We'll start off with the man who is probably the most famous sumo wrestler on Earth - Fujinoyama or, better known to most people, Edmondo Honda from Street Fighter. Is he really the most famous sumo wrestler? I dunno, but I can only assume so. Hakuho should be the most famous, obviously, because he's the greatest of all time in sumo and one of the greatest athletes ever in any sport, but the real sport of sumo has far less reach - especially outside of Japan - than the fake sport of Street Fighter, so it's a reasonable conclusion to come to, that Honda is the most well known, I think.
Anyway, E. Honda's history is pretty interesting. His original design in the concept stages was considered to be too boring, so they added the folded down yukata at his waist and kabuki face paint to make him more distinct. These additions were quite controversial, however, as sumo purists considered them sacrelige to the Japanese national sport. In fact, at the first official Street Fighter II tournament, held in the Ryogoku Kokugikan (the national sumo stadium in Tokyo) in 1992, all of the characters had giant artwork featured around the arena "except" for Honda, Looking back, it's crazy to think that the sumo character didn't get special attention at the sumo arena, but that just goes to show how controversial his design was at the time.
In early English localizations of Street Fighter II Honda was listed as being a yokozuna - the highest rank in sumo - but that was quickly retconned and he has officially only ever been an ozeki - the second highest rank. Ever since Street Fighter IV, however, he has been labelled as a "haridashi-yokozuna", which is a somewhat confusing term. In this context it is clearly meant that he is a yokozuna in all but the actual promotion - so he's still an ozeki despite meeting the qualifications for yokozuna. This is confusing because "haridashi" hasn't really been used in sumo since 1995 and refers to the old way the banzuke (rankings) was written where there was only so much space available and if there were more than two wrestlers at each sanyaku rank - komosubi, sekiwake, ozeki, yokozuna - the "extras" would be listed in the margins instead of the main row. They still had their full rank, but they weren't written in the normal place on the banzuke. That doesn't happen anymore and they have enough room to write everyone's name where they should be.
Some people interpret his "haridashi-yokozuna" title as meaning he is actually a yokozuna. In my opinion, however, there's just too much evidence to the contrary and he is, and always has been, an ozeki. As I mentioned, the haridashi label hasn't been used since 1995, and the context in which it is used in Street Fighter lore implies he is on the outside of the rank looking in. I also have to believe that the nebulous concept of "hinkaku" - meaning the dignity expected of high rankers and something that is very important in both ozeki and yokozuna promotions - would likely prevent Honda from ever reaching yokozuna. I mean, his kabuki face paint is already controversial and I doubt the yokozuna deliberation council (yes, that's a real thing) would look too kindly on him jet setting around the world to take place in street fights. His loud and boisterous personality also would likely preclude his promotion to yokozuna as well.
There are a couple of slight hitches in the "is he or isn't he" a yokozuna argument, though. He actually performs the yokozuna dohyo-iri ring entrance ceremony to open his restaurant in Street Fighter 6. Fun fact, he does the Unryu-style dohyo iri like Asashoryu did instead of the Shiranui style that Hakuho and current yokozuna Terunofuji do. I don't know if there is any taboo in non-yokozuna performing a public dohyo iri (knowing sumo, its likely ...) but I can only imagine the fact he's doing it to open his chanko restaurant is probably another violation of hinkaku on top of that taboo. Something that raises even more questions is that he actually wears the tsuna - the ceremonial white rope - of the yokozuna as an alternate costume in Street Fighter IV but "not" in Street Fighter 5 or 6 which, if he was a yokozuna, you'd think it would be prominently featured moving forward.
So why am I giving all of this attention to whether he's a yokozuna or not? Because it's freaking important, that's why. Of the tens of thousands of men who have entered professional sumo in the centuries since the ceremonial Shinto ritual became a competitive sport, only 73 have ever earned the rank of yokozuna. It's a big deal either way and it's worth discussing because Street Fighter is weirdly vague about it while Tekken and Virtua Fighter are very clear with regard their to own sumo fighters' status. Is Capcom perhaps unwilling to officially put a rope on him after how controversial Honda has been among sumo purists? Only they know for sure.
Something else about Honda that normal folks probably don't notice, but sumo fans definitely will, is that there is no way his official weight is accurate. He's officially listed at 185 centimeters and 137 kilograms, which is about 6 foot 1 and 300 pounds. There's simply no way he's 300 pounds. I mean, just look at him. He's absolutely massive. And not flabby fat, either, but huge AND muscular, which means he's likely actually heavier than he looks. For reference, the great yokozuna Chiyonofuji was famously known for putting on "muscle armor" because he was a smaller guy and put on muscle instead of fat to prevent injury. He was officially listed as being a little shorter at 183 centimeters and a little lighter at 126 kilograms than E. Honda supposedly is, but E. Honda looks like he is easily twice his size. Honda has to be closer to 400 pounds than 300. I refuse to believe otherwise.
