Izutsu Oyakata

[Sithlordess]

Does anybody know how often Izutsu Oyakata is a referee? I always look for him when sumo is on Eurosport but only this week I saw him for the first time and then only on day 4 and 5. ;-) Of course Eurosport only has a very limited viewing of sumo, about 10-15 minutes per Tournament-day, so maybe I am missing the oyakata all together (Whistling...)

[Fay]

Does anybody know how often Izutsu Oyakata is a referee? I always look for him when sumo is on Eurosport but only this week I saw him for the first time and then only on day 4 and 5. (In a state of confusion...) Of course Eurosport only has a very limited viewing of sumo, about 10-15 minutes per Tournament-day, so maybe I am missing the oyakata all together :-(

I think I saw him every day and some day even twice. They change the referees 6 times a day.

[Jonosuke]

There are four groups of shimpan with each group consisting of five members. They take a different shift each day. So one group may do Jonokuchi one day and Makushita next.

Then at the beginning of Juryo bouts, three senior (chief and associate chief) judges join in and one will drop out. So from Juryo bouts there are still five shimpan or dohyo judges. One group will handle Juryo bouts, another to do the first half of Makuuchi and then the other will do the last half of Makuuchi bouts. Basically the three senior juddges do one shift per day and they always assume the position of head dohyo judge in their shift while all the other judges take two shifts (except one group of judges will do one shift only. Actually the group which only does one shift is the very first to do their duty. I suppose doing their chore at 8:30 in the morning free them from doing anything else that day).

Currently three senior judges are Hanaregoma oyakata who is the director of Judging and two associates, Kokonoe and Mihogaseki.

The reason a senior judge is missing from earlier shift is they are often involved in the next day's torikumi arranging.

For this reason these men wield enourmous power within Kyokai as they are the one who decide which rikishi meets another based on certain criteria such as ranking and heya affliation.

The other judges take a turn at different position so they don't necessarilly sit at the same location all the time and in their earlier shift, they also take a turn performing a head dohyo judge role.

What all this means is that you may see Izutsu oyakata in the last shift of day or in Juryo and may be sitting outside the camera range, so you may not see him at all even though he is working as a dohyo judge every day. If you go to the Kokugikan, you will see him twice a day on most days.

Edited May 22, 2007 by Jonosuke

[Sithlordess]

Does anybody know how often Izutsu Oyakata is a referee? I always look for him when sumo is on Eurosport but only this week I saw him for the first time and then only on day 4 and 5. (In a state of confusion...) Of course Eurosport only has a very limited viewing of sumo, about 10-15 minutes per Tournament-day, so maybe I am missing the oyakata all together :-(

I think I saw him every day and some day even twice. They change the referees 6 times a day.

Fay, If I could be so lucky! *sigh*

And to Jonosuke, thank you so much for that explanation. Now I understand why I never see him. Like I explained Eurosport has VERY limited covering of the sumo (I am happy to see any at all though) and the camera is always in the same position, so indeed if he sits on the other side you will never see him. I just have to wait to get lucky again. I doubt if I will ever make it to Japan, but one can always hope :-)

[Fay]

Fay, If I could be so lucky! *sigh*

Yes I am really thankful for this ;-).

Nevertheless today I was a bit worried about him, he had to leave his shimpan seat, run down the hanamichi and wasn't seen for 15 minutes. The other shimpan laughed but after 10 minutes they got worried too and looked out for him. Well he returned safely the Gyoji asked him if he was ok and he was. He even could stand a rikishi's fall on him and laughed, but this shows that he isn't so fit, normally he avoids rikishi falling on him by throwing himself on the other side.

Let's hope he is doing better tomorrow. :-P

[aderechelsea]

he might have eaten some bad sushi ..... ;-)

[Sithlordess]

Well is there such a thing as good sushi?

Oh I hope he is ok though. I mean to be on the receiving end of a rikishi falling on you is not nice *fearful look*

I envy you for seeing him ;-) but the whole atmosphere must be so special. Nice to be there, but alas, HOlland is too far away and so is the money, I never know where the money goes anyway, so no me seeing the Oyakata. But wave at him for me LOL!

[aderechelsea]

Well is there such a thing as good sushi?

of course !!!!

:-P ;-)

[Chiyomaru]

I really like Izutsu Oyakata too. Yes, on Eurosport they only show him in a flash... But you can see sometimes the funny way he is blinking with his eyes ;-)

[Sithlordess]

Well is there such a thing as good sushi?

of course !!!!

:-P ;-)

EEEWWWWWW!!! YUCK!!!

[aderechelsea]

thank you for appreciating my work .... (or not?)

;-)

[Sithlordess]

;-) :-P :-D

ja...

[sekihiryu]

Well is there such a thing as good sushi?

what Blasphemy! :-P

thats like saying is there such a thing as good chocolate!

;-)

[Sithlordess]

Well is there such a thing as good sushi?

what Blasphemy! :-D

thats like saying is there such a thing as good chocolate!

:-P

On the risk of going off topic here, I really tried sushi but it is HORRIBLE!!!!

Sorry LOL Give me a broodje kroket anytime ;-)