Welcome back, sumo fans, Chiyomomo here again with yet another installment in the Top 100 Rikishi Countdown series! First, let me apologize for such a lengthy delay between my last post and this one; life has gotten pretty hectic for me recently, so I’ve not been able to dedicate as much time to this as I’ve wanted to. I’ll do my best to keep these coming on a consistent basis in the near future, but know that I do appreciate your patience and continued support.

Today, we’ll finally be diving into the Top 50 rikishi on our list, and I’m excited to say that the remaining rikishi will be primarily former Ozeki and Yokozuna (and thus, hopefully more familiar to most sumo fans).

Before I begin today’s list, I also want to take a moment and give a shoutout to Shohozan, who announced his retirement late last month. Though he won’t be making an appearance on our list, the former Komusubi still had a remarkable career, accumulating 4 sansho, 5 kinboshi, and a jun-yusho in 51 top-division basho. He’ll finish his career ranked 125th on our Leaderboard, and is the 11th-highest-ranked rikishi in the Modern Era to have never reached Sekiwake.

50. Tochinoshin* (Ozeki, 2008-Present, 725 points in 76 basho, 1x Yusho)

I’m very curious to see what fans’ responses will be to Tochinoshin’s placing here. I imagine there will be a number of his most loyal supporters thrilled at the sight of the Georgian having already cracked the Top 50, just as I’m sure some of his detractors will be shocked that he’s ranked this highly. His popularity makes it difficult to accurately gauge his career, so let’s put things into perspective. Tochinoshin had his big breakthrough in November of 2009, when he went 12-3 and earned his first special prize and jun-yusho. After another year and a half of inconsistent results, he again flashed potential in May of 2011, when he went into the final day just one match behind Hakuho. Unfortunately, he would drop his senshuraku matchup against Harumafuji, and he again had to settle for the jun-yusho. Soon after, injuries would force the Georgian out of action for months, during which he dropped as low as Ms55. Yet, he quickly returned to the top division, and by the turn of the new year in 2018, he found himself situated within the joi and in some of the best health of his career. Over the next 6 months, he took advantage of a decimated Yokozuna corps (Hakuho and Kisenosato both sat out 3 straight basho with injuries and Harumafuji had just been forced to retire) to put together one of the most impressive Ozeki runs in recent memory. The crowning moment of the run was his maiden yusho in January of that year, when he amassed 14 wins over the course of the basho and clinched the Emperor’s Cup on Day 14.

Over the course of his Ozeki run, Tochinoshin employed his famous “forklift” to great effect, manhandling opponents in humiliating fashion. Unfortunately, the strain of this style of sumo and his lingering injury issues caused him to miss considerable time after promotion; he’d only finish 4 basho at the rank, two of which featured losing records. After the conclusion of his disappointing stint at Ozeki, he returned to the maegashira ranks, where he’s managed to string together enough wins to stave off demotion, even as he’s far from the rikishi he used to be.

So how do we evaluate Tochinoshin? On the one hand, he’s been around for nearly 13 years’ worth of Makuuchi basho, has an Emperor’s Cup and 4 jun-yusho, is a former Ozeki, and has more sansho than any other active rikishi. That’s a resume that plenty of rikishi would kill to have. On the other hand, once you earn promotion to Ozeki, your career is automatically viewed in a different light and, for better or worse, you’re primarily compared to your Ozeki peers. The numbers here aren’t pretty, so Tochistans may want to avert their eyes now. In terms of total career stats among all modern Ozeki, Tochinoshin has the lowest win average per basho (7.1), the lowest kachi koshi rate (46%), and the second-lowest win percentage (50%). I think there’s a legitimate case to be made that Tochinoshin is statistically the worst Ozeki in the Modern Era, but his longevity and yusho triumph (there are a plethora of Ozeki who have never lifted the Cup) likely do enough to keep him out of the cellar. In addition, his enormous popularity with English-speaking sumo fans makes it so that his legacy extends far beyond his on-the-dohyo performance, and we’ll hopefully have a few more years with him yet.

