New rules in the Kogugikan

[nomadwolf 8]

So how is it that Olympic oji-san still gets in? I thought that he only bought a general admission ticket and then got someone to "invite" him to sit next to them.

from across the hall (http://sumotalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=1050.0):

I was there on Monday and the Olympic ojisan was in there in his usual spot. A female attendant came over to tell him to move after checking his ticket, but he got angry and threw something at her (paper, or something). He sat on one of the cushions, and then wandered off. He was back again 15 minutes later and watched the rest of the bouts.

[Kotoviki 16]

So how is it that Olympic oji-san still gets in? I thought that he only bought a general admission ticket and then got someone to "invite" him to sit next to them.

from across the hall (http://sumotalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=1050.0):

I was there on Monday and the Olympic ojisan was in there in his usual spot. A female attendant came over to tell him to move after checking his ticket, but he got angry and threw something at her (paper, or something). He sat on one of the cushions, and then wandered off. He was back again 15 minutes later and watched the rest of the bouts.

this is intriguing as Meike has been there every day since Shonichi and we spent 3 hours talking all night and she didn't mention him at all. When I call her in-between classes again I have to ask her but I'm sure she would have mentioned him. PLUS it isn't that they check your ticket in tamari they check it to get into first floor so he had to have gotten in somehow.

[Orion 431]

So how is it that Olympic oji-san still gets in? I thought that he only bought a general admission ticket and then got someone to "invite" him to sit next to them.

Yes, I've seen him in the usual 'no zabuton' seat on the back row of sunakaburi at least two days this basho-- on TV. Needless to say, I was looking for him -- to check whether any exceptions were being made.

Orion

[Naganoyama 5,841]

He has certainly been there for 4 of the 5 days so far. I didn't look on day one because I didn't know about the new rules, so he might have been there then too.

[Fay 1,677]

He was there today too, not on the tamari seats but he switched between some boxes. At least he did when I came - half of Makuuchi (Showing respect...), cause my flight was delayed and I had to go to the heya to fetch my tickets.

[Fay 1,677]

They changed the look of some tamari tickets and made them somehow fraud resistant.

These tickets also pledges you to fill out a formular with your adress, birthday and phone number ... but, I could have written anything, it is not checked with some documents as passport or something like that ...

Edited September 18, 2010 by Fay

[Kotoviki 16]

They changed the look of some tamari tickets and made them somehow fraud resistant.

These tickets also pledges you to fill out a formular with your adress, birthday and phone number ... but, I could have written anything, it is not checked with some documents as passport or something like that ...

Actually this ticket is for Tomozuna Koenkai so it is quite different than others. My friend has the regular old style colored tamari tickets for this basho purchased directly from ochaya.

[Kotoviki 16]

The new rules seem to have become lax already! Yesterday & Saturday Myself and Meike had masu seki seats and were on the 1st floor. By Sunday we knew of of at least one person who had gotten in by showing a 2nd floor ticket that they told us about.

On Monday from above we saw at least 4 people we knew who 100% did not have masu or tamari tickets who were sitting below us on the 1st floor. Our friends suggested we try to sneak in down there but it is rough if you get in and then have to go to the bathroom and can't go out... but anyway we decided we'll wait til the weekend again when we sit on the 1st floor. Until then we'll be upstairs falling asleep with everyone else who can't stay awake up there for lack of oxygen and excitement!!

[ilovesumo 12]

No more bathroom then!

I once held from Jonokuchi ti'll Kaihou (Holiday feeling...)

You gotta be bold. Good luck, girls!

[Jakusotsu 5,815]

I went to the bathroom in the KK only once, and that was mere curiosity. ;-)

[ilovesumo 12]

These tickets also pledges you to fill out a formular with your adress, birthday and phone number ... but, I could have written anything, it is not checked with some documents as passport or something like that ...

It's all a show anyway.

