Getayukata

Hmmm, looks like I missed one or two when I was there in 2008!

Another very different one from Yokosuka!

Yokosuka, also from 2008

Oh wow - you mean I am not the only person who went round photographing the manhole covers in Japan? They were pretty amazing. Here's one from Tsukuba that I took in 2008.

Two yusho, no zensho

Thank you Yutarotanaka for bringing this program to our attention. I really enjoyed it!

Four kuro boshi Faced with this reality Kise weeps inside

But wait, here's trouble: Takanoiwa suing Harumafuji

Written after attending day 9 (I think?) in the basho of Sept 1990 Mountain v midget Konishiki - Terao The little one wins!!

I've only just discovered this thread, and am really enjoying all the great poets that we have. Here is my entry: 1. This was written on first seeing the top of Mt Fuji clearly: Fuji san, are you So coy a cone, that oft you Clothe yourself in clouds 2. Written after a kanji writing lesson in a temple in Kyoto The monk chants a song My brush is full of black ink So many kanji!

After just reading Naganoyama's always fascinating (to me anyway) posting "Heya Watch" in Honbasho Talk, I am idly wondering what the ideal size is for a sumo heya. Some of the heyas seem to be large. Sadogatake Beya with 47 rikishi is enormous. How on earth does everyone there get enough practice time on the dohyo? Even assuming they have more than one practice dohyo, you would just about need to book ahead for your time on it. On the other hand Kagamiyama Beya with 2 rikishi, Kataonami with 3, and Izutzu with 4, seem too small - not enough people to practice with/on, so one would constantly need to go for degeiko. I have never had a chance to wtch asa geiko, but I wonder - do the oyaakata in the smaller heyas put on a mawashi themselves and join in the training? I have a feeling I've seen a photo of exKotooshu doing just that. There must be an optimum size for a stable, but what is it? My guess is around 15 rikishi.

I remember Eddie the Eagle with great fondness! And I don't think I will forget Hattorizakura either.

I like tennis, show jumping and 3 day eventing, figure skating, skiing and even some golf occasionally (Tiger Woods on the top of his game was incredible to watch playing). I'm not so interested in team sports, though I used to like watching the cricket test matches as a teenager - don't see them broadcast much in Canada though.

Hmmm, well I guess we have to accept that his mother knows what he's really thinking, and what he wants to do. Will the NSK keep him as a rikishi indefinitely even if he continues to lose all his bouts, or will there come a time when he requested to retire? Thanks for the information Akinomaki.

But does he really? Is this known for a fact? He looks more terrified than in love with the experience.