In professional sumo, the release of every new banzuke — or ranking list — signals the imminent arrival of the next official tournament.

For the March 2025 meet in Osaka, the two most striking changes on the banzuke are the absence of Terunofuji, and Hoshoryu’s name writ large in stylized sumo calligraphy under the rank of yokozuna.

After that, what immediately catches the eye is “Ukraine” written in katakana on the top line on both east and west sides of the printed banzuke sheet.

The promotion of Shishi and Aonishiki makes the eastern European nation only the seventh foreign country to have two or more wrestlers reach sumo’s top division.

As well as following in the footsteps of the United States, Mongolia, Georgia, Russia, Bulgaria and South Korea, Ukraine is the only foreign country other than Mongolia to have more than one athlete in ōzumō currently.

The U.S. makes a welcome return to the banzuke after an absence of 4½ years, with Hawaiian Hikarumusashi (Daniel Ailua) debuting near the bottom of the sixth tier.

Brothers Wakatakakage and Wakamotoharu bring a certain kind of balance to the new rankings, occupying the top maegashira slots on the east and west sides of the banzuke.

Perusing the increasingly smaller text as you descend the divisions, the name of Asanoyama halfway down the 58 cm x 44 cm sheet stands out.

The Emperor’s Cup-winning former ozeki is back in sandanme for the first time since 2022, when a yearlong ban for breaking COVID-19 rules dropped him to sumo’s fourth tier.

Asanoyama, of course, has the distinction of being the only tournament winner in history to receive a prize from a sitting U.S. president, when Donald Trump presented a massive, custom-made trophy in the ring at the end of the May 2019 basho.

The chances of Asanoyama making another climb back up to sumo’s big stage and regaining his ozeki rank, or winning a second title, seem remote due to his age and injury woes.

For the upcoming meet, the falling 30-year-old former standout is ranked slightly ahead of a man 12 years his junior, with Ikarigata — the younger brother of Wakaikari — looking set for a rapid journey in the opposite direction.

After Hoshoryu’s dramatic pulling-back from the brink of disaster to claim victory and earn promotion to yokozuna last time out, the current rankings unfortunately don’t set up the same kind of exciting possibility.

Which isn’t to say the top ranks lack intrigue.

Onosato’s name may be tucked in behind that of Hoshoryu on the right side of the banzuke sheet, while Kotozakura occupies the top slot on the left, but — because east is considered higher than west — the former is currently No. 2 in the overall rankings.

With 9-6 and 10-5 outings in the two most recent tournaments, even a 15-0 Emperor’s Cup win in Osaka wouldn’t be enough for Onosato to follow in Hoshoryu’s footsteps.

However, given that he already has two championships to his name, the former amateur star has more than earned the benefit of the doubt, and any kind of victory or equivalent should set him up for a run at making yokozuna in May.

On the left hand (west) side of the banzuke, it’s a similar story with the man in the No. 2 slot in a more interesting position.

Oho’s sanyaku debut comes at sekiwake rather than komusubi, perhaps sparing him the meat grinder aspect that is often a feature of week one at the lower rank.

Whether that’ll be enough to continue on with the outstanding exploits of the last basho remains to be seen, but a good record again could put the grandson of Taiho, one of sumo’s all-time greats, on a path toward ozeki later this year.

Last tournament’s other standout, Kinbozan, finds himself back at his previous career high rank of maegashira 5 — albeit on the west side this time — and, like Oho, will be hoping that his excellent outing in January is the start of a new higher level of performance rather than an outlier result.

The Kazakhstan native turns 28 this summer, which means it won’t be long before his window of opportunity begins to close. Kinbozan collapsed to a 4-11 record the last time a good performance pushed him this high, but there are signs that he has begun to adjust to life at sumo’s higher altitudes, and a winning record is not out of the question in Osaka.

All in all, the 2025 banzuke, while peppered with interesting stories, doesn’t contain any major surprises.

That isn’t always the case.

Generally speaking, few things excite, infuriate or polarize fans more than power rankings.

Regardless of sport, every published listing of athletes or teams is inevitably followed by derision, outrage and 10-paragraph-long retorts explaining why a particular prospect should be ranked at 16 instead of 17.

For sumo fans, what makes the injustice even more keenly felt is the fact that not only is the main “power ranking” officially compiled by the sport’s governing body, but the lives and salaries of their favorites are directly impacted by decisions that can at times appear arbitrary or indefensible.

Every sumo adherent has their most memorable injustice when it comes to the banzuke but, apart from a couple of positions that might raise eyebrows, there aren’t any real head scratchers this time out.