Yamanashi

Thanks for that. I had kind of a Spidey-sense that this was unusual, but I've only been following for ~3 years. With two banged-up Yokozuna, is this some sort of Triple-Witching deal that means a great disturbance in the Sumo Force? Or is it just the result of tread-worn Maegashira rikishi getting beaten by up-and-comers? It's apparently rare, so ...

And as for Nishikifuji, his fate doesn't seem to be common over the last 50 years, but is common over the last 20. Rikishi in Nishikifuji's case got sent to Makushita 16 times in a row from 1967 to 2003. After that, a 7-8 kept his rank 4 times (including Tobizaru and Kiziakumi in the last two years), dropped to J14 9 times (including Yago, Akesiyama and Hoshoryu), and went to Ms1 once (Asahisho). Knowing why there's a change in philosophy with the new millenium is, of course, the purview of the gods and past winners of Forum Games.

On the other hand, the last five have been 3 Ms1's and two J14's. The guy before Ryuden got screwed with an Ms1e. Let's see, who was that guy ... some tosser named Shodai .

That's Hagiwara, the half-Turkish kid from Hokkaido (and Tokushoku Univ.)

So, I see you have chosen death; interesting ...

Other than banzuke-gai Oju and Honma, every Narutobeya rikishi is in Jonidan and above, including Kawamura showing off his new Sandanme slippers.

Also, no stepping on cracks in the sidewalk. And, replacing the daruma doll in his mawashi ("you can only get back up if you've already fallen") with a chicken doll ("because chickens ... well, you know"). [I'd better note that this is parody, 'cause sometimes you wonder ... ]

My pick would be "Featured Rikishi and Heya", but that seems to be a graveyard for some reason. I trust the Moderators to come up with a good choice.

Moderators, this is getting to be a large self-contained thread. I don't know where, but can we move it out of the Member Introductions tab?

@sumojoann, they are clickable and show an individual shot when clicked.

Are you farming your posts out to Kintamayama?

You all may be interested in this week's edition of "Japanology" on NHK. On a segment of "Japanophiles", Peter Barakan interviews a Buddhist priest named Gyoei Saile. He was born in Hamburg, moved to the U.S. at age eleven, and moved to Japan in graduate school. Of course, he speaks Japanese, but in the interview he speaks perfect American English with a German accent. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/2032218/

Can you have one without the other?

Narutobeya had some renovations this week, so the rikishi went out on the riverside (distanced from the public, I suppose) and did various staged exercises.

Thanks. I don't know enough to be able to pick them out of the Japanese IMDB. I fondly remember the two movies. Akebono had a good part as the top gladiator, and Kotooshu got a cameo. Osh was also kind of a goodwill ambassador because a lot of the locations were shot in Bulgaria. A great scene when Lucius (Hiroshi Abe) gets transported to the sumo jungyo(?). Takekaze and Toyohibiki stand out of course! https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1529869/hideki-takeuchis-comedy-thermae-romae-ii-aimed-international-viewers EDIT: You can see Kotooshu with the stars in one of their junket appearances.

I'm getting confused. Which one of you is Skinner, and which one is Chomsky?

Makushita mentioned in posts: 4 from Kasugano, 2 from Michinoku, one each from Futagoyama, Naruto, Ogurama, Tomozuna.

Kiribayama looks a little like Harumafuji.

He wouldn't have to retire, but I think Thermae Romae II was a special one-off [I'll bet there are some threads from 2014 in this Forum]. Of the 8 rikishi who are credited on IMDB, two (Akebono, Tochiazuma) had retired, one (Kotooshu) was near retirement, two (Takekaze, Daikiho) retired in 2019, and three (Fujiazuma, Toyohibiki and Masuyonama) are still active.

Has Futagoyama ever had a pressed suit?

Mae Govannen!

Oshoryu front right.

My vote wasn't on the list (0-8), but 0-7 is closest. Why would he go intai, is his performance getting worse? The main thing he will get is one month older.

Hakuho: suddenly, he looks old to me.

Without knowing the inside scoop, but reading what's been posted here, it sounds like the Mayor felt bad about Yoshikaze's injury (and as a politician didn't want the public to blame his office) so he made the offer of a "friendly" suit. Meanwhile, the lawyers in the Legal Division got their backs up and (quite rightly) didn't want to establish a precedent. So it gets awkward for Yoshikaze and the Mayor.