Photo/Illutration Maegashira No. 18 Oho pulls down Kotoeko on Jan. 10, the second day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament. (Sayuri Ide)

With the recent retirement of yokozuna great Hakuho and few compelling storylines entering 2022, a young wrestler with a fabled bloodline is breathing new life in the traditional sport. 

Oho, making his debut in the highest makuuchi division, is a grandson of Taiho, the late yokozuna of the Showa Era (1926-1989), who dominated sumo in postwar Japan. 

Oho’s father is Takatoriki, a former sekiwake, the third-highest rank in the makuuchi division.

The 21-year-old Oho is the youngest wrestler now competing in the top division. He did not seem rattled by the high expectations, pulling off two straight wins to open the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament currently being held at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.

Taiho won 32 Emperor’s Cups in his illustrious career. His debut in the makuuchi division also showed signs of his future greatness.

Taiho’s makuuchi debut also came in the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in 1960. He won his first 11 bouts and ended up with a 12-3 record and the Fighting Spirit Prize.

“Rather than try to get closer to my grandfather’s record, I simply want to win a majority of my bouts so that I can continue to win more from there,” Oho said on Jan. 10.

Speaking with reporters before the start of the New Year tournament, Oho acknowledged the greatness of his grandfather, but said he felt little pressure to equal his achievements.

“I never thought that I wanted to match him in terms of records,” Oho said. “While I am aware of what he did just like everyone else, it is not to the extent that many people might think.”

Oho said he felt no pressure being Taiho’s grandson, but expressed gratitude for those who cheered for him because of that blood relationship.

Oho recalled that when he was a child he often watched TV from about 4 p.m. after returning home from school. That was when makuuchi division bouts were broadcast live during tournaments.

When he was in the fifth grade, Oho already stood 167 centimeters tall and weighed 103 kilograms. He progressed to the quarterfinals of a national tournament for elementary school students.

Oho went on to attend Saitama Sakae High School, which has produced a number of top sumo wrestlers, such as ozeki Takakeisho. Oho was captain of the sumo team and in his senior year he won both the individual and team competitions at a national high school competition.

With that background, Oho progressed to the Otake stable along with two of his brothers. Oho is now the top-ranked wrestler in that stable, having reached the makuuchi division after four years in the sumo world.

Taiho became yokozuna when he was 21, the same age as Oho is now.

Oho feels that his grandfather, who died at 72 in 2013, is looking after him from heaven.

“I want to become a human being not ashamed to face my grandfather,” Oho said. “Because I feel he is cheering me on, I may make him angry at me at times, but I hope not to make him think I am not good.”

(This article was compiled from reports by Ryusaburo Matsumoto and Kensuke Suzuki.)

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