Kajiyanosho

Thanks for the stats @Athenayama and @Takanorappa. I think there's a small mistake in the Hall Of Fame. My name is there with two different spellings, but I think I won Aki 23 and Nagoya 24, while I arrived 3rd in Kyushu 23 and Hatsu 24. On Takanorappa's site, however, I have three 1st places: Aki 23, Kyushu 23, Hatsu 24. Not sure what's the final score is! Thank you!

Can't miss it this year! 1-5: Pandaazuma 6-10: Susanoo 11-20: Kajiyanosho [I would go for Oskahanada, Gonzaburow or other strong players, but I'm picking myself in case I miraculously do well again] 21-40: Joaoyama 41-80: Joputosu [my "recruit" from the Italianozeki community - very strong player] 81-120: Mariohana 121-200: Sakura 201+: Chelseayama

I've seen the invitation yesterday and it came from a PR agency working for the organisers Askonas Holt and / or the Royal Albert Hall. Several mistakes in just a few lines. The invitation said that the "tournamet (sic) will host the most accomplished and elite sumos (sic.), including those who have reached the top rank of Yokozuna". Sumos! The invitation also indicated that both Kitanowaka and Fukutsuumi will take part in the tournament. If it will feature Makuuchi rikishi, Fukutsuumi definitely won't be there.

There will be a lot of eye-rolling for sure. Possibly even more than that - have a look at how Channel 4 covered it today: https://www.channel4.com/news/sumo-returns-to-london-after-more-than-thirty-years I'll try to get involved in the BBC online coverage next year (I'm the co-author of this article), to at least stir it away from factual mistakes and the usual clichés. But generally media coverage will be jokes about rikishi's diet and all that

I believe it's at 7:30pm Wednesday to Saturday. 2pm on the last day.

There was some incorrect information in the official invitation to today's event (which I hadn't seen until today) - the line about this being only the second time ever a sumo tournament is held outside Japan comes from there. It's understandable that journalists don't fact-check the event organisers. I had to explain that the winner isn't 'crowned Yokozuna' and the 'grand champion' bit isn't my wording, but I had to pick my battles. I would say that more than a deliberate attempt to create drama it's just not much time and incentive for journalists to get things completely right. At least in direct my experience. And I'm very excited about it! I won't be able to visit Japan until at least 2026, so this is a great opportunity for me and other fans after all - even if it's not quite the same as when the real titles and rankings are at stake.

This needed a huge amount of fact checking and corrections but hopefully the end result isn't too bad! Sumo Grand Tournament back in London after 34 years - BBC News It took quite a while to help journalists understand the difference between given name, shikona, elder stock name, rank, JSA title etc.!

Thanks John. Much appreciated.

Thank you! I wouldn't expect it to be open to the public. I work in news and I'd be interested in flagging it to colleagues who cover sport or London events in case (as I suspect) it wasn't on their radar. I was just wondering whether Japanese media had reported anything specific about the news conference (e.g. at the embassy / Japan House etc). Not a big deal, though. It's mostly personal excitement and FOMO ahead of this long awaited return!

Sorry, I meant to ask this: does anyone know when and where *the news conference* is going to be on the 4th? I know that details about actual event are not known yet.

I read that there's a news conference in London on Wednesday. Did they release any information about when and where it's going to be?

There's still a lot of movement in the top 10. Will Oyama make the podium? It would be quite a climb. https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/20343630/

Here's the animated yet gelatinous Masters race. https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/20343630/ It's more exciting at the bottom - it's not over until I can hope to score 100+ points on Odd on Senshuraku...

Day 10 animated race update! https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/20343630/

And here's the animated race! (link below) https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/20343630/

Here's an animated version of the exciting race: Super Banzuke Sumo Games World Championship - Daily updates to Nakabi I'm failing to cling on to the top 10, so I'm looking for extra thrill in funky charts!

Thank you! An exciting basho overall. Congrats to Kitakachiyama! A disappointing SB performance for me. Too much faith in the ozeki in the pre-basho games and too many uninspired decision in the daily ones. Now I'll have to do everything I can to avoid slipping off the famous Kyushu line chart...

Wow, the alarm is serious commitment! Understandable, though - I see a different impact even in Kyushu/Hatsu/Haru when the time difference between the UK and Japan is an extra hour. It's annoying, but on the other hand my time zone allows me to watch at least Makunouchi matches live pretty much every day, so it's not too bad overall! I'd like to think that while seeing kyujo announcements is a clear advantage, it's probably not decisive for SB masters / SBWC. Hope so anyway!

