Sumo on video

[Mark Buckton 1]

Forgive this question should it ruffle feathers - no intention.

Personally, I became interested in sumo only after having moved to Japan. Many of the members herein live outside Japan. (some seem to be within). Odd times I see discussions on the best place to see sumo - Eurosport etc and in German / English etc.

In all honesty these conversations mean nothing to me as I don't know these channels but also as I watch on NHK bi-lingual - often with Akebono or some more than capable commentators who make it all the more enjoyable.

Therefore, whilst the passion most of you guys have for sumo cannot be brought into question I have to ask 2 questions.

1. Can't you see any NHK programmes in Europe / the US etc as NHK are supposed to be the largest TV company in the world and do apparently broadcast internationally now?

2. If not, why isn't a liaison in place between the people here and the people there to get vids sent out to you? Real time - in English mostly but all the action - grunts and groans included.

Personally, there is nothing I love more than a sunday in front of the box - tinny in hand - from 2 or 3pm (Japanese only) and then the top guys from 4pm (ish) to 6pm - all in English. Mon - Sat videoed and watched after work.

(the digest show kills me - so fast you don't know who what etc before the next one has started)

So, to conclude - should question #1 be unrealistic or naive then why isn't #2 considered?

From a sunny Sunday morn in Tokyo's northern suburbs - matta neh!

ANR

[Hashira 0]

hello: here's what i can say as a 20 year old student in canada:

1. NHK does exist in Canada ( I believe in America also, I'm not sure where else). Unfortunately, you have to get a digital box to hook up to your tv, which i think now is around $300, and then you have to pay around $20/month. This is just too expensive for me to do, especially when the matches are on in the middle of the night, and i can't really picture myself watching the matches on tape after i already know what has happened. so for nhk, i would be paying $200+/yr to watch maybe 5 days of each basho, and i doubt i would much else on nhk. i want to get it, and i will as soon as i have a little bit more money....

2. We can watch the live streaming video at the NSK website. I think that's what most people here do. it's pretty bad quality, but you can hear the grunts, etc, and it gets the job done. also, there are RealPlayer files uploaded usually about 12 hours after the matches occur to http://www.banzuke.com/sumomovies/, and those are copies of the NHK english broadcast, so that's okay.

so that's what i have to survive on until i make it back to japan....hopefully next summer (Clapping wildly...)

good evening from an actually very warm night in the eastern suburbs of Toronto.

[Naganoyama 6,034]

I live in the UK and watch British Eurosport as the only Sumo channel I have access to. The coverage is quite interesting although the commentary becomes a little similar if you see many basho.

When things go wrong - as for example for the Aki Basho where they showed only days 4-6 and appear not to be planning to show the rest - it is deeply disappointing. I normally video tape the digest across the 5 programmes and then watch repeatedly to try and learn more about the game.

After all I have never seen it live and it is only over many basho that one gradually sees all the elements on the digest, e.g. dohyo iri, yokozuna dohyo iri, niramiai, shiko, yumitori shiki, announcements of various kinds, sanyaku soroi bumi etc.

I would LOVE to see NHK. Besides anything else, I have been trying to teach myself Japanese from textbooks for some years now and I am sure Japanese TV would help. I have tried listening to Japanese radio on the internet but I find the speech very fast and without visual cues am a bit lost.

I have Sky Digital satellite TV but NHK is not available from the same satellite as the Sky programs and in any case the set-top-box does not allow the NHK settings to be input (out of permitted range) so even if I could tilt my antenna appropriately I could not get NHK.

I would also LOVE to receive videos from friendly Sumo-lovers elsewhere in the world but you need to remember that we use PAL rather than NTSC in the UK so this may well be unworkable.

Thanks for your suggestions Adachinoryu-Seki. Sorry for the delay in replying.

[Mark Buckton 1]

Let me know very fast if a few vids of the full tournament would be something you are interested in Naganoyama-san as it isn't difficult to do and it begins tomorrow as you know.