49. Dejima (Ozeki, 1997-2009, 731 points in 75 basho, 1x Yusho)

Tochinoshin was the definition of a late bloomer; by the time he earned promotion to Ozeki, an entire decade had already passed since his top-division debut. Dejima, on the other hand, peaked early. Exploding onto the scene with two 11-4 records in his first four Makuuchi basho, Dejima was debuting at Sekiwake after less than a year in the top division. After an injury knocked him out of action for a few months (a disheartening bit of foreshadowing), he worked his way back up to the san’yaku ranks. Then, he logged five consecutive kachi koshi at Komusubi and Sekiwake and entered the September 1999 basho with Ozeki aspirations, but what happened next surprised everyone. Despite an early loss to a rank-and-filer, Dejima won 11 of his last 12 matches to finish 13-2 and book a showdown with Yokozuna Akebono in a playoff. Just to get to this point, he had already had to knock off two Yokozuna (including Akebono) and two Ozeki; did he have another giant-killing bout in him? See for yourself.

That yusho got him to 33 wins in 3 basho and earned him promotion to Ozeki; he had been in Makuuchi for only two and a half years at that point. At Ozeki, he impressed with 5 double-digit basho in his first 7 tournaments with no losing records, until an injury saw him demoted to Sekiwake after a two-year run at the rank. He was never the same rikishi. Though he’d stick around for 8 more years and make occasional forays into the san’yaku, he never seriously challenged for a second Emperor’s Cup. Sumo history is filled with what-ifs, and though I doubt Dejima would have been able to mount any stronger of a challenge to Asashoryu’s reign than his peers, I would have liked to have seen him have the opportunity to do so. Even so, what he managed to accomplish in the front half of his career, when combined with his longevity even in the face of injury, earns him a well-deserved spot in the Top 50.

48. Wakanosato (Sekiwake, 1998-2014, 749 points in 87 basho)

Take a look at any random banzuke from 2002, 2003, and 2004, and you’re guaranteed to find one thing: Wakanosato ranked in the san’yaku. This remarkable run of 19 basho at Komusubi and Sekiwake is the all-time record and the perfect encapsulation of Wakanosato’s low-ceiling, high-floor career. Making his Makuuchi debut in 1998, Wakanosato’s first assault on the san’yaku ranks was cut short by injuries that sent him back to Juryo. However, in May of 2000, he announced his return to form with a remarkable 5-basho stretch that saw him win back-to-back Juryo Yusho, 3 sansho, and his debuts at both Komusubi and Sekiwake. This also saw him begin a streak of 5 full years without dropping below M2, including his famed 19-basho run in the lower san’yaku and his two career jun-yusho.

Unfortunately, this stretch would be ended not by a dip in Wakanosato’s abilities, but by the injury bug (as is too often the case with talented rikishi). After pulling out midway through the September 2005 basho (he was 4-2 at Sekiwake when he went kyujo), he would never again find himself in the san’yaku for the last decade of his sumo career. Nevertheless, his consistency at the top of the banzuke when he was healthy was unprecedented. Only Kotonishiki (who we’ll meet later today) has more kachi koshi at Komusubi and Sekiwake without eventually earning promotion to Ozeki, though Wakanosato’s peak level was never quite as high. Indeed, despite finishing 11-4 on 9 occasions (and 10-5 another 9 times), the latter never once managed to earn 12+ wins in a Makuuchi basho, which ultimately doomed his chances of ever winning the Emperor’s Cup. One last fun fact: though this list exclusively measures Makuuchi accomplishments, Wakanosato had an impressive Juryo resume as well, being one of only 7 rikishi ever to win at least 4 Juryo yusho.

