Welcome back to the world of sumo!

Unfortunately for the ever-growing number of injured rikishi, our boys have been very busy since the Natsu basho wrapped up. Between most basho, rikishi will rest for a while before departing on regional tours, or jungyo. At jungyo, the rikishi perform a mix of training and performances, either jinku singing or shokkiri comic sumo. However, this time they packed up right after Natsu ended and headed to Paris.

A lot of people had issues with the near-immediate departure for France following a basho where the number of injured, kyujo, wrestlers was so high that the Yokozuna Deliberation Council spoke up about it. However, this has been in the works for a long time, and it’s all but clear from the rikishi’s performances and remarks about the Paris koen that they didn’t seem to find it too taxing. Even Ura removed his knee braces for the tournament, which is a telltale sign that it’s not a real basho–the only rikishi, in fact, who had any visible support for their injuries were Kotozakura and Asakoryu, which raises some questions about their state going into this tournament. However, the knee tapes didn’t stop Kotozakura from taking home the Paris tournament prize with a win over Hoshoryu in a two-day knockout tournament format–perhaps the ultimate reveal that the whole thing was scripted.

I had high hopes for the photos of rikishi sightseeing after the London koen, but I have to say, London was better. By far the best clip to come out of Paris was a video of Mitakeumi and Shodai enjoying themselves at Disneyland Paris, but since the link won’t work, here are some of my favorite pictures instead. (For some reason, the JSA seemed to have paired or grouped a few rikishi to do PR for the tournaments and let the others go enjoy Paris, but whoever put Atamifuji with Shodai deserves a raise–and then, of course, Shodai left to go hang out with Mitakeumi, which is by far my favorite sumo friendship.) Abi and Asakoryu seemed to have the most fun, though Asakoryu’s pictures formated very poorly.

Oh, also, I’ve just figured out how to do this slideshow thing instead of just putting in every image. Another day, another button on this website that I finally figure out how to use.

Abi also got married–or he had a wedding ceremony, which in sumo is very rarely the same thing. Many of the rikishi were married during COVID and only belatedly celebrate their marriages, and very few of the rikishi even announce personal details–for example, I knew Abi was married, but he has two daughters, which I didn’t know. So, Abi celebrated and invited his closest friends. From left to right, though I am identifying them myself and may well have gotten at least Onosho wrong: Wakamotoharu, Takanosho, Abi, ex-Onosho, Kotozakura, Daieisho, ex-Chiyomaru, and Juryo Nishikigi. It’s very interesting seeing who the rikishi are friends with off the dohyo, and though Wakamotoharu and Abi’s friendship is pretty legendary, I was surprised to see some of these guys here, especially Kotozakura and the retired gentlemen, though neither actually retired that long ago. Overall, it seems like Daieisho was the best man, but Takanosho had the best smile.

Also importantly, Ura celebrated his 34th birthday on June 22. Happy birthday, Ura.

The only retirement that I can remember being, well, notable, is that of Wakatakamoto, the oldest (and apparently the nicest) of Arashio-beya’s Onami brothers. Arashio stable is kind of famous for letting fans come watch them practice, and Wakatakamoto apparently had a habit of convincing his brothers, Wakatakakage and Wakamotoharu, to take pictures with the fans. He will stay with the JSA in retirement, joining ex-Chiyomaru (pictured above) as a wakaimonogashira trainer.

Now, let’s get into Natsu 2026.

For once, nobody took home the Outstanding Performance Prize; I think it should’ve gone to Ura, but then again, I always think that. Nobody was even nominated, though to be fair, five people were up for conditional Fighting Spirit Prizes–if they’d won the yusho, all of Ura, Yoshinofuji, Hakunofuji, Fujiryoga, and Kotoeiho would have gotten to take one home, as well as the winners of Kotoeiho-Yoshinofuji and Hakunofuji-Fujiseiun. Wakatakakage earned the Technique Prize, and of course, Kirishima was not eligible to take anything home as an Ozeki.

Wakatakakage‘s Technique Prize wasn’t surprising, because it’s never surprising when this man takes home a Technique Prize. He isn’t a record setter yet, but the man from Arashio beya has seven Technique Prizes to his name–more than many Yokozuna. Wakatakakage’s legacy, even without a that long-coveted promotion to Ozeki, is undeniably impressive. He wasn’t, I’ll be honest, my preferred yusho candidate. But I do have for Wakatakakage what I honestly lack for a lot of his colleagues, which is respect. He worked hard, fought through his recurring injuries, and although I wanted him to fall so Kirishima and Ura could rise, he earned this yusho. Congratulations, Waka-T.

Yoshinofuji took home his second fighting spirit prize and fourth special prize overall, and each time, I’m a little more happy for him. I am literally a day one fan of Yoshinofuji and it’s extremely gratifying to see him perform so well against such high-quality opponents. Even now, with the relative Ozeki and Yokozuna crisis, sanyaku is strong, and it’s impressive to see Yoshinofuji consistently battering them down. I’m glad to say that he will be making his Komusubi debut come July–congratulations, Yoshinofuji.

