In this video, you can see Yokozuna Hakuho performing his Ykozuna ring-entering ceremony (kanreki dohyō-ir)—the Shiranui style. The video was captured at EIDON Arena, at the 2019 Osaka Grand Sumo Tournament. This was on March 15, 2018, Friday at 3:52 pm. Sorry for the quality, I was capting it using my mobile phone camera.
Here is the video. It’s not the full ceremony. Honest, if I knew the importance of this back then, I would record all of this. Well, you learn new things every day. If you are there, you’ll know the significance of this ceremony.
I also posted a video of Yokozuna Kakuryū Rikisaburō Ring-entering Ceremony if you are interested in seeing it.
Yokozuna Hakuhō Shō the 69th yokozuna
Yokozuna Hakuhō Shō is my favorite Sumo wrestlers. He is the 69th Yokozuna. Hakuhō received his Yokozuna rank in May 2007. He won a total of 43 tournaments as of the time of writing. 42 at the Top division ranks (Makuuchi) and 1 at the Second division rank (Jūryō).
I love hits tactics and the way he acts on the stage. He is like a lion and the dohyō is it’s hunting ground. He won the 2019 Sumo Grand Tournament in Osaka.
I also watched him at Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament, when he lost at the final fight. What a fight it was though. Hakuhō was fighting versus Kakuryū. After an intense fight, Kakuryū eventually won. Both are among the best Sumo fighters of our generation and both Mongolians by the way.
I love that ceremony. If you pay attention, you can see that the crowd cheer when the Yokozuna raise his legs up and smash it against the ground. I love the respect and the way the Japanese crowd cheers the Yokozuna as he is performing his ceremony dance.
It’s a special moment to remember. I can’t wait to attend another tournament. The next tournament is “The September Tournament”. It takes place right now as of the time of writing at Kokugikan in Tokyo, from September 8 until the 22nd. The next one after is “The November Tournament” at Fukuoka Kokusai Center in Fukuoka (southern Japan). That tournament will take place from November 10 until November 24, 2019.
Regarding the first tournament of 2020. The first one is in January at Kokugikan, from January 12-26, 2020. You can check all the schedules here on sumo.or.jp. So you’ll know when you can buy tickets and how to play your trip accordingly.