[sumo] Fwd: [Sumo news] - Jungyo woes

[Jeff A]

Moti

Best regards,
Gaijingai

For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these:
It might have been.
- John Greenleaf Whittier


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Moti Dichne <niramiai at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Apr 18, 2026 at 3:47 AM
Subject: [Sumo news] - Jungyo woes
To: Sumo Newsletter2 <sumo-newsletter2 at googlegroups.com>


The Spring Jungyo arrivedd in Yokohama on the 16th. The tour, which began
in late March and is being held in 27 locations, has seen many rikishi
absent due to injuries, including Yokozuna Oonosato and Ozeki Aonishiki.
With 16 rikishi, more than 30% of the tour's scheduled rikishi, absent, the
event is suffering from a "shortage of manpower." Tour director Takadagawa
(former Sekiwake Akinoshima) explained that no replacements would be
brought in from Juryo, and in addition to the usual matches, a mini- basho
for Makuuchi rikishi was held. The scene surrounding the keiko area held in
the morning by the Sekitori illustrated the small number of rikishi
participating in the tour. Normally, one has to search for gaps among the
rikishi surrounding the ring, who desperately want to be the next to train,
but on this day it was sparse. The large number of absentees is noticeable
on this tour.

There were nine from day 1, but then Ozeki Aonishiki and Maegashira
Yoshinofuji withdrew. On the 15th, Yokozuna Oonosato, Maegashira Fujinokawa
and Nishikifuji joined the Kyujo Kamp, bringing the total to 17. Makuuchi
Fujiseiun returned from yesterday, but of the 48 eligible rikishis from
Makuuchi and Juryo, 16, or one-third, are absent. One has been brought in
from Juryo to fill the gaps, but Kyokai officials are scratching their
heads, saying "it's not just barely enough, it's a minus" and looking for
ways to proceed as usual. For fans, the tour is a precious opportunity to
interact with the rikishi. Even on this day, disappointed voices were heard
from the queue at the merchandise booth saying, "Oonosato isn't here..."
but the Kyokai is taking measures.

Takadagawa, the tour director, stated that there are no plans to add new
rikishi from Juryo, but added, "We are thinking about and trying out
various things to please the audience with the rikishi we have available.."
One of these is the Makuuchi selection basho, which was introduced on the
15th. If eight rikishis were to compete in a normal basho, there would be a
total of four matches, but in the basho format there would be a total of
seven matches, increasing the tension. The participating rikishi will be
rotated daily to reduce the burden on them. On this day, popular rikishi

Ura won the basho, and the venue erupted in cheers. Those involved in
producing the upcoming days have confessed, "With this number of rikishi,
the normal program would end about an hour earlier. We are worried," but
they are rethinking the content based on suggestions from the Kyokai.
Ticket sales are strong, and they said, "Tours liven up the local
communities. We want to do everything we can to satisfy the audience."
There are 10 days remaining of the 27 days of the 29-day long spring tour.
Everyone hopes that they will overcome adversity with ingenuity and that it
will lead to excitement for Natsu basho. (Naofumi Hayashi)

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