47. Kotooshu (Ozeki, 2004-2014, 757 points in 57 basho, 1x Yusho)

The original Big Bulgarian, Kotooshu is the highest-ranked European wrestler on our list, and it is his legacy that the likes of Baruto, Tochinoshin, and Aoiyama will be compared to when their careers are said and done. And his legacy is well-deserved, as very few rikishi go from Jonokuchi (the lowest division in Grand Sumo) to Ozeki in only 3 years. Kotooshu’s meteoric rise to sumo’s second-highest rank featured three lower-division yusho, 3 consecutive jun-yusho (including a 13-2 performance which saw him fall in a playoff to Asashoryu), five sansho, and only one make koshi along the way. Once at Ozeki, his winning slowed down a bit, though it would still take an injury to hand him his first make koshi at the rank, nearly 2 years after his Ozeki debut. Two basho later, he again had to sit out with injury, and he entered the May 2008 basho with kadoban status hanging over his head. It was clear that resting up would pay dividends, however, as Kotooshu finished 14-1, avenged his playoff loss against Asashoryu, and lifted his first and only Emperor’s Cup. To demonstrate just how impressive this yusho was, Kotooshu had to beat Asashoryu and Hakuho on back-to-back days (a nigh-impossible feat during their dual reign as Yokozuna), in addition to dispatching 3 future Yokozuna (Kakuryu, Kisenosato, and Harumafuji) and 4 future/current/past Ozeki (Kaio, Chiyotaikai, Baruto, and Miyabiyama). In my opinion, it’s one of the most impressive title runs of this century.

Unfortunately, this era was just too competitive for Kotooshu to separate himself consistently enough to seriously make a case for Yokozuna promotion. His yusho and a 13-2 jun-yusho a year later were the only two times he eclipsed 10 wins in his Ozeki career, even as he finished his career with the 4th-highest kachi koshi rate among all modern Ozeki (82%). This rate is only brought down due to the injuries he struggled with late in his career; out of the Makuuchi basho he actually completed, he only finished with more losses than wins once. That level of extraordinary consistency in an exceptionally top-heavy era is remarkable, even if his yusho/JY numbers are weaker than those of his contemporaries. If his body had cooperated, Kotooshu could surely have stuck around for longer than the 57 basho he finished with, a low total among 21st-century Yokozeki. These days, the 6’8″ giant is still working in the sumo world, recently making his debut as a ringside judge and operating the first European-owned stable in history; his protégé Oshoma is set to make his sekitori debut this month!

46. Miyabiyama (Ozeki, 1999-2013, 761 points in 82 basho)

If you want an understanding of what Miyabiyama’s career was like, I’d refer you to Tochinoshin. Both are physically imposing specimens who attained the rank of Ozeki, lost the rank shortly thereafter, and earned their spot on this list primarily via longevity of consistent results. Weighing in at over 400 pounds, Miyabiyama was frequently the heaviest man in the top division throughout his career, an advantage he used to great effect to execute his trademark oshizumo. He was also another rikishi who completed an exceptionally quick Ozeki run, earning his promotion after just 8 Makuuchi basho. However, in just over a year at the rank, he never once hit double digits and eventually was demoted after being injured while already kadoban. Throughout the rest of his career, he would make occasional return trips to the san’yaku ranks, though the consistency that he had displayed on his Ozeki run was difficult to come by.

In 2006, over 4 years after his Ozeki demotion, Miyabiyama experienced a bit of a resurgence, including a 3-basho stretch which featured 34 wins, all while ranked in the san’yaku. The best of these basho was a 14-1 effort in May, a record which was good enough to earn a spot in a playoff against Ozeki Hakuho. Though he had beaten Hakuho earlier in the tournament, the future legend got the best of him this time in a marathon tilt. I can’t help but wonder if the JSA would have chosen to be a bit more lenient in accepting Miyabiyama’s unconventional 10-14-10 run as Ozeki-worthy had he won that bout, but alas, we’ll never know. As injuries and age caught up to Miyabiyama, he gradually receded from the top of the banzuke, becoming a maegashira mainstay for the latter half of his lengthy career. Though his Ozeki stint was certainly shorter and less impressive than most of his peers, only two other modern Ozeki managed to have longer careers in the top division than Miyabiyama; this longevity makes him the most successful Ozeki on our list without a yusho.

