Sumo experiencing extreme period of parity in final stages of Hakuho's legendary reign
With four former ozeki and an incredible ten wrestlers with championship experience still active in the top division, sumo is the very definition of parity right now.
Portrait of former yokozuna Chiyonofuji displayed at Tokyo's Ryogoku Station
A championship portrait of all-time great former yokozuna Chiyonofuji went on display Tuesday at Tokyo's JR Ryogoku Station ahead of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament. Chiyonofuji, who died in 2016 aged 61, captured 31 elite-level titles, the third most in the history of the sport. Three-time ...
Who should be engraved on sumo's Mount Rushmore?
If Hakuho and Futabayama are locks, then who should occupy the remaining two slots is far less clear.
Ukrainian Sergey Sokolovsky follows sumo great Taiho's career path
Sergey Sokolovsky recently took the new recruit exam and, when he makes his competitive debut in March, the 22-year-old will become the first-ever Ukrainian in professional sumo. He won't be the first rikishi with a connection to the eastern European nation, however. The father of yokozuna ...
Muscular Chiyonofuji's career bloomed late
For a certain generation of fans there is only one name that comes to mind when discussing the greatest of all time and that name is Chiyonofuji. The muscular yokozuna dominated inside the ring and won hearts outside it during the 1980s. Known as "the Wolf," ...
Quest to capture 10 titles a tough challenge for current crop of star wrestlers
It's been over 15 years since Andre 3000 of seminal Atlanta rap group OutKast once asked — and answered — a pressing question: "What's cooler than being cool? Ice cold!" It's well past time for the sumo version. What's more yokozuna than being yokozuna? Dai yokozuna! While ...
Dominant Hakuho continues to redefine greatness
Sumo columnist James Hardy once bemoaned the difficulty of doing daily tournament reports, saying, "There are only so many ways to write A pushed out B." With yokozuna Hakuho wrapping up his 42nd championship last Sunday, I'm beginning to feel the same way about describing ...
All sumo wrestlers have a shikona (ring name). A few, like Endo or Takayasu, use their family name. Most, however, have ring names with elements referring to their stable or place of origin. Anyone with the prefix 琴 (Koto), for example, belongs to Sadogatake Stable or its ...
Sekitori (wrestlers in the top two divisions) have a lot of accouterments. There are kesho-mawashi (ceremonial aprons), kimono, sandals, cushions and items like knee braces and tape that must be transported from the stables to the arena and brought on regional tours. While athletes in team ...
Fujio Kariya recalls memorable moments in announcing career
For Fujio Kariya, NHK's executive commentator (the broadcaster's top news commentator), the most impressive bout in his 31-year career as an NHK sumo announcer took place at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in 1988. That was when yokozuna Onokuni upset fellow yokozuna Chiyonofuji on the ...
Sumo dominance down to heart over matter
The newly-released banzuke (rankings) for the upcoming Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament see Hakuho back in his old familiar 'Yokozuna 1 East' position. It is the 48th time that the Mongolian veteran has occupied the top slot — a sumo record. Indeed at this stage in his ...
Yokozuna Hakuho, who captured a record 39th career title at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament, said Monday the reality of having won the championship and made multiple record-breaking feats along the way has finally sunk in. Speaking at the traditional day-after press conference following his ...
