COVID-19 has had a significant impact on sumo over the past twelve months.
The upcoming March tournament will be the fifth straight one held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, as Osaka joins Nagoya and Fukuoka in losing its sole yearly meet to the pandemic.
Regional tours have also been canceled and entire stables forced to sit out tournaments, as Japan’s national sport grapples with a disease that claimed the life of one of its wrestlers.