I procrastinated and was holding out for the Isegahama-beya scandal to be resolved. But, as I like to say, the JSA’s gonna JSA and they delayed their decision. And then I forgot. And then I kept forgetting. But I actually think I like this fashion of dropping the recap of the last basho two or three weeks before the next one because it reminds me what happened in Haru and builds up the hype a bit more for me. Anyway, back to the scandal news: they have, at last, resolved it. It seems like Terunofuji struck Hakunofuji twice for inappropriately touching a woman. I mean… don’t let young men get intoxicated. But also… gross. I don’t really want to dwell on it. But, uh, at least it’s resolved. Both of them have been warned and Terunofuji will be supervised more than before, but neither will be removed/retired or anything like that, it seems.

A few more updates before we jump back into the March basho. First, this beautiful photo of an elated and energetic Takayasu. I don’t know what that creature is or what he’s doing there, but he sure is having a blast.

Kotozakura made an appearance at the Japanese Grand Prix for Formula One and evidently got a lot of negative comments about his weight online from a bunch of car-loving people. “Wow, the professional sumo wrestler is overweight!? Astonishing!” Well, I think you’re awesome, Kotozakura. He did, to his credit, do very well in March.

Onosato has been showing off his destroyed shoulder in practice sessions and Takayasu seems to have taken on Yokozuna training duties, which is weird, considering (and I just want Hakkaku to remember this) he is in no way qualified. This (extremely blurry) picture of them is the best one I can find, but it does show quite a bit of cupping on the young Yoko’s arm and shoulder. Like I always say, he needs to heal up, but nooooo. He did sit out a bit, and I think wasn’t on the tour recently, but not enough, I dare say.

Aonishiki turned 22 and announced that he fractured the base of his left little toe, then withdrew from the spring tour and pointedly ignored comments about his rejoining. I couldn’t find a very relevant picture for that one, so here’s a picture of all-star rookie Asahifuji snuggling a dog instead. (By the way, we had a whopping 16 [I believe] kyujo from the spring tour, including the young Ozeki, Yoshinofuji, and Tamawashi. Not an altogether very surprising list of rikishi, but that is… kind of a lot…)

Perhaps best of all, the Haru basho winner, Kirishima, made it back and officially earned the title of the Once and Future Ozeki, along with a yusho win and a special prize. I needed this and I am so, so glad. His daughter will get to do the banzai again after all! I don’t know his tsukebito’s names, but boy, are they happy. Almost as happy as Takayasu.

Finally, some pretty excellent rikishi retired.

Ex-Makuuchi and virally cute sleeper Chiyomaru announced his retirement after earning a positive record post-demotion to Sandanme. I guess he wanted to end it on a high note. He was one of the most spherical men in Makuuchi when I began watching sumo but he’s been on a downward track since then. We’ll miss you, big boy. He will stay on with the JSA as a trainer, though I think he’s the only one out of this crop.

Kise lost three people, Hidenoumi, Shiden, and Higohikari. Hidenoumi and Shiden had been involved in a gambling scandal and Higohikari in a violence one, so, no big regrets there. Along with Chiyomaru, Kokonoae lost Chiyotaiko and Chiyosakae, and Oitekaze lost Daishoho, an ex-sekitori as well. Kotokenryu, Ogitora, Yamenosato, and Minatoryu also retired. It doesn’t seem like any of them besides Chiyomaru will be staying with the JSA, but I wish them all luck in their chosen careers.

Now, moving on (or back?) to the Haru basho.

Unlike last time, the yusho did not go down as expected. Or it kind of did? I don’t know. The person I thought was going to win did, but not in the fashion I expected. And I really wasn’t sure he was going to win; Onosato’s kyujo threw a bit of a wrench into things. The biggest surprise of this basho was probably Aonishiki, but not in the way it has been the last two times. I don’t like to dwell on the bad days rather than the good ones and I’ve already done that a bit for him more than enough in the Haru basho; he had a real rough go of it, but it happens.

The special prizes were announced by Battle Hamster Takakeisho again! Hi, Takakeisho. By Takanosho’s account, at least, he is doing an excellent job running Minatogawa-beya. And it does seem to be true, judging by how well his sekitori (plus ex-sekitori Takakento) did in this basho. His first Makuuchi debut, Wakanosho, will be in the top division in May.

Fujiseiun earned a fighting spirit prize for going 10-5 in his top division debut; I was a little caught off guard by his performance, I must admit. I believe my comment about him at the beginning of the basho was, “Should be interesting.” And he was. The real surprise here was that his stablemate, Fujiryoga, was so much worse than he was, not just that Fujiseiun did well. But we have seen a lot of younger guys do very well in Juryo and struggle in Makuuchi, like Hatsuyama last time around, and they’ll both probably be back up. But this isn’t about him! Fujiseiun has really grown on me, and I’m excited to see what he can do.

