Haru 2022 Discussion Thread (SPOILERS!)

[Kaminariyuki 498]

9 hours ago, Seiyashi said:

You'll need another set of three brothers for his own brothers, then. The Waka part of the shikona is from his granddad, and the remaining part of his shikona forms a trio with his brothers. Pretty meaningful, so you'd need to get them all to change. Our luck that the most successful also has the most tongue-tying one, though.

Why, Wakatakakage simply trips off the tongue. I don't see a problem, unless you're British. They do rather enjoy changing the names of things.

[Kaminariyuki 498]

That was a great basho. I need to go scan the postings and see if anyone else thinks Wakatakakage is somewhat reminiscent of Chiyonofuji, the new Wolf.. Could be another Ozeki in the vaguely near future.

Maybe the next Yokozuna?

[robnplunder 975]

3 minutes ago, Kaminariyuki said:

That was a great basho. I need to go scan the postings and see if anyone else thinks Wakatakakage is somewhat reminiscent of Chiyonofuji, the new Wolf.. Could be another Ozeki in the vaguely near future.

Maybe the next Yokozuna?

Yeah, Waka in this basho reminded me of Chiyonofuji.

But I will restrain myself from calling Wake the next Yoko prospect.  Let's see what he does in the next several basho.

[Octofuji 342]

3 minutes ago, Kaminariyuki said:

Maybe the next Yokozuna?

Yes I was thinking that too.

Then I remembered that on Day 4 Abi was still the next Ozeki and Mitakeumi was the next Yokozuna...

It's an exciting time to be a fan at any rate.

[Jakusotsu 5,866]

1 minute ago, Octofuji said:

Then I remembered that on Day 4 Abi was still the next Ozeki and Mitakeumi was the next Yokozuna...

...not to forget Shodai the next Sekiwake.

[Seiyashi 4,072]

15 hours ago, Kaitetsu said:

18 hours ago, Akinomaki said:

side note: at a recent interview Wakamotoharu denied that he'd take that shikona, Wakatakakage may use it for ozeki promotion o

But why would he adopt a new-old shikona when he accomplished so much with his own?

Think of it as living up to an ancestor's name rather than giving up an accomplished one. In Japan, seniority in lineage counts for a lot - see the tradition of passing down theatre names in Kabuki, where within the same theatre clan/guild/house, the Ichikawa Danjūrō name is senior to the Ichikawa Ebizō one, and accomplished holders of the Ebizō name eventually "graduate" to the Danjūrō name. Or, in sumo, see Kotonowaka's progression from Kotokamatani to Kotonowaka (his father) and Kotozakura (his grandfather) if he makes ōzeki one day.

Sure, the name itself could have been associated with great accomplishments, but it doesn't "promote" the name in prestige within the context of a family lineage. Arguably it works the other way round where a great achievement as a bearer of a lesser name is what entitles the taking up of a more prestigious one.

If Wakatakakage has kids some day, we could see a Wakatakakage II.

Edited March 29, 2022 by Seiyashi

[Sakura 1,479]

16 minutes ago, Jakusotsu said:

...not to forget Shodai the next Sekiwake.

We can still dream.

[Yamanashi 3,771]

12 minutes ago, Seiyashi said:

Think of it as living up to an ancestor rather than giving up an accomplished one. In Japan, seniority in lineage counts for a lot - see the tradition of passing down theatre names in Kabuki, where within the same theatre clan/guild/house, the Ichikawa Danjūrō name is senior to the Ichikawa Ebizō one. Or, in sumo, see Kotonowaka's progression from Kotokamatani to Kotonowaka (his father) and Kotozakura (his grandfather) if he makes ōzeki one day.

If Wakatakakage has kids some day, we could see a Wakatakakage II.

Please not Wakatakakagebayama, we'd only be able to use his name in limericks.

[robnplunder 975]

 

Wakawaka is a catch name.  

[Seiyashi 4,072]

10 minutes ago, Yamanashi said:

24 minutes ago, Seiyashi said:

Think of it as living up to an ancestor rather than giving up an accomplished one. In Japan, seniority in lineage counts for a lot - see the tradition of passing down theatre names in Kabuki, where within the same theatre clan/guild/house, the Ichikawa Danjūrō name is senior to the Ichikawa Ebizō one. Or, in sumo, see Kotonowaka's progression from Kotokamatani to Kotonowaka (his father) and Kotozakura (his grandfather) if he makes ōzeki one day.

