Grand Sumo 2026 January Tournament Day 8 ～ All yokozuna and Ozeki were defeated on Tenran-zumo day

Tenran-zumo : a Grand Sumo tournament attended by the Emperor

Today’s Tenran-zumo saw His Majesty the Emperor, Her Majesty the Empress, and Their Imperial Highness Princess Aiko, the Imperial Couple’s daughter, graciously attend and observe the latter half of the makuuchi division bouts.

In that sense, the day itself became a legendary one.

In a stunning turn of events, Ozeki Kotozakura and Aonishiki, along with Yokozuna Hoshoryu and Onosato, all suffered defeat. It is surely a day that will be remembered and spoken of for years—indeed, for decades to come—as people recall,

“During the Tenran-zumo of the 2026 January Tournament Day  8…”

KotozakuraーOho

Kotozakura got exactly what he was aiming for at the tachiai, successfully securing morozashi. However, Oho locked down both of Kotozakura’s arms, leaving him cramped and with no room to operate. When Kotozakura was forced to pull out of the position, Oho immediately followed up the attack and drove him out of the ring.

Lately, Oho has been displaying sumo reminiscent of Terunofuji—using techniques such as locking in the opponent’s arms and clamping down on them to control the bout with sheer strength.

KirishimaーAonishiki

While Kirishima has been posting solid results this tournament and, more importantly, showing good quality in his sumo, I felt it might be difficult for him to defeat Aonishiki, as Kirishima is not the kind of power-based rikishi that Aonishiki typically struggles against. Nevertheless, Kirishima prevailed with a superbly executed bout.

At the tachiai, both men secured a hidari-zashi, but Kirishima’s technique stood out: his left-arm kaina-gaeshi was sharp, and his right-hand ottsuke was highly effective. The pressure from Kirishima’s right-side ottsuke was so severe that Aonishiki became cramped and was forced to withdraw his left inside grip, allowing Kirishima to establish morozashi.

Aonishiki attempted a counter with a kubinage, but Kirishima responded calmly—sliding in a deep right shitate (migi-zashi), closing the distance, and dealing with the move decisively before finishing with a yoritaoshi.

It was a bout in which Kirishima’s technical skill truly shone.

HoshoryuーDaieisho

At the tachiai, Hoshoryu was on the verge of securing morozashi, but Daieisho reacted sharply, circled away, and executed a hatakikomi. Seeing Hoshoryu go down that easily, or being unable to make any forward progress even after getting inside, raises the question of whether his knee injury is affecting him after all.

HakunofujiーOnosato

Watching the three bouts immediately before his own, I imagine Hakunofuji was thinking, “All right, my turn too,” and feeling a surge of motivation, while Onosato must have been under considerable pressure.

Hakunofuji produced an outstanding tachiai and drove Onosato straight out in one decisive yorikiri. For Onosato, the pain was evident almost immediately after the tachiai—his face was already contorted, his body clearly unable to generate full power, and even after the bout he looked to be enduring the pain with difficulty.

Frankly, he could have chosen to sit out this tournament, but perhaps he decided to compete because it was Tenran-zumo. In his post-bout interview, he reportedly said, “I’ll do my best again tomorrow,” but honestly—there’s no need to push it. He should withdraw and focus first on healing the injury. If he were to end up following the same path as his stablemaster Kisenosato, or worse, finish his career as an unremarkable yokozuna, it would be a major loss for the sumo world.

That said, as far as today’s bout is concerned, even if Onosato had been fully healthy, there is a strong chance that Hakunofuji would still have come out on top.

By the way, it is well known that Her Imperial Highness Princess Aiko has long been a fan of sumo. In the past, her favored rikishi was Kotomitsuki. One cannot help but wonder who her current favorite might be today.