2023 in sumo

Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 8 January – 22 January[1]

2023 Hatsu basho results - Makuuchi Division
Result					East			Rank	West			Result
0	-	0	-	15	ø		Terunofuji	Y	ø			0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0	ø			O			Takakeishō	12	-	3	-	0
9	-	6	-	0			Wakatakakage	S			Hōshōryū	8	-	7	-	0
1	-	5	-	9	ø		Takayasu	S			Shōdai	6	-	9	-	0
11	-	4	-	0			Kiribayama	K			Kotonowaka	8	-	7	-	0
5	-	10	-	0			Meisei	K			Wakamotoharu	9	-	6	-	0
8	-	7	-	0			Tobizaru	M1			Daieishō	10	-	5	-	0
7	-	8	-	0			Mitakeumi	M2			Tamawashi	9	-	6	-	0
8	-	7	-	0			Abi	M3			Midorifuji	6	-	9	-	0
4	-	11	-	0			Nishikifuji	M4			Sadanoumi	6	-	9	-	0
9	-	6	-	0			Ryūden	M5			Nishikigi	9	-	6	-	0
7	-	8	-	0			Hokutofuji	M6			Myōgiryū	6	-	9	-	0
0	-	0	-	15	ø		Ichinojō	M7			Ura	7	-	8	-	0
10	-	5	-	0			Ōnoshō	M8			Ōhō	4	-	11	-	0
6	-	9	-	0			Takanoshō	M9			Endō	9	-	6	-	0
8	-	7	-	0			Aoiyama	M10			Hiradoumi	8	-	7	-	0
5	-	10	-	0			Chiyoshōma	M11	ø		Tochinoshin	2	-	3	-	10
7	-	8	-	0			Kagayaki	M12	ø		Okinoumi	0	-	6	-	9
11	-	4	-	0			Kotoshōhō	M13			Kotoekō	7	-	8	-	0
10	-	5	-	0			Ichiyamamoto	M14			Azumaryū	9	-	6	-	0
7	-	8	-	0			Tsurugishō	M15			Mitoryū	7	-	8	-	0
8	-	7	-	0			Takarafuji	M16			Chiyomaru	4	-	11	-	0

Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, 12 March – 26 March[1]

2023 Haru basho results - Makuuchi Division
Result					East			Rank	West			Result
0	-	0	-	15	ø		Terunofuji	Y	ø			0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0	ø			O	ø		Takakeishō	3	-	4	-	8
7	-	7	-	1	ø		Wakatakakage	S			Hōshōryū	10	-	5	-	0
12	-	3	-	0			Kiribayama*	S	ø			0	-	0	-	0
11	-	4	-	0			Wakamotoharu	K			Kotonowaka	9	-	6	-	0
12	-	3	-	0			Daieishō	K			Tobizaru	6	-	9	-	0
3	-	12	-	0			Tamawashi	M1			Shōdai	10	-	5	-	0
9	-	6	-	0			Abi	M2			Ryūden	2	-	13	-	0
4	-	11	-	0			Mitakeumi	M3			Nishikigi	6	-	9	-	0
4	-	5	-	6	ø		Ōnoshō	M4			Meisei	5	-	10	-	0
6	-	9	-	0			Kotoshōhō	M5			Midorifuji	10	-	5	-	0
9	-	6	-	0			Endō	M6			Sadanoumi	6	-	9	-	0
7	-	8	-	0			Hokutofuji	M7			Takayasu	10	-	5	-	0
4	-	11	-	0			Ichiyamamoto	M8			Ura	9	-	6	-	0
6	-	9	-	0			Aoiyama	M9			Hiradoumi	7	-	8	-	0
5	-	10	-	0			Myōgiryū	M10			Nishikifuji	10	-	5	-	0
4	-	11	-	0			Azumaryū	M11			Takanoshō	8	-	7	-	0
5	-	10	-	0			Kagayaki	M12			Takarafuji	8	-	7	-	0
8	-	7	-	0			Daishōhō	M13			Kotoekō	8	-	7	-	0
11	-	4	-	0			Kinbōzan	M14			Bushōzan	5	-	10	-	0
9	-	6	-	0			Hokuseihō	M15			Ōhō	7	-	8	-	0
9	-	6	-	0			Chiyoshōma	M16			Tsurugishō	8	-	7	-	0
8	-	7	-	0			Mitoryū	M17	ø			0	-	0	-	0

Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 14 May – 28 May[1]

2023 Natsu basho results - Makuuchi Division
Result					East			Rank	West			Result
0	-	0	-	0			Terunofuji	Y	ø			0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0	ø			O			Takakeishō	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Kiribayama	S			Hōshōryū	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Daieishō	S			Wakamotoharu	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Kotonowaka	K	ø		Wakatakakage	0	-	0	-	15
0	-	0	-	0			Shōdai	K	ø			0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Abi	M1			Midorifuji	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Takayasu	M2			Endō	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Tobizaru	M3			Nishikifuji	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Ura	M4			Nishikigi	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Kinbōzan	M5			Kotoshōhō	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Meisei	M6			Mitakeumi	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Hokutofuji	M7			Tamawashi	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Sadanoumi	M8			Takanoshō	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Ōnoshō	M9			Hiradoumi	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Ryūden	M10			Takarafuji	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Hokuseihō	M11			Daishōhō	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Aoiyama	M12			Kotoekō	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Chiyoshōma	M13	ø		Ichinojō	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Asanoyama	M14			Myōgiryū	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Ichiyamamoto	M15			Tsurugishō	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Mitoryū	M16			Ōhō	0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0			Kagayaki	M17	ø			0	-	0	-	0

Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya, 9 July – 23 July[1]

Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 10 September – 24 September[1]

Fukuoka Kokusai Center, Kyushu, 12 November – 26 November[1]

• 4: Former sekiwake Toyonoshima, who had retired from professional sumo in April 2020, quits as a member of the Sumo Association in order to pursue a tarento career.[2]
• 6: Yokozuna Terunofuji withdraws from the upcoming January tournament—his second straight absence from an entire basho—as he continues to recover from surgery on both of his knees.[3]
• 14: Former sekiwake Okinoumi retires, ending an 18-year career in professional sumo competition. He withdrew from the January 2023 basho the previous day after he was defeated in his first five matches.[4]
• 22: The top division championship is won by ōzeki Takakeishō, who defeats maegashira 13 Kotoshōhō in the final bout. Both wrestlers had come into the final day with identical 11–3 records. It is Takekeishō's third career championship and first since November 2020, and puts him in a strong position to seek promotion to yokozuna in the following tournament.[5] Kotoshōhō, who had not produced a kachi-koshi or winning record since March 2022, wins his first Fighting Spirit Prize. He shares runner-up honours with Kiribayama, who also finishes on 11–4 and wins his first Techinque Prize. Ōnoshō, who led the tournament outright on Day 12 at 10–2,[6] finishes on 10–5 and misses out on a share of the Fighting Spirit Prize after defeat to Hōshōryū. Former ōzeki Shōdai, who was hoping to return to the rank by scoring at least ten wins, can only manage a 6–9 record.[7] Another former ōzeki, Asanoyama, wins the jūryō division championship with a 14–1 record.[8]
• 25: Promotions to the jūryō division are announced. The winner of the makushita division title, two-time high school yokozuna Ochiai, is promoted just one tournament after making his professional debut as a makushita tsukedashi entrant. It is the first time since the beginning of the Showa era that a wrestler has been promoted to jūryō in one tournament.[9] The winner of the 2022 All Japan Corporate Sumo Championship, Ochiai is the first new sekitori for Miyagino stable since the former Hakuhō took over as stablemaster.[10] The other jūryō debutant is 29-year-old Tamashōhō from Mongolia, who is the brother-in-law of Tamawashi.[11] There are also two wrestlers returning to jūryō – Tokushōryū after just one tournament, and Tomokaze, who returns for the first time since a long injury layoff beginning in November 2019 saw him drop from the top division down to jonidan.[11]
• 28: The retirement ceremony for the 69th yokozuna Hakuhō is held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan. He performs the yokozuna dohyō-iri, or ring entering ceremony, for the last time with ōzeki Takakeishō and sekiwake Hōshōryū serving as the tachimochi (sword bearer) and tsuyuharai (dew sweeper), respectively.[12] About 300 people take turns to cut the ōichōmage bun.[13]
• 29: The retirement ceremony for former maegashira Toyohibiki is held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan.[14]

