01
The grand champions can't find their level Injury crisis
Both yokozuna — Hōshōryū and Ōnosato — sat out the May basho injured, leaving a whole tournament
with no grand champion competing. Both returned in July, but neither looked like a yokozuna:
Ōnosato finished 9–6, Hōshōryū an injury-marked 7–7. Ōnosato answered in September, winning the Aki basho 12–3 as the only yokozuna in the ring (Kyodo,
27 September 2026): Hōshōryū's record for the tournament shows 15 absences. Both hold the yokozuna rank on the
Kyūshū banzuke, and the November tournament in Fukuoka closes the year.
02
Kirishima climbs all the way back Redemption
Kirishima lost the ōzeki rank in 2024, rebuilt from the rank-and-file, and won the March 2026
tournament — reclaiming ōzeki as only the third wrestler since 1969 to regain the rank after
falling that far. He posted 12–3 in three straight basho: the March title, then playoff
defeats in both May and July. At the Aki basho in September he finished 8–7, and he is ranked ōzeki 2 East on the
Kyūshū banzuke.
03
Aonishiki: fall and instant comeback Rise, fall & rise
The 22-year-old Ukrainian won January's tournament in his ōzeki debut, then lost the rank to
injury — a broken toe, a losing record, a basho missed — and was demoted to sekiwake for July.
He answered by winning the Nagoya basho at 12–3 through a three-way playoff, clearing the 10-win
bar for an immediate ōzeki return. Two Emperor's Cups in 2026 — more than anyone else (every champion since 1958 is in the
yusho list). At the Aki basho he went into the final day level with Ōnosato, lost
that bout and finished 11–4; he is ranked ōzeki 1 East on the Kyūshū banzuke.
04
A discipline case at the top of the elder ranks Scandal
The retired yokozuna Terunofuji — now a stablemaster — was disciplined by the Japan Sumo
Association in April for striking one of his own wrestlers. He was demoted in elder rank and given a
three-month pay cut, a test of the sport's post-2010s stance against violence.
05
Nagoya got a brand-new home New arena
In July, the Nagoya tournament debuted at the IG Arena — a climate-controlled, ~17,000-seat venue
designed by architect Kengo Kuma — retiring the ~60-year-old hall that hosted it for six decades.
The biggest venue change in modern sumo delivered a three-way playoff on its first senshūraku.