2025 Nagoya Basho: Day 12 results and analysis

Recapping all the top division action from Grand Sumo's 2025 Nagoya Basho (spoilers).

There are just three days left in the Nagoya basho and we are building to a fantastic climax and, potentially, history in the making.

There was a chance we could finish with nine wrestlers tied for first place at the end of last night’s matches. That shows you how competitive and surprising this tournament has been, with multiple maegashira wrestlers showing up and giving the upper ranked guys plenty of headaches.

Day 12 was another wild day as far as finishes were concerned. There were just two yorikiri and two oshidashi in the makuuchi matches. There were also three mono-ii, a disqualification and a torinoashi!

Scroll down to see how that all came about.

Bonus gif today is one of our surprise leaders, the always polite Ichiyamamoto.

SPOILERS BELOW

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

---

---

Results

• Tomokaze (7-5) def. Hideonoumi (1-9-2) by hatakikomi (slap down) after mono-ii (judges’ review) overturns gyoji (referee) decision

• Midorifuji (8-4) def. Shishi (4-8) by hansoku (disqualification — due to hair pull) after mono-ii overturns gyoji decision*

• Takanosho (8-4) def. Kotoeiho (4-8) by oshitaoshi (frontal push down)*

• Fujinokawa def. Tokihayate (5-7) by uwatenage (over arm throw)*

• Atamifuji (9-3) def. Mitkaeumi (8-4) by tsukidashi (thrust down)

• Chiyoshoma (1-11) def. Kayo (2-10) by uwatenage

• Churanoumi (7-5) def. Sadanoumi (2-10) by okuridashi (rear push out)

• Asakoryu (4-8) def. Tobizaru (3-9) by kotenage (armlock throw)*

• Shodai (7-5) def. Takerufuji (5-7) by tsukiotoshi

• Gonoyama (7-5) def. Roga (7-5) by yorikiri (frontal force out)

• Ura (8-4) def. Meisei (3-9) by hatakikomi*

• Hakuoho (7-5) def. Onokatsu (5-7) by oshidashi (frontal push out)

• Abi (7-5) def. Oho (4-8) by okuridashi

• Aonishiki (10-2) def. Tamawashi (8-4) by shitatenage (underarm throw)*

• Wakamotoharu (4-8) def. Kinbozan (3-9) by okuridashi

• Hiradoumi (6-6) def. Oshoma (2-10) by yoritaoshi (frontal crush out)

• Kotoshoho (10-2) def. Takayasu (8-4) by hatakikomi*

• Wakatakakage (8-4) def. Kusano (9-2) by yoritaoshi*

• Kotozakura (7-5) def. Kirishima (8-4) by yorikiri*

• Onosato (9-3) def. Ichiyamamoto (9-3) by oshidashi in torinaoshi (immediate rematch)

  *Must see bouts!

Leaderboard

• M1w Aonishiki, M15e Kotoshoho: 10-2

• Y1wYO Onosato, M8w Ichiyamamoto, M14e Kusano, M10e Atamifuji: 9-3

Analysis

After last night Aonishiki remains in pole position for the yusho (which would make him the first European winner since Tochinoshin won the January tournament in 2011).

Aonishiki earned his spot with a win over Tamawashi. And the old man didn’t make it easy on him.

The 40 year-old Tamawashi got a good lick in off the tachiai, snapping back the 21 year-old Aonishiki’s head with a moroto-tsuki (double hand thrust) to the chest. Tamawashi then went with tsuppari (rapid palm striking) instead of his more methodical nodowa (throat thrust) attack. Aonishiki weathered the strikes and Tamawashi then decided to go for Aonishiki’s belt. He missed and resorted to an underhook on Aonishiki’s left arm. Aonishiki exploited that underhook for the shitatenage.

In this bout Aonishiki displayed the kind of creativity and improvisation skills that have made him a terror for the entire division over the past three tournaments.

Aonishiki leading the tournament, at this stage, is a mild surprise (many of us have recognized how incredible he is in his rookie and sophomore makuuchi tournaments). A much bigger surprise is who he is tied with currently.

Kotoshoho proved he’s a contender, not a pretender, last night with a win over Takayasu.

In this bout Kotoshoho calmly met Takayasu’s opening surge and then brushed past him for the okuridashi. Kotoshoho’s Achilles’ heel is how wild and out of control his sumo can be. But in this bout, and this tournament, he’s looked far more controlled and effective.

Many might be overlooking Kotoshoho in this tournament. I’ll get back to him later with a few reasons why he might be a real threat to win this thing.

Ichiyamamoto failed to join Aonishiki and Kotoshoho on 10 wins last night. To get there he had the Herculean task of beating an Onosato who now has some belief that he can get back into this tournament.

