對馬洋 (つしまなだ) (境川 [さかいがわ] 部屋; 東幕下4枚目) は、関取 (せきとり: 番付が十両以上で、給料をもらえる力士) になってほしい幕下力士の一人です。
Tsushimanada (對馬洋) (Sakaigawa Stable [境川部屋]; east makushita 4 [東幕下4枚目]) is one of the makushita rikishi that I would like to see become a sekitori (関取: salaried rikishi with the rank of juryo [十両] or above).
現在行われている令和4年三月場所で、對馬洋は本日 (令和4年 [2022年] 3月20日 [日曜日]) で2勝2敗です。今場所の残り三番の取組に全て勝てば、来場所には新十両になれる可能性があります。對馬洋は現在28歳なので、そろそろ力士として一花咲かせてほしいです。
In the ongoing ozumo March basho of Reiwa 4 (令和4年三月場所), Tsushimanada's score is 2 wins and 2 losses as of today (Sunday, March 20, Reiwa 4 [2022]). If he wins all the three remaining bouts of the basho, he may be promoted to the juryo division in the upcoming May basho. I want him to accomplish something substantial as a rikishi because he is 28 years old now, which is not exactly a young age in the world of sumo.
この力士を応援したくなったのは、ドキュメンタリー映画「相撲道～サムライを継ぐ者たち～」で境川部屋が取り上げられていて、對馬洋へのインタビューも数回あったからです。境川部屋は「古き良き相撲部屋」として取り上げられ、その厳しい稽古の一端もこの映画で見ることができます。また、同部屋所属の佐田の海 (さだのうみ) 関が、角界に入るにあたって父親 (元小結佐田の海) に「男を磨くなら境川部屋だ」と言われた、と語る場面も気に入りました。
I became a fan of Tsushimanada after watching a documantary film called "Sumodo: The Men Who Walk in the Footsteps of the Samurai" (「相撲道～サムライを継ぐ者たち～」). The film features Sakaigawa Stable and shows a few interviews with Tsushimanada. It also shows rigorous training and practices in the stable, which is a "good old sumo stable," according to one of the interviewees in the film. In addition, the film shows Sadanoumi (佐田の海), a makunouichi rikishi (幕内力士: rikishi in the upper division of sekitori) who belongs to Sakaigawa Stable. In an interview, Sadanoumi says that, when he was about to enter the world of sumo, his father (a former komusubi [小結: the fourth-highest rank for rikishi] with the same ringname of "Sadanoumi") told him, "Sakaigawa Stable is the place to be if you want to be a real man." This is one of my favorite interviews in the film.
最近読んだ相撲関連の本で心に残ったものに「関取になれなかった男たち」 (佐々木一郎著、ベースボール・マガジン社発行、2022年) があります。大相撲にご関心をお持ちの方はお読みになる価値のある本です。
One of the sumo books I read recently and was impressed is "Sekitori ni narenakatta otoko tachi" (「関取になれなかった男たち」 : The Men Who Could Not Become Sekitori) by Ichiro Sasaki (佐々木一郎) (published by Baseball Magazine Company [ベースボール・マガジン社] in 2022). It is a book well worth reading if you are interested in ozumo.
この本に記されていますが、殆どの力士は関取になれずに引退します。幕下筆頭にまで番付を上げながら、さまざまな理由から関取になれずに引退していった元力士が「関取になって、両親、後援者の皆さん、親方、おかみさん [相撲部屋持ち親方の妻。部屋の運営に陰ながら重要な役割を担う] に、自分の化粧廻し姿を見せたかったという気持ちは確かにある。しかし、自分は様々な面で恵まれて、良い人生を歩んでこられたことに感謝している」という趣旨のことを述べる部分がこの本にあります。さぞ悔しかっただろうと想像する一方で、このような態度は立派だと感心します。
As stated in this book, most rikishi retire without becoming a sekitori. One of the former rikishi featured in the book, who attained the rank of makushita 1 (幕下筆頭), which is the rank just below juryo, but did not make it to juryo for various reasons, states the following: "Sure, I definitely wanted to be a sekitori and show myself in kesho mawashi [化粧廻し: an apron-shaped and decorated mawashi worn by a sekitori in the dohyo-entering ceremony] to my parents, my fans and supporters, oyakata [親方: stable master], and okami-san [おかみさん: the stable master's wife who plays a low-key but critical role in running the stable]. However, I am grateful that I have been blessed in many ways and have had a great life." I can only imagine that this former rikishi must have felt so frustrated at what he did not achieve, but I am also impressed at his humility and thankful attitude.
境川部屋で厳しい稽古を積んできた對馬洋はぜひ関取になって、化粧廻し姿を近いうちに本場所の土俵で見せてほしいです。
I want Tsushimanada, who has endured rigorous training and practices at Sakaigawa Stable, to become a sekitori and show himself in kesho mawashi in a not-too-distant future basho.