If for nothing else, the upcoming Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in Fukuoka's Kokusai Center may well be remembered as the tourney in which Mongolian yokozuna Kakuryu was finally able to call himself the "best of the best" — at least for one basho.
Having taken nine full tournaments over the past 18 months, only now has he reached the top yokozuna slot on the east side of the banzuke rankings (Y1e).
His ascent to Y1e is the slowest of any yokozuna in decades.