Yamanashi

Interesting ... how many syllables are in tachi-ai as pronounced in 日本語 ?

Welcome aboard from another new fan. The forum is packed with information, and joining it lets you ask questions and talk to the veterans and sages on the site.

The only shikona that would epitomize this guy's attitude would be something like Kintamafuji. EDIT: Let me be clear: "this guy" means Takayoshitoshi, not anyone on this forum.

Bump.

Sorry, thought this was going to be a BBQ flame war.

Well, there are still 4 Mongolian rikishi in Makuuchi as of Kyushu, with three more in Jutyo; but dominate, probably not.

... and 17 years younger than me!

The name's "Weezer", but considering the lead singer is almost 50 now, "Wheezer" is in the near future.

Welcome! How did you get involved with Sumo?

OK, so you won't be needing a shikona, since you won't be going into Grand Sumo; and you won't need a ring name, since you won't be joining any MMA/WWE type wrestling entertainment. So, once you start doing amasumo, check in with us and tell us the name you're wrestling under, so we can follow your progress. Beyond that, I don't think we should be wasting this young man's time with lots of forum chatter.

Isn't this just part of the ongoing existential battle between author and editor? Author: "My article was a carefully-researched in-depth story with important content and a nuanced approach. You saddled it with a misleading, simplistic headline." Editor: "Listen, Nerd-Boy, your arcane otaku-bait will never get read unless we can catch the reader's eye with an interesting headline -- something with sizzle and pop." Publisher: "Make good stuff!"

Too soon?

As Homer Simpson might say, " Mmmmmm, sumoers, aarrrggggghh!"

The whole tsukebito system seems weird to me. Is it similar to the former "fagging" system in British public schools? Is there any training for these guys (other than the experience of lower-rankers within the heya) that specifies their duties and rights?

I will carefully think on this. The only thing that stands out immediately is that kensho/bout is more telling than kensho/win. Pardon me if I'm wrong, but since your kensho column shows only kensho won, the kensho/win only tells you how many kensho are on each bout (certainly true for the Yokozuna and other popular rikishi). If fans were placing 50 kensho on each of Kisenosato's bouts, and he only won two bouts out of 20 all year, he'd still have 50 kensho/win, but he'd only have 5 kensho/bout. Of course, rikishi that can steal a stack of kensho against a popular foe several times will stand out in the kensho/win column. It would be difficult to tally, but I think an important number would be how many total kensho were at stake during the year for each rikishi. The ratio of (kensho won)/(kensho at stake) would be illuminating, I'll bet.