Sumo Scene / Kotoshoho Seeks to Defy Odds at Autumn Tournament After Upset Victory in Nagoya

By Kuniyuki Kamimura / Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Writer

17:34 JST, September 3, 2025

The first day of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Sept. 14 is fast approaching. After a long summer tournament tour through local regions, it will be exciting to see how the wrestlers’ training has paid off.

On that note, do you remember the winner of the previous Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament in July?

Kotoshoho, a maegashira No. 15 at the time, broke away from a tight race to claim the championship with an impressive 13–2 record.

The wrestler, who turned 26 on Aug. 26, also earned a significant jump in the rankings to No. 5 maegashira, from which he will aim to reach his goal of becoming a sanyaku — a wrestler in the three ranks just below yokozuna: ozeki, sekiwake and komusubi.

However, when a wrestler wins a championship as a maegashira, a formidable challenge awaits them in the next tournament. A promotion to either the sanyaku or top maegashira rank means more bouts against higher-ranked wrestlers, including the yokozuna and ozeki. On top of that, many previous opponents will have studied them and come prepared to get revenge in a rematch.

Unlike the previous tournament when he came out of nowhere, Kotoshoho will find it difficult to come away with a dominant record without facing formidable pushback.

The subsequent records of 10 maegashira-ranked champions, starting with Kyokutenho at the 2012 Summer tournament through Takerufuji, winner of last year’s Spring tournament, show that only Tochinoshin, who later became an ozeki, was able to achieve double-digit wins in the tournament following his promotion to sekiwake.

Takerufuji, who made headlines by becoming the first wrestler in 110 years to win a tournament in his top-division debut, was forced to take a break due to injury and needed extra time before returning to the ring.

Looking back at the results, no wrestler has ever achieved two consecutive championships after winning the title in the top division as a maegashira.

For the Autumn tourney, Kotoshoho is taking a relaxed approach. “I’m still a challenger,” he said. “I want to compete by staying within myself.”

Using his long limbs and flexibility, he captured the Nagoya tournament title by accumulating wins with a fluid, tension-free style.

I wonder if he can maintain this momentum at the upcoming tournament at the Ryogoku Kokugikan. I hope he will pleasantly surprise us by defying the pessimistic prediction that “the tournament after a maegashira championship is always a struggle.”

— Kamimura is a sumo expert.