It’s that time again!

January 2026 is set up to be a superb tournament. The bottom of the banzuke is unusually strong, and the top is, of course, much more exciting–and aesthetically even–than it has been for a while, thanks to Shin-Ozeki Aonishiki. He’ll be looking for a strong debut and maybe even a yusho to get the critical promotion to Yokozuna, and Hoshoryu and Onosato will be doing everything they can to stop it. Kirishima is looking to return to Ozeki, and a little further down the banzuke, Oho and the Onami brothers have their eyes on the same goal, perhaps by 2027. Yoshinofuji and Hakunofuji from Isegahama-beya are looking to make their san’yaku debuts, while Daieisho is aiming to get back to Sekiwake and maybe one step higher. At the bottom of Makuuchi, wildly popular ex-Ozeki Asanoyama is making his second huge return to Makuuchi–he is the only wrestler to dip all the way down to Sandanme and return to Makuuchi twice. He and Takasago-beya fellow Asahakuryu have joined the ranks of Makuuchi, along with young debutant Hatsuyama, and will be seeking to affirm their places in the Maegashira ranks.

The most hyped-up rookie of 2025 is making his pro debut: Asahifuji, already bearing the shikona of a great Yokozuna, which is really saying something about Isegahama-beya’s faith in him. He’s lived with them for a while and supposedly wrestles at a san’yaku level, so it will be interesting to see how he performs. Other interesting characters in the lower divisions include Kaki, who’s won his last three yusho and is making his Makushita debut; Fujiryoga, fresh off a Juryo yusho and seeking promotion to the top division; and Kise-beya prospect Kazuma, making his sekitori debut and hoping, perhaps, for a yusho. Asahifuji is going to be leading off 2026 with a bout against Tenshoyama, who is notable mostly for his height of 197 centimeters.

Kicking things off with the top of the banzuke! We have two Yokozuna, with Hoshoryu as Yokozuna East for the first time since Onosato’s first Yokozuna basho, due to his slightly better record after Onosato pulled out for the last day of the tournament. Hoshoryu is a strong Yokozuna (silence, haters!) and he really, really wants to finally beat Aonishiki. The two of them fought in practice bouts and Hoshoryu went 7-3 against the Ozeki. Since then, he was spotted in a knee brace and has torn his meniscus; he said he wasn’t worried. His oyakata said things “aren’t going smoothly” but that he’d be fine. I’m assuming Hosh is going to show up, but things aren’t looking too good, which might make this an interesting basho for our Yokozuna.

Yokozuna West Onosato has claimed that his suspicious left shoulder injury, a possible dislocation, is now healed. However, he wasn’t doing so hot over the break and he didn’t go to the practice session with the other Ozeki and Yokozuna. He instead (for some reason) fought Oho and Hiradoumi and finished 8-3. He fought Hiradoumi and some Sakaigawa-beya friends and went 8-7, which isn’t decisive. Also, why does he like fighting Hiradoumi so much? Chairman Hakkaku was more focused on being petty to Aonishiki, but he did say that he wasn’t sure Onosato had had enough time to recuperate, though he followed that up by saying he was sure a Yokozuna would be able to compete and that Onosato would deliver. However, Onosato’s rank doesn’t mean his shoulder is going to knit back together, and Hakkaku seems to think that everyone can be a Tamawashi, which kind of ruins the point of being a Tamawashi. And Kisenosato, of all people, should be telling him it’s okay to pull out when you’re already a Yokozuna.

Both Yokozuna, as always, are looking for a yusho, which will be a definite challenge with each other and their joint rival, shin-Ozeki Aonishiki, heading into Hatsu. It doesn’t look great for the JSA’s golden boy, but Onosato is an astonishing rikishi, and he might go 12-3 just to prove everyone wrong. It just doesn’t seem all that likely. In my opinion, if he’s this worried–and it’s clear that he’s worried–he should sit out, but I don’t think he will until it gets really bad. Hoshoryu’s injury is more recent, so it’s unclear just how much it’s been bothering him, but that’s a pretty serious injury. Quite honestly, I think they’ve done the work to get to Yokozuna and they should both sit out for the sakes of their careers-but it’s quite clear that their oyakata, and by all appearances the rikishi themselves, do not agree. Another piece of bad news is that neither of them is likely to allow themselves to pull out until Day 8… because, in good news, the Emperor is supposedly coming to see the basho. I guess they could leave and come back? Well, it’d be better for their injuries to just turn out to be trivial. Good luck to them both and let’s hope for two healthy Yokozuna!

