Grand Sumo is back in our lives this weekend with the 2025 Nagoya basho. The 15-day tournament starts on July 13 and runs until July 27. During that time there will be sumo every day with all able wrestlers in the Grand Sumo system suiting up and competing to improve their rankings in the sport. In the makuuchi (top division) 42 wrestlers will compete to earn the best win-loss record and thus take home the Emperor’s Cup. 2025’s Nagoya basho is filled with fascinating storylines. Scroll down for five I’m particularly interested in.
Yokozuna Showdown
The Nagoya basho, also known as the July tournament, is very special this year. The tournament will feature two healthy and active yokozuna for the first time since 2021. In recent years sumo fans have been disappointed by multiple tournaments featuring no yokozuna ranked wrestlers. This was due to Terunofuji, the 73rd yokozuna, needing to take so much time off due to injury. He retired in January. Also in January, Hoshoryu won his second top division tournament and earned promotion to become the 74th yokozuna. Young phenom Onosato won both the March and May tournaments this year and was rewarded with promotion to become the 75th yokozuna.
This is the first tournament for Onosato, as a yokozuna. With both he and Hoshoryu healthy and ready to compete (despite some murmuring around Hoshoryu’s toe) we have a fantastic chance of seeing two yokozuna competing for the cup this month and potentially facing each other with the cup on the line.
Onosato has been dominant since bursting onto the top division scene last year, earning four yusho (championships) and a boatload of special prizes. The one thing he can’t do though is beat Hoshoryu at a reliable rate. Hoshoryu is currently 6-3 in their head-to-head match-up. In the May tournament, Hoshoryu spoiled Onosato’s hopes of securing his first ever 15-0 record with a stunning judo throw.
Hoshoryu has under-performed, slightly, in his first two yokozuna tournaments. But when he beat Onosato on the final day of the May tournament he showed us all that he’s still a force to be reckoned with and might be the only person standing in the way of Onosato ruling over the sport.
The ozeki race heats up
The possibility of a third yokozuna before the end of the year is possible, but not very likely. Kotozakura won the November tournament and had a chance to beat Hoshoryu to the ultimate promotion in January, but injuries got in the way of that. Kotozakura has struggled to show the same kind of form he showed in 2024 and has come close to losing his ozeki rank already this year. Kotozakura will likely be most concerned with achieving the minimum eight wins he needs to ensure he won’t lose his rank anytime soon.
Currently there are three wrestlers trying to make a case to get promoted to the ozeki rank to join (or potentially replace) Kotozakura. Daieisho, Kirishima and Wakatakakage are all ranked sekiwake for this tournament. To become an ozeki a sekiwake typically needs 33 wins across three consecutive tournaments.
Daieisho could hit that number if he goes 14-1 in Nagoya. That would be a record best for Daieisho if he manages it. If he hits that number he still might not get promoted, due to his March tournament featuring a less-than-stellar 9-6 record. If he gets 14-1 and claims the yusho this month, that would likely see him promoted to ozeki.
Kirishima won 11 bouts in May, his first tournament since rejoining the sekiwake ranks. He will be looking at getting double digit wins this month to give him a strong chance to claim an ozeki rank at the September tournament.
Wakatakakage is back at sekiwake for the first time since he suffered a major knee injury. He’ll want to rack up a big number this month to jump start his bid to become ozeki (a rank he would have surely made if not for his injury).
These three will all face each other at some point this month, so it’s unlikely all three of them will be able to keep their ozeki hopes alive. It will be fascinating to see which of them excels in those head-to-head battles to give themselves the best bet of progressing up the banzuke.
Aonishiki’s trial by fire
Aonishiki will be competing in his third ever top division tournament this month. The 21 year-old Ukrainian refugee has banked back-to-back 11-4 records and Fighting Spirit prizes in his previous two tournaments. Those accomplishments have signalled that Aonishiki might be a serious contender for a championship and/or a lofty promotion in the near future.
During his superb debut and sophomore efforts, Aonoshiki failed to beat any of the upper ranked wrestlers he faced (he lost twice to Daieisho and was defeated by Wakatakakage and Kotozakura). In Nagoya he’s due to face those names again, along with all the other special upper ranked wrestlers.
He’s ranked maegashira 1 for this tournament, one spot below the special named ranks. Maegashira 1 to 4 is known as the joi. Being in the joi means you can expect to face a murderer’s row of opponents in the first week of the tournament, including all available yokozuna and ozeki.
If Aonishiki is able to take wins off those kinds of opponents, then the sky is the limit for him and we might get our first European champion since Georgian Tochinoshin lifted a cup in 2018.
How good is Kusano?
Kusano will be making his top division debut this month. The recently turned 24 year-old is coming off back to back juryo (second division) championships, winning those tournaments with records of 14-1 and 13-2.
Kusano is an elite prospect with a very successful college sumo career. That college career allowed him to enter pro sumo at the makushita (third division), unlike Aonishiki who had to start in the jonokuchi (sixth division).
Kusano belongs to the Isegahama stable which, since June, is led by the recently retired Terunofuji. Top division wrestlers Takerufuji, Midorifuji, Atamifuji and Hakuoho are also in that stable. Kusano should have plenty of experience competing against high level rikishi in practise, but now it’s time to see how he does during real competition.
Two other wrestlers will be making their top division debuts in Nagoya. 20 year-old Fujinokawa was promoted after a 12-3 record in juryo in May. Kotoeiho, brother to Kotoshoho and stablemate to Kotozakura, went 11-4 in May. He turns 22 this week.
New arena who dis?
The 2025 Nagoya basho will be taking place at the recently completed IG Arena in Nagoya. This will be the first sporting even to take place at the fancy new stadium, which is set to host events for the 2026 Asian Games. The IG Arena replaces the old Dolphins Arena, which has hosted this event since the 1960s.
The old arena was notorious for its lack of air conditioning. This meant that the tournament, held during the hottest time in Japan in one of the hottest places, was infamous for hot and sweaty conditions, which leads to a very slippery wrestling surface. It’s easy to tell if highlights are from the Nagoya basho due to the amount of hand fans seen being waved in the crowd.
The slippery conditions often meant lots of matches ended due to slips and trips. In the new arena, with blissful AC, we should see wrestlers performing at the height of their abilities (and not being hampered by the conditions).
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