Yuriyama Ren

The comics in Japan are read from right to left, so... Edit: Since you've edited the first post there's no reason for me to repeat it all here. ;)

Sad to see him go. Asa's fast and technical sumo was quite impressive. Hakuho is not quite as good (yet?). I wasn't fond of Asa's post-bout / off-dohyo antics though. And this isn't the end of sumo. The next few bashos will be interesting. Will Hakuho dominate? Will the ozekis start to move their ass for a change? Will Baruto have an easy completion of his ozeki run? What will Kisenosato do? The previous 2 basho suspension provided less opportunity for others to shine. But now the landscape has permanently changed.

UNDERWEAR?! Is underwear throwing really such a popular pastime in Japan? To be honest I'd rather get hit with a zabuton than some dude's underwear.. Though on the other hand.. some panties stuck to the end of the bow during the twirling ritual.. Yeah, that would be a way to take a piss on ancient customs...

Baruto? Oh yes. His first match with Chiyotaikai was a henka. Edit: Day 11 of Nagoya 2006. Here be the rikishi comments on that. PS. Congrats to Baruto for making Sekiwake. :)

Man, Rohou is pretty mad in this phone interview to NNN. Somewhat loose translation from Russian: They wanted to get rid of the current president and they got what they wanted. The next president, Musashigawa and his supporters, they're the ones behind this. I am going to demand until the very end that the association apologize to me. And even if they do apologize (well not if, they'll have to), if they say: "Well, our bad, you can come back now" I am not going to. Because this is a dirty association. I don't mean everybody. The current president, Kitanoumi is an honest man. And so is my trainer.

Hmmm... If Ama's throw was that disgraceful then why is it featured as the match of the day 12 on NSK homepage? Pushing the opponent over the edge would have been more respectful for Goeido but the okuri-tsuri-otoshi move was more entertaining for the spectators. Did any newspapers call Ama a haughty bastard over this?

Hmmm... I seem to remember someone from the forum reported some time ago that early in the morning before the jonokuchi bouts a couple of old ladies were sitting on the dohyo like nobody's business causing passing yobidashi to nearly have a heart attack.. But the search turned up nothing.. :(

There has been a case back in 73, when Wajima went kyujo on day 14 and still ended up getting yusho.

Umm.. Asashoryu hasn't fought a single bout this basho but he is listed at 0-11. The score in the brackets: Asashoryu(0-0-11) shows the actual record. Same for Kaio and Daimanazuru.

Ama 12-3 (Whistling...)

Excellent. Thank you. B-)

Seeing Kaiou's kyuujou and fusen loss I had this question: has there ever been a bout where both rikishi have gone kyuujou? And what happens then, do both get fusen loss or a.. draw?

I thought the zabuton barrage was rather half-hearted. Maybe it was because of the schoolteacher scolding but it kinda felt like the crowd didn't consider the bout worthy enough to get off their asses and toss their zabuton. The picture was completely different last basho when Kotomitsuki won his bout against Hakuho. Ama gets no respect.. (Applauding...)

Ah, I see. Well, even without kinboshi it was still a beautiful bout. (Applauding...)

Nope. You sure...? It's very rare for a yokozuna to give up a kinboshi on shonichi as they regularly face a komusubi. Like Ama. Alright, I'm thoroughly confused now. Are you implying that: a) Ama's kubinage win over Hakuho didn't take place and both the results on goo Sumo and the NSK video stream were erroneous? b) it wasn't the first kinboshi that Hakuho has given up. c) komusubi are not eligible for a kinboshi over a mere beating of yokozuna, only regular maegashira can get one this way?

Another short tidbit about Baruto: http://www.delfi.ee/news/sport/sumo/article.php?id=16843814 He thinks he has recovered well and says the injury wasn't that bad this time. There hasn't been enough time for recuperation. He hasn't skipped any training because training is best for healing... He picked a new doctor after the last injury. He's sure he'll participate in Aki and the target is to get KK.

Thanks to the wonders of p2p I've seen a couple of NHK sumo broadcasts. To be honest, quite a lot of the 97% you mentioned, is missing there. The slow-mo replays from different angles and commentary hide a significant portion of how the rikishi are preparing for the next bout. In a way the low-res NSK feed is better in some aspects like crowd reaction etc. :) But the fact that NHK has all these replays etc means that there is demand for this, that people are more interested in the details of the bout than the preparation. How many "real" sumo fans are there really?

How is it possible for Asa to drive away from his home without the media tailing him? Haven't the papparazzi been invented yet in Japan?

Well. I'm not the best informed guy in these matters but I'll try to explain how I can. There are two flavours of sumo: oozumo and amasumo. When there is talk about sumo becoming olympic sport then it refers to amasumo only. NSK governs the oozumo and is in no way interested in turning it into olympic sport. Even if amasumo became an olympic event, the oozumo wrestlers would not participate in it.

Well, if anyone (ozeki or not) beats Asa then the zabutons fly like no tomorrow usually. I think the muted response was because there was still one bout to come and it's cold to sit on the floor. (Whistling...) Either way, a beautiful performance from Kotooshu. I would like to see more bouts like that from him.

Indeed, why not. :D

Well, it looks so definite that there isn't much to flame over. (Applauding...) I personally like Hananotaka's "f***-up by the gyoji and then a cover-up by the shinpan" explanation best.

Damn, the Miyabiyama-Asa bout during Haru was much more ambiguous and it was awarded to Miya. I totally agree that Kaio was robbed. But didn't the gyoiji give the bout to Hakuho? (In a state of confusion...) In that case a mono-ii was definitely called for.

You need to register at info-sumo to view the videos, the link you provided doesn't work otherwise.

Well, Onoe is having a pretty disastrous basho, at two thirds in the beya score is 23-27. Perhaps Sakaizawa is intending to knock the opponents cold with his arm cast to even the score a bit.