Daily Review
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Hatsu 2026: NAKABI
I made the possibly terrible decision to get up at 12:40 am today and log onto the Sumo Mainichi livestream to watch Juryo, the second-highest division, in real time. MATCH OF THE DAY: Midorifuji has really been showing his stamina and had another bout on the long side today, though far less so than yesterday’s.…
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Hatsu 2026: Day Seven
It is now the one-year anniversary of the retirement of Dai-Yokozuna Terunofuji. Thanks for the memories, big guy… much smaller guy now. His danpatsu-shiki will be on January 31, and he’ll probably start truly losing weight soon after. Luck & love to Kaiju as he begins his oyakata career in earnest. MATCH OF THE DAY:…
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Hatsu 2026: Day Six
I almost missed this in my rush to get my post done today, but ex-Makuuchi Daiamami has retired. Daiamami was very large, very sweet, and very babyish, so I was quite fond of him, but I must say, his career had been on a downward spiral for a little bit. I think it’s good for…
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Hatsu 2026: Day Five
Apologies for the very late, very brief post; January is the busiest time of the year and I had to skim the Abema highlights instead of NHK today, as I will tomorrow as well. But I’m holding out hope for a free Saturday! MATCH OF THE DAY: Oshoumi vs Shishi and Midorifuji vs Asakoryu were…
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Hatsu 2026: Day Four
MATCH OF THE DAY: It’s always fun when the low Maegashira have a fun match, and I must say, Oshoumi made a great start to the day today. He took to the dohyo opposite old veteran Ryuden. Ryuden had a much better tachiai and almost, almost forced Oshoumi over the tawara, but just couldn’t get…
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Hatsu 2026: Day Three
I didn’t get to watch on NHK today, but I did get to see ex-Takarafuji make an appearance on the Abema broadcast, which was a lovely surprise. His elder name is, I believe, Kiryama now, so I should call him that, but he’ll always be either Takarafuji or Bald Spot McGee. I invite my readers…
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Hatsu 2026: Day Two
MATCH OF THE DAY: Fujinokawa and Hiradoumi are examples of what rikishi should bring to the dohyo every day: vibes. No offense to Shodai, but these guys always show up with 100% effort and 100% awesomeness, rather than looking kind of sleepy. They’re both popular and on the little side, and they’re absolute firecrackers on…
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Hatsu 2026: SHONICHI
Asahifuji led off 2026 today with a victory against Tenshoyama in sumo’s lowest division, Jonidan. Asahifuji is hailed as being the greatest rookie to ever debut, a title which I’m sure Onosato isn’t so sure about. Speaking of Onosato, he and Aonishiki received special prizes at the beginning of the basho today; he received the…
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Kyushu 2025: SENSHURAKU
The shocking news out of the infirmary is that Onosato is kyujo. Apparently, he dislocated his shoulder in his bout against Aonishiki. He did look to be in a little bit of pain in his bout yestereday but I took it as embarrassment and didn’t think much of it; evidently that was a poor decision.…
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Kyushu 2025: Day Fourteen
MATCH OF THE DAY: Two of my favorite boys, Ichiyamamoto and Yoshinofuji, fought each other today–Ichiyamamoto pulled and slapped Yoshinofuji down to the clay with a variety of techniques. Poor Yoshinofuji’s nose was spurting blood, and when he blew out after the match, he basically blew blood over his nose. It was extremely disgusting. But…
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Kyushu 2025: Day Thirteen
MATCH OF THE DAY: Ichiyamamoto! What a joy to be talking up his bouts. He makes a point to stare deeply into the eyes of every rikishi he can at any given time, which often results in a comment by Murray Johnson on the NHK broadcast. He went in with strong tsuppari against Roga but…
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Kyushu 2025: Day Twelve
MATCH OF THE DAY: Atamifuji takes the prize for the second day in a row. Shoutout to the clear second-place bout of Roga and Shonannoumi, which was also a great bout. Back to the winners, though: the young man from Isegahama took on Tokihayate, who’s been on fire this tournament. Atamifuji was effectively grappled by…
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Kyushu 2025: Day Eleven
Down in Juryo, Kise-beya’s Shiden went up against Kayo and seems to have hurt his hurt knees on the way down. It doesn’t look great–he pulled out of the tournament and was taken to the hospital. This might be the end of his career–more updates when there are any from Kise-oyakata. Wishing him luck… MATCH…
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Kyushu 2025: Day Ten
MATCH OF THE DAY: For once, there were several great bouts to choose from, due to the slew of mono-iis from our Maegashira today. Good to see them all stirring it up in the last week. Midorifuji vs Ryuden, Roga vs Churanoumi, and Shodai vs Tobizaru were all mono-ii, with the first two both ending…
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Kyushu 2025: Day Nine
The news from the infirmary is that, surprisingly, Meisei is back! I don’t have any updates on his health, so clearly his back is okay. Or maybe he’s just trying to hold on to Juryo. He will fight Nishikifuji, who is, by the way, in great form. MATCH OF THE DAY: Oh, Fujinokawa, where did…