As my loyal readers may know, the Banzuke Preview is one of my favorite posts to write–perhaps my favorite, though Senshuraku, the final day of a tournament, is often lots of fun as well. I covered the Paris koen and inter-basho events in the Basho Wrap-Up, so let’s get into the previews, starting with the third highest division, Makushita.

Tanji was part of the seven-man yusho playoff in Makushita last basho and was narrowly beaten out for promotion by Tochitaikai–the young prospect from Arashio-beya has only recently turned 20 and is a very powerful fighter at the cusp of promotion. Fujitensei lies just beneath him on the banzuke, seeking a return to Juryo. Other cusp-of-promotion past yusho contenders include Makuuchi Oho’s brother Mudoho, Fujinokawa’s brother and the yusho winner Ikargiata, and old fart Akua. I really just can’t explain my dislike for Akua but it’s definitely there. Okaryu sits at a disappointing Makushita 8 after a challenging Sekitori debut last time. M26 Omori, “the hunk”, is also a threat but deserves a sentence of his own as, in my opinion, one of the better tsukedashi we’ve seen. The Chosen One, Asahifuji, is 21-0 in his career (a yusho each, of course) and is waiting for his Sekitori debut next time. I am excited to see what he can do against a higher caliber of opponents; and this is, in my opinion, one of the best Makushita lineups we’ve seen in a while and though I don’t expect anyone else to take the yusho, it’s definitely possible. I personally want the yusho race to come down to Asahifuji and Ikarigata and for Ikarigata to henka for the yusho like he did last time. His rival Tenshoyama, the tallest active rikishi, also joins him in Makushita.

Now down to the lower-ranked interesting guys, Shimazuumi is at M49, an ex-Makuuchi whose knee issues have brought down his promising career, and to a lesser extent his rank as one of my favorite rikishi. Ex-Juryo Kiryuko also lurks at the bottom of the banzuke after a horrifying ACL injury a few years back. To my delight, Kotozakura’s tsukebito attendant Kotodaishin is back to Makushita after a year in Sandanme. Chiyonoo once battled Ura for the Juryo yusho, and was making a living for himself in Makuuchi before an injury cast him down into the depths of Makushita and Sandanme. Perhaps most exciting for me, and certainly an outside yusho threat, is the young star from Futagoyama-beya, Mita. He joins Kiryuko in the ACL tear club, though Kiryuko’s was significantly worse, and returned to sumo last basho after almost three full basho sidelined. His only loss last time was against Asahifuji (who, of course, won the yusho) and though it was a very lackluster bout, I’ve speculated that he was still trying to preserve his knee last time and is hopefully now in better shape. Best of luck to all of our Makushita boys (but mostly Zuumi and Mita)!

In Juryo, somewhat sadly, the only debutant is Arashifuji of the dominant -Fuji stable, also known as Isegahama-beya. While writing this, I thought to myself, “Wow, that’s weird. I wonder how many other times only one guy has debuted?” The last time that a debutant was the only promotion to Juryo was in 1970 with the legendary Yokozuna Wajima. As an ex-tsukedashi from over two years ago, I do not expect Wajima levels of glory, or really a kachi-koshi, from Arashifuji. He has made a very slow and steady climb up to Juryo with a steady stream of 4-3s and 5-2s sprinkled with makekoshi, and I don’t see him doing very well in Juryo, but he could surprise me. Best of luck to him in his lonely debut.

Young threats in Juryo include Asakoryu’s brother–whose promotion case was awkwardly denied in favor of keeping injured Asakoryu in the top division–Asasuiryu, young prospect and former protegé of GOAT Hakuho Toshinofuji, powerful former yusho threat Kazekeno, and poor, injured Oshoumi, the only one of this group who has been in the top division but was demoted following an injury. Speaking of Hakuho’s favorites, and mine, and kind of everyone’s, Enho made his long awaited return to Juryo last time and has now put more distance between himself and Makushita. Popular Midorifuji had serious medical issues in February and, after returning, scraped by in May–if he’s in better shape this time, he could be a yusho threat. And, everybody’s favorite (perhaps following Enho), is Tamawashi.

Tamawashi is 41, the oldest sekitori, and beloved by fans for his “Iron Man” status–earned by setting a record for most consecutive bouts without absences. Tamawashi has had only makekoshi for the last year and is now in Juryo for the first time since 2013. Just to put in context the age gap between the Iron Man and some of his opponents, he made his pro debut before Maegashira 1 Fujinokawa was born and they, in fact, hold the record for the largest age gap in a bout. Tamawashi’s fall means that this is the first basho in 76 years where nobody in Makuuchi was born in the Showa era, and that Makuuchi has lost one of its most beloved figures. I love Tamawashi and his story, and I really want to see him come back up, as he said he intends to… but the injuries are clearly getting bad.

