Sumo's biggest week of the spring is here. Natsu Basho — the 2026 May Grand Tournament — gets under way at Ryogoku Kokugikan on Sunday, 10 May, and runs for 15 days through to senshuraku on Sunday, 24 May. Tokyo's three home tournaments a year always carry extra weight, and this one arrives with both yokozuna walking into the dohyo on notice.
The last time the rikishi competed, it didn't end the way the Japan Sumo Association wanted. Mongolian sekiwake Kirishima ran through the Spring Basho in Osaka with a 12-3 record, lifting his third Emperor's Cup and securing a return to ozeki rank — exactly two years after his last stint at sumo's second tier. Kirishima's third title in three years confirmed him as one of the most consistent presences in makuuchi, and his Osaka surge sets him up as one of the favourites for the May meet.
The wrestlers ranked above him have far more to prove. Yokozuna Hoshoryu finished Spring with an underwhelming 11-4 and was publicly chided by JSA Chairman Hakkaku, who labelled his performance "pathetic" — an unusually direct rebuke from sumo's governing body, and one that raises the stakes considerably for May. Hoshoryu did beat the previously unbeaten Aonishiki immediately after the criticism, but the question of whether he can reassert authority over the division is now front and centre.
Fellow yokozuna Onosato has even more on the line. The Japanese grand champion withdrew on day four of the Spring Basho after a shoulder injury and finished 0-0-11. The May tournament will be his first chance to show whether he is fully fit, and the Tokyo crowd will be watching every shiko, every tachiai, for signs of lingering trouble.
The most painful storyline heading into Natsu Basho belongs to Aonishiki. The Ukrainian ozeki — who won back-to-back championships at the Hatsu Basho in January, beating Atamifuji in a final-day playoff — collapsed to a stunning 0-4-11 in Osaka, his first career losing record at any rank. That result puts him in kadoban status, meaning a second straight makekoshi at Ryogoku would cost him his ozeki rank. Few demotions in sumo come with a longer fall.
Beyond the top of the banzuke, watch for M5 Kotoshoho, who ran 11-4 in Osaka, and M2 Fujinokawa, who beat both Onosato and Hoshoryu during Spring. The Japan Sumo Association has set the venue and the lights. From Sunday, the rikishi answer for themselves.