PAL - no problem as I work on both systems. Also, fully agree with the rest of your post - distance can cause so many problems.

FYI - now is just past 9pm Japan time.

ANR ;-)

[Gaijinohana 0]

It is available here in the US, but only if you sign up for DISH Network which is one of the two big satellite services. It's not too expensive to sign up but the monthly fee with the package that includes NHK can run up around $50-60. That's not so bad considering most americans spend that much for regular cable anyway. In regard to the live streaming on the web; the quality is just too poor. Also with the DISH setup they replay the broadcast the next morning at 11am Pacific time.

[Mark Buckton 1]

Mychair-san,

hope other Americans learn from your response if they didn't already know.

Like the flag by the way - so many people here in Japan don't believe me when I describe the true Hawaii flag - may I use a print of it??

ANR (Sign of approval)

[Rijicho 6]

Hawaiian flag is indeed quite individual. Flags.net is probably the best flag site of the Internet even though their description of the Finnish flag is patently incorrect despite my several emails during 4-5 past years. >;-)

[Yubiquitoyama 4]

Hawaiian flag is indeed quite individual. Flags.net is probably the best flag site of the Internet even though their description of the Finnish flag is patently incorrect despite my several emails during 4-5 past years. >(Bye, bye...)

What is wrong with it?

Is the blue too dark, or is it something else? ;-)

EDIT: Hm. It seems the ratio is also wrong. I understand it should be 11:18 rather than 3:5. Is that what you mean?

Edited November 8, 2003 by Yubiquitoyama

[Kotoseiya Yuichi 3]

That blue isn't exactly ultramarine (PMS 294C). The ratio is so wrong, one doesn't need to start counting pixels. Moreover, the ratio of the cross is 4-3-4 vertically and 5-3-10 horizontally (11*18 as you mentioned). The cross on the flag they display isn't nearly as anorectic as they often are on Nordic flags. Whenever there's a big sporting event on telly, you can see how surprisingly large number of flags is slightly incorrect in the athlete profile graphics etc.

I know this is not a big deal but since it's practically as easy to create exact graphics as it is to create mediocre stuff, why not create exact? Oh, and don't get me started with Toermaenen, Haemaelaeinen, Klueft... I could understand that in early Eighties but in 2003...? >;-)

Talk about digressing from the original subject...

[Yubiquitoyama 4]

I know this is not a big deal but since it's practically as easy to create exact graphics as it is to create mediocre stuff, why not create exact? Oh, and don't get me started with Toermaenen, Haemaelaeinen, Klueft... I could understand that in early Eighties but in 2003...? >(Bye, bye...)

Yeah, that's just ridiculous. I recently saw an event IN SWEDEN where

Edited November 8, 2003 by Yubiquitoyama

[Kotoseiya Yuichi 3]

You're correct. Now that you mention it, the flag is drawn in almost correct ratio. Funny how reading "3:5" and seeing an almost 11:18 flag can create an impression it's completely off when it's actually not. (Shaking head...) ;-) The cross almost always looks too thin (and more often than not far too pale). Yes, the national differences among the Nordic flags do exist. Denmark especially is clearly different. I asked Taka-zeki whether his flag emoticon's cross looks too thin but apparently not. (Blinking...)

YLE, the Finnish national broadcasting company was criticized heavily in 1994 during the European track & field championships for displaying the name of Seppo Raety for a certain javelin throwing goblin... (Bye, bye...)

[Yoavoshimaru 0]

Back to Adachinoryu-zeki's original question, I wanted to mention another factor: capitalism ;-) Because of the time difference and the relatively small amount of sumo fans (even among the significant Japanese population in te US) there is not enough demand for sumo broadcasts. The cable companies have to at least cover the licensing cost for NHK in order to offer it as a service.

[Gaijinohana 0]

Adachinoryu,

Hawaii does have a very cool flag for a US state. Check out AZ's though. I almost like it even more.

By the way...Tough first day for the sumo picks!!

Edited November 8, 2003 by mychair