2025 Haru Basho: Day 4 results, replays and analysis
Spoilers here.
We’re picking up steam in Osaka. After four days a couple of narratives are starting to take shape. It’s still very early, though. The winner of this thing might still be a bolt out of the blue who surprises us all.
Tobizaru vs. Takayasu was an epic bout from this day. I also really enjoyed Ura vs. Hiradoumi, Kotozakura vs. Wakatakakage, Shishi vs. Midorifuji and Shodai vs. Atamifuji.
Scroll down to see who won and loss in the makuuchi on Day 4. I’ve also got some videos and my analysis.
Don’t forget, if you want to win a Goiedo tegata this month, sign up for a paid subscription today.
Elizabeth won the last giveaway. Here she is proudly displaying her Takakeisho hand-print. Elizabeth has her own Substack, by the way, and is about to publish a book!
Bonus gif today is Pink Magic’s cheering section in his hometown of Osaka.
SPOILERS BELOW
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Results
Shirokuma (1-3) def. Kagayaki (0-4) via yorikiri (frontal force out)
Tokihayate (3-1) def. Asakoryu (3-1) via yorikiri
Aonishiki (2-2) def. Mitakeumi (2-2) via oshidashi (frontal push out)*
Sadanoumi (1-3) def. Kotoshoho (2-2) via oshitaoshi (frontal push down)
Churanoumi (3-1) def. Ryuden (2-2) via oshidashi
Onokatsu (4-0) def. Takarafuji (2-2) via yorikiri
Shishi (3-1) def. Midorifuji (2-2) via oshitaoshi*
Meisei (2-2) def. Nishikigi (0-4) via yorikiri
Hakuoho (3-1) def. Shonannoumi (0-4) via yorikiri
Endo (4-0) def. Oshoma (0-4) via sukuinage (beltless arm throw)*
Shodai (2-2) def. Atamifuji (2-2) via uwatedashinage (pulling over arm throw)*
Tamawashi (3-1) def. Takerufuji (2-2) via oshitaoshi*
Ura (3-1) def. Hiradoumi (2-2) via oshidashi*
Ichiyamamoto (2-2) def. Kinbozan (1-3) via oshidashi
Tobizaru (1-3) def. Takayasu (3-1) via kekaeshi (minor inner foot sweep)*
Chiyoshoma (2-2) def. Abi (3-1) via yorikiri
Kirishima (3-1) def. Daieisho (3-1) via oshidashi
Takanosho (1-3) def. Oho (1-3) via oshidashi
Wakamotoharu (3-1) def. Onosato (3-1) via oshidashi*
Kotozakura (2-2) def. Wakatakakage (0-4) via oshidashi*
Hoshoryu (3-1) def. Gonoyama (1-3) via hatakikomi (slap down)
*Must see bouts!
Leaderboard
Too early!
Analysis
Day 4 gave us a no nonsense win by Hoshoryu. Our yokozuna looks to be fighting through a slight elbow injury, but that didn’t stop him from slapping down Gonoyama. Check that out below and listen to the SLAP on the tachiai.
Kotozakura also got a win on this day. He was able to beat Wakatakakage, dropping Wakatakakage to a shocking 0-4 on the tournament.
Both Kotozakura and Wakatakakage favour the migi-yotsu (right arm inside, left arm outside) grip. Both eagerly went for that grip off the tachiai and thus established an ai-yotsu (together or complimentary grips) position. Once there, Kotozakura won the test of strength, taking solid steps forwards and forcing Wakatakakage out over the north side of the ring.
That levels Kotozakura’s record at 2-2. He’s looked pretty good in the last two days. Maybe this is a sign that he will be able to bank a kachi-koshi and remain ozeki for the next little while, at least.
Onosato suffered his first loss of the tournament last night. That loss came at the hands of Wakamotoharu. And it literally was due to the hands of Wakamotoharu.
In this bout, Wakamotoharu led with a surprising nodowa (throat thrust). Onosato wasn’t ready for that and, as a result, it unsettled him and pushed him off to the side. Wakamotoharu continued attacking the throat. That forced Onosato to try and grapple with him.
Watch at .25 speed and see at the 0:42 second mark that Onosato attempted a mae-mitsu (front of belt) grip with his right hand. Wakamotoharu blocked this attack perfectly, though, wedging his arm tight against Onosato’s arm and making sure Onosato couldn’t touch his belt.
With Onosato floundering as he tried to figure out what to do next, Wakamotoharu put his arms around Onosato’s body and then advanced for the memorable push out win.
Ura scored an oshidashi win over Hiradoumi on Day 4. Watch below and listen to the crowd go nuts for their hometown hero. He’s now 3-1.