If Wakatakakage has kids some day, we could see a Wakatakakage II.

Please not Wakatakakagebayama, we'd only be able to use his name in limericks.

Could you? 

[hakutorizakura 602]

I see that this thread has gone into overtime. Or playoff, if you will 

WKTKKG finally managed to force everyone around the sumo world to say/write his shikona multiple times [great success!! -insert Borat meme here].

Perhaps practicing saying "arigatou gozaimashita" as "awrgbtsthaa" like they do in Japan might help some 

[sumojoann 1,262]

I notice from watching the Japanese-language live broadcast on TV Japan that the Japanese announcers sound like machine guns when they pronounce Wakatakakage's name.  When I try to imitate them, it's pathetic.  I always end up adding an extra syllable or two.  Normally, I watch the Japanese live broadcast but the few times I have watched a Youtube video that featured the English-language announcers, they generally just sound out Wakatakakage's name, syllable by syllable.  His name really is quite easy to pronounce if you break it down that way.  WA-ka-TA-ka-KA-ge.

[Jakusotsu 5,866]

Can't we just call him Al?

[Akinomaki 40,022]

3 hours ago, Kaitetsu said:

But why would he adopt a new-old shikona when he accomplished so much with his own?

Because the guys on NHK also have problems with the shikona, especially Kitanofuji

[Akinomaki 40,022]

I read an Abema article about a gyoji losing a sandal (zouri), but the name of the gyoji wasn't mentioned. Checking videos I saw that it was our beloved Konosuke at the end of the Chiyomaru-Meisei bout on day 14, Meisei stepped on it. I think such a thing is also noted as a minus point on a gyoji record.

Edited March 28, 2022 by Akinomaki

[Akinomaki 40,022]

I think we should call him Waka-Taka, that is a name in use for decades. Now maybe the 2nd Waka-Taka era begins.

[Yamanashi 3,771]

2 hours ago, Seiyashi said:

Could you? 

That Onami-san's sure full of drama,

He's grown him some Kintamayama,

If he yusho's consecky,

he'll be an Ozeki

named Wakatakakagebayama

[Yamanashi 3,771]

1 hour ago, sumojoann said:

I notice from watching the Japanese-language live broadcast on TV Japan that the Japanese announcers sound like machine guns when they pronounce Wakatakakage's name.  When I try to imitate them, it's pathetic.  I always end up adding an extra syllable or two.  Normally, I watch the Japanese live broadcast but the few times I have watched a Youtube video that featured the English-language announcers, they generally just sound out Wakatakakage's name, syllable by syllable.  His name really is quite easy to pronounce if you break it down that way.  WA-ka-TA-ka-KA-ge.

Hiro (Morita) and Raja (Pradhan) relish that pronunciation, with a little hiccup included: "WA-ka .. TA-ka-KA-ge"

[Kamitsuumi 389]

54 minutes ago, Akinomaki said:

I think we should call him Waka-Taka, that is a name in use for decades. Now maybe the 2nd Waka-Taka era begins.

Exactly like Hakuhō

[Eikokurai 3,437]

4 hours ago, robnplunder said:

 

Wakawaka is a catch name.  

Waka-Waka is what they’ll call the era when both Waka brothers are Yokozuna.

[Godango 972]

I'm with those who don't think it's hard to pronounce in my bastardised Australian pronunciation, "Wukka Tukka Car Gay".

I love having a crack at the announcer-style pronunciation though and belting out all the syllables with no emphasis. 

Edited March 29, 2022 by Godango

[Kaninoyama 1,711]

On one of the variety shows in Japan they had regular people try to say Wakatakakage three times as fast as possible. No one could do it. 

[sumojoann 1,262]

Here is a great example of the machine gun-like bursts of the Japanese announcers pronouncing Wakatakakage.  This was during the playoff bout between Wakatakakage and Takayasu.  Of course, they were pretty excited which is certainly to be expected.  Start watching (and listening) at 26:35. 

 

[Yamanashi 3,771]

All I know is, if somebody tries to pronounce it and it sounds like fried chicken, they've mispronounced it.

[robnplunder 975]

8 hours ago, hakutorizakura said:

 

WKTKKG finally managed to force everyone around the sumo world to say/write his shikona multiple times [great success!! -insert Borat meme here].

 

You know you are only making it 10 times worse by spelling it with all consonants. 

I read that as whakutakingkong.