A Tale of Sumo

Today is December 12th. We are in sumo's dead period at the end of the year. November's tournament has come and gone. January's is yet to come. Still, there is a story that must be told, though. Unrelated to this tournament, yet inseparable from it. A tale of glory. A tale of triumph. A tale of love and hate, right and wrong, sportsmanship and improper behavior. There is an addition to the story that must be told. A tale of heartbreak. A tale of pain. Devastation. This is a tale of sumo.

Chapter One: The Bottler

The March 2017 sumo tournament (known as a “basho”) will truly go down as one of sumo’s most enthralling fifteen days. The day-by-day stories were nothing short of Hollywood-esque, and the tournament ended in perhaps the most Hollywood way possible. March does not begin the sumo journey. Our story begins far earlier, years earlier, with our main character: Kisenosato.

Kisenosato is a 30-year-old sumo wrestler, he also just so happened to have been one of the most snake-bitten sumo wrestlers (or “rikishi”) in sumo history. Kisenosato had, up to that point, spent six long years at the second highest rank in sumo of “ozeki” with no basho victories, nor promotion to the highest honor of “yokozuna.” A basho is the tournament that rikishi partake it. Six times a year, they compete in fifteen-day tournaments, a different bout every day. The man with the most victories at the end was considered basho champion.

Time after time it seemed Kisenosato could not win under pressure. There was May 2012 where as the leader of the tournament he lost two out of his last three bouts, including one to arguably sumo’s greatest rikishi Hakuho, or May 2013 where after starting 13-0 he lost his next two matches, including another loss to fellow 13-0 rikishi Hakuho, to lose out on the title, or January 2014 where after being told he would need 13 wins to become promoted to the rank of yokozuna, he promptly collapsed and won only seven matches. There is a term in soccer when a team or player collapses under tough situations, it’s said that the player or the team are “bottlers,” well that’s what some would have said about Kisenosato instead of mere unluckiness.

Over time Kisenosato become known for his inability to win a basho. He finished 2016 as the man with the highest number of wins over all six tournaments in the calendar year, yet still he somehow did not win a basho. 2016 was somehow even more ridiculous for Kisenosato as he finished runner-up four different times that year along with being considered for yokozuna promotion twice. Soon however, came January 2017 and this brought triumph.

Kisenosato started January 2017’s basho off strongly winning on the first seven days but so did the man he was dueling, none other than Hakuho. The eighth and ninth days, however, brought a different tune. Hakuho, an active legend among sumo wrestling and the current (as of July 2018) leader for most wins in sumo history, lost on day eight giving Kisenosato a clear path on day nine, however Kisenosato lost that day to a man who will play a role in our main story, fellow ozeki and crowd favorite Kotoshogiku; a sumo legend who lost his ozeki ranking following a 5-10 January basho. The murmurs of “typical Kisenosato” began to rumble, but something weird happened. Hakuho lost, on the second day in a row, to another player in our main story, Takayasu, a “stable mate” of Kisenosato. Kisenosato won the rest of the days, Hakuho lost on day fourteen, and thus clinched the basho in the favor of Kisenosato, who finished it off on day fifteen with a victory over the legend Hakuho himself. It only got better.

Kisenosato was given the promotion to yokozuna, which was set to make him the fourth active competitor in the March 2017 to be given the rank ‘yokozuna.’ Now this is where it gets maybe a little surprising. Hakuho is Mongolian, so are the two-other active yokozuna (named Harumafuji and Kakuryu, these two, especially Harumafuji, play a vital role later on). Sumo wrestling is dominated by a Japanese fanbase and the promotion of Kisenosato made him the first Japanese sumo wrestler to become a yokozuna since 1998 and the first Japanese sumo wrestler not from Tokyo to be promoted since 1990. Suddenly, Japan found its yokozuna, and just in time, because March’s basho called, and Kisenosato had to answer.

