Hashira

I find it hard to believe that these three foreign rikishi would all have been smoking and not a single japanese/mongolian, etc, tried. while marijuana is widely vilified in japan, most rikishi are not the most well-educated, i think they would be more likely to try than the average salaryman, rikishi would seem likely also to be more confident in being able to have something like this swept under the rug in the event they did get found out. i am interested to see if the Russians were the only ones tested for marijuana

if i had to wager, i would say gone from sumo.

and nothing SHOULD happen ... that's a pretty bold stance, considering we know next to nothing about the details of the story

How the kyokai will treat it depends on what sort of permission it was. It almost sounds like he just decided by himself to go, and the Kyokai "granted permission" after the fact to avoid losing face by showing that they have absolutely no control over him. But would they do that, instead of just giving him the boot? maybe he left his wallet in Mongolia and had to go get it before it was turned in to the police? edit: this article from Sports Nippon says that according to insiders, the process for application was filled out properly, so there's no problem there, but another insider says the fact that he filed the application before returning to japan is strange, and wonders why his oyakata llows such things. Apparently Ooshima is angry, as he was the one who originally denied his request to stay in Mongolia following the jungyo.

WoW Better alert Hollywood that dressing up people to look (somewhat) like something they're not is highly insulting and culturally insensitive

Quit sumo or quit the rijikai? If the former who gets the name I wonder? The jackals were outside the heya this morning using mini-stepladers to poke long lenses into the heya. Just saw the news update on NHK, I believe it is to quit the rijikai

this is by far the most ignorant statement in the entire thread. someone doesnt agree with you and you tell them to get a life. you sure know how to back up your position. good job sir ...the rest of your post is baseless also While I agree with you that "get a life" is a poor choice of words, I think the MIS prize would be more appropriately awarded to something like this: I can show you the names of several guys caught committing crimes whilst wearing red shoes, after eating a Big Mac, with names starting with R, etc...No, that does not count. Surely people who have actually tried marijuana would be more capable of reporting on its effects than those making a judgement based on what drugs have or have not done to various cities. Jake's advice is not that terrible; try smoking a joint, and see if you suddenly feel violent or otherwhise more likely to commit a crime. There is a large difference between the effects of marijuana and those of other drugs. Some drugs make you feel violent, raise your energy level, etc. Marijuana is not one of them. None of this is to claim that Wakanohou is guilt-free. He clearly committed a crime, although I personally believe that the law he broke is an unjust one. I live in Japan, know its drug laws, and obey them. I hope that marijuana will one day be decriminalized in this country, but will not even consider using it before that day comes. If you are seriously interested in evidence about the link between crime and marijuana, there is plenty out there; Google is your friend. Remember that there is a difference between a link and a cause, though. I imagine crime and marijuana use are both high in various cities, countries, income levels, ethnicities, etc, but that does not mean that the crime is caused by marijuana use. one article to get you started at the Schaffer Drug Library.

I would say no (as in smoking is worse-in Japan) punch a person in a bar or somewhere and you will likely not be charged (if you're japanese), you'll get off with some sort of fine through negotiations, etc, caught smoking cannabis and you're a hard-core criminal.

Oh no! To those unaware, cannabis possession is a major offence in Japan. While I'm not sure of details, simple possession of a small amount could mean decades in prison. Needless to say there is a huge chance that his sumo days are done.

it's back up now, although the day 13 results haven't been processed yet looks like my opponent didn't enter picks today as he had both Hakuho and Kaio in his line-up, leading me to beat him soundly. sure hope the results stand though (Laughing...)

luckily i put picks in last night, but was going to re-consider them today i hope this outage doesn't last long, i'm 11-1 and alone in first in makushita!

really enjoying this game again this basho. I think it would be favourite sumo game if it had the rate of participation that the other games have. one thing that I was thinking, though, and thought I'd see what other people think about it, is the type of markets. I know you have a limit to how many markets you can have going at a time, but I would rather see more longer-term markets, rather than new ones everyday. for example, i would like to see a yusho market right from the first day. to me, the most interesting thing about this game would be to see how the numbers changed over the course of the basho. maybe i'm in the minority, what do you all think?

Thanks for the advice. We had been thinking more along the lines of having certain days or times when we only spoke English, and others when we only spoke Japanese, but I guess it would be better for him to hear the native speaker of each language all the time. one question, though- when you're speaking to your partner, do you speak your native tongue, and they in theirs? that seems like it would be very confusing...

This was one of the old bouts shown during the naka-iri on NHK today. Mainoumi against Akebono from Kyushu 1991. I found it very interesting as it's from about ten years before I saw my first sumo match. It's certainly a lot more interesting than the majority of bouts we see today. http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=UitleEy3EzA

Has anyone else noticed the two women in kimonos sitting very near the dohyo and near each hanamichi every day this basho? Fromt he tv broadcasts it seems as the number of people in kimonos has been much higher than it usually is for a Tokyo basho, but these two have been particularly intriguing, as they've been there every day in the same seats. The women with the square hair on the west side is especially interesing because she seems genuniely pleased after every doubt. perhaps one of our esteemed members knows who they are?

