Better Know a Rikishi: Hoshoryu Tomokatsu
A look at the 74th Yokozuna in sumo's history
The Haru basho will be the first with Hoshoryu as a Yokozuna. You can also still sign up to play Fantasy Basho on Fantasizr for the March tournament.
When Sugarragchaagiin Byambasuren was born on May 22, 1999 in Ulaanbatar, his uncle Dolgorsuren Dagvadorj was competing in Grand Sumo in Japan under the shikona Asashoryu Akinori. Asashoryu made it to Makuuchi in January 2001, and he was an Ozeki by July 2002. In November 2002 and January 2003, Asashoryu won back-to-back yusho. That meant he became the sport’s first Mongolian Yokozuna when Byambasuren was not yet four years old.
Byambasuren would never remember a time when his uncle was not a Yokozuna. Mongolian boys had idolized sumotori for years, especially when Kyokushuzan first made the top division in 1996 as the country’s first representative Maegashira. Asashoryu would have an eventful career as a Yokozuna. He was singularly dominant, winning seven straight basho from November 2004 to November 2005. In doing that, Asashoryu also became the first rikishi to win all the yusho of a calendar year. Even Hakuho never did that. Byambasuren would grow up always knowing his Uncle as a Yokozuna, even after Asashoryu was forced to retire from sumo when he lied about being injured after the January 2010 basho.
22 years after Asashoryu’s Yokozuna promotion, Byambasuren would also be elevated to sumo’s top rank. Rechristened “Hoshoryu” for the obvious name connections, he was always in the shadow of his uncle. But not matching Asashoryu isn’t a bad thing on many levels. He had a singular career. So far, Hoshoryu has as well.
Let’s get one thing out of the way. Hoshoryu’s Yokozuna promotion was not the usual dominance that precedes earning the rope. He got a 13-2 Jun-Yusho in November (although that did come down to a final day loss to fellow Ozeki Kotozakura). He then earned a yusho in January after a 12-3 record (although that did come about after getting two playoff wins.) Hoshoryu hasn’t exactly proven he’s miles better than every other rikishi right now.
By contrast, Asashoryu had consecutive 14-1 records before his promotion. That’s the usual Yokozuna standard, plus he was 22. Hoshoryu is 25 on his promotion. Asashoryu also had 62 wins in his previous 6 basho before the two critical tournaments with two Jun-Yusho and four Special Prizes. Hoshoryu’s pre-Yokozuna year saw 58 wins with 1 Jun-Yusho. Asashoryu had also not had a losing record by the time he made Yokozuna.
Comparing Hoshoryu to Asashoryu is rough for Hoshoryu, although comparing ANY rikishi to Asashoryu at the moment he made Yokozuna is rough for all other rikishi except arguably Taiho, Kitanoumi, and Hakuho. Asashoryu was outstanding and singular. Of course, Harumafuji, Kakuryu, Kisenosato, and Terunofuji earned Yokozuna promotion and didn’t have to be directly compared to Asashoryu as much as Hoshoryu has been or ever will be. They are not blood relatives with an all-time great.
That burden of comparison has been on Hoshoryu since joining sumo. He was not “interesting young Mongolian” when he joined sumo, but “Asashoryu’s nephew.” The connection between the shikona didn’t necessarily help. This would be placed on anyone who has a famous relative, of course, but Asashoryu’s personality made things worse. Take Hoshoryu’s contemporary and sometime rival Oho. He is the grandson of Taiho, generally considered the greatest Yokozuna until Hakuho smashed through that argument in the early 21st century. Oho’s father was also a rikishi under the name Takatoriki, and he made Sekiwake.
But Oho’s relatives don’t post on social media when he loses. Asashoryu, now a businessman in Mongolia who also regularly comments on the country’s politics, loves remarking about Hoshoryu’s sumo on social media. There’s also the real fact that few rikishi have fought like Asashoryu as much as Hoshoryu does. Asahsoryu was slightly smaller than average, but remarkably strong. He could bullrush an opponent with either a yorikiri or oshidashi. What he always seemed to enjoy the most was to bullrush the opponent so he could attempt a throw or trip or other decisive move to send the other guy to the clay. Hoshoryu also loves a throw and a trip, but his sumo is subtly different. It’s worth considering Hoshoryu as his own rikishi, not just as Asashoryu’s nephew.
Hoshoryu joined sumo in January 2018, when he was still just eighteen years old. He did not come directly from Mongolia, but went to high school in Japan. Competing for Kashiwa High School in Chiba Prefecture, he was a real prospect in national school tournaments. Tatsunami-beya scooped him up as their lone foreign rikishi. Upon joining professional sumo, he adopted 豊昇龍 as his shikona. The name clearly evoked his uncle’s shikona (朝青龍) while also differentiating itself.
