Tatakiage Recruits in Sumo

Liked Nagoya 2026: Shin-Makushita (新幕下) by hochiyama (Tachiai) This helped me, a 30-plus year sumo fan learn the concept of 'tatakiage / 叩き上げ'. A tatakiage is actually my favorite type of recruit, one who comes straight from middle school without any prior experience and is 'built from scratch' in the stable. I watched all the matches in the first three grand sumo tournaments of 2026. Because I am following sumo this year, I looked for a couple of sumo blogs to add to my feed collection. One is Tachiai. On June 27, 2026, author Hochiyama covered the lower divisions (which I have not watched in 2026, I only saw the top division matches). In going through some up-and-coming prospects to watch, Hociyama shared a new term he learned: “tatakiage / 叩き上げ”. A tatakiage is a sumo recruit is is picked up out of middle school with no prior sumo experience and is developed by a sumo stable from scratch. In the case of Sachinofuji, we learn that he did attend high school as a correspondence…