45. Kirishima (Ozeki, 1984-1996, 771 points in 71 basho, 1x Yusho)

One of sumo’s original lightweights, it seems fitting that the 273-lb Kirishima is ranked right next to one of the heaviest Ozeki in history. Unlike some of the other Ozeki we’ve encountered today, Kirishima’s path to the rank was much slower, as it took him nearly 6 full years to put together an Ozeki run after his Makuuchi debut. During that time, he slowly yet surely cut his teeth on the meat of the division and refined his exceptional yotsuzumo. In 1989, he began to make inroads into the san’yaku ranks, and during the winter of ’89-’90, he put together a 10-11J-13J Ozeki run. He continued his strong run of form into his Ozeki career, and in January of 1991, he had the best basho of his career. Despite starting a mere 2-1, he would rattle off 9 straight wins to enter the homestretch at 11-1, tied for the lead with Yokozuna Hokutoumi. The only thing standing between him and glory? Just 3 matches in 3 days against 3 Yokozuna. Fortunately for Kirishima, he had spent his entire career overcoming long odds. After upsetting Asahifuji and Onokuni, he went into senshuraku only one win from the coveted Emperor’s Cup. His bout with Hokutoumi was one for the ages, as Kirishima somehow managed to execute his signature tsuridashi against an opponent 60 pounds heavier and with a great deal more experience to seal the yusho.

After his championship, Kirishima’s body slowly began to decline. Though he still put together the exceptional basho here and there, he lost the quickness and strength that had made up for his size disadvantage, and he was demoted less than two years after his yusho triumph. He would stick around for a few years in the maegashira ranks, though he never again cleared 10 wins in a basho. Because of this and his less-than-stellar pre-Ozeki career, his career win percentage is one of the lowest among modern Ozeki (51%). However, his yusho and 7 career jun-yusho elevate him from the lowest tier of Ozeki, and his accomplishments become even more impressive when considered in light of his physical shortcomings; Kirishima’s renowned commitment to strength training, fitness, and exquisite technique helped him rise above other similarly-sized rikishi. Unfortunately, his legacy has been somewhat tainted in his retirement after some of his wrestlers were implicated in the 2011 match-fixing scandal.

44. Kiyokuni (Ozeki, 1963-1974, 787 points in 62 basho, 1x Yusho)

Only one rikishi in the history of professional sumo has won 14+ matches in one of their first two Makuuchi basho. Meet Kiyokuni, who announced himself to the sumo world in dramatic fashion in January 1964. After a quiet yet respectable 8-7 performance in his debut basho, Kiyokuni shocked the world by rattling off 14 consecutive wins to open his second tournament. Unfortunately, this basho took place in the midst of the legendary Yokozuna Taiho’s prime, and thus, one misstep on the final day was enough to see the Emperor’s Cup slip from Kiyokuni’s grasp. Nevertheless, this performance saw him rise to Sekiwake in only his third top division basho, tied for the second-fastest rise in the Modern Era. However, it would take him a few years to acclimate to the top level of the banzuke, and he didn’t surpass 10 wins in a basho again until the last stage of his Ozeki run in 1969.

It’s an odd coincidence that Kiyokuni and Kirishima have ended up next to each other, given that both are some of the lightest Ozeki of all time (sumodb has them both listed at 273 lbs). As such, it’s not surprising to see their careers mirror each other in terms of the length of time it took them to break through the “great barrier” of Ozekihood. Still, both made it, and both managed to find success at the rank. For Kiyokuni, the highlight of his Ozeki tenure came in his very first basho at the rank, when he took advantage of Yokozuna Kashiwado’s mid-basho intai and a subpar performance from Taiho to make a run at the Cup. After downing the Yokozuna on the final day, Kiyokuni was alone at the top of the leaderboard alongside journeyman Fujinokawa. Fighting with the size advantage for one of the few times in his career, Kiyokuni crushed his opponent and sealed his maiden title. Unfortunately, he was never able to repeat this success, though he would frequently record scores of 11+ victories and finished his career with 5 jun-yusho. Unlike Kirishima, Kiyokuni was able to stave off injury for a bit longer, though he would retire as soon he lost the rank in 1974 after a four-and-a-half-year stint. Sadly, his retirement contained a series of misfortunes and tragedies, from losing his wife and children in a plane accident to being demoted in the JSA and closing his stable at various points.

