Insights

  • Why Japan Is Sending Sumo to France

    Why Japan Is Sending Sumo to France

    Japan almost never sends sumo abroad. That it chose London after the UK RAA, and Paris during France RAA negotiations, is hard to read as coincidence. The timing is heavily suggestive of dohyō diplomacy.…

  • Natsu 2026: Hoshoryu’s Sudden Injury and the Sumo Injury Crisis

    Natsu 2026: Hoshoryu’s Sudden Injury and the Sumo Injury Crisis

    I came to Day 1 footage from the Ryogoku Kokugikan already knowing Hoshoryu was injured. I’ve been sidelined with a cold for much of the week, but that much had reached me before I…

  • The Political Life of Sumo

    The Political Life of Sumo

    The first time I watched Chiyonofuji walk to the dohyō as Yokozuna, I saw Akashi Shiganosuke a half-step behind him, and every yokozuna between them. The same movements, the same stance, salt thrown with…

  • Notes from the Spring Tour, Before the Basho Opens

    Notes from the Spring Tour, Before the Basho Opens

    The jungyo, sumo’s travelling road show, spans 29 days across 27 locations, starting with ceremonial sumo at Ise Grand Shrine and ending in Saitama the week before the basho opens. Wrestlers pile onto buses,…