Kintamayama 47,191 Posted February 15, 2004 (edited) Some disappointment in some circles that none of the two days in Seoul were Seouled out, like the former international jungyos in Paris (19860 and London(1991). The attendance was 80%, but Kitanoumi Rijicho tried to sound optimistic. "It's a tolerable result. We managed to bring Sumo to the masses", he said. Isenoumi Oyakata, who was in charge of the jungyo, was a bit more realistic. "The third floor bleachers were empty. It's not perfect. With a few more people, we could have filled the place", he said. The people involved say that the postponement from last June because of the SARS outbreak was one of the factors for this. "The timing was bad. June is a better time of year", added Isenoumi Oyakata. The fact that Japan had prohibited Sirrum, the Korean Sumo, during the war was brought up by some journalists as well, and that surely didn't help. And of course, the whole Japan-Korea relationship agenda is a complicated one as it is. Some of the spectators interviewed said they enjoyed it a lot, but once was enough for them. "If we opened another door towards the bettering of relations between our countries, then that in itself is good", said Kitanoumi Rijicho. There was some talk of maybe dong a semi-regular koen to Korea, but that seems to be shelved for now. Next stop-Pusan. Tournament on the 18th. Mawashi-clad Asashouryuu made a special closing ceremony speech {"I would like to thank all the fans who came out to see us. Thank you very much".) in Korean. "I think I made a few mistakes, but I think the fans enjoyed it", he said. The prizes were a three year amount of kimchee, nori, and local sake for Takasago-beya, the heya of the winner. "That's a great present for our Nori-loving Oyakata. I will use the kimchee to chase away my cold!!", said Asashouryuu, delightfully. Edited February 15, 2004 by Kintamayama Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
