Thanks for this post! I was in attendance in Fukuoka for the first time this day and it was a great experience. Happy to see these good matchups, our favourite rikishi (Midorifuji and Ichiyamamoto) both won and an all around good time was had.
We bought a few things like a Midorifuji miniature, Ura and Ichayamamoto face masks (like spa mousturizing ones) and a Onosato fan/sign type thing. I didn't have the time to browse all the stands but I ordered a set of the tournament posters that were in the arena on japanese Ebay afterwards, hope they will make it to Sweden in good shape :)
Roga taking me on a rollercoaster this basho. Takanosho has on his game face! Impressed by him and Hoshoryu. Finally: "belly power" will now be a technical term. TY
I just caught up on 5 days of sumo in one evening, and this basho is a blast! Inject Tobi vs Ura straight in my veins! That was a blast, and Tobi was able to use his superior shithousery this time. Hopefully Ura can snag a few more Ws this tournament, though. Also great to see the Ozeki looking like they belong at the top for the first time this late in the tourney since I've started watching Sumo this year. Finally, you know I'm all in on the nicknames, and Tanimal is fantastic. Great work, Tim!
Hey Dave, good to see you here. Ura vs. Tobi matches are always so much fun. If I wasn't afraid of a copyright strike I would do a compilation video from the last few years.
Watching Papayasu put Endo through that 540° was terrific! I was waiting to see Endo's feet leave the ground and watch him go flying into the third row.
I will say that either Takarafuji or Takerufuji needs to change his name. And I think they both fight for Isegahama stable, too! How confusing that must be, every time the stable master shouts one of their names and they both turn around!
That is the dream. There are definitely some other guys right now that look like they could pull it off. Onosato, Kotozakura, and Hosohoryu. Then there's a few others who if they could just get some more consistency would be doing real well. Abi and Kirishima come to mind. When they are on they are fierce.
I think Tobizaro and Ura should be required to face each other every basho. They have all the ingredients for a good time. Kotoshoho and Atamifuji can't even buy win at this point, so sad. I would enjoy Kotoshoho beating Hosohoryu, Baby Frog needs a win! Out of the current leaders I'm hoping for a Kotozakura Yusho. I really like Hosohoryu too but he gives off villain vibes and Kotozakura gives off good guy vibes.
Kotozakura is beyond due for his first yusho. So I'd like to see that, too. If Onosato can come back and win this there might be an interesting conversation to be had on the yokozuna voting council. I'm just desperate for another yokozuna so whatever way gets us there quickest I'll be happy about.
And yes, Ura vs. Tobi everyday would be amazing. Or a same day best of seven series.
I do think Onosato will get there and would love to see him get there as fast as possible. It would be pretty sweet if he won his first tournament after becoming an Ozeki and making it two Yusho in a row.
It would be unprecedented, but that's becoming one of Onosato's nicknames. Unfortunately I feel like Terunofuji will retire as soon as someone else is promoted to yokozuna. So I think we'll have to wait longer for what I really want... yoko vs. yoko duels.
Kirishima has managed to avoid disaster after a pretty rough start. It’s still long odds for him to get to a Kachi-koshi but I’ll sure be rooting for that to happen.
Thanks for this post! I was in attendance in Fukuoka for the first time this day and it was a great experience. Happy to see these good matchups, our favourite rikishi (Midorifuji and Ichiyamamoto) both won and an all around good time was had.
Thanks for checking it out! That's so awesome. Did you pick up any merch?
We bought a few things like a Midorifuji miniature, Ura and Ichayamamoto face masks (like spa mousturizing ones) and a Onosato fan/sign type thing. I didn't have the time to browse all the stands but I ordered a set of the tournament posters that were in the arena on japanese Ebay afterwards, hope they will make it to Sweden in good shape :)
Might need to get my wife one of those face masks. Hope your goodies get to you ok.
Roga taking me on a rollercoaster this basho. Takanosho has on his game face! Impressed by him and Hoshoryu. Finally: "belly power" will now be a technical term. TY
We like to keep things very technical around here ;)
I just caught up on 5 days of sumo in one evening, and this basho is a blast! Inject Tobi vs Ura straight in my veins! That was a blast, and Tobi was able to use his superior shithousery this time. Hopefully Ura can snag a few more Ws this tournament, though. Also great to see the Ozeki looking like they belong at the top for the first time this late in the tourney since I've started watching Sumo this year. Finally, you know I'm all in on the nicknames, and Tanimal is fantastic. Great work, Tim!
Hey Dave, good to see you here. Ura vs. Tobi matches are always so much fun. If I wasn't afraid of a copyright strike I would do a compilation video from the last few years.
Watching Papayasu put Endo through that 540° was terrific! I was waiting to see Endo's feet leave the ground and watch him go flying into the third row.
https://tinyurl.com/4y5xj4tw
I will say that either Takarafuji or Takerufuji needs to change his name. And I think they both fight for Isegahama stable, too! How confusing that must be, every time the stable master shouts one of their names and they both turn around!
Takarafuji and Takerufuji are in the same stable, yeah. Very confusing. Maybe we should just go with Businessman and Tanimal for them.
That is the dream. There are definitely some other guys right now that look like they could pull it off. Onosato, Kotozakura, and Hosohoryu. Then there's a few others who if they could just get some more consistency would be doing real well. Abi and Kirishima come to mind. When they are on they are fierce.
I was hoping so badly for Kirishima to become the next yokozuna. His 2023 was so much fun to watch (and especially his match-ups with Hoshoryu).
I think Tobizaro and Ura should be required to face each other every basho. They have all the ingredients for a good time. Kotoshoho and Atamifuji can't even buy win at this point, so sad. I would enjoy Kotoshoho beating Hosohoryu, Baby Frog needs a win! Out of the current leaders I'm hoping for a Kotozakura Yusho. I really like Hosohoryu too but he gives off villain vibes and Kotozakura gives off good guy vibes.
Kotozakura is beyond due for his first yusho. So I'd like to see that, too. If Onosato can come back and win this there might be an interesting conversation to be had on the yokozuna voting council. I'm just desperate for another yokozuna so whatever way gets us there quickest I'll be happy about.
And yes, Ura vs. Tobi everyday would be amazing. Or a same day best of seven series.
Honestly that's currently the main story of this basho that I'm interested in to see if it can work out. A come back win would be pretty sweet.
I do think Onosato will get there and would love to see him get there as fast as possible. It would be pretty sweet if he won his first tournament after becoming an Ozeki and making it two Yusho in a row.
It would be unprecedented, but that's becoming one of Onosato's nicknames. Unfortunately I feel like Terunofuji will retire as soon as someone else is promoted to yokozuna. So I think we'll have to wait longer for what I really want... yoko vs. yoko duels.
The Tanimal is hilarious.
Great day of sumo today. Lots of skinny shit, which I appreciate. And I think Abi has become my official favourite. The captain of team Violence.
Dammit, I meant spinny shit. Not much skinny shit in sumo.
Kirishima has managed to avoid disaster after a pretty rough start. It’s still long odds for him to get to a Kachi-koshi but I’ll sure be rooting for that to happen.