Naganoyama 5,625 Posted January 25, 2017 Young baseball fan Hagiwara Yutaka (Kisenosato) practising the Japanese 'finger smile'. (Photographic subjects are exhorted to say "ni"- two - where English speakers might say "cheese" and they commonly indicate two with their fingers) Pictures of Kisenosato's early career are a bit hard to come by. Juryo debutant Kisenosato with Naruto Oyakata, former Yokozuna Takanosato, in May 2004. Makuuchi debutant Kisenosato at morning training November 2004 Beating longtime rival Kotooshu in November 2005. Defeating Yokozuna Asashoryu in September 2006 Beating Hakuho in November 2010 to end his 63-bout winning streak. Sekiwake Kisenosato and Ozeki Baruto at the Setsubun bean throwing festival in February 2011. Handing out chanko nabe in part of the devastated area following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Winning the technique prize in November 2011. Ozeki promotion January 2012 with Tagonoura Oyakata. Picture of late stable master Naruto Oyakata taking pride of place. Beating fellow Ozeki Kotoshogiku in January 2012. Defeating Ichinojo to win his first makuuchi yusho January 2017 Yokozuna promotion January 2017 19 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ryoshishokunin 216 Posted January 25, 2017 15 minutes ago, Naganoyama said: Young baseball fan Hagiwara Yutaka (Kisenosato) practising the Japanese 'finger smile'. (Photographic subjects are exhorted to say "ni"- two - where English speakers might say "cheese" and they commonly indicate two with their fingers) That's a peace sign? Very common in Korea, as well. In my experience, you also get asked to say 'cheezu', as well, despite this actually not working to get a good photo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naganoyama 5,625 Posted January 25, 2017 Or commonly victory. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whtbox 10 Posted January 25, 2017 Again Thank you for the great photo collections :) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naganoyama 5,625 Posted January 26, 2017 Ah well. That is NHK World for you. Everyone was doing it on a program I was watching a few months back. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naganoyama 5,625 Posted January 26, 2017 That's a good question. I might still have it somewhere on my recorder. Perhaps I can dig it up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ALAKTORN 346 Posted January 26, 2017 (edited) 8 hours ago, John Gunning said: Not once in almost two decades living here have I heard anyone say or be asked to say "ni" when being photographed. If anything they say "peace" or "cheese" when throwing up deuces. I’ve heard a few times adults going “ichi tasu ichi wa…?” and kids going “niiii” in response when taking a photograph. That was probably in anime though. Edited January 26, 2017 by ALAKTORN Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
inhashi 2,363 Posted February 10, 2017 (edited) Another pic collage of when Kisenosato was younger. It too painfully cute and funny to not post considering how we've seen a very serious and scowling ozeki over the years. Now that he is yokozuna, the media has shots of him laughing and smiling in some very candid moments as of late. Ibasupo Edit: My friends who were born and live in Japan have explained to me the two finger photo pose and they say it can originate either from ni (as in the number two) or peace. Edited February 10, 2017 by inhashi 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naganoyama 5,625 Posted February 11, 2017 Very cute. He looks like a happy baby, but apart from the picture of him eating, the rest look pretty serious. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
