Was Ama - Now

[Asashosakari 19,543]

Let me be the first to say that mentally I'm already getting his shikona confused with Homarefuji's. Sigh. Gonna take a few basho to rewire those synapses...

[Itachi 396]

I can only find the 'haru' reading for the first kanji for use in names. I find no reference at all to its use in words other than personal names.

Are there other examples of shikona using special readings for names only? Maybe in the lower ranks, but for sekitori? For an Ozeki?

[Kintamayama 45,441]

Let me be the first to say that mentally I'm already getting his shikona confused with Homarefuji's. Sigh. Gonna take a few basho to rewire those synapses...

Me too, dammit!! The whole day!! BTW, I can't wait for Homarefuji to reach upper sanyaku.

Can anyone guess why??

Edited November 27, 2008 by Kintamayama

[Jakusotsu 6,017]

I can't wait for Homarefuji to reach upper sanyaku.

Can anyone guess why??

To give the gyoji headaches by selecting their meeting for Tipspiel?

[Takamizakura 1]

Can the rulers of the avatar make a new one for Harumafuji depicting Mt. Fuji with proper genitalia?

Horse genitalia? (Neener, neener...)

[Kintamayama 45,441]

No, no, no. I am disappointed. It's quite easy, actually.

So HOMER can finally meet BART in a SIMPSON darby!!

Damn, I'm good.

[Asashosakari 19,543]

I can't wait for Homarefuji to reach upper sanyaku.

Can anyone guess why??

To give the gyoji headaches by selecting their meeting for Tipspiel?

I didn't know playoff bouts could be selected in the Tippspiel...

No, no, no. I am disappointed. It's quite easy, actually.

So HOMER can finally meet BART in a SIMPSON darby!!

Damn, I'm good.

Ahhh, joke deja-vu!

Edited November 27, 2008 by Asashosakari

[Jakusotsu 6,017]

I didn't know playoff bouts could be selected in the Tippspiel...

Homarefuji is Isegahama bred? Damn, need to follow the up and comers more closely... (Neener, neener...)

[Kintamayama 45,441]

So HOMER can finally meet BART in a SIMPSON darby!!

Damn, I'm good.

Ahhh, joke deja-vu!

Damn, I'm senile..

[kame 0]

Let me be the first to say that mentally I'm already getting his shikona confused with Homarefuji's. Sigh. Gonna take a few basho to rewire those synapses...

Yah... As I read this post I heard something snap. Thanks!

[mokele 3]

I guess that with enough time I'll get used to Harumafuji as Ama's new shikona. At the moment I'm not really happy with it, since the name does not seem to fit his style of sumo which is based on speed, aggressiveness, versatility and skill. A horse is big, strong and fast but rather meek and not very intelligent. A horse can be led around. Oh well, perhaps we shouldn't expect something truly thoughtful or imaginative from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai and its many stables. Former yokozuna Asahifuji must have played a part in the choice of name.

[Doitsuyama 1,192]

Former yokozuna Asahifuji must have played a part in the choice of name.

;-)

Hehe, this let me question who here isn't exactly "thoughtful or imaginative". To help mokele, shikona are made up and submitted from stable masters (usually with help from others), so of course Asahifuji must have played a part - just like any other stable master, doh. But in general Asahifuji never was accused of lacking imagination for his shikona choices, yours is a first.

Edited November 28, 2008 by Doitsuyama

[Asashosakari 19,543]

But in general Asahifuji never was accused of lacking imagination for his shikona choices, yours is a first.

Also, it was Ama who insisted on keeping the "horse" kanji, so blaming Asahifuji or the Kyokai for that choice is pretty odd.

[Yangnomazuma 79]

BTW, can anyone tell me another word, name (shikona, place or otherwise)　that has 日 reading as はる？ I can't find any.

Only other use of 日馬 I've found is 日馬プレス Nichima press ( http://www.nichimapress.com/ ), 日馬ドラマ a drama and 日馬ふれあいフェスティバル a festival. Kusama is the other reading I've seen for 日馬 other than Nichima.

I do have an example that is not necessarily Japanese, but it may have some input from the occupation. The "pure" Korean (read: not Sino-Korean) word for "one day" is "haru". As the two languages share much of the same Chinese derivative words and many of those are very similar in pronunciation, it's certainly not a stretch that this word is one and the same and that Japan got it from Korea or vice-versa. Admittedly, I don't see a whole lot of similarities between pure Korean and Japanese, but this seems to be the exception. Not exactly what you asked for, but it certainly counts in my book....

[Harry 67]

BTW, can anyone tell me another word, name (shikona, place or otherwise)　that has 日 reading as はる？ I can't find any.

Only other use of 日馬 I've found is 日馬プレス Nichima press ( http://www.nichimapress.com/ ), 日馬ドラマ a drama and 日馬ふれあいフェスティバル a festival. Kusama is the other reading I've seen for 日馬 other than Nichima.

I do have an example that is not necessarily Japanese, but it may have some input from the occupation. The "pure" Korean (read: not Sino-Korean) word for "one day" is "haru". As the two languages share much of the same Chinese derivative words and many of those are very similar in pronunciation, it's certainly not a stretch that this word is one and the same and that Japan got it from Korea or vice-versa. Admittedly, I don't see a whole lot of similarities between pure Korean and Japanese, but this seems to be the exception. Not exactly what you asked for, but it certainly counts in my book....

Interesting, thanks for that idea. Sadly I know no Korean but I will have to try and remember to ask my Korean friend. She took some Japanese in school too but she remembers about as much of it as I do French from my high school days and as much as my Chinese co-worker remembers of her own Japanese as a second language from school. Use it or lose it!

