Sumo returns on July 12 with Grand Sumo’s 2026 Nagoya basho at the Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, Japan. The 15-day tournament will crown the latest top division champion, as well as give hundreds of sumo wrestlers the chance to improve their rank through earning an all important kachi-koshi (winning record).
As always, with so many men competing at once, there are plenty of storylines all competing for our attention. Below are five things I’m paying special attention to at this month’s tournament.
Can Aonishiki bounce back?
Aonishiki sat out of the last tournament. The 0-0-15 record that generated was his second losing record in a row (having gone 7-8 in the March tournament). Those back-to-back losing records have cost him his ozeki rank ahead of this tournament. Before that March tournament, Aonishiki was riding high on back-to-back championship wins and seemed primed to become the sport’s 76th yokozuna (and first yokozuna born in Europe).
Injuries, like is so often the case in sumo, prevented Aonishiki from reaching that goal, though. He was banged up in the March tournament, but also suffered from the rest of the division finally catching onto his freestyle wrestling infused style.
He took the May tournament off knowing it would cost him his ozeki rank. However, he also knew that in this tournament he would be able to win back that rank with double digit wins. Usually, it takes 33 wins across three straight tournaments to earn the ozeki rank.
Aonishiki took the risk of sitting out a tournament with hopes he would be fit enough to claw back the rank here. It will be fascinating to see whether Aonishiki is healthy enough to put himself back on that yokozuna track. It will also be fascinating to see if he’s made adjustments to counter the adjustments so many opponents made against him in March.
What can we expect from Onosato and Hoshoryu?
Onosato and Hoshoryu joined Aonishiki on the sidelines in May. Onosato sat out the entire tournament due to a shoulder injury that has been plaguing him since November. Hoshoryu came into the tournament healthy, but injured his hamstring on the first day of the tournament.
Both yokozuna appear to be healthy now. Both competed at the exhibition tournament recently held in Paris’ Accor Arena.
If they compete close to their full ability in Nagoya, then both are among the favourites to win the championship this month. Hopefully they, and Aonishiki, can make it through fifteen days of competition at this tournament. That would be the first time this has happened since January (where both Hoshoryu and Onosato were a little compromised due to injury, but managed to continue competing).
Onosato, Hoshoryu and Aonishiki is a fascinating three-way rivalry, with each man having an advantage over the other one in a rock-paper-scissors style fashion. So far, though, we’ve been robbed of seeing this play out at the highest level.
Will we see an all Isegahama play-off?
The Isegahama stable absorbed the Miyagino stable a few years ago. That move came about because the Japan Sumo Association punished Miyagino stable master Hakuho over a hazing incident at his stable. Hakuho is the sport’s GOAT and he has always rubbed the JSA the wrong way. This year it was revealed that this move would be permanent, something Hakuho sensed was coming and thus prompted him to retire his elder status in Grand Sumo.
Before the absorption, Hakuho had helped stack Miyagino with many of the brightest prospects in the sport. Those prospects are now maturing alongside an already very talented room at Isegahama. In July there will be five Isegahama wrestlers competing in the top division and a further four in the second division. No other stable comes close to this level of representation.
Wrestlers from the same stable cannot fight each other. So this amount of Isegahama wrestlers poses some puzzles for the matchmakers. The only way wrestlers from the same stable can face each other is if they are in a play-off for a championship.
Atamifuji, Yoshinofuji and Hakunofuji are the highest ranked of these wrestlers and all have looked very good this year. If there is an all Isegahama play-off in this tournament, it could feature two of those three. Or perhaps it will include Takerufuji, who has returned to the top division for the first time since a torn bicep bounced him down to the second division in November.
The second division might feature an Isegahama play-off, too, with names like Midorifuji and Toshinofuji competing for the prize.
Can Kotoeiho and Fujiryoga follow up on their impressive March tournaments?
Kotoeiho and Fujiryoga were our surprise contenders in March. Both finished up with strong 10-5 records after spending much of the tournament among the leaders. Fujiryoga could have even forced himself into a play-off on the final day had beaten eventual winner Wakatakakage.
The March tournament was just the third top division tournament for Kotoeiho. It was only the second for Fujiryoga. Both men benefited from friendly match-making during the first week of the tournament, due to their low rankings. However, both also impressed when things got more difficult in the second week. They weren’t able to keep up with the elites, Kirishima and Wakatakakage, but they also didn’t look completely out of their depths.
They have both been rewarded for their past tournament with big promotions up the banzuke (ranking sheet). It will be interesting to see whether they are good enough to survive at these higher spots or whether that last tournament was a fluke.
Is Asahifuji the real deal?
Asahifuji (another Isegahama wrestler) will make his third division debut at this tournament. The 21 year-old Mongolian has been, literally, perfect so far in his career. He entered Grand Sumo at the sixth division in January and went 7-0. He went 7-0 in his next two tournaments, too. He will set a record if he goes 7-0 here in the third division, too.
We’ve been blessed with seeing top prospects flourish and reach their potential over the last few years (Onosato, Aonishiki, Yoshinofuji). This month could give us a pretty big sign regarding whether Asahifuji will be the next young star to join them.
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