Yokozuna Harumafuji announced his intention to retire at a press conference on Wednesday. The decision is the result of a scandal involving the violent beating of a junior wrestler, and now means the careers of the last two yokozuna to retire end under a cloud. The ...
The Harumafuji scandal continues to morph almost daily and at the time of writing appears to be evolving into a pitched battle between stablemaster Takanohana and the Japan Sumo Association. As details emerge, what initially seemed clear-cut, is now a lot murkier and it has ...
Yokozuna Harumafuji, who won his ninth championship in September, edged compatriot Hakuho for top spot in the newly released rankings for the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament. Both men, along with fellow yokozuna Kisenosato and Kakuryu, are expected to participate in the tournament. That's significant as ...
The 2017 Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament ended with a yokozuna beating an ozeki in the title-deciding final bout. That was pretty much the only normal thing we witnessed over the last 15 days at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. In one of the wildest basho in recent ...
The Japan Sumo Association will hold an Ozumo Beyond 2020 Basho at Ryogoku Kokugikan on Oct. 4 for the second straight year. The event, which will feature many of the same activities found on regional tours, as well as some that are rarely seen, is ...
Sumo’s long and grueling summer regional tour came to an end last Sunday with the now yearly KITTE Basho held in the heart of Tokyo at the 38-story JP Tower. The following day, the new banzuke was released for the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament ...
Hakuho continued to defy time, as well as a host of up-and-coming young fighters, winning the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament with a 14-1 record. That came two months after he took the Summer Basho without a loss. The man who in the spring was being ...
On Dec. 24, 2000, a skinny, dejected young Mongolian kid, near the end of his two-month stay in Japan, had seemingly failed in a bid to join sumo. Weighing just 60 kg and barely 180 cm tall Davaajargal Monkhbatyn had been unsuccessful in finding ...
With the release of the new banzuke rankings on Monday, thoughts turned to the upcoming Nagoya Basho. The steamy capital of central Japan hosts a tournament that has earned a reputation as one which often throws up one-off winners and unusual outcomes. Such unpredictability is attributed ...
When yokozuna Hakuho was interviewed ringside on Sunday, after wrapping up his first title in a year, he congratulated the people of the Philippines on the imminent promotion of Takayasu to ozeki. It was a nice nod to the Taganoura stable man's mother, who ...
