kotoeikoku

I certainly do. And I'm very grateful to all those collating and translating information. Thank you! (Yusho winner...)

If they are serious about stopping match-fixing, one way would be to set up a security unit in the following vein: "...a well-resourced security department, which is standard in large companies and in all US sports. In these leagues the unit is specifically charged with protecting and policing the game. It is run by former police officers or FBI agents who can gather information and help press charges against match-fixers." (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/3407740/How-to-stop-match-fixing.html) It doesn't have to be police officers, but it should be run by people outside the regular hierarchy, and it should have the power to punish rikishi appropriately. I doubt that it will happen, though.

I think that this kind of encompasses the two options as I see them (options 2 and 3 are one and the same to me), though I would replace 'own up' with 'cover up'. Speaking personally, I think that the current incentive system encourages yaocho, so I agree that this needs to be changed (assuming that you believe yaocho to be a problem of course). Whether randonmitsuki's salary from top to bottom approach or peterao's cash for wins is better I don't know, but this is probably the most crucial area to get right to reduce (you can never eliminate) yaocho. The other big area is governance, right? I'm curious as to how people think the riji should be reformed..

Not really. It seems self-evident that only rikishi for whom tangible evidence of yaocho can be found will be thrown out of sumo. Of course, if by 'guilty until proven innocent' one means 'guilty for all and before all' in a Dostoyevskian sense, then it sort of makes sense. I guess this is what you mean: yaocho will never disappear until it is accepted by those ruling sumo that you can no longer blame a few bad apples. The top-dogs need to realize that they, and the whole institutional structure they maintain, are also part of the problem. What seems weird to me in all this is the role being played by the Ministry. Normally when scandals of some sort rear their head in Japan, there is a public apology (all bow together!), some top dog resigns, some nominal 'reform' is announced, and then everything goes back to normal. I'm sure the JSA would love to just put a few rikishi up as sacrificial lambs and go on as usual. So why can that not happen anymore? Too many scandals? Why is the Ministry intent on seeing change in the JSA, instead of just facilitating a nice cover-up?

Oh, I should say I also agree that a lot of blood will have to be spilled to satisfy public opinion. It'll be interesting to see who is offered up as sacrificial lambs.

No. If there is no evidence that a particular rikishi has engaged in yaocho, then they are by default innocent. Unless by your phrase 'everyone is guilty', you simply mean that the whole organization needs reform. I agree with you that the available evidence suggests yaocho is more than just pervasive - it is structural, built in and incentivized, and getting rid of it means a root-and-branch redesign of Ozumo. It also seems probable that many (one wonders if most) rikishi have engaged in it at some time. But you cannot move from the general to the particular without evidence. Anyway, hijack over.

semper necessitas probandi incumbit ei qui agit

I just read on the net that a jonokuchi yobidashi gets (pre-raise) between ￥14,000 and 20,000 per month. Of course, the kid is usually around 16 or 17 and he would have no expenses. A veteran yobidashi was asked what motivated him to join. He answered quite honestly, "I had nothing else better to do. I didn't want to continue with school and I was told there was an opening." After a pause, he said with even more candor, "When I think about it, by joining, I gave up the real world or any chance for a normal life." At the time of the interview, four slots for yobidashi remained open due to lack of applicants. This is so sad. "When I think about it, by joining, I gave up the real world or any chance for a normal life." = lack of applicants How do you guys think the labour conditions/pay/etc. of urakata could/should be reformed?

This is an interesting question, though I would guess that for the stimulant effect to help you would need to smoke immediately before a match. Of course, for a habitual smoker this could have a calming effect as well. I do wonder how small the cumulative harm would be in a younger athlete, however. Smoking can apparently (I'm no expert) impact on endurance levels, impede oxygen flow slowing down muscle gain etc, irrespective of age. The most obvious thing smoking would negatively impact on is thus not the one-off honbasho match, but the daily grind of keiko. Even if the reduction in endurance is only, say 1 or 2%, stretch this out over weeks, months and years of daily keiko and you have a significant edge lost to a non-smoker who started at the same time. Of course, giving up smoking is likely to lead to an immediate drop in form, as you deal with the horrors of nicotine withdrawal (I'm an ex-pack-a-day smoker, and shivered in bed for a week after giving up), but in the long term those small edges add up. Edit: Found this study (http://iospress.metapress.com/content/8vw456v008454356/) which states that 'Smoking is associated with increased muscle fatiguability and impairment of back strength in athletes', and this (http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA234658&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf), which claims 'Smoking is a detriment to physical readiness among relatively young, fit Navy personnel. Findings reported here suggest that smokers will have lower physical endurance than nonsmokers even after accounting for differences in the average exercise levels of smokers and nonsmokers.' They also acknowledge that very little research has been done into these areas, so these studies are not backed up by hundreds of others (as is the case for other tobacco-related health claims). If we accept them as true, however, it seems clear that even young rikishi who smoke are harming their potential performance significantly.

