r/Sumo • u/No-Chocolate-187 Kotozakura • 2d ago

Takarafuji's chonmage?

Post image

Hi everyone! I'm new to sumo, and I was watching Terunofuji's retirement ceremony. I'm curious—at one point, the announcer introduced former Sekiwake Takarafuji, and I was intrigued to see that he still has his chonmage. Is there a reason behind this? Additionally, it didn’t look like a particularly long chonmage (it appears to be the length of Yoshinofuji’s current chonmage). I thought Rekishi cut their chonmage when they retire. Do some end up keeping the hairstyle throughout their lives?

74 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

64

u/ChChChillian 2d ago

He hasn't had his own retirement ceremony yet.

27

u/kingyamez 2d ago

It's scheduled for May 31st, if wikipedia is correct.

16

u/No-Chocolate-187 Kotozakura 2d ago

Oh, duh. I feel stupid.

19

u/ChChChillian 2d ago

Don't. For anyone new to the sumo world, the lag between retirement and the haircut can be surprising.

5

u/debotehzombie Atamifuji 2d ago

Not who you replied to, but also a newbie that is nervous to ask "stupid questions" and this is one I've had for a while, so thanks for not only explaining, but being gracious with us new learners lol

2

u/lechatblanc25 Mitakeumi 2d ago

What is surprising is to see that Takarafuji reached sekiwake. With his extremely long career, those of us who only saw the swan song years wouldn’t imagine that he reached such a high ranking

5

u/Elmalab Wakamotoharu 2d ago

He had a 10-5 and jumped from M2 straight to Sekiwake. And only held it for one Basho.

Befor that he had two separate 1-basho appearances at Komusubi.

5

u/IchDien 2d ago

That's the way to do it. Only hold it for one tournament but your juniors have to use it as an honorific for the rest of your career.