The Japan Sumo Association released the latest banzuke (ranking document) on Sunday. The document lists the 600 or so wrestlers in the Grand Sumo system, sorting them across six divisions. The makuuchi (top division) and juryo (second division) are the only salaried divisions in the sport. The makuuchi is home to the yokozuna and other top wrestlers who will be competing for the Emperor’s Cup at the Kyushu tournament in November.
See below for the rankings for the makuuchi, sumo’s top division:
Grand Sumo Top Division Rankings
| East | Rank | West |
| Onosato 🇯🇵 | Yokozuna | Hoshoryu 🇲🇳 |
| Kotozakura🇯🇵 | Ozeki | |
| Aoinishiki 🇺🇦 | Sekiwake | Oho 🇯🇵 |
| Takanosho 🇯🇵 | Komusubi | Takayasu 🇯🇵 |
| Hakuoho 🇯🇵 | M1 | Wakatakakage 🇯🇵 |
| Kirishima 🇲🇳 | M2 | Wakamotoharu 🇯🇵 |
| Hiradoumi 🇯🇵 | M3 | Ura 🇯🇵 |
| Tamawashi 🇲🇳 | M4 | Oshoma 🇲🇳 |
| Yoshinofuji 🇯🇵 | M5 | Shodai 🇯🇵 |
| Atamifuji 🇯🇵 | M6 | Onokatsu 🇲🇳 |
| Churanoumi 🇯🇵 | M7 | Abi 🇯🇵 |
| Ichiyamamoto 🇯🇵 | M8 | Kinbozan 🇰🇿 |
| Midorifuji 🇯🇵 | M9 | Tobizaru 🇯🇵 |
| Daieisho 🇯🇵 | M10 | Kotoshoho 🇯🇵 |
| Shishi 🇺🇦 | M11 | Roga 🇷🇺 |
| Fujinokawa 🇯🇵 | M12 | Tomokaze 🇯🇵 |
| Gonoyama 🇯🇵 | M13 | Mitakeumi 🇯🇵 |
| Ryuden 🇯🇵 | M14 | Tokihayate 🇯🇵 |
| Nishikifuji 🇯🇵 | M15 | Shonannoumi 🇯🇵 |
| Oshoumi 🇯🇵 | M16 | Sadanoumi 🇯🇵 |
| Chiyoshoma 🇲🇳 | M17 | Asakoryu 🇯🇵 |
| Meisei 🇯🇵 | M18 |
Ura back in the joi
The ever-popular Ura, aka The Peach Prince, returns to the joi (maegashira 1-4) for the first time since January. Up until this year Ura had been a mainstay at that spot in the rankings. The high ranking is a tough place to be for any rikishi, though.
Wrestlers in the joi will face the yokozuna, ozeki and san’yaku ranked wrestlers in the first week of the tournament. That’s a murderer’s row, especially with two dominant looking yokozuna (Onosato and Hoshoryu) atop the banzuke.
Even so, Ura had been able to make a living up there surprising elite wrestlers with his unique sumo. His game includes flips, twists, spins and finishing moves that only he can pull off. Ura put these techniques to good use at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England recently.
Ura wowed British fans with his arsenal. That mini tournament in the UK was billed as the ‘first official grand sumo tournament outside of Japan.’ However, for experienced sumo watchers it was pretty obvious that the matches were exhibition bout and a few seemed choreographed, including this viral moment between Ura and Aonishiki.
The London bouts served as a nice interlude for fans, and seemed to have attracted some new folks to the sport, but Ura (and everyone else) will be fighting for real in just a few weeks.
Aonishiki continues to climb
After his fourth 11-4 record in a row Ukrainian phenom Aonishiki has been promoted to sekiwake. His rise to the sekiwake rank after just 13 tournaments is the fastest promotion to sekiwake in the history of the sport, beating the record of former Hawaiian rikishi Konishiki who scored the promotion after 12 tournaments.
The 21 year-old Aonishiki is now set up to compete for the ozeki rank, one below yokozuna. You typically need 33 wins across three tournaments with at least two tournaments being at the sekiwake rank. If Aonishiki gets his usual 11-4 record here and again in January, he’ll be the first European born ozeki since Georgia’s Tochinoshin managed that feat in 2018.
And you wouldn’t bet against him to do that, either. Aonishiki has taken Grand Sumo by storm with his electric style (which borrows much from his days as a national level freestyle wrestler).
Wakatakakage and Kirishima fall out the san’yaku
Wakatakakage lost his bid to become an ozeki in September. His 6-9 record saw him fall well short of 33 wins. That losing record has also seen him busted all the way down to maegashira 1. His former fellow sekiwake Kirishima (who also went 6-9) has fallen even further, to maegashira 2.
Wakatakakage and Kirishima, two veterans, who have spent considerable time at the top of the banzuke (as an ozeki in the case of Kirishima) are now at risk of being on the wrong side of a passing of the guard, as Aonishiki and other youngsters – like Hakuoho, Oho and Hiradoumi – look to replace them at the top.
Now they are in the joi they’ll be tasked with fighting the core of elite wrestlers they used to belong to. This gives them an opportunity to get right back into the special named ranks, but it’s not going to be easy.
Retirements
As the banzuke was released Endo announced his retirement. Endo had sat out the last two tournaments due to injury and was due to be placed in the makushita (third division), outside of the salaried ranks. Endo has acquired elder stock will take the name Kitajin once he has had his official hair cutting retirement ceremony. He will then be a coach at his Oitekaze stable, home of Daieisho and Tobizaru.
Endo was the hottest prospect in sumo in the 2010s. After a stellar amateur career he flew through the first two divisions and joined the makuuchi after just three tournaments. He competed in 69 tournaments in the top division and only dropped out of the top division twice before this year. Endo finishes with a career mark of 527-494-88 with two runner-up finishes, six special prizes and seven kinboshi (awards for defeating yokozuna while ranked maegashira).
Endo joins former sekiwake Takarafuji and former maegashira Mitoryu, who retired during the last tournament.
Other notes
Kusano appears on the banzuke under his new name Yoshinofuji. This is the first shikona (ring name) devised by the current Isegahama (former yokozuna Terunofuji). Yoshinofuji is ranked maegashira 6 for Kyushu. This is his highest ever rank and comes after he went 8-7 in September, in his second ever top division tournament.
Yoshinofuji’s stablemate Takerufuji is one of three wrestlers demoted to the juryo (second division). Takerufuji goes down after missing all of the September tournament due to injury. Hitoshi, who went 7-8 in his top division debut in September, and Nishikigi, who went an awful 3-12 in September, are the other men sent down.
They have been replaced by Nishikifuji, Chiyoshoma and Oshoumi. This will be Oshoumi’s first top division tournament.
Former ozeki Asanoyama is ranked juryo 4 for Kyushu. He’s been fighting his way up the divisions after being sidelined with a serious knee injury. He is primed for a top division return if he can get a big result in November.
More Sumo on Combat Press
Combat Press will provide more Grand Sumo coverage in the coming weeks. We’ll have our own power rankings and then a preview and viewing guide for the Kyushu basho.
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