Going Kyujo: Checking the History on New Yokozuna
Dangit, Hoshoryu
Well, good thing I did yesterday’s post, as Hoshoryu went kyujo today.
While compiling yesterday’s stats, I noted that I counted the kinboshi from the first full tournament as Yokozuna, as I noticed that some of the Yokozuna didn’t complete the basho right after promotion.
Let’s stick to the post-1949 Yokozuna, which is easy enough, because out of the 34 total post-1949 Yokozuna, only four have not completed their first tournament after promotion.
I will go in reverse order.
Hoshoryu, March 2025
Just for posterity, here’s the result:
Kyujo on Day 10, after a 5-4 record, of which 3 losses were kinboshi.
Better luck next time.
Futahaguro, September 1986
Kyujo on Day 7, after a 3-3 record, of which 2 losses were kinboshi.
From the Sumowrestling wiki:
The decision to promote Futahaguro backfired and he proved to be a great embarrassment to the sumo establishment. His debut as a yokozuna in the September 1986 tournament saw him pull out on the seventh day with only three wins, and after two runner-up scores in November 1986 and January 1987 a series of mediocre performances followed. His best result as a yokozuna came in November 1987 when he was runner-up for the seventh time, with a 13–2 record (losing at the hands of maegashira and also future professional wrestler, Takanofuji).
Yeaaaah, that one isn’t so great.
Chiyonofuji, September 1981
Kyujo on day 3, and there’s a video clip from day 2.
You’ll have to go to that listing to click on it. Chiyonofuji got injured, which is why he withdrew.
Needless to say, Chiyonofuji was not a mistake as Yokozuna, one of the greats.
Yoshibayama, March and May 1954
This one is a special case - 43rd Yokozuna Yoshibayama didn’t fight in either March nor May 1953 tournaments, after his promotion.
So I’m not going to show his “first” basho that he didn’t attend.
I’m going to show you a little bit of his Ozeki career… and then the entirety of his Yokozuna career:
So it was a bit of a mixed record, you could say.
Look, they can’t all be Hakuho.
Wow far fewer Yokozuna withdrew on their debut tournament than I expected. It's hard to read too much into it but I'd imagine there is going to a lot of scrutiny and expectation on Hoshoryu's next outing.