Hananotaka

He says that Sadogatake beya is supporting the Paralympics by holding a charity auction.

Timed right, it stops the opponent's de-ashi and gives you superior position. Timed wrong, though, and you've exposed your side. All oyakata analysis I've seen have put the blame for Asa's loss to Kise on an ill-advised hari-zashi.

The reason may be whatever, but the slow-motion replay shows Hakurozan's foot and Toyohibiki's hand touching off at the very, very same time. I must disagree. The replays I saw clearly showed Hakurozan out before any part of Toyohibiki touched the ground.

The second one's good, but the first and the last would just be weird. "Sate" is a rather formal phrase, usually used only in writing and presentations, and it's used to transition into the main topic of discourse, not as a conversation filler. "Naruhodo" is good when you understand what someone's said, and you're saying something to the effect of "Ah, of course!" or "Ah, I see!" But the "ga" is unnecessary and non-grammatical. Good time-buying fillers would be "Eeeeeto," "Aaaaa", "Unnnnnnnn," and "Sou da (desu) neeeeee".

Hakurozan was clearly out before Toyohibiki hit the ground. The gyoji clearly saw it, and it was right in front of two shimpan. Hakurozan wasn't screwed, no need for mono-ii, and he wasn't punished for his backmoving sumo.

Couple more things while I'm at it... The sense of "yoru" is "to be drawn to a certain point in a spatial sense". So "yoru" means "lean", as in leaning something against the wall. It's also used to mean "stop by", in the sense of "I'm going to stop by the gas station, and then head over to Jim's house." In sumo, it refers not to "closing distance" (I think you're thinking of 近寄る chikayoru there), but rather to "force" or "to work" someone out. In dictionaries, the sumo sense is described as pushing someone out of the dohyo, but of course in actual sumo this is distinct from oshi-zumo techniques in that oshi techniques push out using the hand and arm, while yori techniques push out using the body. In essence, the Japanese meaning of the verb "yoru" here is "to push with the body". The "-komu" of "watashikomi" and "hatakikomi". While by itself it does mean "to crowd, to be crowded", as a verb suffix it means to do something fully. "Watasu", incidently, doesn't mean "to cross" (that'd be "wataru") but rather to "to put across". The "-komi" here being an intensifier, "watashikomi" means "soundly put across/over". Similarly, the "kiri" of "yorikiri" has nothing to do with cutting, but rather, "-kiri" is a verb suffix meaning to do something completely. Thus, when via the use of your body, stance, and strength you move a rikishi backwards, that's "yoru". When you do it completely and they step out of the ring, that's "yorikiri". Regarding "dasu" versus "okuru". "Okuru" = "send". "Dasu" = "put out". The fisherman's net through is indeed "amiuchi". "Harima-nage," as I understand it, is named thus due to the imagery of waves crashing on rocks and falling apart. The throwing rikishi is like the rock, and the unfortunate throwee is like the waves that crash in, on, and off the rock. It's also possible (probable?) that the kanji are ateji for 播磨 (Harima), an area of modern Hyogo Prefecture. Probably named after a wrestler, either with that shikona or from that reason. Which brings us to Kawazugake, which might be named for a wrestler, one Kawazu Hiroyasu, or alternatively, may come from an old word meaning "frog". "Kudake" in this case means "to crumble". "Koshi-kudake" - "the hips (the rikishi's balance) crumble". "Dashi-nage" are "put out throws" (see note above on "dasu"). They are used when a rikishi makes his opponent touch the ground by opening up and pushing out and down away. Typically, rather than having to take rolling ukemi, the opponent just loses his balance and finds himself on all fours. Tochiazuma defeated Asa with a beautiful uwate-dashi-nage in his last yusho. (Can be seen here.) In "ippon seoi", the ippon does indeed refer to the arm. But the "seoi" is from 背負う seou, meaning "to carry on the back". You are confusing 技 waza "technique", with わざと and わざわざ meaning "deliberate". The latter are not often written with kanji, but when they are it's a completely different one.　 非技 means "non-techniques". "Kote" refers to the forearm. 櫓 is "yagura", not "yugara". The difference between "isami-ashi" and "fumi-ashi" is that the latter happens in the course of an aggressive attack (hence, the "isami" - brave), while the latter just happens by accident trying to move around the dohyo, with no technique applied by the opponent. "Tsuma", "kozuma" and "suso" all refer to the same thing - the hem of a long kimono. According to the Kyokai's website, "waridashi" gets its name because it looks like the loosing rikishi is trying "warikomu", force his way between two people standing in a line.

