Various Kokugikan impressions

[Randomitsuki]

Don

[ilovesumo]

I could go on for hours.

So why don't you do that? :-S (Going kyujo...)

I was overwhelmed by meeting "only" 1 Oyakata, 1 Toriteki and a Tokoyama...

How much bigger must it be to sit in the Kokugikan... :-O

[Higashimori]

Then there

[Randomitsuki]

I could go on for hours.

So why don't you do that? :-S (Going kyujo...)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, here are 10 more.

1) In a day full of hatakikomi and other pulling moves the bout between Toki and Takanotsuru, both in identically colored mawashi. After some tsuppari they are surprised to find themselves in yotsu-zumo, and suddenly Takanotsuru performs a great sotogake.

2) Young rikishi whose hair are too short for a mage look very cool (Kageyama, Sawai).

3) Nice staredown between Toki (while crouching) and Ryuho (while standing). Lots of laughter in the audience.

4) Baruto is not only strong but very energetic and fast. Gorgeous move against Toyonoshima today. I start to like that guy.

5) A sloppy henka by Roho could be seen quite easily. Unfortunately Kotonowaka was too slow to react, many other rikishi could have escaped that fate.

6) The huge number of yobidashi walking around (I suppose they were yobidashi). Dozens of these guys running through KKan.

7) The fun of learning kanji while studying the torikumi in Japanese. If you are familiar with the names and somewhat familiar with the banzuke you can always try to guess who's next. Super-fast method of learning kanji.

8) The youth of Kyokutenzan. Looks like 22, lean and muscular. Very impressive bout against Amuru.

9) The delicacies of bento boxes. I tried the Chiyotaikai bento box, and I don't have the slightest idea of what I've been eating there, but it tasted very yummy.

10) Many lower-ranked rikishi walking the streets around Ryogoku. And the sweet smell of bintsuke.

[SonofCyrus]

Waiting at the sumo entrance to watch the rikishi as they enter was something I thought was fun. It wasn't too crowded when I was there and there is nothing really separating you from the rikishi as they walk in. You could reach out and touch them if you wanted too. I never really thought about how big they are until I was standing right next to them. It was really neat seeing the rikishi I cheer for on TV walking right in front of me. It was good for photos for me especially since the photos from my seat were crap. The only downside was that I missed most of the Juryo matches and all the lower ranked matches.

[Otokonoyama]

...One nitpick however: Although I'm not certain, I feel confident there must be mics under the roof above the dohyo (tsuriyane?). The way the thigh slaps and Tosanoumi's grunts sound from the cheap seats upstairs doesn't sound entirely unplugged, so to speak.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My recollection is a bit foggy, but I think I've read somewhere, seen a photo, or seen at a basho the mics you refer to under the tsuri-yane.

[Jakusotsu]

4) Baruto is not only strong but very energetic and fast. Gorgeous move against Toyonoshima today. I start to like that guy.

5) A sloppy henka by Roho could be seen quite easily. Unfortunately Kotonowaka was too slow to react, many other rikishi could have escaped that fate.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hmm. :-S And then again: hmmmm...

Two more details to miss on TV:

- the shinpan at the south-east corner signalling when time's up

- the kensho envelopes stashed in a cardboard box at the south-west corner

[Randomitsuki]

4) Baruto is not only strong but very energetic and fast. Gorgeous move against Toyonoshima today. I start to like that guy.

5) A sloppy henka by Roho could be seen quite easily. Unfortunately Kotonowaka was too slow to react, many other rikishi could have escaped that fate.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hmm. (Carried away on a stretcher...) And then again: hmmmm...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And that's just another great thing. With so much excitement and no replays at hand you can forget about a henka in a couple of milliseconds, and then you can be so excited that you think Baruto performed a leg trip when it was a last-ditch attempt by Toyonoshima (Carried away on a stretcher...) .

I'll reconsider my statement that I start to like Baruto...

The Roho henka, however, looked very slow to me even on tape.

[Mark Buckton]

there are lots of microphones under the 'hanging roof'. You can even hear the Yokozuna breathing in during his 'iri' - from the second floor.

Also - the first impressions are great - bravo R-san. I first saw sumo live in the spring of 97 and often wish I could start again and not take everything for granted.

Have a good day on senshuraku and give JG a slap for me for his comments on Azuma last Sunday - we sat together - he joked about him losing to Sakari of all people - and he did!!

(JG - lost you after that - get a TV?)

[Naganoyama]

Thanks for all your comments. Great colour. (Applauding...)

(I also find that I prefer some sports live and some on TV.)

[Taka]

Great read!

Can't wait to go there myself one day.

[Asojima]

What year did the open this new-fangled kokugikan in Ryogoku?

[Jonosuke]

What year did the open this new-fangled kokugikan in Ryogoku?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It opened at the Hatsu basho, 1985. 　Prior to that, the Kokugikan was in Kuramae for thirty years.

Incidentally at the Aki Basho 1984, the last basho at the Kuramae Kokugikan Maegashira 12 Tagaryu beat some big guy named Konishiki to get the Yusho.

The kyokai's Japanese page has a picture of the old Ryogoku Kokugikan built in the Ekoin Temple ground and Kuramae one as well as the "brand new" Kokugikan at Ryogoku.

Did you know in the basement of the Kokugikan there is a big kitchen where they cook chicken for all the bentobox you buy there?

[Asojima]

What year did the open this new-fangled kokugikan in Ryogoku?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It opened at the Hatsu basho, 1985. 　Prior to that, the Kokugikan was in Kuramae for thirty years.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Have fond memories of the cheap seats at Kuramae.