43. 62nd Yokozuna Onokuni (1983-1991, 791 points in 51 basho, 2x Yusho)

At last, we have come to the second Yokozuna on our list. Onokuni is a rikishi whose career is difficult to evaluate; his yusho total trails all but two modern Yokozuna (Kisenosato and Futahaguro), and yet, he’s one of only 29 men to earn the rope over the last 60+ years. Debuting in the top division in 1983 at just 21 years of age, the massive youngster (weighing nearly 450 lbs.) quickly made his way up the banzuke, cracking the san’yaku ranks after just three basho. A year after that, he would become a Sekiwake mainstay, posting 6 consecutive kachi koshi at the rank before finishing off an Ozeki run. Despite this quick rise, however, Onokuni had largely lacked any results that screamed that he was future Yokozuna material; his last basho at Sekiwake was the first time he had won more than 10 bouts in a single basho and seriously challenged for the Cup. Once promoted to Ozeki, he quickly added 3 more 11+-victory basho and nabbed two more jun-yusho, but he went into a bit of a slump in 1986. At this stage in his career, you could be forgiven for expecting Onokuni to last for another year or two as an Ozeki, and then spend the rest of his career poaching sansho and kinboshi in the joi. After two 9-6 performances to open 1987, it looked like the year would proceed much as the preceding one did for Onokuni, and no one expected what would happen in May of that year.

Onokuni was not known for being a fast starter; he had never before made it to Day 5 of a basho without a loss. So when he did so in May of 1987, people began to take notice. When the giant Ozeki made it to Day 10 with his perfect record still intact, murmurs of a possible yusho were sweeping through the sumo world. After he defeated both Yokozuna on Days 13 and 14, he had come within one win of a zensho yusho. And on the final day, in the deciding bout against fellow Ozeki Hokutoumi, Onokuni masterfully absorbed the latter’s attack and dumped him out of the ring to clinch his first yusho and a perfect 15-0 record. He would follow this performance up with 12-3 and 13-2 jun-yusho, a 3-basho stretch that (though unconventional) was deemed worthy of promotion to Yokozuna. Bear in mind that this promotion was not all that out of place in the context of the late ’80s, as both Futahaguro and Hokutoumi were promoted on relatively weak runs.

However, Onokuni would quickly prove that he belonged at the rank. After a shaky start to his Yokozuna career with an 8-7 basho followed by a mid-basho kyujo, Onokuni would return in fine form to the tune of 13 wins and his second career yusho. This one again saw him battle Hokutoumi (now also a Yokozuna), defeating his rival on the final day to draw level on the leaderboard and then a second time just moments later in one of the most thrilling playoffs in history. Unfortunately, after another year of solid Yokozuna performances, Onokuni’s massive frame began to fail him. During his last two years on the banzuke, he rarely competed, though he still managed to put together one last 12-3 JY before his eventual retirement at a mere 28 years old. Due to this lack of longevity, his frequent injury issues, and his inability to seal more Emperor’s Cups when he had the chance (7 JY to 2 yusho), Onokuni slots in near the bottom of the Modern Yokozuna rankings. However, a careful look at his career reveals that even the weakest Yokozuna are exceptional rikishi who have more than earned their place in the annals of sumo history.

42. Kotonishiki (Sekiwake, 1989-2000, 795 points in 68 basho, 2x Yusho)

In my last writeup, I introduced the title of GRNEPO (Greatest Rikishi to Never Earn Promotion to Ozeki). Unfortunately, I have failed to come up with a better acronym since that post, so we’re stuck with this once again for now. Fortunately, we are now meeting someone who I believe is one of the strongest candidates for the GRNEPO crown in Kotonishiki! Here are a number of fun facts for those unfamiliar with the Sadogatake man. Only one rikishi in history has won multiple yusho as a maegashira: Kotonishiki. Only one rikishi in the modern era has won multiple yusho without earning promotion to Ozeki at some point in his career: Kotonishiki. The man with the most basho spent in the lower san’yaku ranks? Kotonishiki with 34. Finally, which retired rikishi is the man with both the highest kachi koshi rate (65%) and the highest average wins per basho (7.7, minimum of 6 basho)? Kotonishiki. Taking all of his career metrics into account, I’d say Kotonishiki was statistically equivalent to a slightly below-average Ozeki, lending him a strong stake to the claim of being the GRNEPO.

