Ryogoku Gets Ready for Autumn Sumo

The rankings put the yokozuna at the top. July’s results tell a less settled story. Aonishiki won the championship, Atamifuji and Kirishima also finished 12–3, and neither grand champion matched that record. When the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament opens at Ryogoku Kokugikan on September 13, the central question will be how closely the established hierarchy corresponds to the strength shown on the clay.^{[1][4][5][6][7][8]}

The tournament runs through September 27. Its September rankings offer several beginnings at once: Aonishiki returns to ozeki, the rank immediately below yokozuna. Fujinokawa debuts at sekiwake, followed in the hierarchy by komusubi, where Hakunofuji makes his first appearance. Two newcomers also enter the top division. Following those separate ambitions makes the fortnight more revealing than a daily search for the title leader.^[1][2]

A champion returning to his rank

Aonishiki arrives with both a championship and a restoration. His official record shows a losing 7–8 tournament in March, a complete absence in May and a July appearance at sekiwake. He then won the top-division title with 12 victories and three defeats, earning a return to the ozeki rank for September.^[4]

It was his third championship, following November 2025 and January 2026. That sequence contains a sharper story than uninterrupted ascent: early success, a reversal and an immediate competitive response. The autumn test is whether the restored status becomes a platform for sustained performance.^[4]

The association lists a right-hand-inside belt grip and forward force-outs among his strengths. Viewers can watch how he establishes that position and maintains his footing under pressure. Those details help explain a bout’s direction before its final winning move; they do not guarantee that his preferred form will work against every opponent.^[4]

Two other men with twelve wins

Atamifuji begins his third consecutive tournament at sekiwake. His May score was 9–6; in July he improved to 12–3. Together those tournaments produced 21 wins, giving the September campaign a clear basis for expectations of further advancement. A particular total should not, however, be presented as a promotion already promised.^[2][5]

The immediate sporting question is consistency at this level. Can he reproduce strong results against the upper ranks while controlling bouts that do not begin on his terms? His official profile emphasizes a right-hand-inside grip and driving an opponent out. Watching the contest for position can be as informative as watching the final surge.^[5]

Kirishima offers a different measure of continuity: 12–3 in March, 12–3 in May and 12–3 in July. March also brought a championship. While returning and newly promoted wrestlers attract attention, that sustained output makes the ozeki an essential part of any assessment of the race.^[6]

His preferred left-hand-inside grip, force-outs and throws contrast with Atamifuji’s listed approach. The interest lies not simply in which wrestler looks stronger but in who reaches the position from which his strength is useful. Their identical July totals conceal different ways of winning.^[5][6]

What the yokozuna must change

Onosato occupies the east yokozuna position and Hoshoryu the west. Onosato finished July 9–6 after missing the entire May tournament. Hoshoryu’s July record was seven wins, seven losses and one absence; in May he recorded no wins, two losses and 13 absences.^[7][8]

Those records establish the need for better results without establishing either wrestler’s current medical condition. September’s early bouts will matter: who controls the opening charge, who keeps an attack moving, and who can recover when an opponent gets the preferred grip? The prestige of a late-tournament showdown cannot substitute for the wins needed to reach it in contention.

Kotozakura, the other established ozeki, finished July 8–7 after a May tournament of three wins, nine losses and three absences. He restored a winning record, but the gap between eight wins and the leading contenders’ twelve remains a useful competitive benchmark.^[9]

A ranking is not a guarantee of participation on a particular day. Readers should use the association’s withdrawal notices and daily bout lists for current information. Previous absences should not be turned into an invented September diagnosis or a claim of complete recovery.^[18]

New names in the titled ranks

Fujinokawa, 21, moves from east maegashira 1 to west sekiwake after an 8–7 July and the Outstanding Performance Prize. The record includes victories over Onosato on Day 2 and Hoshoryu on Day 3. His promotion therefore rests on more than narrowly finishing above the line: those wins show the opposition he has already overcome.^[10]

The association identifies him as the first Kyoto Prefecture wrestler to debut at sekiwake or in sanyaku since Hiodoshi in October 1828. That historical distinction belongs to the achievement already made. It supplies no protection in the next bout. The Isenoumi stable wrestler now has to sustain his work from a new position.^[2]

Hakunofuji, remembered by some followers under his former ring name Hakuoho, makes his sanyaku debut at east komusubi. The Isegahama wrestler followed an 11–4 May with a 9–6 July at west maegashira 3. In the association’s pre-tournament interview, he set his sights on a top-division championship and further advancement.^[11][12]

Both men add a reason to follow matches before the championship picture settles. A successful new sekiwake or komusubi can change the tournament for the established contenders as well as for himself. Promotion is a reward for past performance and the beginning of another examination.

A first fortnight in makuuchi

Lower down the top division, Asasuiryu debuts at east maegashira 15 and Toshinofuji at west maegashira 16. Their official interviews describe distinct ambitions: Asasuiryu wants to execute his own sumo and secure a winning record; Toshinofuji aims for double-digit victories.^[12]

Those goals give spectators another way to read the event. The importance of a win depends partly on the career it advances. The championship is the most visible prize, but a tournament also contains wrestlers trying to establish themselves in unfamiliar company.

Before the first bout, a ceremony

On September 12, the day before competition begins, Kokugikan’s main ring is scheduled to host the dohyo-matsuri. The chief referee presides over a ceremony praying for safety and the successful running of the tournament, among other purposes. Ritual and competition occupy the same space, while serving different functions.^[13]

The association specifies free, first-come admission between 9:20 and 9:50 a.m. JST, with no entry after 9:50. Wrestlers will not attend. This is a solemn ceremony with its own attendance arrangements, rather than an opportunity to watch tournament bouts or meet the competitors.^[13]

Tradition has a history of change

Sumo’s origin stories include mythology and legend, which should not be mistaken for a documented schedule of ancient professional tournaments. The association’s historical account traces the development of professional wrestlers and regular public promotions in the Edo period, when sumo became a major popular entertainment.^[14]

The modern setting also reflects deliberate changes. Tokyo and Osaka’s sumo associations merged in 1927. The ring was enlarged to about 4.55 metres in diameter in 1931. In 1952, four supporting pillars were removed and replaced by the suspended roof and colored tassels familiar to audiences today.^[15]

Kuramae Kokugikan opened in 1954; the current Ryogoku arena opened in January 1985. The Sumo Museum, established alongside the Kuramae building, moved with the sport to Ryogoku. Its rankings sheets, prints and ceremonial aprons preserve the material record of contests that once existed only in the present tense.^[15][16]

Planning a visit—or following from home

As checked on September 11, the official September ticket page said tickets were sold out and directed readers to its face-value resale service. That link is not a guarantee that a ticket will be available for a chosen date.^[1]

Doors are scheduled to open at 8:45 a.m. on Days 1–12, 10:30 a.m. on Days 13–14 and 10 a.m. on the final day, all JST. These are admission times, not the start of top-division bouts. The museum also requires a tournament ticket during Tokyo tournaments; its otherwise free admission is not a route into the competition.^[1][16]

For home viewers, the association gives approximate NHK start times of 1 p.m. on BS and 3 p.m. on General TV, with daily schedules to be checked. Aonishiki’s return, the consistency of Kirishima and Atamifuji, the yokozuna’s response and the first tests of the newcomers offer several reasons to stay with the full fortnight. Ryogoku is preparing for a tournament whose hierarchy is printed, but whose story is still unwritten.^[17]