This is a very interesting conversation. Different games have different rules, and it's true that some are more punishing than others in case of absence (or have no droning options). I think I've only missed a Tipspiel day and it happened (obviously) in a basho when I was doing quite well. It's annoying when I see rikishi absences affecting UDH or Hoshitori Or Paper in ways that aren't convenient to my placement at that time, but I accept it in the spirit of unpredictability and 'unfairness' that is sumo. Odd Sumo is the last game I play every day - I find it easier this way and it's also not too bad if I miss a day (sometimes I just can't decide). I play Tipspiel, Sumo Game and Bench first - they require the longest 'thinking' (and fun) and the decisions I make determine my choices in other games too. This makes it less likely for me to miss a day. I wouldn't play if my circumstances wouldn't allow me to almost never miss a day. If unforeseeable circumstances make me miss one, they preoccupy me more than my (most time unimpressive) Tipspiel ranking. Here's a possible personal solution though: one could write a script that automatically selects and orders Tipspiel rikishi based on e.g. Odd Sumo, and automatically posts it in the forum!

Thank you! Again - I didn't mean to criticise or moan about the site at all, I'm thankful for it! I thought about the Superbanzuke site because it's the gateway to all games and intuitively it could be easier to redesign, as it's just a collector of information and has no user input. I'm not a designer but I worked with UX I'd be happy to help in any other way.

I'd like to play too, thank you! First time!

Returning to this nerdiest nerds' conversation with a couple of points I forgot to make. I agree that e.g. Kachi Clash as a game is not particularly interesting, which is why I'm not playing it. But again, people don't start games just based on their rules, but on community, ease of play, habits. That's why I wish for a SB 2.0 that could become popular among new fans. The Masters Series and World Championship make the Superbanzuke quite unique. A mega-ranking that crowns the ultimate fantasy sumo nerd can be quite appealing, and it's what ultimately prompted me to go from a couple of games to almost all of them (I'm always too last minute to give a Oracle proper shot...). Even just an updated Superbanzuke site would make it easier to recruit players for the games included in it. With international sumo fans growing in numbers, there's no shortage of potential players. I don't necessarily think there's anything 'bad' in Superbanzuke games being relatively small and niche. It's arguably better to have a smaller core of dedicated players than a bigger pool of people e.g. failing to play consistently daily games and making the experience less enjoyable. But many people who are engaged enough to discuss sumo on Discord, YouTube or Telegram would be excellent Superbanzuke players. [One recent example is Joputosu, who I 'recruited' from the Italianozeki Telegram channel].

Agree - I meant crowdfunding a professional programmer (and designer) etc.

Love this discussion. I assume the popularity of Kachi Clash comes from it being discussed in Discord Channels and social media, and also because the site is newer, mobile friendly, etc. I haven't tried it yet. I found out about SuperBanzuke games from a John Gunning article on The Japan Times. I've first heard about Kachi Clash on the Italianozeki Telegram channel - a relatively small but very engaged group of Italian sumo fans. Almost no one in the channel had heard about SuperBanzuke games before, while Kachi Clash was popular among many of them. Anecdotal evidence of course, but my guess is that there's a bit of a generational divide, with newer fans unlikely to know about SuperBanzuke games (a part from possibly GTB). SuperBanzuke games are excellent, and I love the additional challenge of the Master Series etc. The community around them is great, but also much harder to find. I played games for a couple of years before even joining this forum, as my work browser deemed this (and other sumo game pages) unsafe to visit. Some of the pages are obsolete or inaccessible, and some information is hidden in old sites. When I won the Green Mawashi last Hatsu I sent the 99998271 dot com link to many friends and most of them told me they couldn't even open it. Of course I'm NOT at all "complaining" with anyone about this. I'm thankful for all the time and passion people put into this to allow me and many others to play (for free!) and enjoy sumo much more as a result. I tend to say that SuperBanzuke games are a bit like sumo: they have a long history, they never change and that's part of the appeal. However, I wish there could be a way of creating new sites for the games and for the SuperBanzuke. I don't know if this was discussed before, but could crowdfunding be an option? I appreciate that there are all sorts of logistical things to consider. I don't even know if most of the regular players would want to change anything. Also, I don't think the 'target audience' of fantasy sumo games is people who are just starting to follow sumo or 'light users'. Quite the opposite - there are many (old and especially new) sumo fans who don't know about these games and would likely be interested. I wish SuperBanzuke games could be the go place for them! Kajiyanosho

Haha apology accepted! Had another disappointing basho after the stars aligned for Hatsu. I'll try my best to stop falling and have my own line in the Kyushu daily Top 10 chart!