• 1: Ikazuchi (former komusubi Kakizoe) officially takes over the stable previously owned by Irumagawa (former sekiwake Tochitsukasa) ahead of the latter reaching Sumo's mandatory retirement age of 65 at the end of April. The renamed Ikazuchi stable is the first incarnation of the stable in over six decades.[15]
• 4: The NHK charity sumo tournament is held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan for the first time in three years. It was cancelled in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16]
• 11: The retirement ceremony for former komusubi Shōhōzan is held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan.[17]
• 27: The Sumo Association releases the banzuke for the March 2023 tournament in Osaka, also known as the Haru (spring) basho. There is no change in the top two ranks, with yokozuna Terunofuji expected to return to action after missing two tournaments (he would later withdraw), and the January champion—ōzeki Takakeishō—seeking to join him at sumo's top rank with a strong March performance. January runner-up Kiribayama is elevated to sekiwake for the first time in his career. Daieishō and Tobizaru, who were both demoted from komusubi for the January tournament, return to that rank for March. The top division sees three new faces: Kinbōzan, who enters makuuchi after just eight tournaments in professional sumo and is the first top division wrestler in history from Kazakhstan, Mongolian-born Hokuseihō, who was encouraged to enter sumo by his now-stablemaster Miyagino, and nine-year sumo veteran Bushōzan. One other wrestler, Daishōhō, returns to the top division for the first time since November 2019.[18] Asanoyama, who has been climbing the sumo ladder again since completing his one-year (six tournament) suspension and had won the jūryō title in January, just misses promotion to makuuchi and is ranked at jūryō 1 for March.[19]

• 2: Daisuke Miyakura (former sandanme Kotokantetsu) files a lawsuit against the Japan Sumo Association and his former stablemaster Sadogatake (former sekiwake Kotonowaka) seeking over ¥4.1 million in monetary damages. Among his claims, the 25-year-old says he was forced to retire when he was told he could not withdraw from the January 2021 sumo tournament because of his concerns over contracting COVID-19. This occurred shortly after the Japanese government declared its second state of emergency over the virus in Tokyo and surrounding prefectures. Miyakura also alleges mistreatment of lower-division wrestlers in Sadogatake stable.[20]
• 10: Terunofuji withdraws from the March 2023 tournament, one day after stablemaster Isegahama suggested that there was "still something missing" upon observing the training of his Mongolian yokozuna.[21][22] Terunofuji underwent knee surgery last October and has not participated in a professional sumo match since Day 9 of the September 2022 basho.
• 18: Ōzeki Takakeishō withdraws on Day 7 of the March 2023 basho after three losses, ending his bid for promotion to sumo's top rank. He had suffered a left knee injury during his Day 3 victory over Shōdai, which he aggravated when losing to Mitakeumi on Day 6.[23] Takakeishō's withdrawal leaves the sumo tournament with no competing yokozuna or ōzeki for the first time since the start of the Shōwa era in 1926.[24]
• 26: Mongolian sekiwake Kiribayama defeats komusubi Daieishō twice on the final day of the March 2023 tournament–once in their final scheduled match, and again in a playoff–to win the first top-division championship of his career. The playoff was set after Kiribayama's Day 15 victory left both him and Daieishō with 12–3 records. In the playoff, Kiribayama–who had a day of rest due to a default the previous day–used the same thrust down technique he used to defeat Daieishō the first time. The ringside judges had to make sure that Kiribayama did not accidentally step out of the dohyō before confirming the victory. The 26-year-old said after the competition that he didn't understand anything that was going on when he entered sumo in 2015, but "somehow, eight years later, I've made it this far." Kiribayama, who becomes sumo's ninth makuuchi champion from Mongolia, is now in a position to pursue promotion to the second-highest rank of ōzeki with a strong performance at the May basho. For using a variety of winning kimarite both Kiribayama and Daieishō receive the Ginō-shō (Technique prize) for the second and first time, respectively. The other special prize goes to new maegashira Kinbōzan of Kazakhstan, who received the Kantō-shō (Fighting Spirit prize) after securing 11 victories in his top-division debut.[25][26]
  Another Mongolian, Ichinojō (14–1), secures the jūryō championship. The former sekiwake had just been demoted to the second-highest division after serving a one-tournament COVID-related suspension. Right behind Ichinojō in the jūryō standings is former ōzeki Asanoyama (13–2), who seeks to return to sumo's top division for the first time after COVID violations resulted in his suspension for one year.[27]
• 29: The Sumo Association announces three promotions to the second-highest rank of jūryō for May. One of two newly promoted sekitori is Fujiseiun, who entered sumo two years ago. With the exception of a playoff loss, he went undefeated in his first three tournaments, with a jonokuchi and sandanme championship to his name. The other new jūryō competitor is Tokihayate, who started sumo in 2019 and clinched the jonidan championship in his second tournament. 14-year veteran Chiyosakae returns to jūryō after he was just demoted, having secured five wins at the rank of makushita 2 in the March tournament.[28]
  Among the retirements announced by the Sumo Association is former maegashira Kagamiō, who concludes a two-decade career. Kagamiō fell off of the banzuke rankings after the July 2021 basho due to injury.[29]

