Report Card: 2025 Aki Basho - Part 1

Grading the top division rikishi who were involved in the July tournament.

Hello everyone and welcome to the first report card detailing the September tournament. I’ve been a little late to get to this one, due to all the things I’ve mentioned in the past (school, field placement, work, etc.).

But I’m back in the saddle here and having fun breaking down what happened at a very fun 2025 aki basho. Below is my first report card, covering everyone from maegashira 18 to maegashira 11 (Shishi to Shōdai).

And I know it’s a little strange that I’m focusing on this and not the sumo going on in London. I would have loved to cover that exhibition tournament. However, with how busy and tight my schedule is I need to be very disciplined with where I put my hours.

So I’m focusing on my report cards and usual features. I had already invested time in these, so I need to see them through (instead of pivoting to something else). Even so, I hope you’re enjoying seeing the rikishi in the Royal Albert Hall.

Now, before I get into my first aki basho grades, I’d like to announce the winner of the Cheeky Sumo giveaway.

Congrats go to Harv! They win the Shitatenage sweater. If you missed out you can head on over to www.cheekysumo.com to pick up one yourself (or any of the other fine items my man Maxx has in stock).

Harv was picked as the winner after I put all subscribers into a spreadsheet (with number of entries corresponding with their level of subscription). I then did a random number generator and that gave me row number 323. That’s one of the rows that had Harv’s details.

Here’s the proof!

Thanks to everyone who picked up a paid subscription in September. I appreciate you all tremendously. Your subscription fees make Sumo Stomp! possible.

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Bonus gif today are the judges in their immensely cool traditional garb.

“He wants to give Shishi an A, but I think he needs to go down to an A- or possibly even a B+”

Shishi

Rank: Maegashira 18 East
Record: 10-5
Grade: A-

In his first ever top division aki basho Shishi did great! And he needed to, as well.

He was spared a jūryō demotion in September despite going 7-8 from M17 in July. I theorized that this would light a fire under him and boy did it. The ‘drunk ogre on stilts’, as one commenter dubbed him, was able to bank his best record in the top division ever and he didn’t just beat scrubs to do that.

In September he notched wins over Tobizaru, Tomokaze, Churanoumi and Ryūden, all of whom ended with 9-6 records (and Ryūden was, for a time, one of the potential contenders for the cup). He also got a win over Daieishō on the penultimate day of the tournament, handing the former sekiwake his make-koshi.

Shishi is a very slow, plodding wrestling who likes to hit with high thrusts before ducking down to get inside and then score force outs. Historically, his slowness has been amplified by how loose and random his thrusts are. In this tournament he did a better job of masking his lack of speed by being more controlled and measured in his strikes.

He just seemed a lot more settled and less anxious in this tournament. I still don’t think he has much more of a ceiling in Grand Sumo, but I’m enjoying what he’s bringing to the table right now.

Hitoshi

Rank: Maegashira 17 West
Record: 7-8
Grade: D+

Hitoshi didn’t come into his top division debut tournament with much fanfare. At 28 he’s not exactly a hot young prospect. He handled himself better than I was expecting, though.

He’ll likely get demoted off this 7-8 record, but I think there are plenty of positives for him to take away from the experience. In retrospect I should have assumed Hitoshi would not have looked totally out of his element in September. He’s from the Oitekaze stable, which is one of the better represented stables in the salaried divisions (Daieishō, Endō, Tobizaru, Daiamami, Tsurugisho). He got off to an 0-4 start, which I think we can chalk up to makuuchi jitters. He then won his next four, which included bouts with Asakōryū and Tokihayate.

At times it looked like Hitoshi was trying to do a little too much. He’s like Ōshōma in that he’s always looking for a chance to get a slap down. Sometimes he’ll concede too much ground in doing so and make himself an easy target for a push out. Doing that against Shōnannoumi on Day 14 is what gave him his eighth loss.

Ryūden

Rank: Maegashira 17 East
Record: 9-6
Grade: B

Ryūden, Shōdai and Takanoshō were the big surprises in September. All three were close behind the yokozuna through the first ten days. Ryūden, like Shōdai, then fell off the pace once the match-making got more difficult.

His early stretch of wins didn’t include any especially tough names (for someone with his experience). Day 11 is when he was paired off with Takanoshō, who then slapped him down. I think that was an example of someone playing for a kachi-koshi (Ryūden) meeting someone playing for a yushō (Takanoshō).

After that bout Ryūden lost three of his last four to finish with a still respectable 9-6 record.

Nishikigi

Rank: Maegashira 16 West
Record: 2-13
Grade: E

Nishikigi limped through the September tournament while dealing with a leg injury. Lower body injuries have been frequent and persistent for Nishikigi over the past few years. When they are especially bothersome, as they were in September, Nishikigi lacks any kind of driving power from his lower half.

Many of his bouts last month ended with him being straightened up and then seeming powerless to prevent being forced backwards. In a few bouts Nishikigi gave up along the boundary, too, a clear sign that he was in too much pain to put up much of a fight.

Nishikigi’s issues with his body might also be having an affect on his mind. He looked checked out in a few bouts, including when he accidentally stepped out of bounds while forcing Tobizaru over the edge.

He’ll be down to jūryō after this. But you have to wonder whether Nishikigi might call it a career relatively soon.

Tomokaze

Rank: Maegashira 16 East
Record: 9-6
Grade: B

This was Tomokaze’s first top division appearance since May, 2024 and only the fourth appearance of his career. In those previous tournaments he went 7-8, 5-10 and 2-13. So this is quite a dramatic improvement for the 30 year-old.

Tomokaze is a pusher/thruster who looks for lots of slap downs. He doesn’t have much height or speed, so his slap downs have the same kind of snap that an Abi or an Ichiyamamoto has. However, he is quite strong and he does a good job of planting his feet on the slap down. The power he generated through that was enough to bring down quite a few opponents this tournament (including Ura and Midorifuji).

He also showed good stamina, too, which is surprising for someone so rotund. He was able to beat both Tobizaru and Meisei in bouts that went close to thirty seconds.

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Shōnannoumi

Rank: Maegashira 15 West
Record: 7-8
Grade: D-

I was hoping for more from Shōnannoumi in this tournament. That’s pretty much been the story of his career, though.

He started decently in September and was 5-3 heading into Day 9. However, he then lost five of his last seven to give him the make-koshi. This is his third losing record in a row in makuuchi (with was broken up by one jūryō tournament). Despite his great size, Shōnannoumi seems incapable of putting enough wins together, consistently, in the bottom third of the top division. That’s just not good enough.

His lack of intensity (and perhaps desire) is a major obstacle for Shōnannoumi. You can see him coast through bouts and his cardio seems to fall off a cliff after ten seconds.

With his height, strength and lovely big belly, Shōnannoumi would have a lot of success if he could focus on gaburi-yori (torso thrusting). However, good hug-and-chuggers need to be able to deliver rapid and relentless belly bumps to back people down (think Atamifuji and Hiradoumi). Sadly, I don’t think Shōnannoumi has the motor (or mentality) to fight like that.

Tobizaru

Rank: Maegashira 15 East
Record: 9-6
Grade: B-

Tobizaru deserves a lot of credit for his exploits in September. His back was against the wall after an injury hit Nagoya basho dropped him to M15, his lowest rank since 2020. He was clearly still dealing with injuries in this tournament, as evidenced by the strapping on his foot, knee and elbow (he looked a little like the perennially banged up Sumo Stomp! logo). …