(Incidentally, no machine translation of “豊昇龍” gives the English equivalent as “Hoshoryu.” Google Translate spits out “Toyonori Dragon.” Translations of articles will say “Toyonori Ryu” or “Toyonoryu,” sometimes alternating between the two. Also, the “昇龍” is the start of the “Shoryuken” from the video game Street Fighter, and means “rising dragon.” So you can read 豊昇龍 as meaning “Rich Rising Dragon,” but know that Japanese speakers unfamiliar with the rikishi would neither see it as “Hoshoryu” nor “Rich Rising Dragon.” Yet another reminder that sumo shikona are odd beasts.)
Hoshoryu was a nice prospect throughout his lower division career, but without dominating. He won much more than he lost. He won one lower-division yusho, in Sandanme in his second career tournament. His time in Makushita was a lot of 4-3’s. Yet he was also steadily advancing at a young age. It meant he didn’t get the laurels of a record-setting rikishi like Takerufuji or Onosato. What he was was ahead of the curve. Hoshoryu reached Juryo in November 2019, just shy of two years into his pro career and at the age of 20. Then he needed just four basho to make Makuuchi, although he overall went 33-25 in those tournaments.
That good-but-how-good-could-he-be element of Hoshoryu’s early career was reflected on the dohyo. Hoshoryu is one of those rikishi who looks undersized even if he isn’t really that small. He’s 188 cm, or 6’2”, but without the usual gut and wide base of a sekitori. He’s built more like an NFL Defensive End or Rugby Union Flanker instead of an Offensive Lineman or Lock. He’s just not the specimen often seen in sumo. As he’s moved up the rankings, he’s added weight. But he still isn’t the kind of widebody normally seen in sumo.
With his brand of sumo, he doesn’t need to be. The one similarity between Hoshoryu and Asashoryu is a love of throwing the other guy down to end a match. Throwing befits someone with a background in both Mongolian wrestling and judo. And Hoshoryu isn’t just good at throwing, he’s one of the best to ever do it. The worst place for any rikishi since Hoshoryu’s Makuuchi debut has been to get one arm pulled around by Hoshoryu. He also loves putting a leg between the other rikishi’s, tripping them over and down. He is an absolute nightmare to face.
That didn’t always translate to dominance when he was younger because sumo is not just about sending the other guy down. You can be bowled straight back or grabbed and forced behind. That happened to Hoshoryu not infrequently as a younger rikishi. In particular, he could get sideways attempting a throw and then bowled backwards or forced behind. While Hoshoryu was capable of throwing anyone he latched onto, he also sometimes got in trouble while latching on.
Hoshoryu also has a weird affect on the dohyo. He is incredibly nearsighted, meaning he can hardly see the other guy when he gets into the ring. Thus, he always has a perma-glare when he is competing, and often gives an intense staredown when he is finished. Outside the ring, his manner is more playful. He commands a duality as a competitor that often saw him in the crosshairs of both his former Yokozuna Uncle and traditionalists in the JSA. Frequently, the traditionalists had an extra eye on Hoshoryu because of his uncle’s antics.
As Hoshoryu went up the Banzuke, his up-and-down performances were still mostly up. He made his Sanyaku debut in March 2022. He got to Ozeki in September 2023. Hoshoryu overall had a habit of avoiding losing records, and in particular not having those disastrous basho with only 3 or 4 wins. He just never fell back. Then things changed. In March 2023, Hoshoryu won 10 matches as a Sekiwake. In May, he got 11 wins. In june, he earned 12 and his first Yusho. That was a classic Ozeki run, and the promotion to sumo’s second rank came. The May tournament was also Hoshoryu’s first back-to-back double-digit win basho. He was finding new levels of sumo as he moved up the rankings.
Hoshoryu’s sumo also changed subtly. He is still the absolute master of throws and trips in Makuuchi, but he isn’t solely reliant on it. Hoshoryu also bulked up as he moved into Sanyaku and then Ozeki. The extra weight made his tachiai more powerful and his defense more solid. He also refocused his sumo. He can throw anyone, but he doesn’t always need to. He can take opponents head on as well as move them sideways. His most frequent winning kimarite is the straight ahead yorikiri. If you add all the throws he has won with over his career, they outnumber the yorikiri victories.
In his Yokozuna run, Hoshoryu won 7 times with yorikiri. He could be finding a new way to excel. So yes, Hoshoryu didn’t have the ideal Yokozuna run. But he did make it. He also could improve after his Yokozuna promotion. It’s what Hoshoryu did after his Makkuchi, Sanyaku, and Ozeki promotions. Possibly, Hoshoryu’s best lies ahead of him.