決まる is indeed an intransitive verb. However, in English it would be translated with the passive form of "decide". Why? Because the subject of 決まる is not the person deciding something, it's the thing being decided. So, when someone in a restaurant says, 決まった, what they're saying is "My order is decided." (← note that this is what the passive form looks like in English). As Nishinoshima noted, this is a cultural and linguistic feature of Japanese. Since Japanese doesn't require subjects or objects to be expressed, it doesn't have the same style features of English, wherein the active voice is preferred to the passive. So, orders can be 決まった and new jobs can be 見つかった without anyone mentioning who did the deciding or finding. The word 決まり as "rule" comes from it's sense as "be decided". So a 決まり is something that has been decided. Here, though, it's part of a compound, so 決まり手 is "hand (technique) of the thing that has been decided." Or, in more idiomatic English, "technique of the decision". "Deciding technique" is perfect if you consider the "deciding" as a gerund, and not a present participle. Now, for the English. "Passive" should refer to the "passive voice", not "passive verbs". The form of the verb used in the passive voice is the "past participle". "Have + past participle" is the present-perfect tense.

日本語、頑張って。 :-) What the story actually said is that in the course of the discussion with Sanma, Hakuho ended up revealing that he went to a Philippine Pub when he was a young rikishi. A Philippine Pub is not the kind of place Sanma would record a show... :-P The show is Sanma no Manma, and features a guest coming to Sanma's studio (made up like his house) as a "guest", and talking for about half and hour.

But that 脇 kanji is not related to any verb that describes threatening. I am still wondering what threathen word is used mostly in casual speech in Japanese and are there nuance differences a a lot. 脅 and 脇 are actually related verbs that come from the same idea. The 月 represents 肉 flesh, and the 3 力, arranged as they are, represent the power of the hands "sandwiching" (はさむ) the power of the body. From the sense of "clamping down" on someone, of "sandwiching" them with threats of force, the kanji took on the meaning of threaten, intimidate. In Japan, 脇 came to be used to represent the point where the arms "sandwich" the body (the armpit, later to also mean "side"), while 脅 was used to represent the "sandwich" (はさむ) action. The 脇 character doesn't exist in Chinese. Or rather, it exists only as the kanji 脅. The etymology of 協, incidently, is that the 3 力 represent three distinct strengths/forces, and the 十 represents 十印（ひとまとめ）, a symbol of "grouping together".

It's a bit of both. It wasn't a dame-oshi, an extra, unnecessary shove to prove a point. But it wasn't just momentum. Wakanoho was coming down off the dohyo, so he shoved Tochinonada out of the way. Not malicious, but certainly dangerous. So he was warned, he apologized, it's all water under the bridge.

Well I learned something new. And is 'ae' the correct plural ? If so, I learned 2 things (Shaking head...) That is rightfully mine, so it must be correct somewhere. I don't doubt you own the rights to the Dog Latin version, but the NSK site uses Yokozune on the English page... seems to imply it may be a real plural term in Japanese??? Typo. There is no "plural" in Japanese, aside from the abovementioned "-tachi" and similar suffixes.

I've read this book. It's pretty good.

It's written that way on the banzuke of course, but now I really wonder if your Japanese friends take that meaning in everyday conversation? For myself, if someone says, "Marumaruyama is maegashira 9 west," no one asks, "What division?" OTOH, no one would say, "Marumaruyama got kachikoshi at Juryo 2, so he's going to be a maegashira next basho."

Only if you suggest a good term for the komusubi to yokozuna group. I would suggest what the Japanese use: joi-jin. But it seems that term has been hijacked to refer to sanyaku and the top maegashira...

I good-naturedly submit that that is weird and off-putting. I care not if one counts Ozeki in sanyaku or no, but please don't put Yokozuna in there. (Please!?...) :-P (First prize...)