For Makuuchi, I’m testing out a new format to focus more on the interesting stories of this basho and not on guys like Roga. Sorry, Roga, but he really is rarely featured in these previews, for the obvious reason that he also is rarely featured in the actual basho… for doing anything interesting. For this time, I’m going to do segments with a focus on the more interesting rikishi in each rank segment, plus all the sanyaku boys.

SANYAKU

We kick off the banzuke, of course, with our dear Yokozuna Hoshoryu. Following his day one departure from last basho with a pulled hammy, Hosh has been training as usual and is, by all appearances, in good shape. The injury was made clear to be a one-basho issue by his oyakata or stablemaster, and hopefully that’s actually true in this situation and not just sumo bravado. It’s high time for a Hoshoryusho, but the newbies are strong… still, let’s just hope that Hoshoryu, and the rest of sanyaku, is healthy again for July.

His counterpart, Onosato, seems–dare I say it?–to be in good condition again. I was a bit upset after the last basho, where neither he nor Aonishiki graced the dohyo, but honestly, I’m glad they took the time to actually care for their injuries. Onosato went 11-0 against poor, hapless Kotozakura in training recently, which given Kotozakura’s recent form doesn’t mean as much as it should. I do think that the big O is in better condition, despite his best efforts to conceal his health from everyone making their sumo fantasy teams, but I’m not about to bet that he isn’t just concealing a serious injury from us all.

We’ve got two Ozeki again, thanks to Kirishima and Aonishiki swapping places on the ole banzuke. Kirishima is back and in the form of his life, a sentence I did not think I would be saying at this time last year; we’ve seen him come up only a few wins short of Yokozuna before and I don’t think it’s crazy to say that he looks pretty similar now to the Kirishima of days past. His Yokozuna run supposedly hinges on getting a 14-1 “at least” yusho, but I’m not sure that’ll actually hold. I’m also not sure the poor man can get that kind of record, with the Maegashira just seeming to get stronger and stronger and the Big 3 hopefully back in good shape. But I hope he does, because I don’t think it was on anybody’s 2026 bingo card to have Kiri at this rank and Aonishiki below him.

Oh, yeah, there’s also another Ozeki named Kotozakura. This man is so, so, so hard to root for because of his struggles with injuries and consistency, a problem I mostly solve by just not rooting for him. Kotozakura is the strongest rikishi from a very prominent sumo stable, a family legacy, and has been–for a little while–our only Japanese Ozeki. Unfortunately, I fear that the pressure seems to get to him in almost every basho. After a disastrous start and then abrupt departure from the May basho, and also, as I mentioned above, getting absolutely destroyed by Onosato in training (and apparently hurting his ankle that day as well), I’m really not sure Kotozakura, who is now kadoban, is going to keep his rank. (For those new to sumo, Ozeki have one basho to earn a losing record and be able to maintain their rank, but then after another losing record will be demoted, and then have to get 10 wins to get back–the tournament on the brink of demotion is called kadoban.) He did, however, win the very, very staged Paris tournament. Great work, bud.

As I explained above, an Ozeki who loses their status has one basho with which to get 10 wins or more to be able to regain their rank. Aonishiki now exists in that space between Ozeki and Sekiwake, and is technically alone at Sekiwake 2 now that Wakatakakage has announced his kyujo (see the Kyujo section below). If I could ask one thing from the sumo gods for this basho, it would be to have Aonishiki get back up to Ozeki. This young man is an incredible rikishi and I don’t want to see a barely healed ankle injury damage his career any more than it already has, so if he needs to sit out, I will, I suppose, grudgingly accept it. But I think he can get 10 wins, because he’s already proven himself able to beat most of the rikishi around him, and I sincerely hope that he does. Best of luck, Aonishiki!!

Kotoshoho and Atamifuji are probably the two rikishi that benefited most (besides Waka) from the unfortunate collapse of sanyaku last basho. The two young Sekiwake both made strong debuts for themselves, and though I don’t want to be mean to them, I think it’s fair to say they miiiiiiiight not have if Hoshoryu, Onosato, Aonishiki, Kotozakura, and Takayasu had been around to mess them up. But! They were not around, and the two May Sekiwake kept their ranks going into July. I’m happy for them, mostly for Atamifuji. It’s also probably worth it to note that Kotoshoho (somehow) won last year’s Nagoya yusho, so maybe he’ll make it a tradition, though I truly hope not. No offense, Kotoshoho.

