Eikokurai

I’ve seen a documentary with him in which he speaks Chinese and Mongolian, though his Chinese isn’t perfectly native. He sounded like it’s his second or third language and not one he uses all that often. Edit: I just found this other mini documentary in which he’s asked by the Chinese reporter if he’s more comfortable with Japanese or Mandarin and he answers “Japanese now” (though the interview continues in Chinese for while). He then says that as a kid he studied Mongolian but implies he doesn’t use it much anymore as he has only used Japanese since arriving in Japan aged 19. The relevant clip is at around 3:35. Not sure if it will work for you (or if you’ll understand, haha). https://b23.tv/av4057146

Can you not delete your posts?

I throw zabuton all the time when I watch sumo, though usually at my wife to get her off the WiFi.

He’s the closest right now to what a Yokozuna *ought to* look like. I think he could do with a bit more muscle, but he’s a proper yotsu specialist in an era with not that many. He could step up if things fall into place for him at the right time, in terms of retirements above him.

There was a Tongan athlete who became a minor celebrity after entering the stadium oiled up all over his near-naked body, so doubtful they’d have any issues with a bit of Hakuho skin.

Pull a quick nekodamashi and run out the door while it’s distracted.

Sounds familiar. I used to get grief if I went a day or two without shaving and I was pretty baby faced with light stubble. Facial hair is not popular in Japan.

The Georgian Kokkai often used to sport a beard, though it’s possible he did shave and it had just grown back by the time of his bout.

Is that another one of those arbitrary rules that doesn’t leave room for common sense? Hanakaze may or may not be a good candidate, or indeed even be interested, but at 49 he probably has plenty to teach those wakaimonos. To not be eligible after all these years simply for not reaching makushita is a bit silly.

I have a follow-up question to the above. Hanakaze is 49 and never spent even a day as a sekitori. That’s a long life spent not earning a salary so I assume that he’s unlikely to have much in the way of savings (at least for a man of his age). Given that he is also not far out from proper retirement, I’m wondering what problems he could face as a retired ex-non sekitori with not much in the bank and not many years to get some savings together before he’s not working at all. Does the NSK provide a pension or healthcare?

My point really was that other career opportunities probably aren’t going to be all that stimulating. We often hear of ex-rikishi in their 20s getting jobs in services, factories, etc. They’re not equipped to become salarymen or do anything which requires diverse skills. And at 49 I imagine Hanakaze is even more institutionalized than most. Being a rikishi is probably much more rewarding than going to work elsewhere, and as others have said, he might be able to get another job around the sumo world which doesn’t require a kabu. (Nothing wrong with working in services or factories, of course, I’m just comparing such work to the life of a rikishi.)

Maybe he just thinks he’s gone on too long in sumo to be able to start a second career. He’ll never be an Oyakata so once he’s off the dohyo, he’s out of sumo and will inevitably end up in a relatively uninspiring job as most ex-toriteki guys do. I think if you don’t get out of a job early enough, it becomes difficult to leave. Who’s hiring guys in their 40s with a limited skill set? Not unlike a lot of people who fall into a job out of school and then realize a decade later they’re still there and it’s become their career by accident (yes, I suppose I’m one of them!) But maybe I’m just projecting.

They should do a sequel about American ‘football’ called Tochidown!

Kotoeko got the 199th top division kakenage win, almost exactly one year after Yutakayama got the 198th. I predict day 14 at Nagoya 2020 for the 200th.

I got it. I was just ribbing you. :)