Natsu basho 2021 Bernd 04/28/2021 (Wed) 18:08:13 No.43422 del
Next tournament is starting in less than 2 weeks now, and banzuke chart has been released on the weekend.
http://sumo.or.jp/EnHonbashoBanzuke/index/

To recap: Kakuryu has retired, Terunofuji and Takayasu advanced a rung to ozeki and sekiwake respectively (so there's now four ozeki, with Shodai in danger of being kicked if he doesn't produce a winning score this time); Ishiura, Chiyomaru and Akua advanced to 1st division (all have been there before), Enho just barely missing a spot. Yutakayama and Kotoshoho meanwhile were demoted to 2nd division.

At least the first three days of the tournament will be in an empty arena due to another corona outbreak in Tokyo.

In other news, there was a report on the state of sumo in the current era. I haven't read the report since I can't read Japanese, and the tl;dr on English language media I can get is mostly "gaijin bad, shamefur dispray, hakuho doesn't deserve being granted special elder stock (note: historically yokozuna who won 20 or more tournaments, starting with Taiho, were awarded a spot in sumo eldership without having to buy a regular one that's passed down through generations)". DESPITE BEING ONLY 9% OF PROFESSIONAL SUMO WRESTLERS, GAIJIN HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN 70% OF THE REPORTED CASES OF VIOLENCE IN THE BACKSTAGE
(It's funny because Taiho was himself half-Ukrainian.)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=IhN7OnW8XHs [Embed]
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/04/21/sumo/hakuho-elder-name-report/