Chapter Two: March 2017

Every great story needs a “villain,” this villain is named Terunofuji. Terunofuji is 25, and was, just like Kisenosato up until January, an ozeki. Terunofuji is also Mongolian. Unlike Kisenosato however, Terunofuji at times seemed far more likely to lose his rank then Kisenosato ever did. In March and May of 2015, Terunofuji put together back-to-back 13-2 bashos, this being good enough to win May’s basho and get promoted to his ozeki. Two more double digit bashos followed, including one in September of that year that saw him lose a playoff match for the championship.

This is very important to note, so important that it’s its own paragraph: If two sumo wrestlers are tied for the lead at the end of the basho, they would have a one-match playoff. Terunofuji beat Kakuryu on day fifteen, but that same day lost the playoff to Kakuryu and thus lost the championship. Got that? Good.

After that basho, Terunofuji did not win more than nine matches in a basho. This included an abysmal May 2016 basho where he finished with a 2-13 record. January 2017 wasn’t much kinder and after a 4-11 mark, Terunofuji needed eight wins at least to hold his rank, a rank he had never actually lost. March would be a massive month and seemed nearly make-or-break for Terunofuji.

So began March 2017. Almost immediately ran out four contenders for the title, Kisenosato, Terunofuji, Takayasu, and Takarafuji, a very solid rikishi in his own right, but nothing of note. Day six is when these titans would meet with the major anticipation centered around Terunofuji and Takayasu who both had seemed unstoppable up to that point. A quirk in sumo is that stable mates, sumo who train together, cannot meet unless in a playoff, so Kisenosato would not have to face Takayasu unless they were tied for the lead. Day six would be a massive day, but there were already stories brewing by then. Hakuho pulled out of the tournament on day five citing an injury, this being common in sumo for injured wrestlers, and Kotoshogiku defeated Harumafuji on the opening day of the basho to kickstart his run back to ozeki. Tying into that, Harumafuji was off to a slow start losing his first two matches of the basho.

Day six was queuing up to be a huge day. The four unbeatens would face each other trimming that number down to just two. It did not start with that however as Kotoshogiku got his fourth win which put him at 4-2 and in need of just six more wins out of nine matches to move back up to ozeki. The first of the two matches was Takayasu vs. Terunofuji. The two lined up, and Takayasu ran through Terunofuji. This was a Terunofuji that was motivated, that looked great up to that point, and one that Takayasu absolutely demolished. Kisenosato vs. Takarafuji immediately followed and with slightly more effort than his stable mate, Kisenosato put Takarafuji away. The four unbeatens were down to two, but things weren’t even close to finished.

Things did however remain fairly normal for several more days and by day eleven things had just about taken shape. Takayasu and Kisenosato both were at 10-0 with Terunofuji just behind at 9-1, Kotoshogiku was at 7-3 and facing an injured 1-9 Ikioi, Takarafuji had faded out of contention for the title, and both Harumafuji and Kakuryu were at 7-3 with Kakuryu set for battle with Takayasu. If day six was not huge, then day eleven was certainly shaping up to be.

Day eleven’s major matches were the final five of the day, the first of which was Kotoshogiku facing off with Ikioi. Kotoshogiku and Ikioi had a quick tussle, with Kotoshogiku getting the front foot but as Kotoshogiku tried to push his combatant out of the ring, Ikioi shoved him down finishing the match off. Kotoshogiku now needed three wins out of his final four matches. Terunofuji, competing immediately after Kotoshogiku’s defeat, immediately after won a tough sumo bout and improved to 10-1, putting the pressure high on the two unbeaten stable mates. Now came time for the yokozuna bouts. Harumafuji put his opponent away easily getting up to 8-3, but now came the main events, with perhaps THE main event up next, Takayasu vs. Kakuryu. Takayasu got the early advantage, but attempted throws to his yokozuna foe did not work and suddenly, despite his back to the outer ring and with lightning quick speed, Kakuryu reversed position and threw out Takayasu. Takayasu was now 10-1, the ball was in Kisenosato’s court.

