Shomishuu

I can agree in principal. I was one stung by Mr. Newton but I mentioned some moons ago I've made my own personal peace with him. He does probably know more about sumo than any outsider on the planet, and he has contributed unselfishly to sumo for a long time - certainly for most of those years he was aware his toil wasn't going to buy castles in the sky. In fact, if I were to place a value on all of the Sumo World issues I purchased, and throw in the one year I paid for but not received, I'd say I was far more than even. So in that regard, I'll take my hat off and say thanks. But how many people really have an issue with him being a bad business person, or even with editing shortcomings? At this point, none of that means anything - people are upset for other reasons, but not for that. With Mr Newton, more than anything else I feel sad for him, for he surely knows that his legacy among his 'old' fans is sullied beyond repair, despite the breadth and scope of his contributions to them. And knowing this, he still is willing to step out publicly (with new issues of SW). In doing so he sends more reminders of the past to these fans, and so it's a bit much for him to expect that he'll be ignored.

SUMO FAN MAGAZINE - Day 2 Henka Nominations: TOCHINONADA vs. Kasugao Vote yea or nay at http://www.sumofanmag.com/interactive.htm if you have an opinion on whether or not the rikishi in bold print above committed a henka in his match. Click on

Yes, not close at all. Good gyoji, bad baldy. :-D

SUMO FAN MAGAZINE - Day 1 Henka Nominations: AMA vs. Miyabiyama Vote yea or nay at http://www.sumofanmag.com/interactive.htm if you have an opinion on whether or not the rikishi in bold print above committed a henka in his match. Click on

Ditto...and BTW, where in the world are you right now??

Continuing to dance with the one he came in with is the more likely scenario. (Holiday feeling...)

That's a very good eye, philafuji. Obviously, not everyone had noticed because it had escaped me. Even more embarrasing is that I was posing with him for this picture during the LV koen in Oct '05, and had forgotten all about the lump, if I had even noticed it in the first place. In comparing the lump then and now, I guess it can be said that at least it hasn't grown in the last 2 1/2 years.

Probably not because on senshuraku he'd not only have to beat an ozeki, but also win a three-way playoff with both yokozuna. A little much there, but I'm wildly impressed at how he's cured most of his old bad habits (and I don't get wild much anymore...)!

SUMO FAN MAGAZINE - Day 12 Henka Nominations: RYUO vs. Kasugao KAIHO vs. Toyohibiki MIYABIYAMA vs. Kisenosato Vote yea or nay at http://www.sumofanmag.com/interactive.htm if you have an opinion on whether or not any of the rikishi in bold print above committed a henka in his match. Click on

Well, you might be surprised looking at Kokkai this basho. The Georgian already has five yorikiri wins this basho plus two yorikiri losses. Oh, and his three losses are only to Europeans... He's been doing mostly yotsu sumo for several basho now. It looks like the perseverance is paying off. I'm actually quite proud of him. :-)

One of the first preconceptions I had about Japanese culture involved the notion of politeness and mutual respect. I like politeness quite much, and found such a trait (if it existed) very admirable. However, from my extremely limited Japan experience (one week) I gained the impression that politeness and respect are not always meant to be reciprocal. As a typical example, I liked it very much that waiters were so extremely polite, and consequently I tended to be extra polite to them in return. By observing how native Japanese (especially men) treated waiters (no eye contact, no "thank you", all gruffy etc.) I got the impression that my behavior was "inappropriate" - you "ought" to be polite only to people on the same or higher hierarchy. Any thoughts? Late seeing the thread, but I believe that this experience is also very much job related. IOW, the waiters job is to appear subservient to you so you will enjoy your experience there. When the waiter is elevated to your level, he/she feels incapable of doing their job. Everyone feels a little 'off.' Oversimplifying the obvious, perhaps...

'They' are probably onto something. Kakuryu did pull a nice little mini Kaio-nage on him.

Any word if it's a real injury, or is it a face-saving thing? Actually, a very interesting question. If there was any 'word,' it would probably be between some other words, and lines...

As for Homasho, I fear nothing much has changed, except his physical condition might be a little better. Even when he was stacking up the wins in the first seven days, his tachiai was only for the purpose of establishing a position, and not for attacking. It finally cost him big-time today, and with that style, he'll never stay a joi-jin. Takanonami could make it work, but Homasho is no Takanonami.