Moving down the banzuke, we have a freshened up and interesting pair of Ozeki. Ozeki East, entertainingly, is Kotozakura because seniority rules. He is unlikely to hold that rank for very long, in my opinion. The eternally 8-7 sumo legacy had a really, really rough one last January coming off of a November yusho that got everyone thinking about his rope run. Something happened to Kotozakura and it just hasn’t gotten any better. He has an old knee injury that inconveniences him, and of course, he has some neck and back problems, but he seems to be in a war with himself. And weirdly, Kotozakura doesn’t like to pull out. His career record is 421-281-15, meaning in all his years of sumo, he’s missed 15 days–he’s never sat out a full basho. He just keeps fighting with all of these injuries, and at this point, I guess they’re just a part of his sumo?

And now we come to Aonishiki. He, surprisingly, had a pretty rough run in training, going 6-9 against his opponents and 3-7 against Hoshoryu. Elder Hakkaku, being Hakkaku, went on a rant about how Aonishiki needs to train harder and practice more, et cetera. Hopefully Aonishiki isn’t listening to him. Ozeki-level training is, naturally, going to be a lot harder on him than what he’s experienced before. There is a lot of pressure on Aonishiki to match or outperform Onosato and Hoshoryu, which he can do, but shouldn’t have to. These three, I must say, are doing a very good job with making the sumo storyline interesting for the new fans from the London tour! I can’t wait to see them recruit Parisians in June.

Our Sekiwake East is Kirishima, who has his eyes set on the Ozeki rank. He had three 11-4s in 2025, including in November, and followed those up with 8-7s, so let’s hope he has a better basho this time around. It’s not impossible that Aonishiki vacates one of the Ozeki ranks soon, especially if both of our Yokozuna are injured… but more seriously, I feel that Kirishima deserves to go back to Ozeki. I don’t usually go for the “but he deserves to get back up”, but I think Kirishima really does. Not a lot of the guys who get demoted make it back up to Ozeki, but I think he’s good enough. His main struggle is consistency and the simple fact that a lot of these guys are younger than he is. He’s not so young, but he’s got a lot of experience under his mawashi that Onosato and Aonishiki don’t have.

Sekiwake West is another ex-Ozeki, this time Takayasu, who will turn 36 in February. He is not, in my opinion, getting better; he’s struggled with his back for years and it just doesn’t look great. But he’s back at Sekiwake, which bodes well for that far-off hope of making it back to Ozeki. He’s had so many runner-ups but never won a yusho, which says a lot about his career. He gave a very sweet interview about how 2026 is his year, and if 2026 really is his year, that’s great, because I don’t think retirement is too far off if 2026 is bad for him. I’d like to see him stick around–he’s often one of the first rikishi up-and-comers struggle with, unless of course his back isn’t working, in which case he’s… not so good. Let’s hope his optimism is well-placed and he can get his hands on that yusho.

Oho and Wakamotoharu are the Komusubi this tournament. I don’t think they’re strikingly similar rikishi, but they’ve had pretty similar ranks for the better part of the last few years. Oho is a legacy, the grandson of legendary Yokozuna Taiho. I really, really want Oho to be great someday, but he isn’t there yet. I will say that he has a lot of potential and I do think Komusubi is the right place for him; maybe Ozeki someday, but not yet. He gave Hoshoryu trouble one year ago when he and Kinbozan dominated the Maegashira yusho race, and maybe he’s up for a repeat this year. His rank buddy, Wakamotoharu, is seven years senior and the older brother of Wakatakakage. He is the epitome of a san’yaku-level rikishi who simply is not an Ozeki-level rikishi. He is clearly good enough to be in the joi-jin, but he’s never had a sekitori yusho. He never scored double digits in either wins or losses in 2025, which I think says a lot about him. Good luck to both our Komusubi!