Kotoshoho manages to somehow force me to dislike him every single time I start to think about how interesting he is. He had a conditional fighting spirit prize against hometown boy Asakoryu, and henka’ed, or half henka’ed, or at least sidestepped for the win. I mean, come on. He picks someone as little as Asakoryu to do that against? And in his hometown basho? Gross. But he had a stellar performance this basho at 11-4 and had the longest stay of any Maegashira in the yusho race. I guess good job? But did you have to do that, Kotoshoho? Did you have to?

Fujinokawa earned a highly technical technique prize in his lovely throw over Oho. At first, I questioned this prize, and then remembered that he beat both Yokozuna, so now I’m fully behind it. I kind of forgot that he beat Hoshoryu. But! I have been a fan of this muscly kid for so long, and I am so proud of Fujinokawa for making it up this high and really holding his own. I’m not sure he can continue to do this, but he’s got incredible fighting spirit and incredible muscles, so I hope he stays strong. I saw someone call him a “muscle hamster” and I am fully behind that now.

Kirishima, deservedly, earned an unconditional Outstanding Performance award. This is his first OP award and probably his last, considering this win means (now officially!) that he will be back up to Ozeki in May. Wouldn’t it be so cool if he made it to Yokozuna? To me, he feels very Ozeki, not very Yokozuna, but I certainly wouldn’t object. I don’t know if that’s really in the cards, though. Let’s hope for another great performance in his re-debut.

Congratulations to all the JSA Special Prize winners! And now on to the objectively more important rikishi earning some objectively more important prizes: the Pink Mawashi Hall of Fame Inductees.

(Disclaimer: Not all of them are actually inductees. Some of them are though!)

The Match of the Basho Award goes to Kirishima and Takayasu for their Nakabi facedown. I had briefly hoped for another playoff win in this basho but instead got the rare yusho win on Day 14, which was also exciting. These guys tried everything that they could think of and it did end with a win for Kirishima (one of many), from one ex-Ozeki to another. It was just a fantastic bout. Go watch it! Congratulations to Kirishima on a stellar win.

The Kimarite of the Basho Award was not awarded for this basho. I like to have one, but I also think I need to hold my standards a little higher. So, not this time around… but maybe next, when Aonishiki is in better form…?

The Veteran Award was actually kind of hard, but instead of giving it to Kiri, I’m going to give it to a younger veteran, but a veteran anyway, Kotozakura. I joke a lot about 9 wins being too much effort for him and 10 wins being far off, but he did actually get 10 wins, and I want to congratulate him for that. (Good job, Kotozakura). I really can’t tell if it truly is just the injuries for him or if it’s that and a lack of morale, but when he’s good, he’s good. I wish we could see a little more of this from him; imagine if he actually is justing starting off and is actually the great Japanese Yokozuna he was supposed to be. He ain’t yet, but he has time.

The Up-And-Comer Award could really go to no one except Fujiseiun, though shoutout to Round Man Atamifuji–who isn’t really an up and comer, but had a great basho. Fujiseiun, to my surprise (I talked about him above in the Fighting Spirit Prize) had a really great first basho up in Makuuchi. It might be a fluke. I wouldn’t be astonished to see him with a make koshi. But. He did do very well, and while he’s on the older side for debutants, that doesn’t mean he’s not impressive. Great work, Fujiseiun; keep it up.

The Distaster Basho Award, with love, goes to Wakamotoharu. I try to find an explanation or justification every time one of these guys has a disaster basho, and the obvious one for him is that he was a Komusubi, and he probably hurt his back or something. However, I do not think the Komusubi excuse flies anymore for Wakamotoharu (or his brother, or anyone in that generation/approximate rank). Probably he just had an off basho. Better luck next time, Wakamotoharu, and from a wee bit down the banzuke.

The Miracle Basho Award goes to Kotoshoho, though the runner-ups are definitely two men of opposite physiques, Fujinokawa and Atamifuji, who both performed surprisingly well at career-high ranks. I often say this about Kotoshoho and Takanosho, and a few other guys who are sometimes in that pool (up to and including Kinbozan, Gonoyama, and when he was good, Shonannoumi)–they have a ton of mediocre basho and then one really good one, like once or twice a year. For Kotoshoho, it was when he somehow got his mitts on the Nagoya yusho last year. For Takanosho and K-Bo, I believe, it was jun-yusho. But hey, good to acknowledge it when it happens. Good going, Kotoshoho.

The Pink Heart Award had so many applicants this time around! There’s Hakunofuji, who pulled out and returned. There’s Onokatsu, who pulled out and returned and pulled out again. There’s Abi, who pulled out and returned. There’s Wakatakakage, who pulled out. There’s Onosato, who pulled out. There’s Aonishiki, who’s fighting through… something. I really can’t pick one, but I’m also not writing all of their names in the page I use to keep track of this, so I’ll pick who I thought was truly valiant: and that is Onokatsu. He has had a successful career, but an altogether unremarkable one for an ex-tsukedashi, of the same program that produced guys like Onosato, Yoshinofuji, and Hakunofuji. That said, I think he’s got good sumo, he’s just not great. I can no longer find his injury report, but I think maybe it was a shoulder? Don’t quote me on that. Anyway, he was clearly going through it, and he did fall to Juryo 1 East. I’m a little upset with the JSA for keeping off-track Fujiryoga in Makuuchi and demoting very injured Onokatsu, but, JSA’s gonna JSA. Stay strong, Onokatsu, because Juryo’s looking very solid.

