Public criticism of a yokozuna by the Japan Sumo Association is rare. Public criticism of a yokozuna in a single, withering word is rarer still. That is what Hoshoryu walked into this March, after Chairman Hakkaku reduced his Spring Basho performance to one assessment: "pathetic".
The verdict followed a tournament in which Hoshoryu finished 11-4 — a record that would represent a strong meet for almost any other rikishi, but not for sumo's highest-ranked wrestler. The yokozuna lost on day 14 to Kotozakura, and at points in the second week was visibly out of rhythm. With his fellow yokozuna Onosato withdrawing on day four with a shoulder injury, the spotlight in Osaka was always going to fall harder on whoever wore the rope. Hoshoryu didn't carry it.
What the chairman's rebuke captured is something that sumo's purists have been muttering about for several tournaments: the standard expected of a yokozuna isn't simply to win matches, it's to win them with overwhelming presence. Hakkaku's word choice was a reminder that the JSA still measures its grand champions against that older, harder yardstick.
Hoshoryu responded the only way the rope allows. The day after the criticism, he beat the previously unbeaten ozeki Aonishiki to slow the Ukrainian's title charge. It was the kind of statement bout that yokozuna are supposed to deliver — but it came after, not before, the chairman's words went public, and after Sekiwake Kirishima had already done enough to lock in his third Emperor's Cup.
The May Natsu Basho, which begins on 10 May at Ryogoku Kokugikan, now becomes a different kind of tournament for Hoshoryu. The cycle of yokozuna criticism in sumo tends to compound: a poor tournament invites scrutiny, scrutiny invites pressure, pressure produces tighter sumo. Hoshoryu has to break that loop with the kind of showing — 14 wins, dominant tachiai, ideally the cup — that re-establishes the grand champion's authority over the division.
The sport also has a longer-term concern. With Onosato hurt, Aonishiki in kadoban after his 0-4-11 collapse, and Kirishima only just returning to ozeki rank, the upper banzuke looks unsettled. A yokozuna who is being publicly called "pathetic" by his own governing body adds to that. May is the test.
