sumojoann

Kirishima (formerly Kiribayama) wanted to be an Ozeki for Kakuryu's danpatsushiki. I'm so happy he got his wish.

So amazing how quickly a rikishi's fortunes can change. It seems like it was only yesterday that he was 11-4 as a Maegashira 12. But that was at the Jan 2022 basho and it's been all downhill since then. He first caught my eye in Sept 2014 when I attended the Aki basho. At that time he was in Makushita. He was exceptionally fast and utilized a great variety of kimarite. I just knew he was destined for great things. A more knowledgeable friend than me scoffed and assured me that Ishiura would never amount to anything because he was "too little." I was convinced that he belonged in Makuuchi and I was right. At his first basho in Makuuchi in Nov 2016, he made a big splash, winning 10 bouts in a row and receiving a special prize for Fighting Spirit. When I was invited to Miyagino-beya by a friend, I was introduced to Ishiura. He seemed stunned that I knew his name. He never said a word, just stared at me! He was so little that we just faced each other, eye to eye. Unfortunately, my taxi arrived before I had a chance to attempt to carry on an actual conversation with him. But from then on, I cheered for him every time he mounted the dohyo. His intai was a long time coming. I will never forget him.

Yes, even when talking to reporters!

These are great pictures! I especially enjoyed seeing a completely differently side of Terunofuji. His love for his family is heartwarming.

Happy Birthday, Kinta! Hope you can catch up to me (I'm 74) and go well beyond! Don't cough too much. God might think you're sick and call you home!

This is getting off-topic but for some reason, when I heard that Tochinoshin was retiring, I thought about Baruto, so I checked wikipedia. Wikipedia indicated that he is currently an MP of the Estonian Riigikogu (Parliament), but that information is out of date. (Edited to make correction). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Political career On September 7, 2018, Höövelson announced that he had joined the Estonian Center Party and had applied for the 2019 Estonian parliamentary election.[31] He ran for election in Harju and Rapla counties, and received 642 votes. Höövelson was elected to the Riigikogu after candidate Vladimir Arhipov declined his seat. One of his goals as an MP is to promote economic relations between Estonia and Japan.

You may be right but we shall see..... And for @Jakusotsu, I disagree that Aoiyama looks fine. Here is Midorifuji defeating Aoiyama just 2 months ago. Note the large brace on his left knee. He has worn that brace for a long time.

Aoiyama has had a large brace on one of his knees for quite some time. I don't remember the last time I've seen him on the dohyo without it. As heavy as he is, I would be surprised if he is ever able to remove that brace while fighting.

Aoiyama is not on your list of potential retirees but I think he's next for the following reasons --- 1) Tochinoshin's intai, I can't help but believe, will have an impact on Aoiyama's decision. They're in the same heya (Kasugano) and are (were) the top two rikishi at their heya as far as rank. 2) Aoiyama won his bouts only on Days 1 and 2 but lost the last SIX bouts in a row. Tochinoshin lost all 5 of his bouts. He (Tochinoshin) couldn't help but be upset at the very least and devastated at most by his poor results. Undoubtedly, Aoiyama had to have been upset by his own results, too. 3) Aoiyama will be 37 in less than a month and is older than Tochinoshin, who will be 36 in Oct. 4) They both have serious ongoing injuries. 5) I don't know how friendly their relationship is, but the closer they were, the more likely Aoiyama would be apt to follow in Tochinoshin's footsteps because he would no longer have that support to keep going. Even if they aren't that close, Tochinoshin's intai can't help but leave a void since they are/were in the same heya. I think it might be hard on Aoiyama psychologically, although I realize this is mere speculation. The sad thing is that there are so many rikishi to choose from as far as guessing who will retire next.

I sure would like confirmation, too. When I Googled Tochinoshin, it showed there was a tweet on twitter that was quoting the original "Agenda" article, but when I clicked on it, the tweet no longer existed. https://twitter.com/AgendaGeorgia/status/1659187170685636608

It didn't seem that long ago that he could defeat his opponent by tsuridashi........

(Please note --- The cursor jumps ahead. Please set it back to the beginning). This is a wonderful 20-minute documentary. The tears just flow every time I watch it. I think you will learn a lot about trying to find someone in Japan, even though the circumstances are different. I don't want to give the story away or tell you what worked or didn't work, but I highly recommend that you watch this video. I think it will give you some useful ideas. I wish you good luck and success in your quest to find your girlfriend from the past. Please be persistent and don't give up!

I'm afraid I'm not going to be of much help but your story has touched me, so I'd like to offer what little tips and suggestions I can think of. I was heavily involved in tracking down family members while working with a group of amateur genealogists back in 2010. My friends all say I should have been a private investigator. lol All that being said, I never had to do any investigations involving another language. So the first big question is, "How well do you speak, read and write Japanese?" Unless you are fluent or nearly fluent, your best bet would be to hire someone, preferably in Osaka, who is fluent or nearly fluent, to help you. However, I seem to recall that YOU are fluent in Japanese (from reading the thread a while back about which languages SF members spoke). If my memory is correct, then I definitely think you should take a trip to Osaka to find her (fingers crossed that she's still living in Osaka). I feel very strongly that you either need a doggedly persistent ally in Osaka OR you need to do it yourself. I've watched too many needle-in-a-haystack Youtube videos about people searching for loved ones or ex-loved ones or just family in war torn countries or non-war torn countries, and they were successful! Getting the news media interested has helped in some cases. But in every case, they had help and/or they did it themselves (usually both with a little luck thrown in). The first thing I did was Google --- "How to track down a person in Osaka, Japan." And then I Googled --- "How to find someone in Japan." https://www.japanpi.com/blog/missing-persons/how-to-find-someone-in-japan/ Several interesting articles came up. The link above is one of them. A good read. The other articles that popped up are also worth reading. There is a very moving documentary I want to post. I'll do that shortly.

I hope they get at least some enjoyment out of it, a feeling of pride and pleasure even though they are past their heyday (heya-days --- sorry!! lol). Obviously, they are not going to do it for free, but I worry that one or more of these ex-rikishi perhaps shouldn't be doing it at all due to health reasons. I also worry that there might be some element of desperation due to personal financial problems. I hope that's not the case. I hope that Daikiho is not involved in this, as Akinomaki stated. When I read about his serious health problems and the fact that his doctors recommended he no longer do sumo, that's what triggered my concern. Hopefully, all the ex-rikishi are given medical check-ups to ensure they can safely participate. I realize that it would be difficult to find that many ex-rikishi to sign up and travel around the US, and that triggered more concern that the organizers might accept some whose health is iffy. As important as the paycheck is, it is my hope that the paycheck is not the only reason these ex-rikishi have signed up. In addition to the feeling of pride and pleasure I initially mentioned, I hope they still have some fighting spirit left and a willingness to properly gambarize.

You're right, nothing has really changed. I think the point Fashiriteta was making is that a rikishi has to actually die before the Oyakata and others are appropriately punished. Threats don't count.