I had planned to do some ramblings about being here, but I procrastinated and then - soken was here.
So, what's soken? I'm sure it has a lot of history, but to me, it's a practice put on for the pleasure (or vanity) of this body that calls itself the "Yokozuna Deliberation Council" (the "YDC"). Why? Again, that's probably history,
somewhere along the way, but at the moment, it seems that the YDC exist only to carp about which sumotori is doing what - usually poorly. It's a rare occurrence when the YDC, notably Ms. Uchidate, (see photo) doles out praise. Despite the lofty title, I really wonder how much weight they carry anymore by themselves - surely they are not the ultimate "deciders" (oooh, sorry President Bush!), given all of the press about which oyakata and the rijicho (head of the Japan Sumo Association) say about anyone's chances for promotion. And, come on, do they really take notice of the boys at the lower or even non very upper-echelon ranks that much? Yeah, when they are sure that someone has potential based on - what? - perception? Going regularly to morning practice? I wonder.
Anyway, enough about me. The soken was held this morning at the Kokukigan. One might think that because this is held at the pleasure of the YDC, only the higher ranks would be represented. I always thought so until I went to my first one last May. I was then quite surprised to see that the makushita ranks were well represented, and that there was a young Russian boy that I had followed since his entry to sumo, Wakanoho, whose rise to upper makushita was nothing less than meteoric.
So, I got up early, as is a habit I've been trying to break since I retired - to no avail - and went on the computer, had coffee and watched some CNN. When I finally looked outside at around 6AM, to my absolute horror, there was this snaking line already waiting to get in to the Kokugikan for the soken. Geez, I hadn't even showered yet. I hurried up, went to the local convenience for some breakfast to take with me and, around 6:30AM, went to take my place in line, which had doubled since I first looked out. The flyers handed to me the day before at the ticket office indicated that soken started at 7:30, and I really didn't remember going there so early last year. I later met Doreen Simmons, who was about a column ahead of me in the line (don't ask me to quantify any more than that), and she said that she had gotten there just about 6AM, but that a fellow sumo fanatic had gone to the line at 5:30AM!!!!!!!
When I entered the Kokugikan, with everyone scrambling for the best seats, I decided to take the unorthodox view of
the dohyo, i.e., from the back of the arena. I knew that there would be members of the sumo mailing list and the sumo forum who would be sitting shomen-side (front and center) and that they would likely post photos and videos.
The practice bouts had already started. Now, this is very similar to what you would see in regular morning practice at
the respective heya (stables). Two of the lower-ranked rikishi start out against each other, and the winner chooses his next opponent. He could be someone that the previous winner just favors for a good practice, or the one who gets directly in the selector's face enough. Note: So when the newspapers report that so-and-so did this many bouts and so-and-so did
not participate much, it could just be the winner's selections. What this means, as you will see in some of my video, is that, the rest of the rikishi rush up to the winner shouting that they want to be next. Naturally, some do not act at all, and some are in the perceived winner's face even before the match is over, but that's basically how the practice goes. There is no pattern - it's on the whim of the winner whom to choose. Of course, when a sekitori steps on the dohyo and indicates that he wants a bout, everyone gives way to him, as he would then to the sanyaku, sanyaku to ozeki, and ozeki to yokozuna.
Some of the more active (most chosen) makushita men were Takamifuji (most active and most winning), Hokutoiwa, Dewaotori, Isobe, Kagaya, Kotokuni, Ikioi, Kirinowaka, Buyuzan, and Tochinoshin, These stuck in my mind as the ones that had at least two bouts.
The bouts were over very quickly, and Takamifuji received the most "pick me" attention. Takanoyama, the Czech boy
from Naruto-beya, tried a few times, but no one chose him. One other Naruto boy, Sasaki, had a few bouts and won two that I saw.
After about an hour, the juryo men started coming in - Mokonami being the first and Hakurozan following soon thereafter. I may have missed one coming in from the nishi (west) side, but the two named were the most prominent from my seat. Eventually, the rest came streaming in - I caught all but seven or eight of the 28 men in the division. Tosanoumi - back in Juryo after over 11 years in Makunouchi, with only one previous relapse to Juryo - looked fit and happy. Although he didn't participate much in the bouts, he did lend his chest for butsukari.
Kitazakura stopped by to say hello for a moment while coming down the hanamichi. He said he feels good, he feels strong and he is hoping to get back up to Makunouchi (now he's Juryo 1), so that he can take his wife and child to Hawaii. What a treat that would be for the spectators in Honolulu.
Soon, the stadium announcer advised that butsukari would begin - that exercise generally ends the session for the respective ranks - you can see this video for a demonstration.
That would be Toyohibiki lending his chest to Sadanofuji, Toyozakura to Sotairyu, Hakuba to (unknown) and Hakurozan to Kakuo, respectively.
Juryo bouts lasted about another hour with Bushuyama and Hakurozan being the most active - Bushuyama was doing very well, winning many of his bouts. Hakurozan appears to have recovered nicely from his knee injury sustained last year. No one really seemed to be the belle of the ball, i.e., having a huge number of rikishi vying for a match, but the two just mentioned kept it going pretty quickly. Mokonami, Kaiho, Hakuba, Daimanazuru, Byuho were also active. Yoshikaze had one bout, which he lost.