This might be my favorite rank of the banzuke, which I must say is a pretty great banzuke: the lead-off hitters of the Maegashira ranks are Ichiyamamoto and Yoshinofuji, two of my favorite rikishi! Ichiyamamoto had a bizarre year in 2025, but he really evolved his mostly pusher-thruster sumo after looking at Aonishiki and thinking, “Man, why can’t I do that?” He’s hoping to make his san’yaku debut in March after a strong November performance. His rank buddy, Yoshinofuji, is a big question mark: is he going to be good, and if so, how good? Onosato good? Aonishiki good? Takerufuji good? But he hasn’t been following any of their paths as of yet. He is a great rikishi when he fights well; he’s big and strong, to put it simply, and that just kind of works. To think that he was in Makushita a year ago, wasn’t even in sumo two years ago, and is now knocking on the door of san’yaku puts his career in persepctive; he isn’t the greatest or most consistent rikishi ever, but he’s really impressive. He is certainly eyeing Komusubi or maybe even Sekiwake status for March.

Ura and Wakatakakage are doubtless pleased to be rank buddies after so long. Ura is only three short ranks away from san’yaku and will probably be starting his Yokozuna run this basho, so watch out, Onosato. Unfortunately, he’s fighting Aonishiki on Day One. But, you win some, you lose some! And he might be losing some. Ura is good when he’s good and is always a hoot; he’s coming off of three kachi-koshi and looks great for 2026. Poor old Wakatakakage really wanted to get up to Ozeki in September, but the nine rikishi he lost to had other ideas. Unlike Ura, he’s had two make-koshi in the last two basho, which isn’t insurmountable, but doesn’t exactly bode well. But Wakatakakage is a very good and very experienced rikishi; he’s just injured. Also, if he henkas someone I like again this basho, all bets are off and I’m never rooting for him again. If he henkas Abi, that’s fine, but he better stay far away from Hoshoryu.

Our Maegashira 3 East Takanosho had a very typical 2025 for him; not-so-great showings with a 12-3 and Fighting Spirit Prize thrown in there. Because he was overranked, he had a rough tournament last time around and is at a pretty normal rank. He’s often pretty bad until he’s explosive, but maybe this will be another explosive one! Hakuoho has only had one make-koshi since July 2024, but it was last tournament, so he might not be in the best form heading into this basho. That shoulder of his is always a worry, but if it’s healed up, he might be a contender for this basho. Also! His name is now Hakunofuji; Isegahama-beya’s adopted rikishi from Miyagino-beya followed Yoshinofuji’s example and all changed their names to adopt the -fuji suffix, except Enho. So that’s fun.

The large, red-belted men of Maegashira 4 this time around are Daieisho, halfway through his hopeful turn to Sekiwake, and Atamifuji, the most babyish wrestler in the top division. I could see Daieisho being a contender for this yusho, provided that he’s healthy and hasn’t reaggravated his calf. He’s a great rikishi and I think if he’s in good form, he’s going to have a really strong basho. Atamifuji had a few make-koshi and one 11-4 in 2025, making it a fairly typical year for him. He’s a very Maegashira 4 kind of rikishi. He used to be a young upstart, until Hakunofuji, Takerufuji, Onosato, Onokatsu, and Yoshinofuji arrived and were a little… better. He’s still very good, though, and hopefully will get a strong performance this time around.

Tamawashi, Churanoumi, Hiradoumi, and Onokatsu mark the end of the joi-jin at ranks Maegashira 5 and 6; this is a very solid group of rikishi. Iron Man Tamawashi is still going strong at age 41. Churanoumi, one of my favorites, had two pretty severe make-koshi in 2025 but was all smiles otherwise; he’s looking to get back up in the joi or even san’yaku. Hiradoumi had a very challenging tournament last time around and is seeking a kachikoshi for January. Onokatsu is the worst of the Makushita-tsukedashi era to breach Makuuchi so far, but he’s not bad, just somewhat unremarkable. He had two 10-5s and a slew of bad records in 2025, and if he can unlock his potential, he’ll be very good someday. But, regrettably, it is not this day.

Oshoma, Fujinokawa, Shodai, and Kinbozan are another very solid group of rikisihi. I like all of these rikishi except Oshoma, who has faced some serious allegations after a large part of his stable retired. The JSA hasn’t taken any action against him, so he’s at M7 this time around. Fujinokawa is the youngest rikishi in the top division and kind of awesome; he had a pretty good 9-6 tournament in November. Shodai, the Wall of Daikon, is really good when he remembers what sumo is, which is about half the time. He often looks extremely disconsolate during tournaments. He had a terrible November and is hoping for a kachi-koshi in January. Kinbozan from Kise-beya, the same stable as Ura, has had make-koshi in the last three tournaments and struggles with his back and neck; maybe a kachi-koshi in the New Year, K-Bo.