Hello all, I know many of you have direct or indirect experience with raising children in Japan, and so am wondering if you any advice on raising them bilingual. I'm a native English speaker, and my wife speaks English fairly well after living in Canada for a few years, but we speak mostly Japanese at home. Obviously we're going to try to speak English more often as our son will be exposed to enough Japanese outside the home, but wondering if you have any other tips, advice, observations on what has/hasn't worked for you or people you know. We'll be living in Osaka starting in October probably for a very extended period of time, so if you have any location-specific tips (english playgroups?) that would also be great. Thanks in advance for any help.

Thanks to Jonosuke for the detailed response and to Moti et al for going off topic and delving into a very important area of study. Just wondering if anyone knows anything specifically about the handcuffs, are they not allowed to show them because it will make people biased against the criminal or something? sorry for the slow response, but there's a new little human in the house who is constantly crying and pooping.

Been wondering about this for a while, but why are so many things blurred out on Japanese TV? The most common thing I think is license plates, which I understand in a way, but sems strange. Example one is a segment about bad drivers. They will show cars going against traffic rules, and confront the drivers, but blur out the license plate and usually driver's face when they do so. I'm sure they're worreid about getting sued or something, but I would have thought that you couldn't possibly be sued for recording something that is happening in a public place. Example two, however, is blurring out license plates in the background of a video. Even on travel shows or variety, or whatever, when the on-air peoplewalk in front of cars, the plates are often blurred out. Next is faces and voices of "eyewitnesses". It is very rare for the face of an eyewitness to a crime, or even someone who "lives in the area" to be shown. The camera almost always is pointed at their legs, and their voices are often altered. I'm assuming it's because these people are worried about reprisals if they say something to the press, but it often seems strange, as I saw the man who helped capture the killer Miyazaki a few years ago didn't have his face shown when being interviewed after the news of his execuation had been released. If anything, one would think that this man would be a hero, but he still doesn't want his face to be seen? It would seem to be linked to the Japanese ddesire for privacy, like using nicknames and character pictures on mixi, while the rest of the world uses real names and pictures on facebook, but it makes me doubt the authenticity of the story. If the viewers can't see their faces or even hear their voices, how are we to know it's not just some TV station employee throwing on an apron and giving a line that will catch the big ratings at 6 o'clock? Another thing I had forgotten about, but was reminded about by the Miyazaki coverage is the blurring of handcuffs. They will show a large group of police officers, the suspect, with his hands clearly in front of him under a jacket, but will blur the front of him. Are they afraid of revealing the police's "secret weapon"? If anybody has any information about these (to me) curious practices, I would be very interested. Most of all, I'm wondering if they are absolutely legally required to do these things, if they do them just to be on the safe side and avoid lawsuits, or if it's an industry or company-based practice, and what the logic might be behind them. Thanks for any tidbits of wisdom

How do you feel about Cristiano Ronaldo? I think he is far and away the most talented attacker in the game today, but I cannot find an ounce of admiration for him due to his diving/flopping/whining. It was disgusting the way he fell down in today's match against Czech after losing control of the ball without being touched, and glared back at the referee. I shudder to think of the state of the game 10 or so years from now when the pros are those who are kids now admiring him as the game's greatest player and trying to emulate his style.

funny, i was just discussing this last night with my wife and her family. we're expecting our first child any day now, and were trying to figure out what day might be good. I was actually the one who mentioned these good and bad luck days, but the general consensus was that they're not really observed anymore. fortune-telling from these lucky days is clearly not as sure-fire as using blood types (In a state of confusion...)

that was a pretty good episode, although I guess it's to be expected with two champion athletes who also apparently have some sort of relationship and camaraderie between them. It was hilarious to watch how much Hakuho enjoyed the air hockey- jumping forward to take every free shot, but then allowing Naito to do it once they were on match point and it was clear they were going to win. also, the Sanma no Manma episode was just on the other day in my region- it was pretty funny when Sanma mentioned about how Hakuho's marriage must have been a situation of "getting her knocked up". It looked like Hakuho didn't know whether to agree, laugh, or knock him out (I dunno...). Also interesting was his comment about some of the gifts he got for winning the previous yusho, including two tonnes of rice and one tonne of beef.

do we know if this was taped before the basho, or after? i wonder if it's wise for his injured legs to be jumping/running treadmills, etc

The YDC today `cautioned`both yokozuna, but the majority of blame was given to Hakuho. Uchidate was on TV saying that Asa`s extra shove was connected to the flow of the match, while Hakuho`s was an unreasonable reaction. this is an interesting comment from uchidate, as it could have clearly gone either way. At the very least, I would have given them equal blame, if not more to Asa, since he did start it. The match was already over when Asa started to move towards Hakuho. Even if he did not realize it was over at that point, he surely did before he put his hands on him, and the extra shove was unnecessary and certainly appeared to be an intimidation technique rather than a continuation of the match. Im sure Hakuho was not about to stand up and shove Asa before the dame-Oshi occurred

If this topic were about Asa's lack of hinkaku/proper etiquette, etc, there would be wide agreement among forum members. But what you have been trying to say that his sumo, his results, are not worthy of his rank. So what happened after today's bout is irrelevant. Also, you started off talking about how his sumo of late is unworthy, but seem to have have transformed into claiming that his sumo has never been worthy? Most here seem to be in general agreement that either argument is fairly weak, but your personal attacks and arrogance ae surely what will make people lose respect for you much faster than any unpopular or out-and-out wrong opinions regarding Asa or anything else.

That line is equally appropriate with regards to Mark, as well