Michishige

Somebody on the Reddit thread said something about him hanging around because of money issues. Is this idle gossip or is that something that is well known? I can’t imagine he’d have such issues after such a distinguished career as an Ozeki.

Whooo boy...I can’t imagine that’s going to go over well with the Kyokai.

Here is the NHK English-language article containing a minute-long highlight of his promotion speech. Congratulations! https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180530_14/

Shohiozan - Shukun-sho (if he wins) Chiyonokuni - Kanto-sho Kyokutaisei - Kanto-sho (if he wins) Tochinoshin - Gino-sho and, if he wins, also Kanto-sho

Am I the only person who isn’t terribly bothered by Tochinoshin’s loss to Shodai? American Football fans would call it a “letdown loss” as a reference to the letdown from a particularly strong win the previous game. He just achieved a personal milestone in beating Hakuho...it’s natural for their to be some “letdown.” The tachiai was clearly off, but he recovered reasonably. I thought he overcommitted to moving forward after Shodai created distance (leading to the fall), but Shodai also made a very smart move on the bales to avoid touching out before Tochinoshin. The YouTube comments make it seem like Tochinoshin is suddenly Aminishiki. Let’s not become overwrought!

I agree with you, if I'm honest. I ask the question more to get some insight into the general case of someone who ends their career as someone who has reached Ozeki and who has some accomplishments under their belt. I don't understand all the politics of who can get a kabu, so I thought publicity and/or public popularity (as Tochinoshin seems to be gaining) might have an influence in addition to the financial resources.

I feel like Tochinoshin had some issues with nerves in the past, even during the January basho when he took the yusho. He also had that terrible knee injury. As someone who is currently dealing with recovering from a knee injury, it can really sap your confidence with even simple things (e.g. stairs). I can't imagine how badly that messed with his confidence level as a professional athlete. The combination of generalized and specific anxiety can lead to underperformance. He's been strong and capable for as long as I've seen him. Like we saw with Kisenosato, however, the mental stuff appears to have fallen into place. I don't know about becoming a Yokozuna, but his sumo has clearly improved over the past few basho.

I even knew about the citizenship requirement and still forgot to stipulate that part. Thank you for the additional context. I appreciate it!

So while others are focused on whether or not Tochinoshin can jump right into the Yokozuna ranks, I’m a bit curious about what this promotion means for his post-retirement prospects. I don’t recall hearing that he owns a kabu. Does becoming an Ozeki make it more likely that he can obtain on and stay on after his intai? Does it matter that he has a yusho (possibly more than one by Sunday)? I know it’s not automatic that someone can stay on even with the right financial resources. How do things look for Tochinoshin? Let’s assume, for the sake of discussion, that he wants to stay if he can.

Thank God for that. Tradition be damned...people shouldn’t screw around with concussions.

Is it just me, or does his voice sound a bit hoarse? Maybe he's not feeling well...

I second this. I tried ordering through the site but they only seem to ship in Japan.

I wonder if you (or anyone) could provide some insight into what threats like these accomplish for the perpetrator. Who would even bother threatening any of the Kyokai members?

Without delving into the translation spat (I barely speak English and am not trying for bilingualism), I will say that I would agree with her if her point is to say that changing tradition should only be done after thorough discussion, in consultation with both traditionalists and those trying to bring about change. As I said previously, there is a case to be made for keeping the tradition. Sumo simply needs to decide if it’s worth the bad press to do so.

Ms. Ikenobo seems to appeal to tradition in this statement, saying that it’s ok to uphold tradition merely for the sake of upholding tradition. Then she goes on to say she wants a female prime minister and that it’s fine to discuss the relevance of traditions over time. Does that mean reevaluate and change them, or just discuss but not potentially change? She clearly states that young girls are as sturdy as boys. If injuries are the concern, is she saying no more children should be allowed to participate at all? She also mentions needing to listen to the rikishi. Were they the ones suggesting that girls needed to be excluded from the children’s event? Are they the ones who want to keep women out of the dohyo? Perhaps they’ve been vocal about the issue and I’ve simply missed it, but I somehow doubt that’s the case. I’m agnostic as to whether the tradition should be changed, but I am not agnostic about the need for proper argumentation from the traditionalist camp. Defending tradition requires an actual defense, particularly from prominent adherents! There are lots of places where religious traditions remain despite the lack of “relevance” of such traditions. In that context, the Shinto origins of excluding women from the dohyo are at least as defensible as Catholics refusing to ordain women priests of Jews and Muslims enforcing gender separation in various contexts. The reasons aren’t relevant in modern society given the rise of gender equality and a modern understanding of biology, but they exist and can be elaborated upon. By contrast, donkey braying in the manner of “tradition is tradition is tradition hee-yaw hee-yaw” is ineffective argumentation. I hope that something is lost in translation with this quote. Otherwise, it’s just incoherent.