How about a sumo thread?

[ursus arctos]

No top division rikishi involved, but WTF?

https://twitter.com/InsideSportJP/status/1303915848608788480

Basho starts this weekend and it is increasingly looking as if we may be in a Nokozuna situation from the beginning.

[Wouter D]

Splendid. May Ichinojo continue the streak of last-on-the-banzuke yusho winners.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Banzuke is out. They've created a third Sekiwake slot to let Daieisho in. Terunofuji gets the M1E slot. Tochinoshin somehow all the way up to M4W. Enho down to M9, more or less as expected, and sneaking in at M17 is long lost Ichinojo!

Aki starts in 14 days!

[Anton Gramscescu]

Or not? Hard to tell. Abi has been given a three-basho suspension (which will leave him deep in the makushita ranks). The NSK may still choose to accept his resignation once the punishment is served. Hard to know at this point.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Abi, who was pulled out of the tournament on (IIRC) day 7 because he snuck out of the heya to go have beers at a club in the middle of a pandemic, has apparently handed in his resignation papers. No more 160-degree shiko.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Well that was fucking great.

Also, Chiyonokuni won the Makushita yousho with a 7-0 record. Not sure if it will be enough to get him up to Juryo, but nice to see.

Juryo had a 5-way playoff! Which Meisei eventually won.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Fabulous final four today. Terunofuji (12-2) v. Mitakaeumi (11-3) and Asanoyama (11-3) v. Shodai (11-3). If Mitakaeumi wins the first match, we are guaranteed a 3-way playoff. I might have to stay up all night for this.

[ursus arctos]

A comeback worthy of a manga series

[Anton Gramscescu]

TERUNO-FUCKING-FUJI!

(His hands get nowhere near the dohyo at the tachiai and it should have been a matta but the gyoji have been letting him go on this pretty much all tournament).

I think we'll see these two again in a playoff. Looking forward to the weekend!

[ursus arctos]

Wowza

[Anton Gramscescu]

Hakuho now officially kyujo

[Anton Gramscescu]

Terunofuji has been amazing so far. That slugfest with Tamawashi today was the best bout of the basho. His whole trajectory this tournament has made me so, so, happy. It will be great to see him back in san'yaku (if his knees hold up).

Onosho (0-12) has been utterly perplexing. I don't think his sumo is actually that bad, but he just never gets a break.

Enho has been asked to fight a lot of guys well above his station, I think his 5-7 is a bit unfair.

I would be surprised if Hakuho shows up tomorrow, which makes Asanoyama the prohibitive favourite. He looks awfully good this tourney, like Goeido at his best. So strong and smooth. This is deffo the start of a yokozuna run.

[ursus arctos]

Well, this has turned into something

Takakeisho is kyujo and Hakuho will reportedly do the same if the knee issues that were crucial to his losses yesterday and today don't magically clear up.

And the committee has decided to pit Terunofuji and Asanoyama (the only rikishi who are 10-1) against each other on Day 13 tomorrow, notwithstanding the massive difference in their ranks. My guess is that they want to have a clear winner emerge as soon as possible.

[Anton Gramscescu]

You can absolutely buy beer separately. It is true that a large portion of the folks on the lower levels get these huge gift boxes of food and drink which they order in advance and pick up on their way into the kokugikan. The boxiness plus the sitting on the ground lends the whole thing a very picnic atmosphere. However folks in the bleachers for the most part buy food and drink at concessions just like you would at any other sports event. I understand this is partially restricted for this basho but not quite sure how..

Also: Terunofuji!

[ursus arctos]

Very much so.

Starting with the fact that a significant portion of the sumo audience is female.



Alcohol consumption patterns are also very different. Gramsci can correct me, but I don't think that beer is sold separately. People in the boxes will often bring/buy box lunches, which can be rather elaborate. Those are being limited for this tournament, but are still allowed.

My sense is that sumo is much more like the theatre or opera than snooker.

[Satchmo Distel]

In light of the UK permitting spectators for snooker and looking at whether the Sumo regulations above could be adopted, I'm still not sure how those regulations would work for spectators going to the toilet between contests or during an interval. Entry and exit would also have to be staggered, such that spectators must arrive an hour before the start so that everyone can be checked and spaced. Presumably also tickets must be rationed by a system such as membership being prioritized.

Would there also be additional cultural factors that make these regulations easier or harder to implement for Sumo than for a UK indoor event like the world snooker?

[ursus arctos]

Kakuryu goes kyujo after one day

[Anton Gramscescu]

Could be. The "A" class boxes - the four rows of tatami mats nearest the dohyo - are all empty for social distancing reasons and I *think* those are mostly given out to JSA insiders, so they may have just re-distributed some of the the "B" and "C" class boxes to the people usually in the A boxes.

Not sure I would pay $600 for a box on my own, but for our first day at Kokugikan a couple of years ago I did buy one for just me and Little Miss Sumo, just to see what it was like. And as an aging white guy not used to spending 5-6 hours sitting cross-legged in the floor, I was super-appreciative of the extra space to stretch out. Four adults in one of those would be cramped.

[ursus arctos]

I believe they have done just that, fearing that no one would have bought them otherwise.

They aren't using the usual website, and the one they are using is Japanese only (and requires a Japanese address). I'm now wondering if the boxes are to people with Association connections.

[Anton Gramscescu]

My understanding is that they are not paying for the other three seats. Have you heard otherwise?

You don't pay for single seats in the boxes - you have to buy the whole box. Unless they have changed rules for this basho (or very generously discounted the prices).

[Anton Gramscescu]

Day one is here. Not much in the way of inspiring sumo. - lots of ring rust. Nice to see Terunofuji re-open his account with a win and this young Kotoshoho looks like one to watch.

[ursus arctos]

My understanding is that they are not paying for the other three seats. Have you heard otherwise?

[Anton Gramscescu]

One-person floor boxes are not cheap. That works out to about $600 a seat, I think.

[Anton Gramscescu]

OMG there really are fans. Also, Natto sumo has slick new graphics.

[ursus arctos]

Shows what I know.

Notwithstanding a further increase in new cases to 286, the Association has announced that up to 2500 fans (25 percent of capcity) will be allowed to attend each session of the July basho.

Details from Tachiai

Regulations for audience members:

• The Kokugikan will open at 1:00pm.
• Upon entering the Kokugikan, audience members will have their temperature checked and their hands disinfected. Mini disinfectants will be distributed.
• Spectators must wear masks, and keep eating and drinking to a minimum. Food sales and shopping opportunities will be limited.
• Only one spectator may sit in the 4 person masu boxes located in the first level of the Kokugikan.
• Spectators must sit 3 seats apart, and rows will be staggered to avoid sitting directly in front of each other. No one will be permitted to sit in the aisle seats.
• The Tamari seats that surround the dohyo will be vacant.
• Any fan service that would bring audience members into contact with rikishi are cancelled.
• Spectators are encouraged to show self-restraint, and applause is recommended instead of cheering.

Regulations for rikishi and other association members:

• Precautions put into place during the Haru Basho in March, such as temperature checks and hand sanitization, will continue to be followed.
• Masks are to be worn in the shitakubeya during preparation and warmups.
• Acrylic dividers will be used to separate each rikishi’s preparation area.
• The sumo school will be set up as an extra preparation space to avoid crowding.
• Markers will be placed along the hanamichi for rikishi, yobidashi, and gyoji to practice social distancing.
• Tokoyama are encouraged to do as much of their hairdressing as possible at the heya.
• Rikishi will remove their mask when they exit the shitakubeya and will put on a fresh mask after their match, before re-entering the preparation room.