sumojoann

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.

I would definitely choose Aononami. He was the shortest (171cm), lightest (69kg!!!!), competed in only 18 basho and had the shortest career (just under 3 years, highest division Jonidan). Maybe with him I would have a fighting chance. I would avoid Tooyama. Even though he's the oldest (46), he's also the tallest and heaviest. After reading about Daikiho's terrible injuries that ended a promising career, I couldn't bring myself to fight him. Just prior to retiring, his doctors recommended that he no longer do sumo, even after surgeries, due to his condition. He has OPLL (ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament). (Daikiho is the only ex-rikishi out of the five that I took a closer look at beyond the stats. The others may very well have had their own issues to deal with prior to retiring). I realize that these 5 ex-rikishi probably don't weigh as much as they did when active. And now that they are in their 30s and 40s, they could be facing new health challenges. I hope they have chosen to participate for more than just a paycheck. I worry about that.

"Nishikifuji (26) had his marriage ceremony with former company employee Shizuka Fujizoe (24) from Ishikawa pref. today at the yokozuna &more sumo stone shrine Tomioka Hachimangu, where also the shisho and Terunofuji had theirs. They'll register the marriage tomorrow and the first child is due in October. He met her in October 2021 at a party for Terunofuji, fell in love at first sight and for Christmas he proposed a relation, a year later, this January, the marriage proposal." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The paragraph above was posted yesterday in "Another Sekitori Marriage." I am so excited to get Nishikifuji as "my rikishi", although I am a little worried about how well he will do at the upcoming Natsu basho. Based on past examples, bridegrooms/fathers-to-be tend not to do well, especially at the next basho following their marriage. Fingers crossed that Nishikifuji will be the exception.

I wonder why all this is just coming out now. I thought there was going to be a new policy of transparency when it came to violence. I sure don't see that here. Seems like same old, same old.

I don't see this posted elsewhere on SF so decided to post it here. Mods, if it needs to be moved to a different category, not a problem. What started out as a typical "ho hum, here's a bunch of wide-eyed gaijin invading the 'secret, closed' world of the gentle sumo giants" took an amazing turn when one of the group (of Swedes) named Steffan boldly asked the Oyakata at the heya if he could spend the night at the heya with the rikishi!! After seeing surprised looks all around, he was told the Okamisan would have to approve it which she did 30 minutes later!! Not much was shown after he settled in for the night but you cam imagine how --- pinch me! --- exciting that experience would have been. The video shows the group of Swedes play-training with the lower-ranked rikishi, as you might expect, but amazingly enough, Steffan also got to train with Onosho, who didn't play-train. I didn't expect to see Onosho interact with the Swedes, whose behavior towards the rikishi veered between goofiness and extreme sincerity. The rikishi seemed to enjoy the visitors, especially Steffan, with most of them wanting to be his Instagram friend. Steffan was given the Shikona Masurao, the name of a previous owner of the heya. I looked up Onosho and found he is with Onomatsu-beya. This video was filmed between Dec 2022 and Feb 2023 just before the Osaka honbasho. During the video, Steffan meets a new Mongolian rikishi. I looked him up and he is Batjargal Choijirsuren, a Student Yokozuna who was allowed to enter ozumo under the Makushita Tsukidashi system at the rank of Makushita 15. This video was uploaded only 3 weeks ago and already has over 1.4 Million views.

I'm not sure if we as members of SF are actually discouraged from discussing what goes on at tachiai.org or if that's just my impression. In any event, there is an interesting review of "I Lived in a Sumo House for a Day" by Andy dated April 15, 2023 on that site. I enjoyed reading the comments as well. https://tachiai.org/2023/04/15/refreshingly-aloof-glimpse-at-onomatsu-beya/

@Kaminariyuki is correct. The group, Yes Theory, that created this video, is not made up entirely of Swedes. It's a multinational group whose members all have very interesting backgrounds. Steffan, the member featured in this video, is a newer member of the group and is Swedish. Here is the group's official website --- https://yestheory.com/ They have an interesting philosophy of life.

I'm sorry I didn't see your post first but I agree. If a few more people get to see it, no harm done.

That was easy enough to do. Either one of those rikishi would make me happy. Thanks for clearing up the issue so quickly.

Did I draw Nishikifuji or Nishikigi? The link sends me to a pic and stats for Nishikigi.

Yes, my comment about "Sanctuary" was made in a joking manner. I am really looking forward to watching "Sumodo". It looks to be very well done, the kind of documentary that one could show friends who have never been able to understand sumo and its appeal. I enjoyed reading the thread from 2020 that you mentioned in your comment.

Looks like it might be better than "Sanctuary"!!

Another strange thing is if you enter the ebay item # (314556385473) in the search box that's in the link @Juan Joséprovided, the listing doesn't come up. In addition, if you enter the item # in the search box on www.ebay.es, it also does not come up. https://www.ebay.es/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=314556385473&_sacat=0 And the seller shows just one feedback and if I'm reading it correctly, it's zero percent positive. Also, it shows the seller has been on ebay.es since March 30, 2020 with no other listings. And why is the listing title in English and not Spanish? So what is really going on here?? It would take some giant cojones to advertise what might be fake sumo honbasho tickets on Sumo Forum! lol

I messaged him to correct the date.

