makushita before injury took him to banzuke-gai. It is closing in on two years since his last dohyo appearance (Kyushu 2021).

 

 

[yohcun]

Unfortunate, but at the same time, I wasn't looking forward to him coming back and henka-ing even more jonokuchi/jonidan guys he should far outclass.

[Yamanashi]

3 hours ago, Muhomatsu said:

X (Twitter) has picked up another retirement, this time Half-Turkish Hokuozan from Naruto-beya.  

He was recruited for Naruto-beya out of Takushoku University and hails from Sapporo.  He made it rapidly to Makushita before injury took him to banzuke-gai. It is closing in on two years since his last dohyo appearance (Kyushu 2021).

 

 

I had hoped he could gut it out, but he re-injured the knee in training ~4 months ago.  From heya photos on Twitter, he had been strengthening his upper body to insane levels (arms like legs!); I would have liked to see him come back.

His real name is Hagiwara Hikari (Remind you of any Yokozuna?) and he entered Narutobeya along with Oshoumi (Fukusawa Seiya), both rising to Makushita, and both injured in the Kyushu 2021 basho while at their top rank.  Hoshuozan never returned to the dohyo, but Oshoumi was back after three basho, continuing his streak of never having a non-kyujo MK.

It's some consolation to think that he has a college diploma in hand as he looks for a post-Sumo career.

[Koorifuu]

34 minutes ago, Yamanashi said:

It's some consolation to think that he has a college diploma in hand as he looks for a post-Sumo career.

It makes it more unexpected that he endured all of this just to retire, though. It'd have made more sense, from a professional point of view, to start building a career as soon as he felt he was done. The fact it took this long seems to indicate that he really wanted to have another go, and that his knee really is in a pretty bad spot.

[Asashosakari]

He didn't even get to compete after receiving his proper shikona, that's harsh.

[Muhomatsu]

And our sumo follower on X has identified that Byakuen is now gone from the Tatsunami-beya site.  

He is the third of the Urasaki brothers to retire (Kotourasaki and Gaia being the other two).

https://twitter.com/SumoFollower/status/1692864672217649273?s=20 

[WAKATAKE]

You should update the opening post. That way we can keep track more who to list.

This is an awfully lot of toriteki retiring in between the basho

[Gurowake]

On 20/08/2023 at 02:34, WAKATAKE said:

This is an awfully lot of toriteki retiring in between the basho

I don't think it's actually that unusual.  We usually just don't hear about them until the retirement announcements after the basho, but someone usually posts about the danpatsushiki having taken place before the basho in many cases.  At least, that's my recollection.

[Asashosakari]

On 20/08/2023 at 08:34, WAKATAKE said:

This is an awfully lot of toriteki retiring in between the basho

It's safe to say that most rikishi whose last score ends up as 0-0-7 have retired in between tournaments, whether or not we actually found out about it between tournaments, too. Feel free to verify if the current count of four would qualify as a high number. (I'm excluding ex-sekitori Akiseyama as a special case here.)

Edit: And I forgot about retiring banzuke-gai rikishi, for whom it's probably mostly true as well, at least those among them that aren't runaways who left even earlier.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Asashosakari

[Muhomatsu]

I have added the running list of known pre-basho retirements to the top.

I have also included Kiryu - whose retirement had been mentioned on Miyagino's Instagram account a few weeks back.

 

 

[Muhomatsu]

Adding Makio to the top.

武蔵川部屋のコメント 【牧尾引退のお知らせ】 - 大相撲速報 (osumo.net)

 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Muhomatsu

[Muhomatsu]

Adding the "Kaneko" brothers from Nishiiwa-beya, who are no longer on the heya's homepage.

[Muhomatsu]

Added Tokoshoryu, Setonoumi, and Hamasaki.  Setonoumi is gone from the Takadagawa-beya homepage and has no mage on his twitter profile anymore.  Hamasaki's retirement was announced by Otake-beya.

 

[rokudenashi]

Sad to hear about Setonoumi, he was making a lot of progress last year. Maybe a recurrence of his injury from a couple of years ago? Might explain the 4 straight MKs he ended his career with.

[Adz_517]

5 hours ago, Muhomatsu said:

Added Tokoshoryu, Setonoumi, and Hamasaki.  Setonoumi is gone from the Takadagawa-beya homepage and has no mage on his twitter profile anymore.  Hamasaki's retirement was announced by Otake-beya.

 

That is a shame about Setonoumi, only 19 and always looked fierce and skilled while fighting. 

[Koorifuu]

There is also Naruto-beya's Anzai, retiring at 21 and just after having competed at his career high in upper makushita.

Narutobeya's IG account added a story just before the basho where this was communicated, between the rikishi and the assistants' personal messages, and it's also been reported elsewhere on this forum.

Edited September 13, 2023 by Koorifuu

[Koorifuu]

3 hours ago, rokudenashi said:

Sad to hear about Setonoumi, he was making a lot of progress last year. Maybe a recurrence of his injury from a couple of years ago? Might explain the 4 straight MKs he ended his career with.

 

52 minutes ago, Adz_517 said:

That is a shame about Setonoumi, only 19 and always looked fierce and skilled while fighting. 

Purely speculation, of course, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a personality clash of some sort with ozumo's standards. Whilst I deeply enjoyed watching him go at it & felt he had a lot to give, his brash and fierce demeanour tended to leak over to the pre and post-bout ceremonies. It wasn't uncommon to see him half-ass those along with a snarl.

Edited September 13, 2023 by Koorifuu

[Yamanashi]

2 hours ago, Koorifuu said:

Narutobeya's IG account added a story just before the basho

I don't see it.

[Koorifuu]

5 hours ago, Yamanashi said:

I don't see it.

It's long gone. They don't tend to save any stories, so they only lasted for 24h.

[Muhomatsu]

Added:

1) Sakurai - his danpatsu shiki was posted to Naruto-beya instragram. Held after his last fight but before senshuraku.  Wonder if more things are afoot at Naruto with the quick retirements of both Anzai (pre-tournament) and now this, with the danpatsu shiki held almost in stealth.

2) Kirizakura - the flowers given after his last match were posted to twitter

3) Asanoshima - his danpatsu shiki was held jointly with Asakoga (below) on sensuraku and posted to Takasago twitter.

4) Asakoga - see above.

So many known retirements this time. Only two new recruits to add to the banzuke (along with a few banzuke-gai returnees).  Might sandanme be shrunk again?  Might the day be shortened by an hour?

 

[Koorifuu]

2 hours ago, Muhomatsu said:

1) Sakurai - his danpatsu shiki was posted to Naruto-beya instragram. Held after his last fight but before senshuraku.  Wonder if more things are afoot at Naruto with the quick retirements of both Anzai (pre-tournament) and now this, with the danpatsu shiki held almost in stealth.

Very stark contrast between those two. It looks like they left in different terms, as the mood couldn't be any more different.

Anzai's intai was communicated via a short text message published as a timed story, with no details whatsoever, sent discreetly after the active rikishis' "ganbarimasu" pre-basho video messages. Doze off for 5 seconds and you miss it.

Sakurai's intai merited a whole post for itself, with a lengthy message where he affirms he just couldn't cope with serious injuries any longer - which started when he was still in school - along with the usual "looking forward to the future" pleasantries. This was accompanied ny a video collage comprising some of his photos as an active rikishi, ranging from recruitment to the danpatsu-shiki.