Good old Oho returns to his home at Komusubi. Like Kotozakura, Oho is from a legendary sumo family and is a young Japanese rikishi surrounded by foreigners or younger Japanese rikishi who are better than he is. Oho sometimes outdoes himself, but I don’t think he’ll have a great time in sanyaku. Yoshinofuji, put bluntly, is one of the rikishi who is younger and better than Oho; I personally believe that Yoshinofuji is probably the fifth best rikishi on the banzuke, behind the Big 3 and Kirishima, but that’s also because I happen to really like him. He’s been struggling with neck and also, unusually, eardrum issues, and had a poor showing in March. However, he followed that up with a stellar 11-4 in May and almost certainly would have been at Sekiwake if there weren’t already 3 people who had to be there plus the yusho winner, Wakatakakage. This is his sanyaku debut, so eyes will be on him for the July basho–and I think he’ll do great.

THE JOI

There are two things you need to know about Fujinokawa. The first thing: he’s awesome. The second thing: his nickname is the Muscle Hamster for a reason. I think it’s safe to say that there really isn’t anyone like Fujinokawa. Asakoryu and Hiradoumi come close, but he has a truly unusual mix of speed, strength, and small stature. I really want him to make his sanyaku debut, and he could do it with as low as an 8-7… good luck, Muscle Hamster.

There’s one thing you need to know about Churanoumi, and that is that his nickname is Chu-Chu train. He’s also one of Ura’s friends and is the personification of 😐. He had been having a rough 2026 but recuperated well last basho and is now at M3. He’s mostly on this list of fun guys because I like him, but that’s okay.

Hakunofuji is perhaps what and where Yoshinofuji would be if Yoshinofuji had had all the injuries he’s had. Hakunofuji has had three names and three injuries in his sumo career, and he was, notably, the first of the “new wave” of young Japanese rikishi (featuring rikishi like Onosato, Yoshinofuji, and Takerufuji.) His injuries separated him from the others before he came back and he seems to be back to good form now, though who knows when shoulder, neck, and back injuries could come back to haunt him?

Daieisho, through no fault of his own, has had a challenging year. He was almost always a competitor at Sekiwake or Komusubi before a calf injury (I think) sidelined him last July, and he’s had a streak of 3 7-8 records since, leaving him at M4. Daieisho is a good rikishi, but he isn’t an explosive one (certainly he is at the tachiai, but not really in records) so I’m not sure how convinced I am that he can get back up, but it’d be nice to see.

Ichiyamamoto is probably going through heartbreak this tournament, since his adoration for Wakatakakage (again, see the Kyujo section) is pretty famous among the sumo world. He has a life-size cutout of Wakatakakge in his apartment and thus is likely upset that his idol will not be joining him on the clay. However, Ichi at M4 is something I like to see; I’m not sure his record will be groundbreaking, but he should be an interesting opponent for the boys up top as he runs the Sanyaku Gauntlet.

THE MAEGASHIRA TO WATCH

What kind of sumo fan would I be if I didn’t start this list with Maegashira 5 East Kazuki Ura? Thank the sumo gods, Ura sprang back up the banzuke after actually being part of the yusho race last basho, in a rare and thrilling occurence. M5 is around his usual rank, so I hope he does well–he seemed to have a good time in Paris, and I’m excited to see him up here again because he’d been getting concerningly low in the banzuke.

Kotoeiho and Takayasu are an extremely entertaining pair at M7. Kotoeiho really made a name for himself last basho and celebrated his 23rd birthday yesterday, whereas Takayasu made a name for himself several years ago and is now the oldest rikishi in the top divison. It’s pretty cool to see Kotoeiho up so high and pretty depressing to see Takayasu down so low, after the latter co-led the Maegashira yusho race and the former joined the ever-growing list of sanyaku absences last basho.

Fujiryoga and Wakanosho will also be grouped together for the purposes of this post, and for the reason that they are the following: big, Japanese, young, and very, very strong. Fuji did not do so well in his Makuuchi debut but definitely found his footing and joined the yusho race last basho; Wakanosho debuted last basho and finished with a 9-6, which, in a basho with such strong Maegashira, is pretty impressive. These two should be capable of doing some damage, though they may well be damaged by some of the guys in the next category… who I daresay might be better.

I want to close off this list with a shoutout to Asanoyama, who has been through it. He’s simply not capable of going more than a few basho without an injury and last time was no exception; he joined his stablemate Asakoryu as the only 2 non-sanyaku kyujo rikishi last time around. I still think that Asanoyama is a competitor and at this rank is definitely a threat to the rikishi around him, but it’s possible that his injuries are worse than I think.

THE PROMOTIONS

There are only two words I can think of to describe this group of rikishi, and those words are: hell yeah. Takerufuji and Onokatsu are making triumphant returns to Makuuchi, though Onokatsu’s was after a brief injury and Takerufuji’s was after a series of them. Joining them are Daiseizan and Kazuma, the former of which has been on the brink of promotion for a good while and the latter has been climbing back after a severe injury. Keep reading for a highlight on each one.

