Aonishiki drops to sekiwake before Nagoya

Aonishiki has been handed the most honest test in sumo: win now, or wear the demotion.

The new banzuke for the 2026 Nagoya basho puts the Ukrainian at sekiwake, not ozeki, after a damaging two-tournament sequence that first stalled his yokozuna chase and then removed him from the second-highest rank. Nagoya runs from July 12 through July 26, and the top division will again ask 42 makuuchi rikishi to fight daily across the full fifteen-day grind.

That ranking sheet is not decoration. It is a verdict. Aonishiki was close enough to the summit in March to have yokozuna talk around him, then a 7-8 record, influenced in part by injury, followed by sitting out May at 0-0-15 changed the conversation entirely.

Aonishiki drops to sekiwake on crowded Nagoya banzuke

The headline rank is yokozuna, and Nagoya has two of them: Hoshoryu on the east side and Onosato on the west. Beneath them sit Kirishima and Kotozakura at ozeki. Then comes the unusual traffic jam. Four men occupy sekiwake: Atamifuji, Kotoshoho, Wakatakakage and Aonishiki.

Four sekiwake is not normal housekeeping. Sumo requires the rank to have at least two names, but doubling that minimum creates a sharp, unforgiving top of the board. Atamifuji and Kotoshoho protected their places after 9-6 marks in May, strong work for wrestlers experiencing that height for the first time. Wakatakakage forced his promotion by taking the May yusho from komusubi with a 12-3 record. Aonishiki completes the set from the other direction, because two losing records by ozeki standards, including absence counted against him, are enough to send him down.

Ten wins can repair the damage, but only immediately

Aonishiki does not need a miracle to regain ozeki. He needs double digits in Nagoya, and that is both generous and brutal. Generous, because the path back is clear. Brutal, because every opponent knows he is defending more than a line on a chart. The sekiwake rank has become a holding pen for four different stories: two men proving they belong, one champion rising, and one former ozeki trying to stop a slide before it becomes his new identity.

• Nagoya 2026 is scheduled for July 12-26.
• The makuuchi division has 42 wrestlers on this banzuke.
• Atamifuji, Kotoshoho, Wakatakakage and Aonishiki are the four sekiwake.
• Aonishiki can return to ozeki with double-digit wins.

Nagoya basho rankings put pressure on joi and new faces

The danger zone below sanyaku is just as revealing. The maegashira 1-4 group, often called the joi, is where ambition gets mugged by the schedule. Takanosho, Gonoyama, Churanoumi, Hiradoumi, Hakunofuji, Daieisho, Ichiyamamoto and Ura are placed there, meaning the opening week can quickly become a run through yokozuna, ozeki and this swollen sekiwake class if everyone is active.

Some of those men were fortunate not to fall after losing records in May, but that kind of luck comes with teeth. Staying high keeps a wrestler near the special ranks; it also means the road to a kachi-koshi is packed with elite opponents. For the division, Nagoya is a sorting event. Aonishiki’s result decides whether the ozeki line gains back a major name, Wakatakakage can turn a championship into sustained rank pressure, and the joi either produces a challenger or chews up another batch of hopefuls.

The promotion group gives the lower half of makuuchi fresh weight. Takerufuji is back after an 11-4 May in juryo, still carrying the memory of his stunning 2024 top-division debut title. Onokatsu returns immediately after one tournament down. Kazuma and Daiseizan make their first appearances in the top flight, with Daiseizan becoming the second Chinese-born wrestler to reach makuuchi after his stablemaster Arashio, formerly Sokokurai. Four men rose, so four went out: Tamawashi, Tokihayate, Oshoumi and Ryuden. Tamawashi leaves the top division at 41 after holding the records for 1,793 consecutive career bouts without an injury absence and 1,497 makuuchi bouts.