Kisenosato Bows Out

Yokozuna Kisenosato announced publicly this afternoon to call it a quit terminating his unfortunate career as Yokozuna for good. He told the press that he “has nothing to regret” and has much to thank his fans for their support all along.

He suffered his third loss this Spring Tournament and stood at a crossroad of his career whether or not to go on playing or step aside. They say another black mark could cost him his hard-earned position as Yokozuna.

Kisenosato has chosen to bow out.

In the world of Sumo the position of Yokozuka is God-given, so sacred that, once attained, it is never to be surrendered, much less forfeited. Yokozuka is supposed to be invincible, doomed to keep on winning hopefully 15-0 per six tournaments per year. It’s no easy job.

Sacred or not, the Mongolians behind Hakuso had long dominated the top positions and the world had long awaited the arrival of a “genuine” Yokozuka of the Japanese ancestry. Then along came Kisenosato, a husky rikishi from Ibaragi who had a way of crawling up the ladder of promotion steadily.

In 2017, Kisenosato was promoted to the highest rank in the game as a thoroughbred Yokozuna of the Japanese ancestry. After all, Sumo, the national sport of Japan, had so long been monopolized by the Mongolians like a latter-day Mongol Invasion and I, for one, wanted eagerly to see a Japanese Kokozuna rise to challenge them. When promoted to the rank of Yokozuna, Kisenosato was then aware of what the public expected of him.

Kisenosato was visibly conscious of his role, so much so that a sense of over-consciousness proved too heavy a load for him to carry. Throughout the past several tournaments, his nerves obviously broke down; his confidence in his reputed left-arm thrust faded – too bad.

Prior to the fourth day of the tourney rumors were rampant as to his likely decision to bow out without risking fourth straight loss.

Kisenosato has done just that– too bad.

In fact, it was not his own decision alone. His stable master must have advised Kisenosato accordingly to save his embarrassment, for one, and the embarrassment of his stable, the Japan Sumo Association and, above all, that of the national sport of Japan, for another.

A gleaming star of Sumo has just fallen. What’s next? I’m already skimming through a few likely candidates to take after Kisenosato to claim the highest position in Sumo: Yokozuna – of the Japanese ancestry, naturally.

—Sponsered Link—