The Nagoya Basho 2009 is just around the corner. Several rikishi in makunouchi, notably Kakuryu of Mongolia and Aran of Russia, will be fighting at career-high ranks, yet the majority of eyes will be on one of the lightest men in the division as he strives for yokozuna promotion. That man is Harumafuji — an ozeki fighting out of Isegahama Beya in Tokyo, a Mongolian and the winner of the May Summer tournament in Tokyo last month.
Sadly, though, many of my Japanese friends and acquaintances say he hasn't been an ozeki long enough to be promoted to the sport's top rank. I've also heard "there are already two Mongolians at yokozuna; there shouldn't be another."
This kind of attitude probably won't change any time soon, given the fact that no Japanese have been promoted to yokozuna in over a decade now, and no Japanese has even laid a hand on the Emperor's Cup since early 2006.