Since I’ve already spoiled a fair bit about Kotonishiki’s career, let’s take a look at some of its highlights, as tracking his frequent movements into and out of the san’yaku would be quite tedious. Like most oshizumo specialists, Kotonishiki was quite streaky, able to string together impressive winning streaks but also vulnerable to dramatic dips in performance either during or between basho. For example, in July of 1991, he went 4-11 while ranked at Sekiwake. In the next tournament, he went on a tear through the san’yaku and maegashira ranks, racking up 13 wins and stealing his first career yusho as both of the active Yokozuna sat out with injury. This streakiness both aided Kotonishiki in making multiple yusho runs throughout his career (he scored 12+ wins on 5 occasions, practically unheard of for non-Yokozeki), all while hampering his ability to put together a solid Ozeki run. Later in his career, Kotonishiki ceased to be as constant of a presence in the san’yaku ranks, but he would turn back the clock in November of 1998, when he was ranked below M10 for the first time in nearly a decade. In that basho, he decimated his fellow rank-and-filers to enter Day 12 with a spotless 11-0 record. The next 3 days would see him face two Yokozuna and an Ozeki, and he’d need to win 2 of the 3 matches to earn an unprecedented second yusho. Despite being far past his prime and dropping the first of the matches against Wakanohana III, Kotonishiki stunned the world by toppling Takanohana and then Takanonami on successive days to clinch his second Cup; the latter match was an instant classic that demonstrated the technique and fighting spirit that netted Kotonishiki 18 sansho over the course of his career. All in all, Kotonishiki has one of the most unique resumes of any rikishi in history, and I am of the opinion that his combination of skill, accolades, and the memorable moments he was a part of makes him one of the strongest candidates for the title of GRNEPO.

41. Musoyama (Ozeki, 1993-2004, 802 points in 68 basho, 1x Yusho)

The final rikishi on our list for today is also the first member of the 800-point Club, yet is someone who I rarely hear mentioned when talking about sumo’s golden period in the late ’90s. Unlike most Yokozeki, Musoyama began his career as an amateur champion and didn’t make his grand sumo debut until he was nearly 21 years old. Nevertheless, he quickly made his way into the top division, and he became only the 4th man in the Modern Era to win at least 9 bouts in each of his first three Makuuchi basho. This early promise translated into Musoyama becoming a steady force in the joi for years on end; in fact, only two rikishi in history have earned more kachi koshi while ranked in the lower san’yaku. Yet, whenever he came close to putting together a complete Ozeki run, he managed to come up just short in the end.

However, come the turn of the century, Musoyama would finally find a way to break through the great barrier. Building off a 10-5 at Komusubi in the final basho of 1999, Musoyama began the new year with his first (and only) yusho triumph, bulldozing Kaio on the final day with his patented oshizumo attack to finish 13-2. In the following tournament, he strung 12 more wins together to seal his Ozeki promotion after nearly 7 full years in the top division. Unfortunately, injuries forced him to lose the rank almost as quickly as he had gained it, but after earning re-promotion for a 10-win effort as an Ozekiwake in September, he managed to enjoy a lengthy stretch at Ozeki. However, it was clear that he was not the same rikishi that had lifted the Cup, as he only surpassed 10 wins once at Ozeki and was frequently kadoban due to injury. Eventually retiring at 32 years old, Musoyama now owns and operates his own former stable, Fujishima.

That’s all for today, everyone! Now that we’re into the business end of this countdown, I’m considering breaking up each installment into 5 rikishi instead of 10, which would hopefully allow me to post more regularly without having to worry about sacrificing detail. If you have any thoughts on this suggestion, please feel free to share feedback in the comments below. In the meantime, I hope this post can help provide a nice distraction from the long wait for the Nagoya basho to begin; I can’t wait to follow along with you all!