2016 in sumo


The following were the events in professional sumo during 2016.

Tournaments

Hatsu basho">honbasho">basho

Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 10 January – 24 January

Haru basho

Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, 13 March – 27 March

Natsu basho

Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 8 May – 22 May

Nagoya basho

Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya, 10 July – 24 July

Aki basho

Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 11 September – 25 September

Kyushu basho

Fukuoka Kokusai Center, Kyushu, 13 November – 27 November

News

January

  • 7: Yokozuna Hakuhō, Harumafuji and Kakuryū perform the hono dohyo-iri or New Year ring-entering ceremony before crowds at the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo.
  • 10: Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attend the first day of the New Year tournament in Tokyo, and express their sadness over the recent death of the Sumo Association chairman, Kitanoumi.
  • 24: Kotoshōgiku defeats all three yokozuna to win his first top division championship, becoming the first Japanese born wrestler to win the top division championship since Tochiazuma in 2006. He finishes with a 14–1 record. His only defeat is to maegashira Toyonoshima. Toyonoshima is the runner-up on 12–3, shared with Hakuhō and Harumafuji. Toyonoshima is also given the Outstanding Performance award. The Fighting Spirit Award goes to Shōdai, who scores 10–5 on his top division debut. Yoshikaze achieves an 8–7 record in his sekiwake debut. Hidenoumi, two tournaments after being demoted to jūryō, gets his first sekitori championship with an 11–4 record and will be promoted back to the top division next tournament. Two promising young Japanese wrestlers, Jokoryu and Endo, both pull out through injury and will be demoted to the second division. Ōzeki Terunofuji also withdraws and will be kadoban in March, alongside Gōeidō who scores only 4–11.

February

March

  • 24: Shibatayama Oyakata and one of his wrestlers are ordered by the Tokyo District Court to pay 32.4 million yen in compensation to a former wrestler who the court ruled had faced "daily abuse" since joining in 2008 and had to undergo four surgeries for a detached retina, eventually losing sight in the eye in 2013. Shibatayama says he will appeal the ruling.
  • 26: On the final day of the Osaka tournament, Hakuho wins his 36th yusho, and first since July 2015 in Nagoya, by sidestepping Harumafuji at the initial charge. Having won fourteen straight matches after an opening day defeat to Takarafuji, he finishes on 14–1, one win ahead of ozeki Kisenosato on 13–2. Gōeidō has his best tournament as an ozeki, with a 12–3 score. Kotoshogiku, by contrast, finishes on 8–7, his yokozuna hopes dashed. The Outstanding Performance Award goes to Kotoyuki who scores 12–3 and has defeated a yokozuna and two ozeki. Ikioi scores 10–5 but fails to win on the final day and so misses out on the Fighting Spirit Prize. Osunaarashi wins the juryo division championship with a 13–2 record, ensuring his immediate return to makuuchi. The makushita champion is won by Satō with a perfect 7–0 record, guaranteeing his promotion to juryo next time.
  • 28: The results of elections to the Sumo Association's board of directors are announced. Hakkaku Oyakata is confirmed as chairman, a position he has already been in since the death of the previous incumbent Kitanoumi in November last year. His only rival for the post, Takanohana, receives the backing of only two directors, with Hakkaku winning the support of six.
  • 30: The various roles of the new board are announced. Oguruma Oyakata is the senior executive manager, Nishonoseki is the new head of the judging department, replacing Isegahama, Takanohana is in charge of jungyo, Kasugano is head of PR, and Kagamiyama will head the planning department.
  • 30: Promotions to juryo are announced. Joining Sato are Ura, a former amateur competitor from Kwansei Gakuin University, and the returning Tamaasuka, a veteran who is being promoted to juryo for the seventh time.

April

May

  • 22: Hakuho wins his 37th championship with a perfect 15–0 record, his twelfth zensho-yusho. Kisenosato is once again runner-up, with a 13–2 score. He is the first ozeki to win at least thirteen bouts in two consecutive tournaments and not get promoted to yokozuna since Hakuho in 2006. Tochinoshin wins his first Technique Prize, while the Fighting Spirit Award goes to Mitakeumi. Terunofuji, struggling with injuries, loses 13 consecutive matches from Day 3 onwards and finishes on 2–13, equal to the worst ever record for an ozeki. The juryo division championship is won by Chiyonokuni.

