11–25 January 2026 · Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo · winner: Aonishiki (12–3)
The New Year tournament opened 2026 with a final-day playoff and the confirmation of the sport's brightest young star.
Newly promoted ōzeki Aonishiki — born Danylo Yavhusishyn in Ukraine, of Ajigawa stable — finished tied at 12–3 with the rank-and-file wrestler Atamifuji. In the deciding playoff bout (kettei-sen), Atamifuji drove Aonishiki to the edge, but Aonishiki stayed low, switched direction and threw him down to take the Emperor's Cup.
It was Aonishiki's second straight championship, and made him the first newly promoted ōzeki to win a tournament in roughly two decades. By winning back-to-back titles first as a new sekiwake and then as a new ōzeki, he matched a feat not seen since the legendary Futabayama in 1937.
It decided: Aonishiki entered the year as sumo's clear rising force and an early yokozuna-promotion candidate.
8–22 March 2026 · EDION Arena Osaka · winner: Kirishima (12–3)
A "tournament of upsets" in Osaka delivered the season's signature comeback story.
Sekiwake Kirishima (Michinoku stable, Mongolian-born) dominated the first two weeks, building a lead so large he clinched the title on Day 14 even before losing his final bout to finish 12–3. It was his third career top-division championship and his first since 2023.
The win cleared the promotion benchmark — 34 wins across three tournaments, plus the championship — and returned Kirishima to ōzeki, a rank he had lost in 2024. He became only the third wrestler since the modern demotion system began in 1969 to climb all the way back to ōzeki after falling to the rank-and-file.
It decided: Kirishima was restored to ōzeki for May; Aonishiki was left one bad tournament from demotion.
10–24 May 2026 · Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo · champion undecided
The Summer tournament is the most wide-open of the year — because the top of the rankings has been gutted by injury.
Yokozuna Ōnosato withdrew before the basho with a rotator-cuff injury. Sole remaining yokozuna Hōshōryū lost his first two bouts, hurt a hamstring, and pulled out. Ōzeki Aonishiki was already out injured, and ōzeki Kotozakura withdrew mid-tournament — leaving Kirishima as the only ōzeki still wrestling.
Into that vacuum stepped an unlikely contender. As standings stood after Day 12:
| Wrestler | Rank | After Day 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Kirishima | Ōzeki | 10–2 |
| Kotoeihō | Maegashira 13 | 10–2 |
| Wakatakakage | Komusubi | 9–3 |
| Yoshinofuji | Maegashira 2 | 9–3 |
| Ura | Maegashira 11 | 9–3 |
| Tobizaru | Maegashira 15 | 9–3 |
A serious title challenge from as low as Maegashira 13 — Kotoeihō's position — is one of sumo's rarest and most beloved underdog stories. On Day 13 (22 May), Kotoeihō and Kirishima met for the first time ever, a bout the schedulers set up to start separating the two leaders. The champion will be crowned on the final day, senshūraku, Sunday 24 May.
Reading this later?This section is a 22 May snapshot. For the final result, the lower-division champions and the special prizes, check the Japan Sumo Association site — see About & sources.
12–26 July 2026 · IG Arena, Nagoya · a venue first
The Nagoya tournament moves into a brand-new home — the single biggest venue change in modern sumo.
For the first time, the July basho is held at the IG Arena, a climate-controlled, roughly 17,000-seat arena designed by architect Kengo Kuma and opened in 2025. It replaces the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, the ~60-year-old hall that hosted Nagoya sumo for six decades — long notorious for its summer heat.
It will decide: whether sumo's grand-champion era resumes — or whether the open-race pattern of May carries into the season's second half.
13–27 September 2026 · Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo
The Autumn tournament — sumo's third and final Tokyo basho of the year.
Held back at the Kokugikan, Aki is the last chance before the season finale to settle the rankings picture. By September the central question of 2026 should have an answer: have Hōshōryū and Ōnosato returned to full, dominant health — or has the Yokozuna Deliberation Council's patience begun to wear thin?
Tickets typically go on general sale from early August. The tournament runs the standard 15 days, Sunday to Sunday.
It will decide: the form guide heading into the year-end Kyūshū basho, and any late ōzeki or yokozuna promotion cases.
8–22 November 2026 · Fukuoka Kokusai Center, Fukuoka
The season finale, in the most intimate of sumo's four venues.
The Kyūshū tournament closes the competitive year at the ~4,800-seat Fukuoka Kokusai Center. Because it is the last basho, its results carry extra weight: the rankings it produces — the banzuke — set every wrestler's starting rank for the January 2027 New Year tournament.
It is also where any season-long narrative reaches its conclusion: a yokozuna comeback completed, a promotion sealed, or a year of open, unpredictable racing confirmed.
It will decide: the final 2026 standing of every wrestler — and the storylines sumo carries into 2027.