Sumo Scene / Sumo’s Special Prizes Reflect Tournament’s Level of Excitement, with 5 Taking Home Awards from Nagoya

By Kuniyuki Kamimura / Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Writer

13:27 JST, August 20, 2025

Before the champion set out on his victory parade at last month’s Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament, there was another parade of sorts by an inordinate number of wrestlers to pick up their post-tournament special prizes.

No less than five wrestlers walked off with one or more of the three prizes known collectively as the “san-sho,” consisting of the Shukun-sho (Outstanding Performance Prize), Kanto-sho (Fighting Spirit Prize) and Gino-sho (Technique Prize).

These are reserved for wrestlers at or below the rank of sekiwake and reward a particularly notable performance during the tournament, with a winning record a prerequisite. More than one wrestler can win the same prize; conversely, there are cases when there is no winner at all.

The san-sho selection committee is comprised of senior Japan Sumo Association officials and veteran sumo journalists, who meet in the early afternoon on the final day of the tournament. Wrestlers are nominated based on their overall performance, the manner in which they won, and the general impression that they left.

In this way, the list of prize winners provides an accurate reflection of the level of excitement of the tournament.

The Outstanding Performance Prize, awarded for such accomplishments as defeating a yokozuna or for winning (or nearly winning) the tournament, went to two wrestlers — Kotoshoho, who won his first career title from the lowly rank of No. 15 maegashira, and veteran No. 4 maegashira Tamawashi.

Tamawashi’s award is particularly noteworthy. At 40 years 8 months old, he became the oldest-ever recipient of a special prize, eclipsing the record of Kyokutenho (now stablemaster Oshima), who was 40 years 2 months old when he won the Fighting Spirit Prize in 2014.

Tamawashi all but clinched the deal with his victory over newly promoted yokozuna Onosato on the 10th day of the tournament. That also made him the oldest wrestler to earn a “kinboshi,” awarded to a maegashira-ranked wrestler for a win over a yokozuna.

After reaching double-digit wins on the 14th day, Tamawashi commented, “I’d really like a prize,” knowing that members of the selection committee were among the media present. Although it can’t be said for sure, his “request” seemed to pay off — he received 22 of 23 votes to win the prize.

Tamawashi capped a memorable tournament with a victory on the final day to finish with 11 wins. After being told that he was the oldest-ever winner of a prize, he beamed and said, “That’s great.”

The other prize-winners in Nagoya were Ukrainian maegashira Aonishiki and the maegashira pair of Kusano and Fujinokawa, who had both been newly promoted into the upper-most makuuchi division.

It was heartwarming to see the similar looks of joy on the faces of up-and-coming wrestlers in their early 20s and a seasoned veteran of 40 as they received their awards for mutually outstanding efforts.

Although neither of the two yokozuna made any mark on the tournament, there is no doubt that it was exciting.

— Kamimura is a sumo expert.