Kisenosato’s opponent for the night was a 6-4 Yoshikaze. Yoshikaze, five years his elder, three inches shorter, and 100 pounds lighter, charged at the larger man with hard slaps and shoves sending Kisenosato to the outskirts of the ring. Kisenosato escaped, but only for a moment as Yoshikaze hooked his arms underneath Kisenosato’s and pushed him all the way to the other side of the ring. With his back now to the edge of the ring, Kisenosato seemingly at the last second freed himself and pushed out the defeated Yoshikaze. Kisenosato did not bottle it tonight. Kisenosato was 11-0. The basho was Kisenosato’s to lose.

Day twelve brought even more surprises. Kotoshogiku lost again meaning he would need to win all three of his matches to get back to the honorable rank of ozeki, Terunofuji snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, Kisenosato won yet again, and Kakuryu lost sending him out of the running. This all paled to the semi-main event, Takayasu vs. Harumafuji. Harumafuji went in and absolutely manhandled Takayasu proving he is a yokozuna for a reason. Takayasu fell to 10-2, and Harumafuji was back. Three days left. Three huge days.

At this point of the story I will give a visual of the standings in ordered form, to keep things straight:

1. Kisenosato (12-0) - Kisenosato at this point has the lead and has three matches left, two with the fellow yokozunas, and a match with Terunofuji on day fifteen, the final day.
2. Terunofuji (11-1) - Like Kisenosato, Terunofuji has a stable mate he cannot face. That man being Harumafuji. So Terunofuji has matches with the other two remaining yokozuna as well as Kotoshogiku.
3. Takayasu (10-2) - Takayasu has fallen off, but is still in it with the easiest path remaining due to having already faced both yokozunas he could as well as Terunofuji already.
4. Harumafuji (9-3) - Technically still in it, but he’s not exactly in the running. Still important though.

Got it? Good. Because things are going to get interesting as we go to day number thirteen.

Chapter Three: Collapse

We start with two relatively minor results on this day. Kotoshogiku wins, meaning he can still be promoted if he wins his last two matches, and Takayasu loses, which means one more Kisenosato win can effectively eliminate him. The final two matches are the big ones:

Kakuryu vs. Terunofuji

Harumafuji vs. Kisenosato

Kakuryu and Terunofuji kick it off. This match is almost entirely dominated by Terunofuji who eventually lifts Kakuryu up and out of the ring, something he is known to do. Terunofuji is 12-1 and awaiting Kisenosato vs. Terunofuji’s stable mate.

The two line-up. The match begins. Harumafuji charges at Kisenosato and charges him out of the ring in quick fashion. Kisenosato has lost. The basho is tied at 12-1. And Kisenosato comes up holding his shoulder. As Kisenosato was charged out of the ring by Harumafuji, the landing was such that Kisenosato landed directly on his shoulder. The fact that this was by a stable member of Terunofuji was not lost upon anyone and while very obviously a tragic accident, this only added to the almost “stable wars” like element of the basho.

The injury was not good. The general consensus was that there could be no feasible way that Kisenosato would finish off the basho. It seemed for the first time it wouldn’t be the pressure that broke Kisenosato, it would be the sumo itself. Terunofuji, yet another Mongolian, would come in and finally break his duck and win a basho. Regardless of whatever happened now, it seemed fairly apparent that this would be now a two-horse race. Day fourteen arrives and the talk of the town is Kisenosato’s injury. He faced a big match against Kakuryu, a man you do not want to face off with while having an injury. But Terunofuji would be facing an intensely motivated and crowd backed Kotoshogiku. And that match is what we will start with.