I mean, how could we blond gaijin be mistaken for a Yakuza? ;-)

Nobody ever reads that, it's a "look, we are reforming Sumo, so you gotta go on supporting us"-cos-play...

Theory 1, kicking out the poor fans, goes with it.

[Maguroyama 27]

What a total bummer! Sitting in the lower seats was half of the fun in going to a basho.

Is there anywhere we can inform the NSK just how much theye're losing by doing this? I mean, if a bunch of us wrote "I was planning to attend, but with your new policy has decided against it", maybe they would realize...

[Jakusotsu 5,815]

Is there anywhere we can inform the NSK just how much theye're losing by doing this? I mean, if a bunch of us wrote "I was planning to attend, but with your new policy has decided against it", maybe they would realize...

Possibly. But it still sounds funny to complain about something taken away from you which you never paid for in the first place.

[skycruiser 0]

He was there today too, not on the tamari seats but he switched between some boxes. At least he did when I came - half of Makuuchi :-(, cause my flight was delayed and I had to go to the heya to fetch my tickets.

He is there, but he lost his top hat, but still with his golden fan. Or maybe, they made him remove it!

[ilovesumo 12]

He was there today too, not on the tamari seats but he switched between some boxes. At least he did when I came - half of Makuuchi :-(, cause my flight was delayed and I had to go to the heya to fetch my tickets.

He is there, but he lost his top hat, but still with his golden fan. Or maybe, they made him remove it!

Definitely there, the hat placed where you must see it.

It's great he has a lot of fun there, but why does he want to be on TV desperately*?

I got the opposite problem - you can chase me away with cameras... :-(

(no need to waste memory anyway) So I absolutely cannot get it. What do you non-disturbed think? :-P

*(I don't know him, but from his behaviour I get to this conclusion)

Edited September 22, 2010 by ilovesumo

[Tokyo Tom 0]

I don't think I qualify as "non-disturbed" but will give it a go: I think ol' Oji-san just developed a gimmick where he can get down close to the action and have a good time without spending a lot of his own money. I once had my 15 minutes of fame and did enjoy the attention that came along with the notoriety: it does help the ego when complete strangers want to be with you! I have seen people at the KK call out to the Oji-san to come over and sit with them, take pictures, share food & drink, etc- one day after the matches Oji-san even agreed to take a picture with me! Then three gyaru came up to get a picture and he dropped me like a hot potato. I saw him getting into a cab with those gyaru a few minutes later. Desperate for attention- or knowing a good thing when you have it? Or, in current business speak- Knowing and Cultivating your Personal Brand!

[Jakusotsu 5,815]

As long as he doesn't try to rip you off by selling his cheap selfmade stamps...

[alain 0]

hello all

I did not know about the new rules and went today to take photography, I am so disapointed they would not give access. It is so bad for the real fans !

I went to the PR rom and requested photographer access but this too was turned down, press card or not, pro or not, foreigner r not, it does not matter.

I asked for access until 2PM only, nothing they cannot manage.

The only solution they have is to buy tickets well in advance, but front seats are uterly expensive and you are not allowed to even MOVE from or seat, and for me it is critical I change angles and distance a little bit (west/east, and south, angles are very different), so it is not only a cost issue.

I left after (polite) discussion since it was no use for we to stay today anymore.

...

I asked them strongly to reconsider the rules for the next year (they confirmed this would apply to all basho, not Tokyo only) ...

If anyone on this forum or another makes a nice complain letter template for the sumo association of whoever relevant, or a petition, I would be glad to get the link and send my letter.

As a photographer it is critical I can get proper freedom of movement, but I also understand the total frustration of real fans.

Taking sumo images and sharing the widely is a great way to support the sport itself and I am sure this is what they want ...

