apraxin

He got canned for being part of the Yaocho ring, I'm pretty sure.

Wakakirin as well, I think he's the only Japanese rikishi to be expelled for that reason(?). He got arrested and spent a month in police custody before being granted bail, then got handed a 10 month (suspended for 3 years) custodial sentence; not sure if the Japanese legal system's softened up much on the demon weed in the last decade, but i wouldn't want to be in Takagenji's shoes right now.

Genuinely unable to tell if this was meant to be 'Asanoyama' and no-one noticed, or if there's an obvious joke I've completely missed .

There seems to be a display error on sumodb currrently where an extra '0' is being inserted on the banzuke screen for quite a few Makushita and below guys, making it seem like they have a no-show bout, I think that's causing some confusion? Example: vs

NHK confirms here: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210706/k10013121631000.html It's a little concerning to me that nearly a full day later, there isn't any more information beyond 'he suffered pains in his neck'.

Is it possible any lower-rankers might be caught up in this as well? The Bunshun article says Asanoyama was 'accompanied by two men' when he visited the establishment. They don't give any more details on them, but my understanding was that they don't usually name and shame non-sekitori.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/e82540fa341bc359f672021317ee73ecad8cac04 Yahoo article quotes Shibatayama as saying that Hibikryu is concussed and has injured his cervical vertebrae - 'it's possible pressure was applied to the nerves there' - which is not somehting I like to hear.

Yes, perfectly understandable in context and yet still very odd on one level to see the headline that Kakuryu will retire and take on the name of Kakuryu .

Good lord. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210322/k10012928621000.html NHK reports that the charges are that ex-Yoshikaze's wife allegedly abused their 11 year-old daughter by hitting her, kicking her, and spraying insect repellant into her eyes. Per article, the daughter took video of the abuse on her phone. The only mention of ex-Yoshikaze himself is that the daughter 'consulted with him', so I guess the implication is that he was the one who took it to the police (I hope so!).

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210222/k10012880181000.html To no-one's surprise, the rijikai has decided on a recommendation of expelling Tokitsukaze, effective as of today. Ex-Tosayutaka will take on both the name and the stable.

Perhaps a silly question, but should Roga be considered part of the new Mongolian generation? His entry on SumoDB says he's a Russian from Ulan Bator (the Mongolian capital), which obviously doesn't make much sense; looking into it a bit further, I found this article from last year: http://nyarunuko.com/archives/1849... ...which says he was born in the autonomous Russian republic of Tuva to a Mongolian dad and a Russian mum, and when asked about nationality he says he considers himself Russian. Has there been any change/update since then?

NHK now reporting that Kakuryu will be absent on Day 1: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20191110/k10012171591000.html

Yep, I was reading that as his application being submitted, on a re-read it was obviously that it was accepted and he has obtained citizenship. D'oh .

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20190903/k10012061001000.html Just breaking on NHK now, so pretty much just what the title says - it's understood that on September 3rd, Hakuho formally applied for Japanese citizenship, which is a requirement if he wants to be an oyakata. No word yet if this presages his imminent retirement from active sumo.

...and confirmed: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20190520/k10011922041000.html. Takakeisho re-kyujo from Day 9. Doesn't specify that this the first time an Ozeki's gone kyujo twice in one basho, but says it's 'an extremely irregular occurrence'.