"-tachi" is not really a plural. It's more of a grouping suffix. If I say 僕たち, I'm referencing a group of independent entities that includes me. One could in fact say, 横綱たち, but it wouldn't mean "Yokozunas" like a regular plural, but rather "a group including, but not exclusive to, one or more yokozuna". Today, in a context pointing just to Hakuho and Asa, it would mean, "the Yokozunas". One often sees it with names: モチ君たちはどこ行ったの？Moti-kun-tachi wa doko itta no? "Where did Moti and the others go?" 人達, then, doesn't simply mean "people", but implies a group of people. One can't say, 臭い人達が嫌い Kusai hito-tachi ga kirai! "I hate smelly people!" You would have to use just plain "hito" for that. Interestingly enough, 友達 is typically used for one person, though like any Japanese word it can refer to many. To keep this post on topic, there seems to be an interesting effect in sumo. A few years ago, there wasn't much of a gap between Ozeki and sanyaku, largely because of a logjam at komusubi/sekiwake. And it meant that the top maegashira ranks were changing every basho. It was ridiculous. For a while, it was like the top half and bottom half of the maegashira ranks were just alternating places. Now it seems like the log jam has spread to the top maegashira ranks, as well. I hate to say it, but Kaio and Chiyo may need to retire soon, just for the good of sumo. They're not bad enough to get demoted, but they're not really upholding the Ozeki name. And I worry for Sadogatake-beya. I hope the Koto-Ozekis' problems are just temporary due to the change in oyakata, and they can soon settle down and do their own sumo.

It's largely a matter of "time in", as they say. There was a time where I could identify by face every rikishi in Makuuchi and Juryo, simply because I saw them every basho and in the sumo magazines I read. When you know that, you have the wherewithal to start learning the makushita guys. Not having as much exposure when I went back to the States in 2001, I gradually lost my recognition ability. I still knew the guys I knew, but I had a hard time remembering who the new guys were. This has been alleviated with my return to Japan to a certain extent, but I'm no longer as obsessive about sumo as I once was. It kind of shocks me to say it, but I've seen almost none of this current basho, though I've been checking the results. (NHK's sumo recap coming long after my bedtime and laziness in setting the recorder.) The people who are really up on toriteki (makushita and below) on the Forums and elsewhere make it a point to be so. That is, that's one of their particular areas of interest in sumo. Some people are really up on cultural minutiae (gyoji tassle color), others on sumo techniques and kimarite, others on makushita and below rikishi.

The first clip is about the gyoji making the warigami, the sheets the gyoji holds up when announcing the next day's tournaments during naka-iri. The second clip first shows the gyoji writing out the ita-banzuke (board-banzuke). Then it shows the gyoji doing "shobu-tsuke". The scroll there is called the "maki" (scroll), and is one long sheet with the entire banzuke written out. When a rikishi wins, his opponent's shikona is stamped below his own shikona. When he loses, his opponent's shikona is stamped above his own shikona. This is the final, checked-over-and-over-again record of wins and losses, which the shimpan-bu uses to make the torikumi.