Thank you, Jane, et al! Love your sense of humor. You made my day!! LOL

This is TOO FUNNY!! Do you know what movie this scene is from? Do you recognize the scene? I can't even send you a link to the scene! You made my day!! LOL

What an amazingly well written article! I could not have said it better myself. This is my dream/nightmare (fantasy, if you will)--- >>> I think John Gunning and his team at Inside Sport Japan could probably be the ones to get the ball rolling.....at least the initial kick. They could team up with Hiro Morita, and a few great sumo minds from Sumo Forum, brainstorm like crazy, write a script just like John described ----- that portrays the thrills, heartache, joy, pain and suffering found in the ring and stables. Financing would be a struggle, of course. Maybe they could start a "Kickstarter" fundraiser. I thought this would definitely have to be an "Indie" film and a labor of love. Even if they got a major studio interested, before the studio green-lighted it, they (the studio) would want to change everything about the production, and the filmmakers would end up begging to be let out of their contract. By then, they would be broke. And this ended up being what happened. But just before the major studio was set to release "Rikishi Romp and Rampage" (the truly awful title the studio bestowed on the film), Miyagino rode in on Mongolian horseback to save the day! With his millions of yen, he bought up the master copy of the film plus the copies already sent to the distributors and hacked them to bits with his Samurai sword (the sword that has "DREAM" engraved on it). Miyagino loved being the hero so he decided to join forces with John Gunning and his team, and with Hiro Morita, and with the great minds from Sumo Forum who had worked so diligently on the original film. The final result was a cinematic masterpiece! "RIKISHI." Even the JSA grudgingly approved, especially after it set records at the box office internationally and was nominated for scores of awards. Thanks in part to Miyagino's financial backing, "RIKISHI" had an unlimited budget. And it showed. The production was lush, the cinematography exquisite. The beauty of sumo had never been captured like this and the public could not get enough. Every sumo Youtube video went viral, even Chris Gould's! Kintamayama became an even bigger Superstar. And fortunately, everyone forgot about "Sanctuary." In 2023 the world changed. Sumo became the number one sport in the world. There is hope for our future. Maybe even world peace!

When I wrote, "You will NEVER guess who won.....", I should have added a sarcasm emoji so it would be more obvious!

This "new" episode of Sumo Prime Time is hilarious but also a little sad because so much has happened to these wrestlers since it was filmed in 2020 before Sumo Prime Time existed. This clip features various wrestlers including ex-Hakuho, ex-Kakuryu, current Yokozuna Terunofuji, ex-Goeido as well as Endo, Asanoyama, Tobizaru, Takanosho, Mitakeumi , Takakeisho and Shodai. They are each testing their hand grip strength using a dynamometer to see who has the strongest hand grip. You will NEVER guess who won by a handslide (I mean landslide!!).

It was the Day 13 bout between Wakatakakage and Kotonowaka as @ryafuji posted above. This Abema video I'm posting is a longer version of the bout with more detailed coverage of Wakatakakage's knee injury. It looks like he landed on the tawara just above his right knee. He looked uncomfortable afterwards but I couldn't detect any look of pain. I'm sure the torinaoshi didn't help matters. Shohozan was one of the commentators. Those of you who understand Japanese can undoubtedly add more details as to what happened. What a tragedy.

Here is another interesting account of a visit to Arashio-beya (on April 11, 2 days ago). It was written by a different person than the one who wrote the article above, even though they are both named Laura. This was posted on SumoSumoSumo, a Public Facebook Group. On that day, both Abi and Kiribayama showed up to train with Wakamotoharu. https://www.facebook.com/groups/781646855303002/permalink/2892674434200223/

It's easy to say, "If only this had happened, if only that hadn't happened," but we must live in the world of reality. Terunofuji's incredible comeback and promotion to Yokozuna are the stuff of legend. However, he would need 3 more Yusho to even be considered a Dai-Yokozuna. He needs the distinction of being a Dai-Yokozuna before he can be considered an all-time great Yokozuna. I think he will retire by January 2024 due to injuries he can't overcome, so I don't see that happening. Perhaps he could receive a special award as an Honorary Dai-Yokozuna. He would be among the great Yokozuna and never forgotten, but I don't see him being remembered as an all-time great Yokozuna. A legend ---- yes An all-time great Yokozuna ---- no

https://www.buysumotickets.com/ I have used this company multiple times since 2014. Jeff is the owner and he and his team provide excellent service. Honest, reliable, quick to respond to your questions, never a problem. I bought 11 tickets in 2014 and one ticket every year after that up until the pandemic.

I see he's wearing his Mafia suit again! (My apologies if commenting on his attire is frowned upon).