Please keep this thread alive in the comming months and share news on how the situation is evolving

Alain

http://www.alaindavreux.com/

I don't know what the reason for this new action is but they already started at Natsu to check the tickets on the Tamari seats after the Juryo dohyo iri. All people without a ticket were asked to leave then

That makes perfect sense. When I was being shown the ropes back in the 1970s, by a Japanese woman expert who went every day, she told me that you could sit anywhere up to when the juryo came on, after which you were supposed to go to your proper seat. If people sat on longer, they were regarded as newbies (or else as pushing it). Sumo nuts who wanted to go often took care not to push their luck, as a friendly dekata could make a big difference. Of course things have changed a lot since then, but every so often they toughen up if matters seem to have got out of hand. I've never known anything like a total prohibition on going in downstairs if you have an upstairs ticket. I hope common sense intervenes quickly. (Before the weekend, to be precise...)

Orion

that is exactly what they should do, ticket control at Juryo start ...

one example of image that became totally impossible to shoot :

[Orion 431]

What a total bummer! Sitting in the lower seats was half of the fun in going to a basho.

Is there anywhere we can inform the NSK just how much theye're losing by doing this? I mean, if a bunch of us wrote "I was planning to attend, but with your new policy has decided against it", maybe they would realize...

That's what I'm planning to do, FWIW. Send a letter (naturally in Japanese) saying that I had planned to go to Fukuoka but if I can't sit in the front masu-seki that are unoccupied for hours to take notes and occasionally cheer on my favorites, I will cancel my plans and I definitely will not buy my usual tickets. The same applies to all subsequent basho, even when they happen to be in Tokyo, just up the road from where I have lived for the past 30 years plus -- having deliberately moved to Ryogoku for the sake of sumo. Some things make sense, other things don't.

(BTW I was delighted to see Kotoviki, Meike and hangers-on right down there in their usual first-floor seats today. Is there somthing that we should know?)

Orion, desperately trying to stick by the rules, however stupid they may seem (Showing respect...)

Edited September 25, 2010 by Orion

[Kotoviki 16]

What a total bummer! Sitting in the lower seats was half of the fun in going to a basho.

Is there anywhere we can inform the NSK just how much theye're losing by doing this? I mean, if a bunch of us wrote "I was planning to attend, but with your new policy has decided against it", maybe they would realize...

That's what I'm planning to do, FWIW. Send a letter (naturally in Japanese) saying that I had planned to go to Fukuoka but if I can't sit in the front masu-seki that are unoccupied for hours to take notes and occasionally cheer on my favorites, I will cancel my plans and I definitely will not buy my usual tickets. The same applies to all subsequent basho, even when they happen to be in Tokyo, just up the road from where I have lived for the past 30 years plus -- having deliberately moved to Ryogoku for the sake of sumo. Some things make sense, other things don't.

(BTW I was delighted to see Kotoviki, Meike and hangers-on right down there in their usual first-floor seats today. Is there somthing that we should know?)

Orion, desperately trying to stick by the rules, however stupid they may seem (Tears forming...)

Orion,

On the weekends and holidays I have always bought one or two person masu seats. Weekdays chair tickets. So we were stuck upstairs most of the days but lucky for the weekends but as usual broke... This basho I couldn't get Meike a 15 day booklet in advance as my friends were also unable when they sold out too early so she decided to share some masu with me.

Also FWIW the ojisan we usually sit with are also cancelling Fukuoka and possibly Tokyo for the same reason. Some of them even go home at 2pm and come just for the lower division. Today I talked with a friend who works for the kyokai and she said they've received tons of complaints from people and parents about this rule.

However, from what the oyakta have said it was decided by the monbusho and not the kyokai and they are controlling this access system... I don't see a change any time soon... :-(

Even Meike wonders if she'll come if it stays the same.... :-(((((

[ilovesumo 12]

They will loose the parents and big fans, plus us few gaijin. Indeed, why would one fly over there - this already costs (too) much and then buy big fat expensive tickets...The only thing we can organize one day is some kind of "stay on my sofa"-service to make it less expensive for forumers and friends - if at least the hotel costs can be minimized...

But you know what, I am happy it's not a Ky

Edited September 25, 2010 by ilovesumo