Historic rise to yokozuna just the beginning for Onosato

Japan Times

5 days ago

It's been an historic week for Japan's national sport, with Onosato's rapid rise to yokozuna forcing major revisions to sumo's record books.
So head-spinningly fast has the 24-year-old's ascent been that it's hard to know where to even begin when describing the impact.
First and foremost, there is a good argument to be made that Onosato is already the most widely decorated wrestler in sumo history.
In addition to becoming just the second ever student yokozuna to reach the same rank in professional sumo, after fellow Ishikawa prefecture native Wajima, Onosato is also the first grand champion to have been amateur yokozuna, World Games gold medalist and National Sports Festival champion.
Of course most stars of the past turned pro while still in their teens, and weren't part of the collegiate and international amateur circuit that Onosato dominated for years.
Even so, the Nippon Sport Science University graduate has achieved far more in just two years as a professional than the vast majority of wrestlers manage over an entire career.
With a fourth Emperor's Cup in just nine top division tournaments, the Nishonoseki stable man has reached the top of his chosen sport faster than anyone in modern sumo history.
That Onosato has done so without posting a losing record in any tournament to date is simply mind-boggling. Since reaching the paid ranks he has won an incredible 82% of his bouts and reached double digits in 9 of 11 meets.
Only 18 months ago Onosato had yet to compete in sumo's top division, yet now he becomes just the 75th man to reach the sport's ultimate rank.
Onosato turns 25 on June 7 and is already in a place where it's simply a matter of burnishing his legacy.
A first title as a yokozuna, followed by the five more that would put him in rarefied air, and then all that's left is chasing the marks reached by the sumo's greatest legends.
Writing so flippantly about five championships – a number that many yokozuna never reached – should feel strange, but so overwhelming has Onosato been to date that it doesn't seem far-fetched.
Sumo's newest grand champion isn't invincible as Hoshoryu demonstrated on the May meet's final day. However even that loss was hard-fought, and with the title (and promotion) having been sealed on day 13, a certain lapse in concentration was understandable.
Failing to go unbeaten just gives Onosato something else to aim for in the future, and given how things stand in sumo currently it'd be a surprise if he doesn't achieve a perfect 15-0 championship soon.
Predictions of greatness have become the norm when it comes to Onosato, but as he prepares to ascend to the sport's highest rank, it's worth pondering just how far he can go.
In an activity as violent as sumo, where career-derailing injures are common and rikishi put their bodies on the line every time they step into the ring, success is never guaranteed. However if Onosato can avoid major harm, he should be able to match the achievements of the aforementioned Wajima and perhaps go even further.
In addition to the sheer size and power that enables him to blow opponents away with ease, Onosato has gradually reduced his tendency to pull when a first attack stalls, which was his one remaining obvious weakness.
With that one habit now almost entirely overcome, the new yokozuna goes into every fight with a significant advantage in physicality, offense and defense, making him incredibly difficult to defeat.
While fellow yokozuna Hoshoryu has the ability to beat any opponent – including Onosato – he must work much harder to do so.
That's not simply a matter of size. Virtually all great yokozuna have a side to their sumo that gives an almost insurmountable edge. Whether the massive bulk of Akebono, the technical perfection of Takanohana, or the raging intensity of Asashoryu, the sport's greatest exponents have at least one weapon that tips the balance in their favor most of the time.
Hoshoryu is getting there in terms of aggressiveness and technique but isn't yet the finished product, while Onosato already has significant and established advantages in both power and offense.
That means that while head-to-head bouts could lean toward the Mongolian native for a while, Onosato is far less likely to suffer the same two or three soft losses each tournament that have prevented Hoshoryu from claiming more silverware.
With no one else able to consistently hit the same level that Onosato can manage, the 75th yokozuna should steadily add to his trophy cabinet over the next five years.
On that timeline, if a conservative estimate is taken with Onosato winning an average of two to three tournaments a year, then the sport's newest grand champion will be more than capable of surpassing Terunofuji, Musashimaru and Wajima by the time he hits 30.
The gap from Wajima's 14 Emperor's Cups to Takanohana's 22, though, is a large one with almost all of the most successful yokozuna — Chiyonofuji aside — having started their Emperor's Cup collection at a young age.
There is no doubt that Onosato has the ability to write himself into the history books further and find himself described as a "dai-yokozuna" (great yokozuna) by the time he retires, but the most tantalizing part of his rapid rise is that he already shows all the traits needed to go even further and become part of the elite group of names mentioned in discussions about the all-time greats.
It's been an historic ascent for Onosato already, but his greatest days may be yet to come.