June

  • 27: The rankings for the upcoming July tournament in Nagoya are released. As in May there are two wrestlers making their debuts at sekiwake, Tochinoshin and Kaisei. This is the first time since 1943/44 that there have been two consecutive tournaments featuring two sekiwake debuts. Kitaharima makes his top division debut 85 tournaments after his professional debut, the ninth-slowest in history. Chiyonokuni returns to the top division for the first time in 13 tournaments, having at one point dropped to the rank of sandanme 28 – the second lowest rank that a wrestler making a successful makuuchi return has fallen since World War II. Toyohibiki, Kagayaki, Sadanofuji and Arawashi also return to the top division. Making their juryo debuts are Daiki and Shimanoumi, while Onosho, Kyokutaisei and Kotoeko return.

July

  • 24: On the final day of the Nagoya tournament, Harumafuji wins his eighth career championship by defeating Hakuho to finish on 13–2, avoiding the need for a playoff with maegashira Takanoiwa and yokozuna candidate Kisenosato, who are runners-up on 12–3. With 38 wins over the last three tournaments, Kisenosato will be in contention for promotion once again next time if he wins the championship. The Fighting Spirit Award is shared between Takanoiwa and Takarafuji, who scores 10–5 and also brought to an end Hakuho's winning streak on Day 5. Both are first time winners. Yoshikaze, who defeated Harumafuji, wins his second Outstanding Performance Prize. Takayasu wins his first Technique Award.
  • 31: The 58th Yokozuna Chiyonofuji, Kokonoe Oyakata, dies of pancreatic cancer at the age of 61. He won 31 career championships, third on the all-time list behind Hakuho's 37 and Taiho's 32. 19 of his championships were won after the age of 30, and he also set records for longest post-war winning streak and most career wins.
  • 31: The summer tour begins in Gifu.

August

September

  • 9: Hakuho announces that he will undergo surgery on the toe injury that hampered him from the ninth day of the Nagoya basho and led to his withdrawal from the forthcoming Aki tournament. He was carrying a number of other injuries that he aggravated on the summer tour – a damaged tendon, inflammation to his right ankle, and left knee joint derangement according to a medical certificate released by the Sumo Association.
  • 25: Goeido, who clinched his first top division championship with victory over Tamawashi on the 14th day, defeats Kotoshogiku to finish with a perfect 15–0 record or zensho yusho. He is the first ozeki who was kadoban, or in danger of demotion, to take the yusho with an undefeated record and the first since Musashimaru in 1994 to claim his first championship 15–0. He is also the first Japanese wrestler in exactly 20 years to zensho-yusho, the last being Takanohana. Runner-up on 13–2 is Endo, who is awarded the Technique Prize. Okinoumi, who defeated both yokozuna and three ozeki, gets the Outstanding Performance Award, while Takayasu is rewarded for a 10–5 performance in his sekiwake debut with the Fighting Spirit Prize. In the juryo division, Daiki takes the yusho with a 12–3 record. Kizenryu will be demoted back to the makushita division after he can score only 5–10 at Juryo 11 – this is the fifth time out of five that he has lasted only one tournament in juryo, a record.
  • 28: The wrestlers promoted to the juryo division for November are announced. There are three newcomers: Oyanagi of Tokitsukaze stable, Daishoho and Meisei. Also, former maegashira Yamaguchi and former Juryo 12 Ryuden return.

October

November

  • 26:Kakuryu wins the Kyushu tournament, defeating ozeki Goeido to move to an unassailable two-win lead, having seen his closest rival Harumafuji lose to Hakuhō in the match immediately preceding his. He hands Goeido, who had been looking for yokozuna promotion at the start of the tournament, his fifth defeat.
  • 27: Kakuryu defeats Harumafuji to finish with a 14–1 record. He wins his third Emperor's Cup, and second from the yokozuna rank. The runner-up is Kisenosato for the 12th time, which is a record for someone who has never won a yusho. Kisenosato also finishes with the highest number of wins for the calendar year with 69; no one else has achieved this without winning a tournament in the six basho a year era. Third place is shared by a number of wrestlers on 11–4, including Harumafuji, Hakuhō, and Shōdai, who shares the Fighting Spirit Prize with Ishiura. Isihiura had a ten bout winning streak on his top division debut, and finishes on 10–5. The Technique Award goes to Tamawashi; it is his first ever special prize after 44 top division tournaments. He also denies Endō, who had beaten a yokozuna and three ozeki, the Outstanding Performance Award by sending him to his eighth defeat. Goeido, the winner of the previous tournament, finishes on a mediocre 9–6 while Kotoshogiku will be kadoban in January after scoring only 5–10. The juryo division championship is won by Satō. In the sandanme division former komusubi Jōkōryū begins his comeback from injury by taking the championship with a perfect 7–0 record.

December

Deaths