Gonoyama, Roga, Tokihayate, and Kotoshoho are four strong examples of fine-but-not-very-good rikishi. Gonoyama sucked in September but did prety well in November, so he wants to repeat that performance in January. Roga is Mr. Average, and had an average 8-7 last time around. I always feel like Roga should be good, but so far, he hasn’t exactly been making waves. He did beat Terunofuji in jonokuchi that one time, though. Tokihayate went 9-6 and is gaining a lot of popularity for being small-ish and young-ish. Kotoshoho has only won eleven bouts since his July yusho last year; if he can repeat that performance, he might be up in the joi next time. But somehow, I don’t think he will.

Midorifuji, Abi, Tobizaru, and Tomokaze are three interesting rikishi, plus Tomokaze. Little, quick Midorifuji is extremely popular and for good reason; his signature winning technique, katasukashi, is a crowd-pleaser, but his size is a significant issue for him. Abi and Tobizaru, I feel, should both be higher-ranked than they are; these are not rikishi that belong at M12 and 13, respectively. But they were both pretty bad in 2025, so here they are. Tomokaze is an unexciting rikishi back in in Makuuchi after years in juryo; he was actually solid in 2025, and I think Maegashira 13 is a good place for him.

Shishi, Mitakeumi, Ryuden, and Asakoryu make up Maegashira 14-15. Shishi has lost his cool fact of being the only Ukrainian, thanks to Ozeki Aonishiki. He’s huge, but he’s not the fastest rikishi around, and I think his main struggle is really just his lack of experience. Poor old Mitakeumi had a challenging year personally and athletically in 2025; he’s coming off two make-koshi and looking for a positive record this time. Ryuden might win the award for least popular rikishi in Makuuchi after his Covid-19 scandals and a few other unsavory things. He was bad last time. Asakoryu is the bright spot of this bunch, I think; he’s been joined by two Takasago-beya stablemates this time around, which I’m sure he’s excited about. He started off really well last time and ended up 8-7, and though he’s very little, I think he has a lot of spirit and a lot of promise.

Now, this is where it’s not usually interesting–but this time, it’s so interesting! These guys, I think, are what make this banzuke really exciting. Asanoyama, Oshoumi, Asahakuryu, and Hatsuyama are four unique rikishi with one a little different from the rest. Ex-Ozeki Asanoyama is finally making his second gigantic return to Makuuchi; the first one was due to some no-nos during Covid, but now he’s become the only rikishi to go all the way down to Sandanme and return twice. That’s pretty crazy. Oshoumi is young and has had injuries in the past that have prevented him from being great; he made it up to Makuuchi in the last tournament and is back in Makuuchi this time. Asahakuryu debuted two years ago and is making his Makuuchi debute alongside stablemate Asanoyama’s return, which is cool. He’s very good, but he’s at a career high rank, so we’ll see how it goes. He won the Juryo yusho in September and went 10-5 in November. Hatsuyama just brings me a lot of joy to watch; he looks half-sleepy, half-displeased all the time, which creates quite a vibe. He had quite a struggle in Makushita, but seemed to find his place eventually in Juryo and is making his Makuuchi debut this basho at age 26, which is impressive.

That wraps up the Banzuke!

There are a lot of question marks this tournament: are the Miyagino-Isegahama twins, Hakunofuji and Yoshinofuji, in good form? Are the two debutants, plus Asanoyama, as good as their reputations suggest? Is Aonishiki good enough to get the rope? And the biggest question marks of all: are Hoshoryu and Onosato in good health and ready for the New Year? Who is going to win the yusho?

In some fun news, Juryo wrestler Tsurugisho has announced his engagement to flight attendant Yuka; and if he falls out of the salaried divisions, he has promised her to retire and focus on their relationship (aww). So, this could be his last tournament, unless he gets a positive record this time around… the stakes are high. I hope all his opponents throw their matches for the sake of wholesomeness.

Finally, I’ve enabled comments on this post and future ones! Please leave a comment with your name below and I’ll try to respond ASAP. Because I’m 14 years old, comments will be moderated by my parents before they’re posted, but everything that is appropriate will be let through! Thank you so much for reading.

HAKKE-YOI!