Takamizakura

+1. Thanks as always for your recaps!

Since I am a fervent fan of done deals, I assure you it is a done deal. No way Cock-eye with 9-6 on J4e comes before Takanoyama with a 10-5 on J5w, not even if it falls on a Sabbath. In any case, I'm pretty sure there will be 5 promotions (if not 6) and not four. We shall see.. That these two are bosom buddies on the current banzuke, it's still not too close to call? And I can't see who else will drop out of Makuuchi besides these ones. Who else did you have in mind? Kimurayama Tochinonada Takamisakari Takarafuji(?) Takanoyama was so close to winning this & going into a playoff with Myogiryu. Bummer. Maybe there'll be another scandal that'll give him another shot up.

Thanks as always for the recaps/translations, especially for this inauspicious day.

I wonder if this distro method eliminates any likelihood of getting tickets from turning up on the day of the tournaments.

As mentioned in this post both NHK's and Yomiuri's sumo magazines have called it quits. I got a refund cheque from London's Japan Centre bookshop for my Ozumo subscription, and will probably get the refund cheque for NHK's magazine in a few months' time. Boo-hoo to me for backing 2 wrong horses. As ilovesumo implied, this leaves Sha's Sumo magazine. Any word if it will (pardon the clich

I was hoping that the rumours about him attending the Chelsea Flower Show would pick up steam this month, but no (Laughing...)

Insert Hakuho-doesn't-excel-at-everything shocker (Sign of approval...) At least he looked like he enjoyed Robo's antics throughly.

After not visiting this forum for months, I've clearly missed something. B-)

Doubly rude, in fact. Slightly off-topic, but for the UK local elections, the UKIP have put up billboards with Winston Churchill giving the double-V like Harumafuji. Anyway, thanks for the blog translations!

As part of the channel's Japan season: "Documentary about the prestigious world of sumo wrestling, in which aesthetics are considered as important as sheer strength. And the wrestler's hair is no exception to the rule, with traditional top knots being crafted daily by the tokoyama, or sumo hairdresser." For those unable to watch it on BBC's iPlayer, I should be able to record this and upload it somewhere--pls PM me if interested.

BBC iPlayer is tricky w/proxies & IP masks because they use Geo-IP and only works with registered UK IPs. More here.

Now that it's aired, the doc is from 1994 narrated by a younger-sounding Stuart Atkin, and mostly features Mianoumi & Tokomitsu tokoyama. Good to see more sumo footage from the 90's.

Did anyone catch the last thing Hakuho said in Mongolian after accepting the NHK trophy? He was asked to explain what he said, in Japanese, but would be grateful if any Mongolian-speaking forum members could help with the original translation. Thanks in advance!

Mrs. Hakuho is one patient lady to wait 10 yusho & 2 kids before getting her reception. Mrs. Kotomitsuki lucked out in that department!

If you're curious, straightening afros = "straight perm" or perm for short.

Only saw this a few days ago, but Monocle did a 13-page photo feature on sumo in their Nov 08 issue. There's also a 2-page overview about the sport at the peak of the scandals last year, with quotes from Hakuho, Asashoryu, and a few others from Takasago heya. Judging by the quotes, I'm guessing that the heya photos were also taken @ Takasago, with 2 photo pages from the Kokugikan. The sumo feature is printed in glossy paper, unlike the rest of the issue which is in thick matte stock. Nice of the mag to give such a profile on sumo--Monocle describes itself as "a briefing on global affairs, business, culture & design" and is created by the same guy who founded Wallpaper*. Like Economist with more cultural content, and one of my favourite mags (more like a book at 170 pages). The article preface and photo of Hakuko is viewable on this page, but you have to have a paid subscription to see the article. Instead, I recommend buying the hard copy , which is

Are you referring to the article mentioned in this thread?

Can someone post a list of maezumo participants? Thanks in advance.

I'd like to add a few recommendations based on my recent trip. I stayed in Kuramae, which is one subway stop from Ryogoku, and roughly takes 10 minutes to reach the Kokugikan by train & foot (apologies if this is not Ryogoku enough). Accomodations: One place worth considering staying if you don't have a hotel budget is a hostel called K's House. This is located around the corner from the Oedo Line Kuramae station. I didn't stay there myself, but passed by it every evening. It appears it's been only been open for 2 years, and from the outside it doesn't look too shabby apart from the mountain of shoes piled in front of the entrance. The hostel also seems to plan activities for its guests if you're into that sort of thing. Apart from the short distance to Kokugikan, it has at least 4 convenience stores, a Denny's, McDonalds, a 99-yen shop, a bento takeaway, and the Asakusa subway line all within a 5-minute walk. Lawson's is one of those stores, and you can have orders from Amazon.co.jp delivered there. Another option is a short-stay apartment, which is what I did. You'll need someone with a Japan-based phone number to help with the contracts & payment. The apartment building opened in 2008, and it has LAN, LCD TV, large kitchen & the most awesome bathroom ever (for someone who doesn't live in Japan). And most importantly, it was very quiet! It was nice to not get woken up by Shibuya crows for once in Tokyo. (Applauding...) Unusually, it is not furnished with any kitchen utensils, but has a microwave, refrigerator, and kettle. There is no key money involved, although the real estate agent my friend dealt with added an extra 1000 yen/day for each additional person staying, but we had to ask for a 2nd pillow. (Sign of disapproval...) Apartments available: 24m2 1K 39m2 1LDK 44m2 1LDK As a comparison, the 39m2 1LDK is roughly the same all-inclusive price as the private ensuite room at K's House. But if you don't like people, the short-stay option is definitely the winner.

AWESOME. Thanks for updating this thread!

I won't be putting on YouTube as they yanked my account, sorry. Vimeo clips are embedded in Flash like YouTube clips, so make sure you have the latest version of Flash player installed.

The new guys made one final appearance on the doyho after all the trophy & sansho presentations. I'd anticipated each of them having a sip of sake, but not what happened next. Here's a video of the gory details. Is this part of the tournament considered the opposite of a dohyo matsuri? What's its name?

I also want to add my gratitude for these daily translations. They add so much depth to the sumo coverage and I look forward to reading them everyday. I was told by friends that Aso is unliked, but even 20% is shocking. I hear about how Japanese people are dissatisfied that they can't choose their own prime minister directly, and are hoping (remotely) that Obama can positively influence a change in Japanese politics, because I get the impression the public are far removed from where powerful decisions are made, and vice versa.

Here's a search page to find hotels that carry TV Japan (the US carrier for NHK); just search for Hawaii.

Will that get me deported?