A total of 1,953 days.
On July 27, that’s how long it’ll have been since two yokozuna last met in the final bout of a grand sumo tournament with the title at stake.
Put another way, it’ll be almost 5½ years since Hakuho and Kakuryu faced off for the Emperor’s Cup in a nearly empty Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in March 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which was just starting to kick into high gear when Hakuho won the 44th of his 45 titles, is now well and truly in the rearview mirror, and Shodai and Endo are the only remaining rikishi from the sanyaku or higher ranks who are still active in the top division.
But why July 27? Simply put, that’s the earliest possible date that the current drought could come to an end.
If the final third of the ongoing summer tournament goes the same way as the first two, then this year’s Nagoya meet should see a final-day yokozuna clash for the first time since 2020.
Given how Onosato has steamrolled the opposition thus far, it’s a prospect that is looking more and more like a forgone conclusion.
After barely breaking a sweat over the May tournament’s first 10 days, it would take a collapse of epic proportions for the 24-year-old not to be in title contention on Sunday.
While it’s true that Hoshoryu has beaten Onosato in their two most recent meetings, the ōzeki had a two-win buffer over the yokozuna (and other pursuers) heading into Day 11, setting up the possibility of the Emperor’s Cup being decided before the final weekend.
It must also be remembered that Onosato doesn’t actually have to win the May meet to seal promotion, and slipups in the run-in won’t necessarily be fatal to his hopes of becoming yokozuna.
Victory in March brought a third career championship, and just being in the title-deciding bout this time out should be enough to earn him the white rope regardless of outcome.
Of course, such a scenario would leave space for doubt and ensure a nervy few days, not just for Onosato, but for fans of the sport in general, as the Yokozuna Deliberation Council considers its options.
One of the peculiarities of sumo is the widespread desire among those who follow the sport to see two strong yokozuna atop the rankings.
Regardless of affiliation or personal preference, fans, almost universally, want tournaments to come down to a final-day title-decider between grand champions.
Onosato and Hoshoryu might already be the clear top two in the sport, but meeting as yokozuna carries a far greater significance than if one was still an ōzeki.
There is an aura around the white rope that’s hard to convey in words.
Former ōzeki Takakeisho may have twice as many career titles as former yokozuna Kisenosato but it’s only when the latter man walks in a room that the atmosphere changes.
No matter how thrilling unexpected championships for fan favorites such as Kyokutenho or Tamawashi may be, nothing in sumo matches the electricity of an all-yokozuna title showdown.
It’s something I’ve experienced in person, with no bout in my two-plus decades of watching sumo coming close to matching the excitement felt at the Asashoryu-Hakuho championship decider in January 2008.
Both men went into the final day with a single loss — to future yokozuna pair Kisenosato and Ama (Harumafuji), respectively, and near the peak of their powers.
The four minutes of buildup to the fight felt like an eternity, with the roars of the crowd growing louder and the air growing thicker at each trip to the salt basket.
By the time the two legendary yokozuna returned to the center of the ring for the final time, Tokyo’s Kokugikan was in a frenzy. I could feel my heart racing in my chest and it was difficult to breathe. Never before — nor since — has any sporting occasion evoked such a physical reaction in me.
The bout itself was one for the ages. A titanic back-and-forth struggle between two of the greatest exponents in the 2,000-year history of sumo — I won’t spoil the ending for those who haven’t seen it and wish to look it up online.
In a sport so ancient, it’s no surprise that many of its most prominent figures date back centuries.
On that January evening it felt as though we were witness to a moment that compared to any featuring Futabayama, Raiden, Taiho or any of the other legends of the sport.
Just as Japan still measures years by imperial era, so too do sumo fans separate the national sport into epochs of dueling yokozuna.
If Onosato can join Hoshoryu at the top of the rankings it will give sumo two young rising talents at yokozuna for the first time in years and set up the possibility of the mouth-watering clashes that fans crave.
No one expects either man to emulate the feats of Hakuho or Asashoryu — even if Hoshoryu shares some of the latter’s DNA — but it’s conceivable that they could open an even wider gap back to the rest of the top tier and monopolize championships for the next five to seven years.
Onosato — who is looking increasingly like a cross between Takanohana and Musashimaru — will probably finish with a far greater number of titles, but sumo has never needed era-defining yokozuna to be on an equal footing in terms of silverware.
If Onosato finishes the May tournament the way he has started, sumo fans will rejoice at the prospect of another golden period.
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