The gyogi have been silenced, the yokozuna has stopped his shuffle, the rikishi have retired to their heya and my rabbit ears have been lowered.....sumo has ended. Osaka is quiet once again.
Well, as quiet as a city gets anyway, and I've never been there so maybe the crowds are simply elsewhere. I don't know.
Your winner, taking fourteen of his fifteen matches, is, once again, Asashoryu. Mr. Yokozuna now has eleven yusho (a basho championship) which ties him for eighth on the all-time list with Akebono, a household name....in households that enjoy sumo.
Asa looked on form throughout the entire basho and even on his only losing day it took two matches to get him to lose. This came at the hands of Tochiazuma who, going into the match, was tied with Asashoryu in head to head matches at seven apiece, an impressive stat for the Ozeki. In their initial rumble things looked pretty even and ended up that way as both men fell off the dohyo touching down at the same time; for Asa, an elbow, for Tochi, a hand. So they lined up to do it all again and again it looked even. But eventually Asa tried to wrap up Tochi's belt and in so doing left himself vulnerable. Tochi took the initiative and charged Asa back where he teetered on the edge of the dohyo before being bent over backward and down. At this the crowd went nuts and cushions flew through the air in a wild frenzy of emotion you hardly ever see from the people of this country.
But although Tochiazuma's victory sparked the crowd, not to mention Tochi himself, it did little to alter the course of the basho and Asa won the next day, mathematically eliminating all would be challengers. He finished at 14-1.
For the March basho Tochizuma, Kaio, and Chiyotaikai all lined up as Ozeki but only two of them will be safe in the next meeting, in May. Tochiazuma and Kaio both finished at 10-5 while Chiyotaikai will be fighting to retain his rank due to a lackluster showing in which he finished at 6-9. Remember that is takes two consecutive basho records at seven or less wins to demote an Ozeki so Chiyo won't have to search far for motivation.
As for the other two, sure, 10-5 is good but not good enough. It was good to see Kaio back in form after an injury in January saw him pull out early, but he'll have to do better if he hopes to get back to Yokozuna considerations. Tochiazuma, on the other hand, had flashes of brilliance, which handing Asa his only loss attests to, and he did beat both of his rival Ozeki, but that only means he lost to guys of lower ranks which obviously won't go over well with the man. Consistency is what he needs if he is to climb to the top.
Hakuho (my personal favorite) started off the basho with a bang, as in bang bang, you're dead. He lost on days one, two and three and essentially--not to mention immediately--took himself out of yusho contention. It was a tough beginning to the basho for the Sekiwake ranked fighter, but he finished with a record of 8-7 thereby allowing himself to retain his rank. He'll have to show better form next time. Meanwhile, his east counterpart, Miyabiyama finished at 5-10 and will therefore be demoted come May.
At the fourth ranking, Komusubi, both Iwakiyama and Kotooshu had dismal appearances chaulking up only four wins each. Both looked out of form the entire basho and will no doubt slip down the ranking quite a bit.
Kokkai, our friend from Georgia (the republic, not the state), ended up at 9-6 and will climb the rankings. In this basho he looked more controlled in his form which is hopefully a sign of things to come from the M4. Look for him to be around an M2 or even an M1 in May.
So those are the highlights from Osaka. Two more to go while I am still in the country and then the search will be on for Stateside NHK reception. That's the station that carries the sport. Hope I can get it.

In other news, I have managed to get myself out of this place for all but today and tomorrow this week. I decided that since I have plenty of vacation time left I'd use some of it to save my sanity. So this weekend will be a 5-dayer for me. Don't have anything planned at this moment other to say that I am waiting to hear back from Yamashita-sensei to see if Amy and I will be visiting his family this weekend. If that doesn't happen we will probably take off on a day trip to Tokyo. Have to get sumo tickets for May (uncle Ray and aunt Judy's inauguration into the world of the great sport) and have also been getting that bookstore itch. So we might take Saturday and go to the city.
Other than that I have no plans and am looking forward to sleeping in, lounging around and taking those small journeys to the BVM.
And with that I shall take my leave of you.