The following were the events in professional sumo during 2017.
Tournaments
Hatsu basho
Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 8 January – 22 January
Haru basho
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, 12 March – 26 March
Natsu basho
Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 14 May – 28 May
Nagoya basho
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya, 9 July – 23 July
Aki basho
Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 10 September – 24 September
Kyushu basho
Fukuoka Kokusai Center, Kyushu, 12 November – 26 November
News
January
6: The three Mongolian yokozuna Hakuhō, Kakuryū and Harumafuji attend a New Year ceremony at the Meiji Shrine, and perform the dohyo-iri. 21: Ōzeki Kisenosato wins his first yūshō or top division championship, after seeing Hakuhō fall to maegashira Takanoiwa. Kisenosato, at 13–1, is two wins ahead of Hakuhō who drops to 11–3, with only one day to go. Kisenosato had been a runner-up on twelve previous occasions. 22: On the final day of the Hatsu basho, Kisenosato wraps up his first championship by defeating Hakuhō in the last bout of the day to finish with a 14–1 record. Hakuho, on 11–4, has gone four tournaments without winning a championship for the first time in his ten-year yokozuna career. The runner-up is rank-and-file maegashira Sokokurai on 12–3, who wins his first special prize (for Technique) at the age of 33. He shares the award with Mitakeumi, whose 11–4 record gives him a strong case for promotion back to the sanyaku ranks. The Outstanding Performance Award goes to Takanoiwa (11–4) for his win over Hakuhō. Takayasu wins his fourth Fighting Spirit prize. Ōzeki Terunofuji and Kotoshōgiku both finish with poor 5–10 records. It is Kotoshōgiku's second losing score in a row and he will be demoted to sekiwake for the following tournament. The jūryō division championship is won by Daieishō. 22: The process to promote Kisenosato to yokozuna begins as the judges division of the Japan Sumo Association asks chairman Hakkaku Oyakata to hold an extraordinary meeting of its directors, and he agrees. 23: Hakkaku asks the Yokozuna Deliberation Council about whether Kisenosato is deserving of promotion to yokozuna. The council decide that he is suitable. Speaking at a press conference, Kisenosato recalls the words of his late stablemaster Takanosato who was also a yokozuna. "He said that 'being a yokozuna is lonely'. I don’t know its meaning yet. But I will make efforts so that I will be able to understand the meaning." 25: Kisenosato's yokozuna promotion is confirmed by the Sumo Association's board of directors in a unanimous decision. Kasugano and Takadagawa convey the message to Kisenosato and his stablemaster Tagonoura at a hotel in Tokyo's Chiyoda ward. Kisenosato says "I am honoured to accept the decision. I will do my best not to tarnish the title of yokozuna." 27: Kisenosato performs the yokozuna ring-entering ceremony (dohyo-iri) for the first time in public in front of a crowd of 18000 at the Meiji Shrine. 31: Magaki Oyakata, former komusubi Tokitenkū, dies of malignant lymphoma at the age of 37. He had retired only last August. His fellow Mongolian Hakuhō pays tribute by saying "I’m in my 30s too, it came too early. He was full of fight when I first faced him, I struggled to see eye to eye. I always had to be careful about his good footwork."