Ichiyamamoto, who beat Onosato back in juryo, gave it his best shot, though.

Ichiyamamoto did well to neither get pushed back by Onosato’s tachiai nor succumb to his hatakikomi (a lazy one, like he tried on Hakuoho earlier this tournament). After that Ichiyamamoto speared Onosato off the ring. It looked as though he’d gotten the win and had put himself back into the lead. However, a mono-ii and video replay showed he and Onosato touched down at about the same time. This led to the torinaoshi (where was that for Kirishima the other day!).

In the rematch Ichiyamamoto got a good jump on Onosato and pushed his heels back onto the straw. He couldn’t get Onosato over that final inch, though. As he was bracing, Onosato reached around for the mawashi. Ichiyamamoto then made the big mistake of spinning and giving Onosato a view of his back — which Onosato then pounced upon, rushing Ichiyamamoto out of the ring.

Onosato is now one win back of the leaders. He’ll have a chance to peg Kotoshoho back tomorrow, but he’ll need Aonishiki to slip up if he wants to catch him.

Kusano had a chance to join the leaders last night, but he couldn’t get past Wakatakakage (the best opponent he’s ever faced — by a mile).

In this bout Wakatakakage got his favourite migi-yotsu (right arm inside, left arm outisde grip) in early. Kusano was playing catch-up from that point on. Once Wakatakakage got his feet set, he was able to drive Kusano out for a painful crush out.

Kirishima fell off the pace last night, losing to Kotozakura to effectively eliminate him from the title run.

Kirishima tried to go hidari-yotsu (left arm inside, right arm outside) off the tachiai, but Kotozakura (the finest yotsu specialist in the sport) blocked off his left arm. This forced Kirishima to adopt the migi-yotsu. By doing this, he gave Kotozakura a matching migi-yotsu, which is Kotozakura’s favourite position.

After a brief pause, Kotozakura executed a makki-kae (over arm to underarm switch) with his left arm. This gave him moro-zashi (double inside position), which is his second favourite position. From that position he was too strong for Kirishima.

Kirishima is now 8-4. The yusho may be gone for him, but he can still get to ten wins and continue to build his case for a return to the ozeki ranks. Kotozakura is now 7-5 and very close to the kachi-koshi (winning record) he needs to keep him in comfortable standing as an ozeki.

---

Buying merch is another way you can support what I do at Sumo Stomp! To celebrate the Nagoya tournament, and the promotion of Onosato, my partner (ex-Bloody Elbow colleague Anton Tabuena) and I have made a special Onosato ‘flames’ shirt. This organic cotton t-shirt includes the words “Onosato” and “Yokozuna 75”.

All Sumo Stomp! paid subscribers get 15% off everything in the store. Find the discount code at the bottom of this paywalled article (link)

---

Atamifuji has quietly played himself into being a title contender this month. After an 0-2 start he’s gone 8-1. Last night he took out Mitakeumi (an early pretender in this tournament) to take a share of second place in this tournament.

Our six contenders, including Atamifuji, will all face tough tests tonight.

Aonishiki and Ichiyamamoto have been paired off. If Aonishiki wins that he’ll move to 11-2 and Ichiyamamoto will be essentially eliminated with a 9-4 record. These two have never met.

Kotoshoho and Onosato will meet. There’s some good back-story to this match-up. They have a 2-2 record against each other. Kotoshoho’s two wins came during Onosato’s second and final juryo tournament. Kotoshoho beat him with a pulling over arm throw mid-way through the tournament. The pair then met in a play-off for the cup. And Kotoshoho threw him down again.

Winning that juryo title really helped transform Kotoshoho as a wrestler. Since that win he’s been able to stay in the top division for ten straight tournaments, earning kachi-koshi in half of them.

Onosato has beaten him in their only two meetings in makuuchi. I wouldn’t count Kotoshoho out, though. He’s always been capable of scoring a big win, his trouble has been consistently winning over a long stretch.

Kotoshoho has also been in this spot before. In January, 2023 he was 11-3 on the final day before losing to Takakeisho for the cup. He did that as a 22 year-old. I think that experience, as well as past wins over Onosato, will protect him from being nervous in this bout. Also, the pressure is entirely on Onosato to get the win.

Kusano faces Kirishima tomorrow. This is a first time meeting and another opportunity for Kusano to test himself against an elite.

Atamifuji has Kotozakura. Atamifuji is 1-7 against Kotozakura. His only win was in their most recent contest, in January, when Kotozakura seemed most affected by his plethora of injuries.

Nothing will get decided tomorrow (officially), but if Aonishiki wins and Kotoshoho loses, the Ukrainian will be on the precipice of winning his first yusho.

---

If you haven’t already, please subscribe to my YouTube channel. I need 1,000 subscribers before I can monetize the channel. I’m a long way away from that.