I thought the matta was definitely part of it, as he didn't remount the dohyo with great vigor. I think he was stunned by the harite too, in addition to the knee injury. The truth should come out soon...

Maybe he's referring to the 70th yokozuna, whomever it may turn out to be (suggesting it may be Wakanoho??).

Thanks. T'would be worth a lot, if I had a Windows partition. Not quite going through all that though, since I have TV Japan anyway. Info-Sumo is just a lot quicker to check on one little thing at a time. Maybe all this will be perfected in my next life. (Applauding...)

That poster probably just meant that he signed up for a second account. At any rate, maybe your Flash browser plugin (or whatever the Mac equivalent is) needs to be updated? Thanks. I'll have my people look into that. (Applauding...)

I have a different kind of problem with this (Mac OSX w/Safari & Firefox BTW). I've been registered on the site for several years and have viewed the videos without a problem continuously, up until about two months ago. Then - and still - when I click on the video screen to start playing, it doesn't play, it just goes through the list of bouts for that day. I'm still registered, the site welcomes me with my name when I bring it up. I can disconnect and then log back in successfully...all of that. The video just doesn't play. This came up on another topic and someone said they had re-registered and that fixed it. But not knowing French, I don't know how to de-register, so I can re-register. Any clues there?? Thanks!

Since I know that even nominations are counted, please show respect for the old man and remove him from this ridiculous vote. Nominations are counted, not as henka, but as nominations only. If a nomination doesn't receive a majority yes vote, the bout is ignored when the henka stats are compiled. Casting a NAY vote with more gusto than usual has been known to have a calming effect... (I am not worthy...)

I'm still having problems. I've been registered for a long long time and had no issues until about two months ago. I get logged in fine, select the bout I want...but when I click on the screen to start the video just like always, the video doesn't play, but instead it just cycles through a list of the matchups for that day. It's been like that for a couple months and happens on both Firefox and Safari... Mac OSX here. Ideas???

Funny, that's exactly what I wrote down. Great minds..... yada yada... Unfortunately, his thrusts were not especially powerful though. I'm not hopeful, but I really hope he can pull out KK, get recovered and stay in the game. He's a lot of fun and sumo needs him.

Not living in Japan anymore, I might not be the best one to ask, but I doubt if there are any set customs. I think it's just when anything extra special happens. I also may be wrong about this but I don't think the zabuton throwing goes back all that far. I was in Japan from early 1972 to mid 1975, and as best I can remember, I never saw this happen until ozeki Takanohana won his first yusho in 1975. I remember seeing the zabutons come out when he clinched, and my fuzzy memory is that I thought I'd never seen it before. If there's anyone out there as old as me who still has their mind going at full speed, I'd kind of like to know if they remember it the same or differently. Thanks. (Whistling...)

I wouldn't mind finding a way to do that, but I've heard that because of formatting differences, DVDs recorded in the U.S. are not viewable on players in Europe. Anyone know anything about that? Thanks.

Rather than try to make it up again, I'll just copy here what I posted on the SML: Yes, and my thanks as well for the reminder. Like Manumet, I also enjoyed the show, but am feeling picky today. For me, the first half was much better than the second half...the up close and personal views of heya life and especially the views and quips from Ichinoya; and Asashoryu's 'American Idol' debut (karaoke) was a huge hit. Also the turtle blood and raw horsemeat part. BTW, Asasekiryu didn't look NEARLY as enthusiastic about the turtle energy drink as the yokozuna. I'm not into amasumo but I enjoyed the remark from the American rikishi who says he doesn't "go raw" (mawashi only) anymore because the only time he did, the thing slipped and he was embarrassed. He said the amateurs don't know how to wrap it like the professionals (in Japan) do. Asashoryu sprinting on the beach at Hawaii was an impressive sight, and I'm sure amazed all who know nothing of sumo and many who do. Man can that guy move it! I wish they had focused more on the life of the lower division guys instead of almost exclusively on Asashoryu and Hakuho. If they had, the dedication of rikishi would have been much more apparent. The last half of the program (on the Japanese side) was exclusively focused on how Asashoryu prepared for the Hawaii basho, and wasn't any different than much of the standard ESPN spots they run out from time to time. It also made it look like the Hawaii basho was a real competition ( which it wasn't of course), and it also made it look like Asashoryu was the basho winner, which he wasn't...Hakuho was. But any sumo on tv is good, so I'm sure I'll be looking at the recording again. (On the banzuke...)