KIMARITE OF THE DAY: Fujiryoga had a lot of pressure on his shoulders, with the hopes of Hakunofuji, Yoshinofuji, Kirishima, and Ura resting on his shoulders. You could see it in his eyes as he stepped onto the clay opposite Wakatakakage. I was worried about a henka from the youngest Onami, but I thought wrong; he engaged honorably, and quickly, with the young man from Fujishima-beya. Fujiryoga got excited and Wakatakakage grabbed his arm and swung him down by katasukashi under shoulder swing down.

PINK MAWASHI DAY FIFTEEN: Ura and Kirishima are good friends, so this was probably an emotional challenge for Kirishima. It certainly was not a physical one; it almost looked staged how quickly Ura fell to the ground. He tried to Ura, but Kirishima just hit Ura and sent him staggering backwards and to the clay by oshitaoshi. Oh, my dear Ura. At least he got to be in koreyori-sanyaku, though he did lose a conditional fighting spirit prize along with the match. At least there was a playoff.

MATCH OF THE DAY: Wakatakakage fought Kirishima in the playoff. Fujiryoga and Ura bled for this, but for naught; Wakatakakage, to my astonishment, simply overpowered the Ozeki with brutally fast thrusts. I just did not expect that at all; Kirishima had no response to Wakatakakage. That was not how I wanted, or expected, the match to go; it was also not who I wanted, or expected, the yusho to go to. But I don’t dislike Wakatakakage; I just wish he had a little more to fight for.

OVERALL SUMMARY: Yoshinofuji annihilated Kotoeiho and Hakunofuji henka’ed, but took out, Fujiseiun. JSA Chairman Hakkaku gave a very rude interview saying that Hakunofuji’s henka was a disgrace and he will never make it to Yokozuna; Hakkaku is an idiot. I mean, I don’t strongly disagree, but there are other reasons why Hakkaku is an idiot. But, despite Hakkaku’s too-late admonishment, both young men from the former Miyagino-beya got a Fighting Spirit Prize. They both gave very sweet interviews, which was nice, especially for Yoshinofuji, who isn’t very expressive. I don’t know what happened with Hakunofuji or what he did, since the JSA is being extremely unclear, but he does have good sumo. I’m sure their wins mean quite a lot to Isegahama-beya, especially their fellow transfers from Hakuho’s Miyagino-beya. I am, at least, happy for them both.

THE YUSHO REPORT: Well… I didn’t want Wakatakakage to win this, but more because I wanted Kirishima or Ura to get it than because I didn’t want him to. Sure, he’s prone to a henka every once in a while, but I honestly don’t have too much against that. I am very happy for his adorable children and honestly, this must be nice for him after the rumors coming into this basho were very negative. He certainly surprised me, and I mean, he is definitely better than Tobizaru. Congratulations, Wakatakakage.

Down in Juryo, Kazuma handed Nishinoryu his makekoshi and took the yusho while both Kazekeno and Takerufuji let out a long sigh of disappointment in the wings. I love Kazuma because he is not blessed with the most conventionally attractive face in the world, but he is also a total beast on the dohyo; he is a really fun rikishi. I’m not sure if this will mean he will be brought up to Makuuchi or not, but I hope so; congratulations, Kazuma.

In Makushita, Tsushimanada got the free pass in round one. Ikarigata annihilated Omori in an excellent throw; Toshunryu was taken out by Mudoho; Tanji was brutalized by Akua. In round two, Ikarigata escorted Mudoho to the sidelines, and Akua blew Tsushimanada out of the water. In the final, Ikarigata fought Akua; or rather, he didn’t, because the minute the bout began, he leapt aside. HENKA! I mean, Ikarigata is Fujinokawa’s little brother; that gives you some idea of his physique. He is not a large rikishi, and Akua is not a small one. Still, henka’ing for a yusho is perhaps not the gentlemanly thing to do. But honestly… I really don’t like Akua; he is a drama king and does not conduct himself well on the dohyo, and Ikarigata is young, exciting, and fun. So, I really am not that against it. Unless he keeps doing it, then it’ll be a problem. Congratulations, Ikarigata.

Ex-Juryo Kiryuko was one of the two rikishi in the yusho playoff for Sandanme; the other was the GROAT Asahifuji. Asahifuji and Kiryuko shared a beautiful battle that proved what a lot of people are saying about them: they fight at sekitori level. I don’t really understand how Sandanme works, but Asahifuji, at least, will certainly be in Makushita next basho. So great job to them, and to Shosei and Hakugetsuro, who won the Jonidan and Jonokuchi championships. More on all of these people in the Basho Wrap-Up, which will probably be posted in June. Congratulations, Kiryuko, Shosei, and Hakugetsuro.

This basho has been a wild ride in every division (except Jonokuchi, but like…) and thank you to all my readers who supported the blog throughout the basho! Please don’t forget to leave a comment below; reading any and all comments are the highlight of my day.

Congratulations once more to Wakatakakage, Kazuma, Ikarigata, Kiryuko, Shosei, and Hakugetsuro on their yusho; congratulations to Hakunofuji and Yoshinofuji on their special prizes. Congrulations to Ura on doing so very, very well with 0 working knees.

Let’s hope all of our kyujo rikishi will heal up and be in fighting shape come July over the extended jungyo tour. Thank you again for reading, and though unlikely, stay updated for some kind of update regarding the Paris koen. As I myself will be in Paris a few days later, I am hoping to be able to catch the rikishi on the way out (which will not happen), but it is also unlikely that I will get any blog work done.

See you in July!