Hakunofuji has become a complicated figure in sumo recently, though he is a relatively uncomplicated sumo wrestler. Love him or hate him, he put up a good fight in Natsu. He did, to be fair, fight only decent Maegashira and his only impressive win in terms of rank was against Kirishima. But he was injured, and it was still a good performance that saw him shoot up the banzuke for July–congratulations, Hakunofuji.

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 Kotoeiho. With all due respect to Waka-T, his matches this basho were not singularly exciting as much as they were steady and consistently good. Kirishima’s, however, were very exciting, and on Day 13, they had one of the closest matches I’ve ever seen. They teetered and tottered on the edge as the final match of the day, and they hit the ground at nearly the same time. The gyoji (referee) called the match in favor of Kotoeiho, and, since he later turned out to be wrong, he had to submit his letter of resignation for hs shameful… mistake. The JSA, obviously, didn’t fire him, but it was pretty fun. And a great bout. Congratulations, Kiri, for the second Match of the Basho in a row.

The Kimarite of the Basho Award goes to someone who, despite being a great rikishi, is not typically a connoisseur of great kimarite. Yoshinofuji made a mark on this basho, and made a Takanosho-sized mark on the dohyo on Day Six with a chaotic throw. It was a hard kimarite to describe, but both rikishi were airborne and touched down almost at the same time, and then had a mono-ii rematch, which Yoshinofuji won with a kubinage neck throw. This bout was in contention for Match of the Basho as well, but honestly, I feel bad if I do a Match of the Basho with nobody in the yusho race. Perhaps I’ll change the rules.

The Veteran Award should probably go to Wakatakakage, but what’s the fun in that? I’m going to go ahead and say the highest-performing veteran this basho was, in fact, Ura. If Asanoyama hadn’t gotten injured, it’s fair to say it would have been him. Kirishima has had this award before, but he and Waka were expected to do this well, and the award is more about respecting those who outperform their expectations. And Ura, thankfully, did just that. Finishing 10-5 on this banzuke is an achievement; yes, Ura was down farther than he usually is, but it’s still an impressive result, and kind of a relief. Congrats, Ura.

The Up-And-Comer Award is awarded to Fujiryoga! There is definitely a case that could be made for Wakanosho as well, so shoutout to him for the runner up. Fujiryoga, however, was involved in the yusho race up until Day Eleven, where things started to go awry with back to back losses. However, when everyone else lost to, he edged back into the yusho race. Fujiryoga faced the incredible pressure on Day Fifteen of having four rikishi with no connections to him–Hakunofuji, Yoshinofuji, Kirishima, and Ura–eagerly watching to see if he could beat Wakatakakage and give them, and himself, a chance at the yusho. He lost, and only Kirishima got that last shot against Waka-T, but he still fought brilliantly.

The Distaster Basho Award… yikes. There is a significant amount of overlap between this award and the Pink Heart Award because of the sheer amount of kyujo. But, unfortunately, there was… a standout in terms of a negative record. And that standout was Tamawashi. I love Tamawashi, and he’s older than the rest of the rikishi, some of whom are almost half his age (Fujinokawa). But 2-13 was not the performance that anyone wanted to see from the Iron Man. He’ll pick up the pieces and try to return from Juryo. Good luck.

The Miracle Basho Award really needs to go to Hakunofuji. Sanyaku was great this time, an easy thing to say because only four of them were actually there to be able to do great. However, there weren’t many Maegashira who stood within reach of the yusho race on the final day, and Hakunofuji was one of them. He’s not everybody’s favorite, but he is a strong rikishi finally seeming to get over his injuries. Congratulations, Hakunofuji.

The Pink Heart Award was really difficult to pick this time, unfortunately. Seven rikishi sat out at some point in the basho, all of whom were in either sanyaku or Takasago stable. But honestly, I think the only person I could give it to–because he truly tried his best through his injuries–is Kotozakura, who is now facing down kadoban status and risking demotion in July. The nicest thing I can say about this basho is that he tried; he really did. 3 wins and 9 losses of trying, however, convinced him to pull out and attempt to rest. He did come to Paris and won the “tournament” there, but that doesn’t make me too confident…

The Pink Star for Effort is probably my favorite prize to give out. This time, it goes to a guy I’m quite fond of, and who is basically the human personification of utmost effort, which is Fujinokawa. I don’t think anybody thought, and I certainly didn’t, that Fujinokawa would be a threat in Makuuchi, or even stay for very long, when he came up to the top division. But Fujinokawa has proved everyone wrong and remains knocking on the door of san’yaku. He is an inspiration to many, including, apparently, Wakatakakage’s eldest son.

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

There will be no Look at the Champions because I kind of did that in the 15th day, and I’m very tired, but congrats again to Wakatakakage, Yoshinofuji, Hakunofuji, Kazuma, Ikarigata, Asahifuji, Shosei, and Hakugetsuro.