Before we get into this match, I need to describe what a “henka” is. A henka is a sumo move, entirely legal, but generally considered a bit desperate. Some tournaments there is a day known as “henka day” because this is the day where middling rikishi try to henka their opponent to pick up an important win to keep afloat, whether in the title race or just to stay over 50%. Now what is a henka? A henka is when one rikishi runs at the other, and the other sidesteps him, sometimes slapping him down. Illegal? No. Frowned upon? That’s a bit of a gray area. Now that that’s described:

Terunofuji and Kotoshogiku come to their line. The biggest match of the basho waits for Kotoshogiku. Kotoshogiku brings his knuckles down, charges, and immediately gets sidestepped, tumbling out of the ring. Chances for promotion: gone. With one sidestep Terunofuji practically assures that Kotoshogiku will never get the second highest rank in sumo ever again. Sumo crowds almost always shout out after a result, but these shouts are sustaining and turn into boos as Terunofuji stands alone in the ring, something that never happens.

The henka was not an illegal move, but in sumo culture in this case it was completely shocking. The fan favorite Kotoshogiku likely had no real shot at defeating this motivated Terunofuji. The fans wanted to see Terunofuji appease them and allow one of their favorite sumo wrestlers to truly get one more go at the rank he held so long. With one match, one move really, Terunofuji became the villain of this tournament. Instead of squaring off with a massively popular wrestler, Terunofuji refused. Instead, Terunofuji took what would be best described as a cowardly way out.

In the main event, Kisenosato lost to Kakuryu with little resistence, his shoulder looking nowhere near 100%, probably lucky to be at about 50%. Terunofuji was the sole leader and faced the wounded Kisenosato in what would be the deciding match. If Terunofuji won, he would win the basho, if Kisenosato won, which seemed less likely by the hour, there would be another match, a playoff between the two, to decide the winner. It was Terunofuji’s to lose now.

Chapter Four: Day Fifteen

Kisenosato was, for all intents and purposes, a one-armed man on day fifteen. Terunofuji was on a seemingly unstoppable run and the idea of him losing not just once, but twice to a one-armed Kisenosato seemed insane even to the biggest dreamers. But on went the match. The crowd went silent. Kisenosato, the weight of Japan seemingly on his injured shoulder, took his mark, Terunofuji took his, and as the match began it was Terunofuji who charged. The opening move of the match? Kisenosato gave a sort of half-henka out of the way. In any other title decider, this would probably be poor form, but after day fourteen this was just sweet, sweet justice. This move was not one to finish the match, but rather seemed more to aid in his positioning. Kisenosato applied pressure, fought back even with his back to the ring, and eventually shoved Terunofuji to the floor when Terunofuji was overreaching too much. The crowd erupted in massive cheers. We were getting a playoff.

As insane as it may be to believe, the crowd seemed almost disinterested in an incredible bout between Harumafuji and Kakuryu, won by the latter to give both of them a 10-5 record at the end of the basho. But there were bigger matters. This was a matter of, for some fans, straight up good vs. evil as if this were professional wrestling, not sumo. This was Kisenosato’s chance to prove he wasn’t just the choker. He could represent Japan on the grandest sumo stage. The crowd yet again fell to a hush which seemed almost eerie. Kisenosato took his mark. Terunofuji took his. The match began. The final match.

Terunofuji was again the aggressor, but careful not to charge, undoubtedly the half-henka still in his mind. Terunofuji got a favored grip and began to shove Kisenosato back closer and closer to the edge of the ring. Then Kisenosato grabbed an arm and with some struggle, used the hook to toss Terunofuji onto the ground as he himself tumbled entirely out of the ring. Kisenosato laid on the same side of the floor he was injured on day twelve, but not as an injured rikishi. He was a victorious yokozuna. Kisenosato, the one-armed man, was March 2017’s champion. The crowd and all of Japan went wild in a massive ovation. He had shown massive, tremendous fighting spirit, and the adoration of Japan was his.

The amount of moving parts that contributed to this tournament’s final story was almost unbelievable. The story went several layers deep and many characters deep. There were friendships, heroes, rivalries, villains, country pride on the line to go along with the personal pride. Heroes rising like a phoenix upon rebirth. One thing seemed certain by the end, Kisenosato was no longer just a choking ozeki, he was a beloved yokozuna, the pride of Japanese sumo.

Chapter Five: Now

But now, we are in the tragedy of the story. The year is 2018, the month is now December. 

