Hoshoryu at the Summit - The 74th Yokozuna
Well, it seems the stars aligned.
A lot had to go right for things to pan out this way.
A Rocky Start to the Basho
We started the January basho with 3 yokozuna contenders - if any of them won the event they'd be in very good stead to see promotion either this banzuke or next, but it quickly became clear it wouldn't be that simple. By Day 5, the three sumo had questionable records:
- Hoshoryu 4-1
- Onosato 2-3
- Kotozakura 1-4 (!!)
Hoshoryu's 4-1 looks reasonable, but his loss came to Atamifuji, for whom it was a first win in a very shaky 5-10 campaign so set the scene for a tricky tournament. Onosato and Kotozakura's records left them basically out of contention already, but still with the potential to right their ships and get a solid winning record to attempt promotion later in the year.
While the top of the field was floundering, Kinbozan had returned from a short dip into Juryo (where he secured a tournament win) and was flying with his easier schedule, with a 5-0 record alongside the stalwart Oho and veterans Chiyoshoma and Tamawashi.
By day 9, the situation was much worse.
Hoshoryu suffered genuinely surprising losses to Shodai (2-5) and Hiradoumi (4-4) to sit at 6-3, and it felt like things had gone fully into recovery mode - knuckle down, get a tidy 10+ wins, come back next time with a great streak of numbers to support promotion if you win in March.
Onosato had largely righted his ship, and was also sitting on 6-3 after a nice run of wins. He was in the same situation as Hoshoryu - rack up some more wins, don't give up any easy ones, and come back in March.
Kotozakura was out of the running for early 2025, sitting on 3-6 and needing a miracle to get a positive record, nevermind a yokozuna promotion. To be absolutely fair to him, he looked so off the pace this month that I'd be shocked if he wasn't actively ill or injured - compared to November he was a shadow of himself so I hope he can bounce back.
Kinbozan was 9-0 even after facing tougher opponents as the days progressed, and the ozeki were well out of touch needing a minor miracle to have a chance at the Emperor's Cup.
A Minor Miracle
To have even a chance at the tournament win, Hoshoryu needed to go undefeated for the rest of it while his rivals crumbled under the pressure to set up a day 15 showdown.
He went undefeated.
They crumbled.
The set up on Day 15 was perfect.
Kinbozan had suffered losses to komisubi Abi and the charging Hoshoryu, and faced the 11-3 Oho in a pivotal match. Win and the cup was his, lose and there'd be a tiebreaker between the two on equal 12-3 records. If Hoshoryu beat the wavering Kotozakura (something of a foregone conclusion on form alone), he'd also be on 12-3 creating a possible 3-way tiebreaker.
And that's how it went. Oho and Hoshoryu looked impressive, Kinbozan looked unsure. As soon as Kinbozan's foot went out in his bout against Oho, the mood changed drastically and you could feel the focus shift to the final bout, Hoshoryu and Kotozakura - and with the knowledge that a tiebreaker was certain to happen, how Hoshoryu's likely presence would affect it.
You already know the outcome from the title - Hoshoryu won through*, following up his 6-3 start with 8 straight wins to clinch the title against some of the stiffest opposition left for him. He beat Kinbozan and Oho twice each this basho, and showed some killer composure in the most important matches of his career.
Even with this, on paper alone this wasn't a guarantee of promotion. The last key factor was the topic of my [last post] - Terunofuji's retirement.
The Vacant Seat
The Japan Sumo Association insists that there are no quotas for a certain number of Yokozuna to be active at any time, but it's clear that there was no appetite to be on 0 for any length of time. Fans like for their to be a yardstick of where the top of the sport sits, and crucially it's ultimately decided by laypeople whether someone qualifies for the position (more info here).
Long and short - in my opinion, while these are fans of sumo they tend to have a vested interest in keeping it marketable and profitable, and a lack of yokozuna would hurt those interests. This is a bit unpleasant to say, but the upshot is that when someone like Hoshoryu is recommended to them with what looks like a 50:50 shot at promotion, the empty top rank was enough to make the decision unanimously in favour.
The Future
I'm very new to sumo - I haven't followed the ins and outs over the years, so I have very little context for what this all means beyond my own instinctual understanding of sport in general.
I think this looks promising?
With Hoshoryu at the top, his career looks potentially very bright - he's relatively young at 25, and while he has had some issues with injury he's been lucky enough to find time to recuperate without losing his rank. As Yokozuna, he's in no danger of falling down the order if he takes time out, so any injuries he does experience will have a much better chance of being dealt with properly. This appears to have been a focus of his development as a wrestler, and it looks like it has paid off.
For the rest of the scene, things still look promising. Hoshoryu is excellent and tenacious, but he's not yet of that unbeatable stature other Yokozuna of the 21st century had, including his uncle Asashoryu. This means there's still a chance for those like Kotozakura and Onosato to sit up there with him, or for Oho to find the consistency he needs to climb with him.
To my untrained eye we're not sitting at the start of "The Age of Hoshoryu" yet, and that's quite exciting to see alongside his promotion. There's a target on his back and I'm keen to see how he responds to that pressure, and how his peers respond to the opportunity.