As someone for whom both his father and godfather lost magnificent basso singing voices to smoking -- godfather with cigars, father with cigarettes -- and who lost his godfather to intestinal cancer, probably due to the juices from all the cigars he smoked and chewed on even after his vocal cords were cut out, I have to disagree on "overrated". (My godfather's voice, at least, was professional quality: he once sang with the Don Cossacks.) There's much to be said for living past oyakata retirement age. As far as diabetes goes, it's the weight overall as much as alcohol per se, I would think. I wouldn't worry about it except for those who fail to drop the weight after they cease to be active wrestlers. And there is also the performance issue. At the top level of any sport, the difference between competitors becomes a matter of fine edges (except perhaps with Hakuho). If giving up smoking can improve his health, and therefore his sumo, by even a very small degree, it could have a highly beneficial effect on his results. Comparisons with cigarettes aside, I do wonder how much the drinking culture impacts on performance. Didn't I read here about Baruto going out and getting soused with Hakuho during a hon-basho? It strikes me as a great way of screwing up your opponent: take them out, force them to drink, raging hangover, kick their ass. The true secret of Hakuho's dominance?

Thanks so much for the upload, this is a beautiful documentary.

Less basho = more time for injuries to heal... Fewer days = less fatigue... Hakuho's could well be better.

Great stuff! Thank you! Edit: removed unnecessary quote of entire article...

I'm so disappointed...Hakuho's run was probably one of the best 'storylines' in Makuuchi these days. I doubt even Hakuho can muster a second run of this length, but you never know. On the other hand, if the Yusho race actually becomes competitive this basho maybe it will help fill those empty seats. Btw, how on EARTH did Baruto get out of that one? What kimarite was that???

Hakuho is a one-man PR triumph for the Kyokai. Edit: And thank you Kintamayama for continuing to provide these updates!

As far as I can see, although the quality is lower it's smoother than yesterday (must be the frame rate). Not pretty, but I at least I can see the sumo, not just 'chop-chop-chop yorikiri (how did that happen?)'

I tried the link you provided, and although the quality was better than the NSK stream (+ replays, commentary etc.), it was too stop-start choppy to watch. And, fwiw, I have a good internet connection.

Its not. Just like in tennis, it would appear some do better on one surface and not others.

No answers to any of those questions, but it is being said that it was similar to what happened to Ozeki Tochiazuma, which ultimately led to his retirement. Its a shame Kaikitsune Makoto isn't here to fill us in on exactly what the consequences of a cerebral infarction are...

I completely agree with your point about movies. Statistically, smoking has been on a continual decline here in the UK, and it doesn't seem far fetched to view the ban on cigarette advertising and the disappearance of 'tobacco cool' from movies as part of the reason. Even as a smoker, I view this as a good thing. But I think you're missing the point on 'private establishments'. For example, the smoking ban in the UK meant that a number of private cigar clubs were forced to close. Are you seriously telling me that anyone would go to or work at a cigar club without knowing and accepting the risks? The ban on smoking in restaurants doesn't bother me, but the overall BLANKET nature of the ban does. Why is it unreasonable, in the days of extremely effective smoker removers/air purifiers (like the ones used in the smoking areas of Japanese railway stations. Nothing escapes them!) to accept that some offices could have smoking rooms, for example?

I know what you're saying. I come from a theatrical background, and no more than a few professional singers who maintain incredibly powerful voices despite smoking. However, I'm guessing what irritates people is the thought that even if they can smoke and still be this good, if they gave up could they not be even better? After all, especially at elite level sports, a few of those small edges quickly add up.

I've got to admit, as a smoker this is something I really LIKED about Japan. Can smoke wherever I want... :-S

It sounds from what you're saying that smoking is very much a part of the 'macho' culture of Sumo (indeed, isn't this true of masculinity in Japan more generally?). Its therefore unlikely to be cracked down upon, even for health reasons. After all, if we're talking from a health/performance point of view, there are probably many things that could be improved (increased use of modern sports science etc.), but aren't due to the construction of sumo culture. Even if smoking becomes more unpopular in wider Japanese culture, it will likely remain in Sumo, which tends to promote a more old-fashioned view of manliness.

Some really nice photos! Also, that baby is just ridiculously cute. (In a state of confusion...)

Didn't Musashigawa Rijicho hint at 'greater things' in store for Baruto too? I wonder if any of the more stats-minded members could make some kind of comparative strength rating (or something similar) between Baruto and newly-promoted Ozekis who went on to make Yokozuna? I would try myself, only I have a hard enough time counting my fingers, let alone anything else (seriously, took the GRE the other day. 99 percentile verbal, 95 percentile analytical writing, 36 percentile quantitative (Holiday feeling...) ).