Sean is with me to discuss the first week of the 2025 September Basho! We start off discussing where most fans attention is focused currently (spoiler, its the Wakatakakage Ozeki push) then pivot to recap the basho so far (Ura, Takanosho, Shodai oh my!) before discussing our favorites to win this thing (dueling Yokozunas, but what is this Aonishiki in the distance?) and end with some over/under predictions for some finishes in week 2.
Nick is back to talk Wakatakakage to Ozeki, Aonishiki's Komusubi Debut, Dark Horse Contendors and Yusho favorites! Email us! kinboshiproduction@gmail.com If you want to help me save up for a new mic, we have a Patreon but honestly we're just happy you're here! https://www.patreon.com/KinboshiSumo Thanks for listening!
Banzuke has dropped and Jungyo has ended! Join Rick and Phil for some updates on recovery expectations for Hoshoryu (broken toe) Wakatakakage (twisted ankle) Kirishima (cracked wrist) and Daieisho (torn? calf). 0:45 Aonishiki's Record Breaking San'yaku Debut https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2025/09/01/kiji/20250901s00005000223000c.html?page=1 3:35 College Sumo Individual Championships https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2025/09/01/kiji/20250901s00005000098000c.html?page=1 10:20 Hoshoryu 26:40 Wakatakakage 35:56 Kirishima https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2025/08/25/kiji/20250825s00005000333000c.html?page=1 40:01 Daieisho 42:42 Potential Solutions to Injuries? Email us! kinboshiproduction@gmail.com If you want to help me save up for a new mic, we have a Patreon but honestly we're just happy you're here! https://www.patreon.com/KinboshiSumo Thanks for listening!
Solo episode today! I covered a bit of the news from the Summer Tour (Jungyo) including Hoshoryu bouncing back and practicing through the pain on that injured toe, the grind of Jungyo, and another blow to the Kirishima Ozeki return story with a tour injury. From there I wanted to cover a couple young rikishi from the All Japan Inter-High where Kazuki Sawada was crowned High School Yokozuna (and is looking to join a stable as soon as November or January) and a legacy with major pedigree Kakizoe Haruku (son of a former Komusubi and a multiple time women's world champ) might be joining his dad's stable and training with Shishi in the coming months. Finally I wrapped up with a little Wakatakakage for Ozeki talk. Email me kinboshiproduction@gmail.com if you like this kind of amazumo talk, or have other things you'd like us to discuss instead! Also, I'm just happy you're here listening but if you wanna help me save up for a new microphone and headphones we have a Patreon, but again we're just stoked you're here! https://www.patreon.com/c/KinboshiSumo/membership Otherwise, hope you're getting excited for Banzuke Christmas in a couple weeks, thanks for listening!
Kotoshoho shocks us all by winning the much anticipated 2 yokozuna showdown basho that wasn't! Aonishiki nearly pulls an Onosato, but falls short at runner-up. Kusano delivers, best Miyagino recruit yet? The basho was wild, and we're here to talk about it! Email us at kinboshiproduction@gmail.com with questions, comments, or suggestions for topics you'd like to hear! We're on Patreon if you want to join the "Rick is saving up for a new microphone" fund, but honestly we're just stoked that you're listening! Thank you for being here! https://www.patreon.com/c/KinboshiSumo/membership
Halfway through Nagoya and we have a bevvy of shock contendors to go with some more traditional competitors! Rick is here solo to break down some of the storylines that interested him the most, but let us know what is intriguing you about Nagoya so far! WARNING: Day 8 spoilers ahead! kinboshiproduction@gmail.com email us!
Our new era of two yokozuna with Hoshoryu and Onosato is finally about to start! A changing of the guard in the joijin with Aonishiki and the gang, and a couple new faces to the party with Kusano and Fujinokawa all mean we should have a great basho in the brand new IG Area! Who you got for the yusho?