Takerufuji is finally back up. In March of 2024, Takerufuji won the yusho from Maegashira 17–a rare feat, and something that made him, abruptly, wildly popular. On his Day 14 match against Asanoyama, he suffered a severe ankle injury and sat out the rest of the next basho. He popped back in on Day 8 of the next basho, fought twice, and disappeared again. Then he won Juryo, came back up, and had a series of steady performances, and a year ago, was injured yet again against Roga, pulled out, sat out a basho, and has since been having 8-7s in Juryo until last time, where he finally went 11-4 and is now back up. He had a bicep surgery and is obviously still plagued by his ankle injury, so I’m not letting myself have high hopes for him. However, I’m fond of him, and I wish him the best.

Onokatsu is back as well, though he was only out for one basho after pulling out twice in March with a sprained left ankle. I have a soft spot for Onokatsu mostly because he earns the least love of the Makushita-tsukedashi, and I’m glad that his injury seems to only have held him back for one tournament. Onokatsu has established himself as a solid Makuuchi wrestler and I’m not sure he’ll be amazing, but he should be able to earn a kachikoshi at a relatively low rank. Hopefully that shoulder injury has totally healed now, though those do tend to stick with our poor rikishi. Best of luck, Onokatsu.

Kazuma “Kazu-Kazu” Kawabuchi is the first of our debutants and Ura’s stablemate, making him the fourth Kise-beya rikishi in the top divison. I first encountered Kazuma two years ago when he debuted alongside Asakoryu’s brother ex-Ishizaki (who now fights at Juryo 1 under the shikona Asasuiryu). All was going well for Kazuma in his debut up until a Day 5 match where a severe knee injury made him sit out for almost a year. He returned in May 2025 and in his long battle up to Juryo won three out of four yusho (narrowly losing the other). He had a rocky sekitori debut in January, then was a potential yusho threat in March before losing 4 out of his last 5 days with back issues. Last basho, he won the Juryo yusho and rocketed his way into Makuuchi. I love watching Kazu; he has the build and demeanor of a fridge, and has just taken Atamifuji’s place as the heaviest rikishi in the top division. I’m not sure he’s a yusho threat just because he tends to rely on his size rather than his skills, but I wish him the best of luck. Go Kazu-Kazu!!

Daiseizan is a strong rikishi who suffered from a shoulder injury that kept him in Juryo for almost two years. From Arashio-beya, home to the Waka bros and the aforementioned Tanji, Daiseizan has been fighting with top-division rikishi for quite some time. He’s 26, the same age as Onosato and Oho, and has been in sumo for about 4 years. He isn’t exactly as impressive as either of them, but I expect Daiseizan to be a competitor; maybe not a yusho threat, but a kachikoshi should not be beyond him. He is also, notably, the second Chinese (Inner Mongolian) wrestler ever to debut in Makuuchi–though the last one, Sokokurai, was part of the 2011 scandal of match-fixing and dismissed, though he was invited back two years later, for some reason. Sokokurai, unsurprisingly, now serves as Arashio-oyakata and Daiseizan was among his first recruits after taking over the stable in 2020.

THE KYUJO

Tragically, one rikishi headlines the injury news, and it’s not someone anyone expected, or wanted, to see: Natsu Yusho Winner Wakatakakage will sit out this basho and possibly more. The Ozeki hopes were there, and yet again, Wakatakakage’s lower body betrays him at that infamous rank of Sekiwake. He isn’t my favorite rikishi, but this sucks. I can’t help but pity the poor man. I’m not sure what the exact situation is, but it seems that he had two emergency surgeries after being diagnosed with compartment syndrome, which can cause nerve paralysis. I’ll spare you the gory details but according to his stablemaster there was a lot of bleeding and vomiting, and Waka remains in the hospital as the rikishi congregate in Nagoya without him. Waka is 31, not too old but certainly not young, and not too young… to retire. I truly don’t want to contemplate the possibility of yet another banzuke without an injury-riddled Wakatakakage, definitely not a permanently Waka-less banzuke, but if he’s literally being kept in the hospital, I worry for his future. For now, heal up and make wise decisions, Waka, and we’ll miss you.

So far, Wakatakakage is the only Makuuchi kyujo we know of going into the basho, but if that changes in the next few days, which it only probably won’t, I’ll make note of it.

Finally, a brief note: July is a challenging month for me to cover and I will be away for a large portion of it, so my covering of July might be a little more sporadic than I’d like. I’ll do my best to cover every day in some capacity, but I might release a post every few days, or continue releasing them like always. Just thought I’d warn you.

Buckle up, because July coverage starts on Sunday!!