2023 in sumo

Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 8 January – 22 January[1]

2023 Hatsu basho results - Makuuchi Division
Result					East			Rank	West			Result
0	-	0	-	15	ø		Terunofuji	Y	ø			0	-	0	-	0
0	-	0	-	0	ø			O			Takakeishō	12	-	3	-	0
9	-	6	-	0			Wakatakakage	S			Hōshōryū	8	-	7	-	0
1	-	5	-	9	ø		Takayasu	S			Shōdai	6	-	9	-	0
11	-	4	-	0			Kiribayama	K			Kotonowaka	8	-	7	-	0
5	-	10	-	0			Meisei	K			Wakamotoharu	9	-	6	-	0
8	-	7	-	0			Tobizaru	M1			Daieishō	10	-	5	-	0
7	-	8	-	0			Mitakeumi	M2			Tamawashi	9	-	6	-	0
8	-	7	-	0			Abi	M3			Midorifuji	6	-	9	-	0
4	-	11	-	0			Nishikifuji	M4			Sadanoumi	6	-	9	-	0
9	-	6	-	0			Ryūden	M5			Nishikigi	9	-	6	-	0
7	-	8	-	0			Hokutofuji	M6			Myōgiryū	6	-	9	-	0
0	-	0	-	15	ø		Ichinojō	M7			Ura	7	-	8	-	0
10	-	5	-	0			Ōnoshō	M8			Ōhō	4	-	11	-	0
6	-	9	-	0			Takanoshō	M9			Endō	9	-	6	-	0
8	-	7	-	0			Aoiyama	M10			Hiradoumi	8	-	7	-	0
5	-	10	-	0			Chiyoshōma	M11	ø		Tochinoshin	2	-	3	-	10
7	-	8	-	0			Kagayaki	M12	ø		Okinoumi	0	-	6	-	9
11	-	4	-	0			Kotoshōhō	M13			Kotoekō	7	-	8	-	0
10	-	5	-	0			Ichiyamamoto	M14			Azumaryū	9	-	6	-	0
7	-	8	-	0			Tsurugishō	M15			Mitoryū	7	-	8	-	0
8	-	7	-	0			Takarafuji	M16			Chiyomaru	4	-	11	-	0

Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, 12 March – 26 March[1]

Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 14 May – 28 May[1]

Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya, 9 July – 23 July[1]

Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 10 September – 24 September[1]

Fukuoka Kokusai Center, Kyushu, 12 November – 26 November[1]

• 4: Former sekiwake Toyonoshima, who had retired from professional sumo in April 2020, quits as a member of the Sumo Association in order to pursue a tarento career.[2]
• 6: Yokozuna Terunofuji withdraws from the upcoming January tournament—his second straight absence from an entire basho—as he continues to recover from surgery on both of his knees.[3]
• 14: Former sekiwake Okinoumi retires, ending an 18-year career in professional sumo competition. He withdrew from the January 2023 basho the previous day after he was defeated in his first five matches.[4]
• 22: The top division championship is won by ōzeki Takakeishō, who defeats maegashira 13 Kotoshōhō in the final bout. Both wrestlers had come into the final day with identical 11–3 records. It is Takekeishō's third career championship and first since November 2020, and puts him in a strong position to seek promotion to yokozuna in the following tournament.[5] Kotoshōhō, who had not produced a kachi-koshi or winning record since March 2022, wins his first Fighting Spirit Prize. He shares runner-up honours with Kiribayama, who also finishes on 11–4 and wins his first Techinque Prize. Ōnoshō, who led the tournament outright on Day 12 at 10–2,[6] finishes on 10–5 and misses out on a share of the Fighting Spirit Prize after defeat to Hōshōryū. Former ōzeki Shōdai, who was hoping to return to the rank by scoring at least ten wins, can only manage a 6–9 record.[7] Another former ōzeki, Asanoyama, wins the jūryō division championship with a 14–1 record.[8]
• 25: Promotions to the jūryō division are announced. The winner of the makushita division title, two-time high school yokozuna Ochiai, is promoted just one tournament after making his professional debut as a makushita tsukedashi entrant. It is the first time since the beginning of the Showa era that a wrestler has been promoted to jūryō in one tournament.[9] The winner of the 2022 All Japan Corporate Sumo Championship, Ochiai is the first new sekitori for Miyagino stable since the former Hakuhō took over as stablemaster.[10] The other jūryō debutant is 29-year-old Tamashōhō from Mongolia, who is the brother-in-law of Tamawashi.[11] There are also two wrestlers returning to jūryō – Tokushōryū after just one tournament, and Tomokaze, who returns for the first time since a long injury layoff beginning in November 2019 saw him drop from the top division down to jonidan.[11]
• 28: The retirement ceremony for the 69th yokozuna Hakuhō is held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan. He performs the yokozuna dohyō-iri, or ring entering ceremony, for the last time with ōzeki Takakeishō and sekiwake Hōshōryū serving as the tachimochi (sword bearer) and tsuyuharai (dew sweeper), respectively.[12] About 300 people take turns to cut the ōichōmage bun.[13]
• 29: The retirement ceremony for former maegashira Toyohibiki is held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan.[14]

• 1: Ikazuchi (former komusubi Kakizoe) officially takes over the stable previously owned by Irumagawa (former sekiwake Tochitsukasa) ahead of the latter reaching Sumo's mandatory retirement age of 65 at the end of April. The renamed Ikazuchi stable is the first incarnation of the stable in over six decades.[15]
• 4: The NHK charity sumo tournament is held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan for the first time in three years. It was cancelled in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16]
• 11: The retirement ceremony for former komusubi Shōhōzan is held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan.[17]