The Brothers Zakura - Kita and Toyo participated quite a bit, and, in a highlight of the soken, Kitazakura even chose Toyozakura as an opponent. Although a very short match with one false start,this was a rare occurrence since brothers may not fight one another during the regular tournaments.
As the Juryo progressed, the Makunouchi started streaming in. Notable by his absence was the Estonian Baruto, who had a very severe knee injury last year. I hope that his decision whether to fight or not this tournament is made solely on the progress of his rehabilitation, not his ultimate place on the banzuke should he decide not to return this time. Ozeki Tochiazuma did not attend, either - understandable given his decision today to retire. Others absent included Iwakiyama, Kyokutenho (no doubt under house arrest after the car accident) and Takekaze. Hmmmmm...was it just the other day that I saw Takekaze over in Kinshicho with a young lady?
Kokkai apparently heard that "Popeye" (Naruto Oyakata's nickname for Wakanosato) was going to be there, so he came in character.
As each sekitori - including the Ozeki and Yokozuna - entered the dohyo area, he went (as required) to pay obeisance to the members of the YDC. The Ozeki and the Yokozuna, though, would have the luxury of enetring later, as befits their ranks.
Roho looked as though he were having a bit of trouble, shaking and stretching and twisting his head - stiff neck? Headache? Too much vodka?
With most of Makunouchi there, the Juryo practice began to wind down and butsukari ensued. Notable were Miyabiyama lending his chest to Bushuyama, Chiyotaikai to Chiyohahuko, Tokitenku to Hakurozan, and Tochinonada to Matsuzakasa.
The obvious crowd pleasers were Ama and Takamisakari, both of whom are always interesting to watch - although for different reasons. This time around, Takamisakari was not entertaining for his usual arm-pumping, chest thumping antics, but for the way he was picked as an opponent, as well as being asked to pick. Take a look at the video to the left and be sure to watch it to the end.
On the other hand, Ama, when trying to get the previous winner's attention, jumped up and down and waved his hands ala President Bush dancing with the band during his recent "combat malaria" trip to Africa.
Since I won't go into all the details of wins and losses - that's not what this is about - I'll just make some observations.
As in regular practice, mawashi had to be tightened periodically - Hakurozan helped his brother, Roho, with his (and the crowd went wild) and Kisenosato tightened Ama's belt at one point.
The Mongolians seemed to have a predilection for choosing other Mongolians as their partners. I guess with Tokitenku (who looked really good, by the way), Ryuo, Ama and Kakuryu - all of whom were actively contending to be next, it wasn't really surprising. Eventually, all things became equal later on, but not before Ama roundly beat poor Kakuryu, who couldn't get another bout despite swarming around at every chance.
Asashoryu had a conversation with Kasugao and seemed to be advisig him on his sumo technique. This apparently worked as Kasugao made quick work of Wakanosato.
The bouts were fairly evenly distributed among the non-sanyuku (with the exception of the ever-in-demand Takamisakari) and were also fairly pedestrian.
The Ozeki looked pretty worn, with Kotooshu in his knee brace, Hakuho with a foot bandage, Kaio with an elbow
taped and Chiyotaikai with arm, wrists and fingers bandaged. Asashoryu took a breather himself to put an ice pack on his left elbow, which has been a bane to him for some time now, but he didn't wear any support on his elbow.
Kotooshu lost two in a row to Hakuho. After their first bout, they both had to have the dohyo dirt brushed off by their tsukebito (attendants), but Kotooshu also had to have his mage (hairdo) brushed off, as well. I guess he lost his second bout to Hakuho by putting his hand down first so that he wouldn't further mess his hair.
Hakuho (according to Ms. Uchidate) had a cold and won all but four of his twelve bouts. He attributed his loss to Asashoryu as the result of a "slight henka", but it looks to me as though they both just missed. No excuses for his loss to Kaio. The Yokozuna won all of his nine bouts, most of them very swiftly.
Chiyotaikai was very feisty, pushing Hakuho out of the way when vying for the next bout with Asashoryu!
When butsukari time came, Asashoryu put both Miyabiyama and Ama through the mill, having them come to him from all angles and edges of the dohyo. I do have some clips of this that I will put up in the collection later.
You can read more about the soken from a reporter's perspective in the Daily Yomiuri by James Hardy, so I'll just finish by telling you who butsukari-ed whom:
Kaio lent his chest to Kotooshu,
Hakuho to Kotomitsuki,
Asashoryu to Kasugao, (maybe THIS is what the advice was about),
Kotomitsuki to Chiyotaikai,
Tochinonada to Kaizoe,
Roho to Kokkai,
Kotoosho to Kotoshogiku,
Wakanosato to Kisenosato,
Tamanoshima to Dejima,
Futenho to Homasho,
Ama to Aminishiki,
Tochinohana to Tochiozan, and
Wakanosato to Tamanoshima
Well, some, including Hakuho gave the Yokozuna water in respect and apprecaition for the bouts.... and the soken ended at 11 AM.
Please be sure to come back and check my remaining photos and video.
© 2007 Barbara Ann Klein. Please do not duplicate story or photos without permission, which I usually readily grant for the asking. Links are permitted to this blog.
