Threatened by rivals, Nichidai continues to produce elite sumo talent

It’s been an eventful 2022 for Japan’s national sport.

Newly promoted ozeki Mitakeumi, as well as first-time Emperor’s Cup winners Wakatakakage and Ichinojo, have grabbed the spotlight, while yokozuna Terunofuji has struggled to match the heights he reached in 2021.

Upheaval inside the ring has been matched by uncertainty outside it, as the pandemic continues to have a significant impact on sumo.

That disruption reached previously unseen levels in the July tournament, as withdrawals due to COVID-19 decimated proceedings.

By the end of the Nagoya meet, almost a third of the top division had been sidelined because of positive test results in their stables. It will be interesting to see just how the Japan Sumo Association’s judging department deals with those absences when deciding on the rankings for September.

Despite all the turbulence, there is an overarching sense the sport is gradually returning to normal.

Even in the middle of by far the largest wave of infections Japan has seen since the coronavirus first hit, sumo’s first regional tour in 2½ years took place at five locations in and around Tokyo this month.

The jungyō tour, which ran from Aug. 5 to 14, understandably had much lower levels of fan interaction than in years past, but the fact that it happened at all is significant.

Combined with rumblings of a change in the way in which infections in stables will be dealt with in the upcoming autumn meet, it’s an indicator that sumo — like much of the country — is already eyeing a return to pre-pandemic operating conditions.

The sudden abandoning of all restrictions that happened in several other countries is unlikely to be replicated in Japan, but a tentative and gradual easing of limits seems likely to continue through the end of the year, even if infection numbers ebb and flow.

As sumo in general looks to return to brighter days, it’s worth wondering if one of its traditional hotbeds can similarly recapture past glories.

Nihon University, long the most dominant college presence in ōzumo, has in recent times been usurped in amateur circles by powerhouse Nippon Sport Science University, and seen graduates of NSSU and other schools occupy more prominent positions in the professional ranks.

"Nichidai," as Nihon University is normally abbreviated to, remains the only university to have produced a yokozuna. But that promotion of Wajima to grand champion happened almost half a century ago, and the three most recent collegians to make sumo’s second highest rank of ozeki —Asanoyama, Shodai and Mitakeumi — have all come from other schools.

To make things worse for Nichidai fans, several of the brightest prospects that have recently turned pro, or are expected to, hail from the school's main rival. Names like Oshoma, Daiki Nakamura and Hidetora Hanada — all from NSSU — are already familiar to sumo watchers, and regularly come up in debates about future stars.

Most of Nichidai’s hopes appear to lie with Kinbozan, a 25-year-old from Kazakhstan, whose promotion to the jūryō division after the Nagoya meet makes him the first non-Mongolian foreign national to make it to sumo’s salaried ranks since Osunaarashi nine years ago.

At 191 centimeters and 165 kilograms, and with a track record of success on Japan’s tough college circuit, the Almaty native may be Nichidai’s best hope of producing an ozeki for the first time since the retirement of Kotomitsuki in 2010.

Kinbozan has won 23 of his first 28 fights in the professional ranks, but the first true test of his abilities will come next month. Nothing in amateur sumo matches the grind of 15 straight days of fighting tough desperate opponents at the bottom of the jūryō division, where losing often means the stripping away of all salary and benefits.

For the former runner-up in the All-Japan Championships, a solid debut outing in the autumn meet with 10 wins or more would go a long way toward convincing skeptics that he has what it takes to be successful at the highest levels.

While Nichidai may be struggling to match the quality of rikishi coming from its rivals, Japan’s most successful college sumo team still leads the way in terms of quantity.

The percentages may be changing, but Nihon University graduates are still a common sight in the professional ranks.

Top-division men Endo, Tobizaru, Tsurugisho and Daiamami all learned their trade at Nichidai’s impressive facility in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward, and a few recent recruits could join them before long.

Three of the more promising athletes are joining the stables of Mongolian-born yokozuna.

Keita Kawazoe, the 2021 college yokozuna who defeated All-Japan champion and NFL hopeful Hanada on the way to his title, has been recruited by retired grand champion Hakuho and will join classmate Masatada Otani at Miyagino stable — now run by the legendary former yokozuna.

Meanwhile, Mikiya Ishioka, a 23-year-old veteran of the amateur scene, has teamed up with Terunofuji at the Isegahama stable.

Ishioka didn’t win any major titles while at Nichidai, but he was one of the stronger members of its team and maybe the most suited physically for the rigors of professional life.

Predicting which, if any, of Nichidai’s recent graduates in ōzumo will bring glory back to their alma mater isn’t easy. It’s a path strewn with disappointment, especially in recent times.

Kinbozan, Kawazoe, Otani and Ishioka all bear watching, however. Even if they don’t make it to the very top, coming through Nichidai’s famously tough system means it’d be no surprise to see all of them in the top-division makuuchi within a couple of years.