Kurt Trendafilov

Can east and west also be thought of as of purely geographic meaning? Japan as a country has a long history of east/west differentiantion and even confrontation at some points. The Japanese fancy setting up east vs. west competiotions (tozai taiko) in various sports where competitors or teams are divided into east army and west army depending on which part of Japan they come from. Just thinking out loud maybe...

Apart from being completely ludicrous, that's an huge insult to Kotoshogiku. I hope you don't mean that I'm the one insulting him, 'cause I wasn't suggesting that in the first place, I'm just scooping for opinions since there were such hints above in this thread... Personally, I admire the guy...

So what do you guys think about the match between Hakuho and Kotoshogiku? Some have suggested that what happened wasn't real, but I'd very much like to hear what the old dogs here have to say...

Thank you ridiculously animated guys, we never would have imaganed what had transpired without you...

Member Kōmura Masahiko was the one with a comment in that direction:http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2014/03/24/kiji/K20140324007839790.html The papers reported yesterday that there was no objection at all. If these were his actual words, it seems as a very mild remark, not nearly an objection. But there is probably more to it, as someone has suggested?

So it turns out everyone likes the guy, Oosunaarashi?

It just says support, but I guess people vote for the exotic ones or attractive in some particular way. Or all of the abovementioned flavors of support. I myself expected Endo to be on top since when I scroll over Japanese sites, it's all about Endo magazines, Endo commercials, Endo photos... And yeah, yokozunas being in the bottom is a bum.

I'm also very happy about that promotion because it'll make things much more interesting. Unless someone's a fan of particular rikishi or owns share of the kyokai, then why bother worrying form their standpoint. To a spectator, one more top dog is always welcome. Anyway, I admit that I never would have guessed that he was up to it. I admire some of his traits, though - his not showing any emotion and staying calm even in key moments - that's champion material.

Yeah, I also noticed the difference. By the way, was the transition from "squat-then-instantly-charge tachi-ai" to the current one imposed from above, or rikishis' style just gradually change?

Regardless of everything it was a great basho. I hope the parity at the top continues so that we have more unpredictable outcomes. And I was always wondering why do they bother to interview the riskishi after the matches when they always give identical replies. How do you feel? I'm happy. What do you think about your performance? It turned out good. How did you manage to win? I calmed down and tryied to get through my own sumo. What about the remaining matches? I'll try to be calm and ge through my own sumo. Hai.

I personally don't believe in this conspiracy, but if there was one - it could be coming from two directions. 1. From the rikishi - this is next to impossible. No one would just go up there and lose to make "things more interesting". Every sportsman's goal is no different from that to always win. These guys have tremendous egos and that's perfectly normal - they're at the pinnacle of this tough sport. Losing is not an option for them and this can be easily seen by their behaviour. 2. A conspiracy directed by the kyokai? Then why not conspire to promote Kisenosato, which would be a great deal more profitable?

Hello, my name is Martin and I'm from Bulgaria. I'm 24. I've been a fan of sumo for quite some time, and have also read the forum, but it was only now that I decided to create an account. Maybe it's because there aren't many people in my life I can discuss it with except for a few buddies of mine who began to develop a liking in sumo just recently. Anyway, I look forward to communicating with everyone in this cool community.