The back-to-back basho victories in January and March of 2017 have marked the highest point of Kisenosato's career, but the beginning of the lowest as well. Kisenosato has never recovered from the injury he suffered on day thirteen. Kisenosato refused surgery, which would have kept him out for a substantial amount of time, in hopes to further his momentum as a newly-born star in the world of sumo. Instead, he has pulled out of nine of the last ten bashos. When I first posted this, it was July and he had announced his sitting-out of a third straight entire tournament. He returned to sumo in September and went 10-5, but in November he lost the first four matches of the basho and pulled out, citing an unrelated right knee injury. 

He has received "encouragement" from the sumo council. "Encouragement" is facetious. The Japanese Sumo Association are getting anxious about their lone Japanese yokozuna's failure to compete. But realistically, they are to blame too. Their star yokozuna needed surgery. He did not acknowledge it. His camp did not either. Nor did they. Instead, he marched on, injured. Failing to get surgery, and failing to acknowledge the need, until it was too late. 

Terunofuji competed valiantly in the May 2017 basho, finishing as runner-up yet again. This is where his story also takes a turn for the worst as he pulled out of the next four bashos with injury before getting relegated an entire division of sumo.

A quick aside on what I mean by getting relegated. It is very similar to the football ladder, without the set number of relegation spots. The top level is known as ‘makuuchi’ while the second-highest is known as ‘juryo’. Terunofuji was then relegated yet again to the ‘makushita’ division, where he will compete in this month’s tournament. He is the first rikishi to ever fall from the ozeki rank to the makushita division. And he did so over the course of a single year.

His drop has continued. He has sat out the last three tournaments of the year after what has been rumored to be his second knee surgery in just over twelve months and currently sits in the 'sandame' division. The drops may not be ideal, and he may come back, but the journey will be a long one.

This final chapter highlights so many things about sumo, most notably the desire to compete. Kisenosato should have gotten surgery on his chest. That is clear with hindsight, but even seemed to be the right call last year. Instead he chose to try and continue competing. At this point in his career, it seems that it is now too late for surgery and he has missed too much time already. Kisenosato did not put his own well-being first as he instead decided to live up to the hype that had been produced for him. Kisenosato said in July: “I’m at the point now (when the question of retirement is surfacing). But my sense of the sport, as well as my muscular strength, has improved a lot. I’ll do my best to be able to come back.” This is a sad fall from a competitor whose passion has ultimately been his downfall.

Terunofuji, too, has suffered through injuries. He has had to fight through kidney stones and diabetes issues, a knee surgery that he received surgery for but did not properly let heal and has continued to suffer from that too until the reported surgery he's received before the July basho. Terunofuji may have been the villain, but he was also a target of reported hate speech too following that fateful bout with Kotoshogiku, which highlights an important aspect of our story and sports as a whole. You can portray figures to be villains, but there are also lines that should not be crossed. He may have been the bad guy, much like the ‘heel’ in pro wrestling, but this is not an athlete who is wholly unsympathetic. Rather, he is one that has now fallen under the same curse as Kisenosato.

March 2017 was one of the greatest sumo tournaments in modern history. The duels between our two lead characters will go down in lore as perhaps the greatest end to a basho in history. But instead of kick-starting Kisenosato’s yokozuna career on the right foot, it has sent him into a spiral of injuries and false promises. Likewise, Terunofuji, just 25 at the time and one of the hottest young rikishi, has never been physically able to reach that caliber ever again. Much has changed in these almost two years. Our other two key players in the story have fallen from grace too. Harumafuji was forced to retire under disgrace after assaulting another rikishi with a beer bottle in a bar. Takayasu seems to be cursed, having lost the November basho on the final day, and having finished runner-up in both January and March. 

The March 2017 was supposed to be the start of a new era in the sport. With a new Japanese yokozuna, and perhaps another new young star to rival him. Instead, nothing worked out this way. This is a tale of sumo. First joy, then tragedy, like so many other sports stories before us. And the happy ending we thought we’d received was so fleeting.