The Sumo Thread

He’s been a frequent visitor there, but not exactl a sanyaku mainstay.

http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=12107

All in all though, a respectful career with a yusho to his name.

Heh, I guess he was out of the top ranks more than I remember, but still:

https://twitter.com/sumo_tim/status/1653941583535038465?s=20

(why the fuck does ‘Pokémon’ have that accent there? I’m only just realizing it makes no sense)

Ichinojo’s stated reason of retiring: a bad back.

The real reason he retired? He was a raging, out-of-control drunk.

Here’s the damning article if anyone wants to spin it through the machine translation:

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Asanoyama is back and is steamrolling through his opponents. Could easily take the yusho this basho given his ability relative to his current rank.

Tochinoshin, the Georgian Bulldog, has retired.

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Sad day for Tochi fans and the entire SEC conference.

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omg he was a heel in real life too? is sumo wrestling real?

Oh boy, don’t Google that question or you’ll find yourself down a deep rabbit hole.

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Yeah, there have been ugly stories about Ichi circling for a while now.

Also

https://twitter.com/sumo_tim/status/1659428162210779136?s=20

How are there nine hundred sanyaku

It’s because there are proportionally few Yokozuna & Ozeki.

Banzuke is filled from Maegashira 17 to 1, and whoever isn’t yet an Ozeki and had the requisite ranking & performance from the previous basho becomes a part of a parade of Sekiwake & Komusubi.

Kiribayama is on his way to Ozeki promotion this basho and Hoshoryu will likely follow suit next basho if he can get double digit wins. Then things will settle back down to normal.

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Starved for sumo, I began watching Sanctuary on Netflix. If you can get past the entirely unrealistic way in which the main character behaves toward his elders and superiors and in the sumo ring, it’s actually quite entertaining.

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How realistic is the hazing?

Likely everything shown in the drama has occurred at one time or another in real life. Underlings actually did (possibly still do) wipe the asses of their superiors.

And though bullying is officially banned, there’s little doubt that in such a violent & competitive environment where sempai/kohai (senior/junior) relationships reign supreme, it still occurs to some degree.

Nagoya basho is upon us, and not only do we have a new Ozeki (Kirishima), a new Hakuho (Hakuoho, Hakuho’s heir apparent), but three Sekiwake with a shot of being promoted to Ozeki themselves (Daieisho, Wakamotoharu, Hoshoryu).

Should be an exciting one.

I assume they are promoted if they win it, but they don’t have to actually win to get the promotion. Is that right? Generally how well do they need to do to ship Ozeki?

There’s no iron-clad promotion criteria, but 33+ wins over three basho while a sanyaku wrestler (Komusubi or Sekiwake) usually earns a promotion, although there have been cases where promotion was granted or denied with fewer or more than that number.

The three I mentioned are all in a position to reach that number with 11 or 12 wins, and while highly unlikely, it’s even conceivable that all three could earn promotion this basho.

Thanks. Now that you mention that, it seems somewhat familiar. Couple more questions:

  1. Does anyone go directly from Komusubi to Ozeki, or will they always be promoted to Sekiwake at some point in between.

  2. How common is it for someone to reach Ozeki rank without having won a basho once?

  1. After a bit of research, apparently it hasn’t happened since 1938:

https://sumodb.sumogames.de/Query.aspx?show_form=0&form1_rank=K&form2_rank=O

  1. Reaching Ozeki without having won a single basho is not at all uncommon. Takayasu is the last one I can think of, though Kisenosato, Kotoshogiku, and Goeido before him all reached Ozeki before winning a yusho (that was during the Hakuho/Mongolian dominance era when 10 years went by without a Japanese-born-rikishi yusho before Kotoshogiku broke the spell).
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I’m getting on the Hoshoryu hype train.

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