Bright colored mawashi, Ura among them...

[shumitto 418]

12 hours ago, Jakusotsu said:

That's even more true for gold.

I remember when Shohozan doned his gold mawashi and went 1-14. He switched to black and has never looked back.

[Yamanashi 3,876]

1 hour ago, Kaminariyuki said:

Akua's color is sort of cute that way, too, since it's a homophone of his name in English.

Is Akua the only Japanese rikishi whose shikona basically is a Latin word?

Also TBH, his color really looks bluer than the assigned RGB color for aqua, and bluer than the variety of beryl called aquamarine.

[Kamitsuumi 401]

14 minutes ago, Yamanashi said:

Is Akua the only Japanese rikishi whose shikona basically is a Latin word?

There are apparently a few more: Urutora Tarō ("ultra") and a Meiji-era apprentice in Osaka named Hīrō Ichimatsu ("hero")

[Kaminariyuki 499]

1 hour ago, Yamanashi said:

Is Akua the only Japanese rikishi whose shikona basically is a Latin word?

Mori, LOL, but I guess that's not really funny. I'm certain it's not intentional. With short shikona becoming more popular, I suspect there are a number of unintentional latin words.

Akua is the only shikona with that sort of spin that I know of. We all know that only the sekitori get to choose their mawashi color, so that limits things considerably.

[Yamanashi 3,876]

8 minutes ago, Kamitsuumi said:

There are apparently a few more: Urutora Tarō ("ultra") and a Meiji-era apprentice in Osaka named Hīrō Ichimatsu ("hero")

The second one I'm calling out, since 1) Hiro is also a very common Japanese name, 2) Hero is Greek . Do you know if the Urutora shikona really is from the world of tokusatsu?

Urutaro is 32, and has been banzukai-gai for four separate stretches.  Invoking Ultraman in his shikona has not paid off, it appears.

[Naganoyama 5,942]

What about Roman?

[Stupidface 34]

16 hours ago, Kaminariyuki said:

LOL, they cost about a million yen each (about $10,000). Hand-woven silk isn't cheap. There was a nice Sumopedia short on Ura's mawashi and I just saw it's on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9heiBHsO9k

And, it's on the NHK site, as well:

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/sumo/sumopedia/

Whoa, I never knew they cost that much!

That was the first time I was introduced to Ura, he seemed so nice and I've routed for him ever since

[Yamanashi 3,876]

9 hours ago, Naganoyama said:

What about Roman?

Good question. I haven't been able to find an "Origins Ish" in the archives that explains the choice of shikona.

[rokudenashi 324]

15 hours ago, Yamanashi said:

The second one I'm calling out, since 1) Hiro is also a very common Japanese name, 2) Hero is Greek . Do you know if the Urutora shikona really is from the world of tokusatsu?

Urutaro is 32, and has been banzukai-gai for four separate stretches.  Invoking Ultraman in his shikona has not paid off, it appears.

The name Hiro pronounced with no vowel elongation is almost always an abbreviation of a longer name (for example Hiromitsu, Hiroaki), but this guy was ヒーロー (Hiiroo) in katakana, presumably spelt that way as a reference to the western term. I would not be surprised if his given name was actually Hiro-something, though. Would make for a nice double entendre.

Sorry, veering yet further off topic...

Edited July 20, 2021 by rokudenashi

[Benevolance 2,501]

Customer review - Bright colored mawashi
1 out of 5 stars

The title of this product led me to believe that I would be experiencing a "Where's Waldo" but with Ura hiding amongst colourful mawashi. When I opened the product thread, I was very unhappy to discover it was just a bunch of writing about other rikishi who wear colourful mawashi. There weren't even any pictures at all. Very disappointed. Would not purchase again. 

[neonbelly 226]

On 19/07/2021 at 19:17, Yamanashi said:

Is Akua the only Japanese rikishi whose shikona basically is a Latin word?

Also TBH, his color really looks bluer than the assigned RGB color for aqua, and bluer than the variety of beryl called aquamarine.

Orora is meant to be Aurora, I believe.