Back on topic, Harumafuji is almost starting to grow on me but I still think Kusamafuji would have been better to keep not only the kanji but also the reading of 'ama' though it wouldn't really be 'ama' (the first 'a' would be in the mora 'sa', not alone). But what do I know???

Edited November 29, 2008 by Harry

[Orion 431]

Back on topic, Harumafuji is almost starting to grow on me but I still think Kusamafuji would have been better to keep not only the kanji but also the reading of 'ama' though it wouldn't really be 'ama' (the first 'a' would be in the mora 'sa', not alone). But what do I know???

Not such a good idea. Written with a different kanji, 'kusai' means 'stinky' so it would not sound too good.

Orion

[Harry 67]

Back on topic, Harumafuji is almost starting to grow on me but I still think Kusamafuji would have been better to keep not only the kanji but also the reading of 'ama' though it wouldn't really be 'ama' (the first 'a' would be in the mora 'sa', not alone). But what do I know???

Not such a good idea. Written with a different kanji, 'kusai' means 'stinky' so it would not sound too good.

Orion

臭馬富士, hadn't thought of that! Stinky (or fishy, suspicious) horse fuji! Not so good... One for the yaocho sayers though (Clapping wildly...)

[mokele 3]

But in general Asahifuji never was accused of lacking imagination for his shikona choices, yours is a first.

Also, it was Ama who insisted on keeping the "horse" kanji, so blaming Asahifuji or the Kyokai for that choice is pretty odd.

So Ama chose his own new shikona with the approval of Asahifuji. That makes sense. If Ama wants to think of himself as a horse, who are we to question his choice? Horses run fast and that might be part of his reason. Whatever, he's an excellent rikishi who I will be eager to watch!

I have seen few shikona use animals such as leopards, lions and tigers, those that embody aggression and athleticism. I do not speak Japanese, but I'm sure that there are members here who could tell us what a shikona might be that meant "clever leopard Fuji" or something similar. That's closer to my image of Ama than "Spring horse Fuji". Shouldn't aggressive, agile and intelligent rikishi be named after animals that have similar qualities?

利発 is what a translator gave me for "clever"

理性的 is what a translator gave me for "intelligent"

I couldn't find a Japanese translation for lion, tiger or leopard. Of course those creatures are not present in Japan (except in zoos), although bears apparently are.

Edited December 1, 2008 by mokele

[Harry 67]

Of course the real problem is that idioms don't translate. "Clever lion" may not mean anything. Actually an animal that is considered clever person is the racoon dog, ri or tanuki 狸. Another 'animal' (actually dog) based one for cunning, crafty, wily is kai　獪 used as roukai 老獪 for crafty, astute, wily; and katsu 猾　used in koukatsu 狡猾 also means cunning, wily and is based upon two animal radicals with kou 狡 also meaning sly, cunning, crafty but also tricky and dishonest. In English we say sly, cunning as a fox but in Japanese, fox kitsune 狐 are shapeshifters though furugitsune 古狐 is a sly, old fox. The wolf rou or oukami 狼 causes confusion, disorder, violence, havoc. Bear is kuma or yuu 熊.

There are big cat kanji:

Lion:　Shi, 獅

Leopard: Hyou, 豹

Tiger: Tora 虎

Can you tell I have a big Japanese exam in a week???? :-P

[Asashosakari 19,543]

The poster child for a decent animal-based shikona is probably ol' Ferocious Tiger Wave (Mokonami) right now...or "Super Tiger 浪" as one translation engine likes to call him.

Edited December 1, 2008 by Asashosakari

[Otokonoyama 2,735]

So Ama chose his own new shikona with the approval of Asahifuji...

It's probably more accurate to say that Ama requested to have the character for horse (the ma - 馬 of Ama - 安馬) be retained in the new shikona. From the news reports, it seems likely that the oyakata took it from there, and came up with the new shikona.

...That's closer to my image of Ama than "Spring horse Fuji". Shouldn't aggressive, agile and intelligent rikishi be named after animals that have similar qualities?

As previously mentioned by several posters, the Haru (日) in the new shikona means sun...giving us "Sun Horse Fuji".

[mokele 3]

Of course the real problem is that idioms don't translate. "Clever lion" may not mean anything. Actually an animal that is considered clever person is the racoon dog, ri or tanuki 狸. Another 'animal' (actually dog) based one for cunning, crafty, wily is kai　獪 used as roukai 老獪 for crafty, astute, wily; and katsu 猾　used in koukatsu 狡猾 also means cunning, wily and is based upon two animal radicals with kou 狡 also meaning sly, cunning, crafty but also tricky and dishonest. In English we say sly, cunning as a fox but in Japanese, fox kitsune 狐 are shapeshifters though furugitsune 古狐 is a sly, old fox. The wolf rou or oukami 狼 causes confusion, disorder, violence, havoc. Bear is kuma or yuu 熊.

There are big cat kanji:

Lion:　Shi, 獅

Leopard: Hyou, 豹

Tiger: Tora 虎

Can you tell I have a big Japanese exam in a week???? :-D

Good one! (Showing respect...)

I won't trouble you with a request for the kanji for Eohippus ("dawn horse") nor would I recommend it as part of a shikona

;-)

Edited December 1, 2008 by mokele

[Asafan 0]

A horse is big, strong and fast but rather meek and not very intelligent.

Not mongolian horses (Showing respect...)

[Sashohitowa 6]

Noting that most of you tend to translate the shikona as a "Spring horse fuji" or "Sun horse fuji", I wonder - if "Fuji" means "prosperous gentleman", can't "Harumafuji" be translated as "Prosperous gentleman riding a horse in the spring", or "... toward the sunrise"..?

[sekihiryu 51]