It has to be said, though, that in the world of Street Fighter, and specifically Street FIghter 6, all of the characters actually are all in proper proportion to each other. Zangief is the biggest at seven feet and 400 pounds and Lily is the smallest at 5 foot 3 and around 100 pounds with the rest of the cast, including Honda, falling somewhere in between. That all seems reasonable to me. So Honda's size is believable in the Street Fighter world, but there's absolutely no way he's 300 pounds in the real world.
And another thing - just how old is Honda? The timeline in Street Fighter does not happen in release order of the games. The Alpha series is a prequel to Street Fighter 2. Street Fighter 4 and 5 happen after 2 and Street Fighter 3 actually happens after 4 and 5. And then Street Fighter 6 is the most recent game in the timeline. We know that E. Honda, in the storyline, was born in 1960. Is he 63 years old in Street FIghter 6? How old was he in Street Fighter IV when he earned the confusing haridashi-yokozuna label? Capcom hasn't ever attached specific years and dates to the events in the games, as far as I can find. Does the storyline span decades or is it all condensed into a much shorter period like John Wick? Is it meant to be contemporary or is Street FIghter forever trapped in the 1990's like Harry Potter? That doesn't seem to be the case since there are smartphones in SF6.
These are valid questions to ask because Honda not only still being active in sumo well into his 40's or 50's is far fetched as it is - it's not impossible as there are some old guys still struggling along at that age, but they're nowhere near the top division and they aren't exactly competitive down in jonidan or sandamme, either -, but Honda still being strong enough to hold on to the ozeki rank and earn a (maybe) yokozuna promotion at that age is absolutely ridiculously unbelievable. He'd be the oldest yokozuna ever, which is another reason why I'd say he peaked at ozeki. To put it into perspective, the greatest of all time, Hakuho, retired at age 36 after being a yokozuna for 14 years. Based on what we know, Honda is significantly closer to sumo's forced retirement age of 65 than he is to being anywhere near the pinnacle of the sport. So how the hell old is he and when does Street Fighter actually take place? This is important! It either means Edmondo Honda, or going by his shikona Fujinoyama, is the greatest grand champion of all time, or the folks at Capcom don't know or care enough about sumo to get any of this right. I'm leaning towards the latter.
What about Honda's performance in actual fights? All of the sumo characters in fighting games are throwing punches and kicks and doing moves you'd never see in an actual sumo match, but that is to be expected considering they're engaged in real fights against opponents who are masters of a wide range of combat styles so they can't rely on just sumo to be effective. Instead, we have to look at how much of their sumo background they retain in the hybrid fighting style they have to use to be successful in mixed martial arts.
In Honda's case, it's actually kind of surprising how much sumo there is in his Street FIghting style, but it's simultaneously rather subtle where non fans don't know they're looking at sumo moves, while at the same time being hugely exaggerated where it's impossible not to see sumo in what he's doing. Honda's two most famous moves are the hundred-hand-slap and the flying head butt. The hundred hand slap is known as tsuppari in sumo and translates to rapidly delivering open hand strikes to your opponent. Takakeisho, Daieisho, and Abi do this in every match. The flying head butt is just a tachiai - the initial charge of a sumo match - but obviously greatly exaggerated. Honda also does the nekodamashi or "cat clap" where you clap your hands together right in front of your opponent's face to catch them off guard. I've only seen this a couple of times in real matches but it's always a special treat.
His other moves are also primarily variations of recognizable pushing and thrusting known as oshi-zumo. His throws are typically body throws and wouldn't really take advantage of grabbing the mawashi in real sumo. His super arts are combinations of all of this - head butt, tsuppari, and various wildly exaggerated throws. It's all sumo. Sort of. Kind of. Not really.
This is sort of surprising because it contradicts his stated goal of entering Street Fighter tournaments in the first place, which was to try to spread awarness of sumo around the world. You aren't going to spread the joy of sumo if you're not really doing sumo. People won't recognize what you're doing and won't care.
Maybe that explains his relative unpopularity - he's always the least favorite among the original 8 SF2 world warriors and usually comes in mid-pack or lower among all Street Fighter characters. He doesn't really look like a sumo wrestler, and he doesn't really fight like a sumo wrestler. E. Honda is the diet coke of sumo wrestling. He just doesn't really stand out like he should.
So there you have it - an analysis of Edmondo Honda from Street FIghter through the eyes of a sumo fan. He's easily the most famous and most recognizable out of the video game sumo fighters, but he's not really the best representation of sumo among them, which is a bit of a shame.
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