[Seiyashi 4,106]

22 minutes ago, neonbelly said:

On 20/07/2021 at 07:17, Yamanashi said:

Is Akua the only Japanese rikishi whose shikona basically is a Latin word?

Also TBH, his color really looks bluer than the assigned RGB color for aqua, and bluer than the variety of beryl called aquamarine.

Orora is meant to be Aurora, I believe.

Not quite is, but I guess a transcription is close enough. And on that topic there's also Baruto, whose shikona is the closest you can get to Baltic (reflecting his Estonian origin), I think.

[SumoLyubo 6]

Sentoryu chose his shikona because it sounded like his hometown of St. Louis, no?

[sumojoann 1,267]

One thing I have observed is in general, the Mongolians seem to gravitate towards black (or in Hakuho's case, chocolate brown).  However, come to think of it, I wonder if it's because I was accustomed to seeing the Yokozuna who were Mongolians, like Harumafuji and Asashoryu, both of whom wore black.  I know, of course, that Hoshoryu wears that beautiful shade of red, and Tamawashi wears turquoise, but I believe Terunofuji has always worn black as well as Chiyoshoma and Kiribayama.  I don't remember if Ichinojo has always worn royal blue.  It seems to me he used to wear black.  Quite a contrast to the Japanese and other foreign rikishi (Kaisei, Tochinoshin and Aoiyama) with their vivid colors.  Speaking of beautiful colors, I have to say that Kotoeko's shimmery lavender is my favorite followed by the plum that Takarafuji used to wear.

[sumojoann 1,267]

I've always loved Ura's bubblegum pink mawashi.  It looks so chewable! lol  And I've always wondered why Endo never wears pink, his favorite color.

Edited August 1, 2021 by sumojoann

[Hakumadashi 5]

On 01/08/2021 at 20:50, SumoLyubo said:

Sentoryu chose his shikona because it sounded like his hometown of St. Louis, no?

Ichinojō is chosen based on similarity to his real name Ichinorov iirc too

[Yamanashi 3,876]

47 minutes ago, Hakumadashi said:

Ichinojō is chosen based on similarity to his real name Ichinorov iirc too

According to Wikipedia, his shikona is taken from kanji soundalikes for his name, plus a kanji from his (Japanese) high school.

 

On 01/08/2021 at 14:50, SumoLyubo said:

Sentoryu chose his shikona because it sounded like his hometown of St. Louis, no?

Yes.  I seem to remember that this shikona was given to him by his Oyakata (who retired the next year); it's something like "combat dragon" in Japanese.

[Benevolance 2,501]

I still think Aran takes the cake for choice of shikona. 

[Kintamayama 45,408]

Hoshitango wins hands down.

[Yamanashi 3,876]

9 hours ago, Kintamayama said:

Hoshitango wins hands down.

I don't see anything but a dark mawashi from his sumo photos on Google.  Now his wrestling outfit ...

[hakutorizakura 637]

Stupid question. Does a rikishi always have to wear mawashi and sagari with matching colors? Otherwise...

[Kintamayama 45,408]

2 hours ago, Yamanashi said:

I don't see anything but a dark mawashi from his sumo photos on Google.  Now his wrestling outfit ...

I was talking about his shikona. 

[Yamanashi 3,876]

4 minutes ago, Kintamayama said:

I was talking about his shikona. 

Ah, sorry, trying to keep two topics in my head at one time.  Hoshitango is a brilliant shikona.  But that wrestling outfit is still the bomb.

Imachi sounds Japanese; is he a hafu?

[Kaminariyuki 499]

On 04/08/2021 at 12:41, Benevolance said:

I still think Aran takes the cake for choice of shikona. 

 

12 hours ago, Kintamayama said:

Hoshitango wins hands down.

You like those better than Shishi or Oki?

[Kintamayama 45,408]

9 hours ago, Kaminariyuki said:

 

You like those better than Shishi or Oki?

Much better- Argentinian with a shikona that translates as Star Tango? Can't beat that. Maybe Hoshiandesu comes close. Shishi (sounds dumb to me, maybe because it means "sixth" in Hebrew..) and Oki just sound funny. Hoshitango is clever.

Edited August 6, 2021 by Kintamayama