That's a nice article. Some various thoughts... In anthropology and cultural studies, there are two main approaches: etic, and emic. An etic approach is objective - it observes from the outside. Emic, OTOH, is subjective. It observes from the inside. The downside of the etic approach is the black box. You only see the surface, and you can only draw your conclusions by using your own cultural standards against what you observe. You miss everything going on underneath. The downside of the emic approach is that you're like a fish in a fish bowl. You never get the big, overencompassing view of your environment. Of course, accessing both of these approaches is best. As an expat, though, I think it is essential to get to know things on the emic level. This involves a certain level of "cultural cross-dressing". You have to be willing to accept, unequivocally, the assumptions inherent in the other culture. You have to turn off your critical thinking skills for a bit, and accept everything you are given. This is by no means any way to live. But I think it's an important stage to go through (and occasionally return to). It's only with that experience that one can really appraise another culture. Every culture is inherently logical. Cultural differences arise when the cultures logically progress from different starting points. One sticking point for many Westerners (particularly Americans) when coming to Japan is the ranked, hierarchal relationships, what the Japanese call "jouge kankei", top-to-bottom relationships. Confucius wasn't Greek, so his philosophy isn't really a part of Western civilization. But while the ideal of the "equality of man" is certainly a good and natural one, it's also true that in the natural world all animal "societies" are inherently hierarchal. So while one might quibble with Confucius's specific ranking (e.g., men over women), his ideas about natural order aren't all that crazy, and when applied right, have great social value. For example, sempai-kohai (or in sumo terms, ani-deshi, otouto-deshi). In schools, clubs, and work, a Japanese person will always have sempai (seniors) and kohai (juniors). From the etic POV, this seems terribly restricting, militaristic, and ripe for abuse. The kohai serve the sempai. The sempai order the kohai around. What good is gained from these uneven relationships? OTOH, from the emic POV, the sempai-kohai relationship is a beautiful thing. The sempai cares for and looks out for the kohai. He teaches him what he needs to know, he bails him out of trouble, he takes responsibility for him. In Japan, sempai always pay. The kohai, by attending to the sempai, learns a fine sensitivity to others, of reading non-verbal cues, and anticipating the wants and needs of others. And it gets "paid forward" as the junior gets older, and has his own kohai. By contrast, while some Japanese enjoy the freedom of the American style, many others find it cold and lonely, feeling like they are left to fend for themselves, and that what fellowship and camaraderie that exist are shallow and superficial. So, looking at wait-people and other service industry folk. In the U.S. (I use the U.S. only because I'm American, and can only really speak for it), the staff are friendly and polite (partly or mostly because their tip depends on it), and the American way is one of equality, so customers respond in kind. Just because someone is serving you, it doesn't make them your servant, basically. OTOH, in Japan, where relationships are highly contextual, the waiter and the customer don't have any real relationship. In the sense of the "Customer is always right", the customer has a momentary superiority of position, so the waiter will of course use honorific and polite speech. But both customer and waiter know that this is merely superficial politeness because of the context (and what's more, strictly according to a manual), so there's no need for the customer to reciprocate politeness. The waiters will act the same way when they themselves are customers. Regarding Tokyo. In the year and a half that I lived there, I came to the conclusion that the "rudeness" endemic there is essentially extreme "indifference". It is simply so crowded there, that if you apologized to every person you bumped into, or held open the door for the person behind you, you'd never get anywhere. In order to deal with the crowds, you end up creating this personal bubble, and from the time you leave the house to the time you get to the office, you just let all of Tokyo bounce off this bubble. And it's true to a lesser extent in all of the major cities. I can understand it, but it's also a reason why I left Tokyo, and why I'm always ambivalent about going back. On the shinkansen going to Tokyo I often think back fondly on the time I spent there, but when I arrive I see the crowds, hustle, and bustle, and think, "Ah yes. This is why I left." As for opening doors for people, or holding them open, it just doesn't appear to be part of everyday etiquette. My own theory is that this is a relic of the prevalence of sliding doors in Japan (at the schools I work at, almost all doors are sliding doors). I imagine that if swinging doors became even more common in Japanese homes, schools, and workplaces, opening and holding doors for others will also become more common. Anway, just some random thoughts. Take them FWIW, and of course YMMV.

Keep his feet under him. Watch the overhead replay. He steps with his left foot and goes for the sashi with his right arm. This puts him in perfect unbalance on his right side, which is where Aminishiki henka'd. If he'd been watching his opponent and moved with his feet under him rather than over-extending, Aminishiki would have been toast. Hakuho didn't expect a henka and tried to cheat a bit on his sashi (by which I mean he moved too fast on the attack, not that he broke any rules). This left him open to the henka and hataki. At the height of his powers, Takanohana never lost to henka. He had a "receiving" tachiai in which he stood there and took the other rikishi's best, and then proceeded to beat him. But as he got weaker toward the end of his career, he'd fall for it as he'd tried to rush the tachiai, no longer having confidence in his strength to receive his opponent's. In Hakuho's case, I think this is a matter of other rikishi denying him the right shitate grip he likes, and so with yotsu-type opponents (like Aminishiki) he tries to "cheat" a little, and get his hand in there before his body's moved all the way forward. Aminishiki probably picked up on this, hence the henka today. We'll see what adjustments Hakuho will now make.

There's a marked difference between a rikishi squatting down for shikiri, and squatting down for tachiai. It's hard to explain, but it's obvious to see. The other rikishi notices it, the gyoji notices it, the judges, everyone in the stands. The only question is if the other rikishi will also get on board.

