Mukonoso

I don't think I've ever felt more at peace as during the moments whenever I would lay down on the side of Mt Fuji to catch my breath and just stare at the stars. One guy I met at the shinkansen station was fresh out of the Israeli military. We started the climb together. Being much more fit than myself I felt that I was slowing him down and told him to go on ahead after the first hour. I saw him again at the eating hall at the top. He claimed to have made it to the top in a little over two hours and was allowed to sleep on the floor of the tiny post office next to the shrine (and did I mention that he was wearing shorts and flip flops?) It took me about eleven hours but I think I might have enjoyed myself more by taking my time.

The dohyo may be slippery but it also seem to be developing bigger cracks on the camera side than I'm used to seeing. Which sub forum would I go to to talk about dohyo? I've been having a few questions gathering about them but my wife doesn't seem to know much about sumo even though her grandfather used to take her to matches (she was just interested in the bento (Sigh...) ).

Takanoyama should have gotten that Day 7 match. I also enjoyed the slipper commentaries.

Kotooshu wins by "yogurtkiri" heh heh... I get it. Thanks for the videos.

Ever tried the yamabushi thing, standing under a waterfall, or willingly jumping up to the neck into a river at around dawn? To me it's no big deal-- but just connect with me here -- have you done it? Orion the twice-certificated yamabushi No I haven't tried that yet though it is on my bucket list (along with seeing a tornado with my own eyes). I did climb Mt Fuji back in July of 2006. That was an absolutely amazing experience. I started in the late afternoon and slowly climbed throughout the night to see the sunrise the next morning. It started with the first hour or so in thick clouds and then I broke through the top and looked down upon them. After that I had an awesome view of the night sky with three horizons, no light pollution, the Milky Way and a few shooting stars. I definitely want to do that again even though the Japanese have an old saying like "a wise man climbs Fuji once, a fool climbs it twice".

Takanoyama could stand to gain a few kilograms to go with those judo skills of his. It's kind of sad to see him yo-yo up and down between the ranking levels, but I'm always one to cheer for an underdog.

Hello! I've just joined and while I may be new to these forums, I've been a fan of sumo for many years. I started watching while I lived in Japan back in the early 90s (during the Taka/Waka boom). My wife is a native from Itami City which is in-between Osaka and Kobe. Her grandfather owned a couple of electrical appliance shops and was a sumo sponsor whenever the tournament came to Osaka. He used to give me the banzuke that the JSA would send him (gonna get one of them framed once I get my den back from my daughter). While in Japan I worked as a bartender in a chain of English conversation lounges and one of the bars was a couple blocks away from the arena where the Osaka tournament was held. I would see the wrestlers walking back to their hotel in their robes during my breaks. My interest in sumo got renewed once I discovered Araibira's videos on YouTube and then found the streaming link on Goo Sumo. My favorite rikishi is Kotooshu but I'm also a fan of Kotoshogiku and even Takanoyama. My wife and I are currently planning our next trip back to Japan for March so we can see her family and the Osaka basho. Just in case anyone is curious, my user name "Mukonoso" is actually the neighborhood where my apartment was in Amagasaki City.