Phil and I are here for a little pre-banzuke rank guessing along with some discussion of whether our young favorites are on a quick, average, or slow pace to the top of the banzuke. The first 20-25 minutes are talking about what we think we'll see from the banzuke and in the last 25 or 30 we take a look at Hakuoho, Atamifuji, Takerufuji, and Aonishiki's predicted rankings and compare that to the likes of Hakuho and Hoshoryu and where those two yokozuna were at that point in their career.
Hakuho has officially left the JSA after Chairman Hakkaku pushed him one step too far, attempting to make him serve his junior Terunofuji without a promise of getting his Miyagino Stable back. Now he's rallying his financial backers and other connections to create some sort of international sumo organization to contribute to the sport outside of the JSA. Sean and I discuss some case studies of "splits" happening in other sports leagues and discuss our ideas for best case scenarios and how this could help rather than hurt sumo. Check the article below that we referenced in the show: https://japantoday.com/category/features/kuchikomi/hakuho%27s-lofty-%27global-sumo%27-ambitions-bolstered-by-generous-backers-with-deep-pockets
We cover Onosato's victory, Hoshoryu's preformance stopping the zensho yusho, and re-visit our January "young guns to Ozeki" picks.
SPOILER WARNING: We kept our conversation to day 7 and earlier but if you haven't seen day 7 you may want to hold off on this one. Other than that... Onosato is doing just what we thought the would but Hakuoho, Wakatakakage, and our boy Aonishiki are hot on his heels. Who you got after 7 days?
Another Ozeki has a chance to make Yokozuna! Is this Onosato's time? Will Hoshoryu bounce back? Is Kotozakura even still in the building? Or will one of the Dark Horses upset them both?
Phil is back for us to break down some numbers to see if we can figure out what year any given rikishi should peak. After a March final of 35 year old Takayasu vs young up and comer Onosato, we wanted to see if we could figure out what the range of their "best years" is.
We break down the science behind spinal injuries in sumo and why there are less of them than we might expect. We deep dive into a study into how the mawashi protects rikishi and how sumo can learn from this fact to prevent future damage to rikishi. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10629334/
Takayasu is runner up once again but now we have Onosato's Yokozuna run to look forward to.
SPOILER WARNING If you have not seen the day 14 matches pause and come back. Otherwise, full steam ahead! Takayasu lost on day 14. Onosato won. Two 11 win rikishi. A chance for a day 15 playoff. Big Papa cuts the margins to the bone once again, and if he's going to exorcise these demons I wouldn't have it any other way. Let's go Big Papa!
We're down to 3 contenders and just a pair of outside chasers in Osaka after the first week. Who you got between Onosato and Takayasu? Can Takerufuji or Tamawashi make a run? Or will the wounded Yokozuna somehow come from behind to steal the Emperor's cup two basho in a row?
A quick chat with Sean on All Basho's Eve to see which of the Osaka boys we like to perform best this tournament.
The Banzuke has dropped and the Osaka Tournament is just around the corner! Join us for the mega preview as is tradition! Will Hoshoryu stamp his new Yokozuna reign? Will one of the Ozeki Onosato or Kotozakura spoil his coronation? Or will a new upset surprise knock everyone on their faces? Who knows, but we're sure gonna pretend we do!
We love bringing in folks with different interests on the show and seeing how their field relates to sumo, so today we've got Adam of The Sister Wives Professor talking to us about perhaps the oldest version of televised Reality TV, Pro Wrestling. We cover pro wrestlers with a history in sumo (John Tenta) and Pro Wrestling's adoption of sumo gimmicks (Yokozuna) before pivoting to discuss what we think wrestling does right and how sumo could learn from it vs what sumo does right and wrestling could learn from. Check Adam out on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Audible! https://open.spotify.com/show/5RLa60djZ76O33cJbR6qDH https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sister-wives-professor/id1719547118 https://www.audible.com/podcast/The-Sister-Wives-Professor/B0CJDZMMQM