Wow. I've forgotten so much that I once knew, and learned so much that I didn't know. I feel like a different sumo fan now than I was in 2000. I particularly rue no longer having "Ozumo no Jiten". There is, of course, a new one put out by the Kyokai. I really should get it. But to clarify -- I'm quite sure about my information as of now, and I think my understanding eight years ago was imperfect. This is how I understand it now. Until June 1909, sumo exhibitions were just that: exhibitions. The focus was on the individual match-ups, not on records over the full course of the basho. When the first Kokugikan was built, the Kyokai inaugurated a yusho system (yuushou seido), but this was not an individual yusho system. My mistake was that I assumed "yuushou seido" to mean an individual yusho system, but in actuality the yuushou seido was for the East-West "teams". During the Tozai yusho system, the Yusho Flag was given to the Maegashira with the best record. This wasn't an individual award, though. He was simply chosen to represent his side and carry the Yusho Flag in the processions that followed. This continued until 1932 and the Shunjuuen Incident. With not enough rikishi to do a Tozai yusho system, the Kyokai went to "Keitou-betsu sou atari" system: rikishi from different ichimon fight, but not of the same ichimon. During this time the individual yusho system was first implemented. However, a preponderance of Dewanoumi ichimon rikishi in Makuuchi soon made this style difficult to continue, so in 1940 the Tozai system returned. I wish I could reread "Ozumo no Jiten" to confirm whether I misread it before. My Japanese was not bad in 2000, but frankly, if my current self got into a Japanese fight with my 2000 self, I'd kick my 2000 self's ass now. And while my access to Japanese sources back then made me rather knowledgeable back then, frankly, Takayama-san could kick my ass in a sumo-knowledge fight both then and now. I suspect that what Sawada was actually saying is that historical yusho are currently recognized as far back as 1909, even though individual yusho did not exist at the time. I'll also cop to simplifying things in my post earlier in this thread -- there were certainly individual yusho from 1932 to 1940, but I think of those 8 years as just a hiccup compared to the 30 years of the Tozai system, particularly since individual yusho at that time were not a criterion for promotion to Yokozuna. Anyhoo, so the Tozai system continued through the war, until 1947 when "Keitou-betsu sou atari" returned. The Yokozuna rank was given its unique current status in 1950 when responsibility for naming yokozuna was taken from the Yoshida house and given to the newly-created YDC. The bylaws I mentioned (the current ones) date back to 1958, although it's certainly possible (maybe even likely) that earlier versions existed in the eight years previous. But that definitely strikes me as semantics...I don't much care whether those yusho designations were unofficial at the time, if they've since been recognized by the Kyokai and basically everyone else. I, for one, don't disagree with either of you. As I said, the Kyokai recognizes individual Yusho winners for the Tozai period now, and yet certainly Takayama-san is correct in that at the time it was not an individual yusho system, and any such distinction at the time was unofficial. What's relevant here to this thread, as far as I can see, is that the use of individual Yusho, specifically consecutive Yusho, as a standard for promotion to Yokozuna is a post-war development.

At least since the yokozuna was a formal rank on the banzuke which is about 100 years ago. To be precise, it's been this way since 1958, when the YDCs bylaws were set down. Previous to that there was no set rule for Yokozuna promotion (beyond performing well as an Ozeki). In fact, there was no individual yusho until 1947. The Kyokai credits certain rikishi with individual yusho through its history, but in fact through the first half of the 20th century they used the Tozai (East-West) system, wherein the side that won the most matches received the flag. In fact, when you look at the yusho winners (of the post-war individual-Yusho era), you see that Chiyonoyama won his first two yusho consecutively as an Ozeki, and yet was not promoted, while Terukuni was already a Yokozuna when he won his first Yusho. Kagamisato also was promoted with only one Yusho. Wakanohana I was promoted after two non-consecutive Yusho. Undoubtedly they had high performance as Ozeki that led to their performance. But the first Yokozuna promoted under a clear-cut rule of two consecutive Yusho as Ozeki was probably Taiho.

IIRC, Doreen once said years back that a lot of guys lose weight once they get out of the rat race. They really pack it in when they're active and training, to keep their energy up, but once they retire they don't have to eat so much, and still do a bit of keiko and exercise to stay in shape. Tochiazuma will be the first of the "Hana no 51-kumi" (rikishi born in 1976) to become a shisho. That'll be a little weird for me...

Yes, actually, as long as they sync up, the rikishi are free to go anytime they want. Originally there was no time limit, and rikishi would just shikiri/shio-maki until they felt like going for it. With the advent of the radio (and later TV) broadcast, they put a cap on shikiri time. As a result, most rikishi just use up all the time just getting themselves mentally ready and psyched up, and maybe see if they can get a hint of what the other guy is going to do. But note that the gyoji, even when his body and gunbai are facing away, still carefully looks at the rikishi as they shikiri, just in case they decide to go early.