The Iron Man, Tamawashi, also got a big win on Day 4. He beat the Tanimal with a mighty shove off the dohyo. Tamawashi did a great job of hand fighting in this bout, preventing Takerufuji from getting any real purchase on his thrusts to the body. After Tamawashi pushed Takerufuji back to the tarawa (straw bales) Takerufuji decided to jump in the air. I don’t know what he was thinking there. Unfortunately for him, Tamawashi connected on a push as he was airborne. That resulted in Takerufuji landing hard on his tailbone and then rolling backwards onto the floor below.
Endo and Onokatsu are our surprise leaders right now, each with a 4-0 record.
Onokatsu beat Takarafuji on Day 4 using another yorikiri.
Endo was able to sling down Oshoma (who is winless so far), thanks to a shitate (underhook) and a little outside foot sweep.
I don’t expect either of these guys to be in the top positions this time next week. Onokatsu has gotten off to a nice start before, only to be found out against tougher opponents. And Endo’s bouts have been quite chaotic thus far, so I don’t think he’s seriously locked in and ready for a yusho run.
The JSA’s official YouTube doesn’t have it, so I can’t share Tobizaru vs. Takayasu. Those veterans put on a thrilling fight with lots of tsuppari (palm strikes) followed by clinch work. Tobizaru won the bout with a foot sweep (a leg kick to MMA fans). You could see Tobizaru switching stances and loading up on his standing leg before the kick came. Takayasu didn’t recognize it though. He fell forwards after Tobi landed the kick to the inside of his left shin.
That’s the 15th kekaeshi win of Tobizaru’s career. Those make up 3.79% of his total wins. Overall rate of kekaeshi wins across the sport is just 0.06%.
Tomorrow Tobizaru has Onosato. He’s going to kick Onosato in the leg eventually. It might be tomorrow if the ozeki makes the mistake of spending too long in a clinch with him.
Tomorrow also gives us Hoshoryu vs. Chiyoshoma, Takanosho vs. Kotozakura, Daieisho vs. Wakamotoharu, Abi vs. Oho and Kirishima vs. Wakatakakage.
Hakuoho, who has looked quite good, will get to test Endo’s perfect record. Shishi, who won a fun bout over Midorifuji on Day 4, will try and spoil Onokatsu’s record.
See you tomorrow!
Another fun day at the Basho. A few insights from Osaka: at each of the events they have a small dining room where you can get this traditional sumo soup called Chanko Nabe. It’s kind of like a vegetable soup with cabbage and some other goodies. It is VERY good, so if any of yall make it out to one of these it’s highly recommended. Sometimes the wrestlers will go in there and eat as well. There’s a small trophy case with some cool historical items like handprints and such right when you walk in the front. The arena is broken up into 3 sections. My wife and I chose the highest section bc the others are traditional boxes where you sit on a mat and we are already walking about 20k steps a day so I don’t think my legs would appreciate sitting criss cross applesauce for hours at a time. The seats are TINY so you’re going to be touching the person next to you which is kind of strange. It also seems like most foreigners choose these as we rarely see Japanese people in these seats. We’ve had to deal with annoying people in these sections which is a bit of a bummer. They don’t respect the traditions and just drink and yell things and talk loudly, even at quieter moments. “Look at that guys huge butt” etc. It’s unfortunate, but we don’t let it drag down our experience.
Onto the matches: Shishi was SO much bigger than Midorifuji it just seemed like an impossible task. We were really sad to see Midorifuji lose, but Shishi’s size seems like it could potentially give a lot of wrestlers an interesting challenge. Ura’s popularity makes his matches extra special here and really fun to watch. Any time he is announced, he gets the biggest cheers of the night. Even more so than Yoko Hosh. His win was a highlight of course. Tobizaru’s match was our favorite of the afternoon. Very intense. Endo is VERY popular out here with a lot of the crowd pulling for him. Abi as well. Onosato’s loss was met with a bit of a gasp. I think people were pulling for him to go undefeated. Hoshoryu is SO intimidating the way he stares down his opponents. When they turn around and walk away to reset before the start of the match, he will kind of stay in his stance and just continue staring right at their back. Then he gets up and walks back to his corner so aggressively, you can just feel the intensity. His win was great.
On a separate note, Asakoryu is an absolute unit. What a beast. I’d seen gifs of him flexing and such, but his strength is extra apparent in person, even as a smaller wrestler. A new favorite of mine.
Today is our last day of matches. Really hoping for wins from Asakoryu, Midorifuji, Atamifuji, Ura, Kotozakura, and Hoshoryu!
Wakatakakage has had a very tough set of opponents so far. I remain confident that he will be able to resurrect himself against the rest of the slate.
Quite the dramatic toss of Atamifuji by Shodai! The big guy still has it when he puts his mind to it.