• 14: Stablemaster Arashio (former maegashira Sōkokurai) announces that sekiwake Wakatakakage will be sidelined for up to one year after undergoing reconstructive surgery on his right knee. He had damaged his right ACL and meniscus near the end of the March 2023 tournament during his match against komusubi Kotonowaka, forcing his withdrawal.[30]

The spring jungyō (regional tours) were held at the following locations:[31]

• 2: Ise Shrine, Mie (Ceremonial tournament)
• 3: Minoh, Osaka
• 4: Okazaki, Aichi
• 5: Inazawa, Aichi
• 6: Fukui
• 8: Jōetsu, Niigata
• 9: Nagano
• 15: Fujisawa, Kanagawa
• 16: Machida, Tokyo
• 17: Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo (Ceremonial tournament)
• 22: Yokohama, Kanagawa
• 23: Takasaki, Gunma
• 28: Narita, Chiba
• 29: Kawasaki, Kanagawa
• 30: Kamisu, Ibaraki

• 1: The banzuke for the May 2023 tournament in Tokyo, called the Natsu basho, is published by the Sumo Association. The basho marks the return of yokozuna Terunofuji, who previously indicated that he intends to compete following injury-related absences in all or part of the last four tournaments. Sekiwake Kiribayama, the March champion, seeks a double-digit winning record in May which would likely result in promotion to the second-highest rank of ōzeki. Conversely, current ōzeki competitor Takakeishō needs eight wins in the May basho to hold on to his rank. Wakamotoharu, the older brother of injured Wakatakakage, is promoted to sekiwake for the first time in his career. It is the fourth time in sumo history that two brothers have reached the third-highest sekiwake rank, and the first since yokozuna brothers Takanohana and Wakanohana in the early 1990s. March runner-up Daieishō returns to sekiwake for the first time since last September. Former ōzeki Shōdai returns to the san'yaku ranks at komusubi after notching ten wins in March. Returning to makuuchi for the first time since 2021 is Asanoyama, the former ōzeki who has been making a comeback since serving a six-tournament suspension and had spent the first two tournaments of the year in the second-highest jūryō division. Former sekiwake Ichinojō, who was suspended in January and then won the jūryō championship in March, makes a quick return to the top division.[32]
• 4: Former sekiwake Ichinojō submits his retirement papers, ending a career spanning over nine years with one championship and two runner-up performances in the top division. Ichinojō suffered from chronic lower back pain and reportedly sought treatment after winning his second jūryō championship in March, but his condition eventually left him unable to travel from his home to Minato stable in order to practice. Although he has acquired Japanese citizenship, Ichinojō did not acquire elder stock and will not remain in the Sumo Association as a coach.[33][34]
• 9: Another violence scandal erupts as Michinoku stable is the subject of a controversy. A senior wrestler, Kirinofuji, assaulted another young wrestler, Yasunishi, in January with a frying pan and whipped him with a jump rope. Stablemaster Michinoku (former ōzeki Kirishima) is accused to have covered the violence by directly allowing the aggressor to remain within his stable and allowing him to perform a hair cutting ceremony in April despite the fact that the information was relayed to the Compliance Department. Hanakago (former sekiwake Daijuyama), the director of the Compliance Department, is also the subject of controversy for letting the aggressor retire without punishment and for declaring the incident closed after the retirement despite a formal complaint (later withdrawn) filed by the victim during the same month of April.[35]
• 14: Takayasu withdraws on the opening day of the May 2023 tournament after suffering a right leg injury during morning practice.[36] Although the medical certificate indicates that Takayasu will need three weeks to recover, he expressed his desire to try to return to competition later in the basho.[37]