The Pink Star for Effort has a bunch of runner-ups–see literally every guy I listed above, feat. Aonishiki–but I want to give this one to my boy Churanoumi. I love a good Chu basho, and this was, uh, not a good Chu basho. But unlike Wakamotoharu, he isn’t used to fighting in the joi, and last basho, M2 was his highest rank ever. Basically, he’s getting this prize because he got a win over Kirishima, a feat that only the two Ozeki (at the time–he’s up there now! HA) accomplished. That said, he really didn’t beat many other people. I still love him, though, and I think he really put up some pretty good fights despite the fact that he lost 11 of them.

The Best Pink Mawashi Award is given to Ura for having a pink mawashi.

Now on to my favorite part of the day: A Look at the Champions!

The Makuuchi yusho went to Kirishima; his rikishi profile will be posted… at some point? I’ll probably work on it throughout the basho, but we’ll see. Maybe not. Maybe when he gets to Yokozuna, because I am a Kirishima stan and I think it would be hilarious if he got there before Aonishiki. And currently, he does have a better shot. I mean, he doesn’t really, but he has theoretically (re)started his run. Great work, Kirishima, and hopefully that actually is your last special prize ever. Said with love.

The Juryo yusho went to Dewanoryu. I did him dirty by not mentioning him as a potential yusho threat, but in my defense, he did go 8-7 in January in his Juryo debut, and I didn’t think he had the experience/skill/genkiness yet. But he clearly did! The young man from Dewanoumi-beya turned 25 just before the last basho started and battled to the end with who I thought was the favorite candidate, Wakanosho, and also a bunch of other people. Wakanosho, however, took him to the playoff; he lost, but will be testing his mettle up in Makuuchi come May anyway. Congratulations to Dewanoryu, who will take a big rise up the banzuke and if he does well again, might make a Makuuchi debut soon.

The Makushita division champion, Wakanofuji, is very much the stereotypical makushita tsukedashi, and I do mean that kindly. Putting aside the fact that he has quite possibly the least original shikona ever, he debuted in January with an excellent 6-1 showing from M60e, and followed that up with a 7-0 performance. He and Okaryu got a lot of hype as the big new young guys, though Okaryu has been on the scene for quite a bit and just hasn’t been very good until recently. Okaryu, however, got much more hate than Mr. Basic Wakanofuji because he beat Enho, who will be making his sekitori re-debut and getting his hands on some elder stock this time around. But more on that in the banzuke preview, and congratulations, Wakanofuji.

The Sandanme divison championship went to the very popular ex-Juryo Nabatame, not one of my favorite guys but from the very wholesome and apparently very injury-prone Futagoyama-beya. You might remember me “glazing” Futagoyama-beya because of their stablemaster’s performance after Nabatame’s stablemate Mita, a rikishi I am very fond of, went horrifically kyujo. Nabatame, actually, also went horrifically kyujo last May. He’s on his way back up through Sandanme and will be one step closer and probably a yusho threat in Makushita for May. Much love & well wishes to Nabatame as he hopefully gets back up to his past ranks (and higher).

I actually got to watch the Jonidan playoff, to my delight, and watched Asahifuji take on another heavily injured ex-Juryo, Kiryuko. Unfortunately, for Kiryuko, we’re talking really heavily injured. To give some context, his last bout (besides randomly fighting one guy and winning on Day 13 in January) was at Juryo 12 on Day 7 of Haru Basho 2025–against Yoshinofuji, when his name was still Kusano. Enough about Kiryuko, sorry (but feel better and fight exactly as well as you did, Kiryuko!)–the Jonidan yusho went, unsurprisingly, to the GROAT (Greatest Rookie of All Time, plus I just think the acronym sounds funny), the artist currently known as Asahifuji. Yep, he’s real good at sumo. He’ll be a a gigantic pain for poor old Kiryuko again come May, now in Sandanme. I bet they’re really excited.

Finally, stablemates Aron and Shosei fought in the Jonokuchi yusho playoff. Shosei just turned 18, and Aron is 23 years old, so both of them are on the young side and from Nakamura beya, home to brilliant specimens such as Juryo men Tomokaze and Kayo. Shosei kind of reminds me of Atamifuji, due to having extremely short hair and being just generally pretty circular. I mean, look at the man. Unfortuately, his circular shape was not enough to secure him the yusho, and Aron ran away with it. Congratulations, Aron.

I apologize for the fractured nature of this post, having written parts of it from March until now. But it’s not quite May, and it is time for everyone to get their sumo pants (or lack thereof) on! The Banzuke Preview will be up in the coming weeks.

Go Ura.