Onosato barely made it through the first week of the Spring Basho. The Japanese yokozuna pulled out on day four after aggravating a shoulder injury, recorded 0-0-11, and effectively handed the spotlight in Osaka to sekiwake Kirishima and the ozeki ranks. The early withdrawal was a shock — he had entered the tournament as one of the favourites — and it sets up the most pressing fitness question of sumo's calendar so far this year.
Natsu Basho begins at Ryogoku Kokugikan on 10 May. By that point Onosato will have had roughly seven weeks since pulling out of his Osaka campaign. Whether that has been enough recovery time for a shoulder issue serious enough to end an entire basho is a question only the yokozuna and his stable can answer. Sumo's training schedule between tournaments is brutal even for healthy wrestlers. A grand champion returning from injury has to balance the need to test the joint against the risk of re-injuring it before senshuraku in May.
The wider context of Onosato's withdrawal makes his return more important than a normal post-injury comeback. His fellow yokozuna Hoshoryu was branded "pathetic" by JSA Chairman Hakkaku for an 11-4 Spring Basho — a public critique that increases the pressure on both grand champions to perform in May. Ukrainian ozeki Aonishiki collapsed to 0-4-11 and now enters Natsu Basho in kadoban. The upper banzuke, in other words, was barely holding together by senshuraku in Osaka.
If Onosato is fully fit, he immediately becomes one of the favourites for the Emperor's Cup. He'd also relieve some of the pressure on Hoshoryu, who would no longer be the lone yokozuna under public scrutiny. If Onosato isn't fit, the question of whether to compete at all becomes the bigger story. Yokozuna are not allowed to win a basho with a losing record — by tradition they are expected to either win it or withdraw — and any hint of physical compromise raises the question of whether to skip the tournament entirely.
The Japan Sumo Association will not push the issue publicly. The wrestler decides. Watch for Onosato's appearance at the soken — the open practice session before the tournament — for the first real indication of whether the shoulder has held up. Until that day, the cleanest yokozuna question of 2026 stays open.
