Few sports fans in Japan will be unaware that yokozuna Hakuho recently walked away from the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament at the Ryogoku Kokugikan having claimed his 14th career Emperor's Cup with his 6th perfect 15-0 finish.
That he did so after having decided to wear a golden mawashi over the final weekend of action would have raised the eyebrows of a few relatively new to the sport. Even those somewhat longer in the tooth were no doubt a little surprised until it was made apparent this was the yokozuna's own way of showing respect to a man whose record of 14 top-flight trophies he had now equaled — former grand champion of the late Showa Era rekishi Wajima Hiroshi
In doing so, however, Hakuho found himself facing something of a "damned if you won and damned if you didn't" conundrum with fans in some quarters. Now the best rikishi by a country mile, the Mongolian is being accused of being boring — apparently for winning with such ease that his bouts may at times appear overly one-sided. But when he loses the traditionalists berate a yokozuna defeated by a lower ranker. Many of those making the claims of his sumo being boring are of the mindset that the sport needs Asashoryu to return to make things interesting again. Ironically, very few seem to recall the 2005-2006 period in which Asashoryu himself lost so few bouts and was also on the receiving end of claims that his sheer dominance was yawn-inducing.