For 14 straight days I was spoiled by sumo on TV from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. Of course, I wasn’t usually home to watch it for 4 hours a day, but it was nice to know that I could. On the 15th day I got to see sumo live and in person. Now that the tournament is over I’m going through withdrawals. It’s disappointing to turn on the TV at 5 and not have sumo as a choice. Oh well, in 45 more days the next tournament will begin in Osaka.

I’ve shown pictures and discussed Yamamotoyama before. You never know what you’ll see when you watch his bouts. Sometimes he is overpowering. Other times he looks laughable, losing to someone less than half his size because of poor technique and/or a lack of agility. On the final day of the January tournament his opponent, Nakanishi, a makushita (lower division) with only three wins in the tournament, should have been an easy rikishi to defeat. However, at over 580 pounds (264 kilos) Yamamotoyama was tossed out of the ring by Nakanishi to end the tournament with a losing 7-8 record.

Yamamotoyama, getting back into the ring in order to bow to the victor, is not the prettiest sight.

Here you can see the scoreboard after a few more bouts took place. Yamamotoyama’s name (山本山) does not have the red light next to it. This indicates that he lost. Tamaasuka (玉飛鳥) won, as did Masatsukasa (将司). Masatsukasa is one of my favorites, in part, due to the large amount of salt he always throws into the ring.

I liked Tamaasuka’s outfit so I asked him if I could have our picture taken together and he agreed.

The first video below is of the entrance of the Juryo ranks from the east. Tamaasuka is on the far left when they are standing and his foot is about to hit the ground after stepping down from the ring at the very end of the video.

This second video is of the entrance of the Juryo ranks from the west. Yamamotoyama should not be hard to spot in his orange keshomawashi.

Posted on January 31st, 2010 under Japan. Tags: sumo, video, yamamotoyama. Comments: 1

The New York Times published an article on ramen in my neck of the woods today. Don’t miss the 14 pictures. Linda and Ellie actually met the blogger of Ramen Adventures that day on his way to Ganko Ramen (がんこラーメン), the ramen place highlighted for much of the piece. We call the place “The Bone” for obvious reasons. It’s less than a minute from our apartment. You may not spot it if you are looking to eat there. Head for Yamituki to find Ganko (頑固).

There are detailed descriptions of the place on other blogs that are better than that given in the article. Suffice it to say, when you duck under the tarp you are entering the twilight zone.

Posted on January 30th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: food, nishi-waseda. Comments: None

The recent January 2010 Sumo Tournament held in Ryogoku Kokugikan (Tokyo) held great promise of being one of the most exciting sumo competitions in a while until the last few days. Why? Because Ozeki-hopeful Baruto defeated all of the Ozeki and Yokozuna Hakuho (白鵬). There were several scenarios which showed Baruto winning the tournament, a rare achievement for a non-Yokozuna, non-Ozeki. There were other exciting possibilities, such as a five-way tie for first place which would have resulted in a mega-playoff on the last day, something I was hoping for since I had a ticket for the final day of the tournament.

However, Baruto was defeated by Yokozuna Asashoryu (朝青龍) and Toyonoshima (pictured above sitting down in the background) late in the tournament. Also, Hakuho was defeated by Ozeki Harumafuji and Ozeki Kaio. Both ozeki used henka (変化), a rather lame move in which the wrestler steps aside instead of confronting their opponent, to defeat Hakuho. I suppose Hakuho should have been looking for the henka technique a bit more. In any event, with Hakuho’s three losses, the only way a five-way tie for first could be achieved would be for Ozeki Harumafuji to defeat Yokozuna Asashoryu on Day 14 and Hakuho to defeat Asashoryu on the final day. The latter was very likely as Hakuho routinely beats Asashoryu these days. Harumafuji couldn’t pull off a Day 14 win, though, so there was nothing on the line on Day 15 with Asashoryu’s one loss compared to the three losses of the others.

Here is Asashoryu receiving his trophy for winning the tournament, the 25th time he has done so. I’m guessing it may be his last as both Baruto and Hakuho seem better at this point in time.

And here Asashoryu is, beginning his victory parade and smiling for my camera, before heading back to his stable. Asasekiryu (朝赤龍) is by his side.

Below is a video I took of 白鵬 vs. 朝青龍 from very far away. Not only did the TZ7 do a decent job given the distance, but the battery died before I stopped recording. I thought the video wouldn’t record but it did! I guess the TZ7 has something built in that causes it to save the video with the last bit of juice. The battery really was dead. The camera wouldn’t even turn on, let alone show me if the video had recorded. I was very surprised to see the video saved on the SD card.

Posted on January 30th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: asashoryu, sumo, tz7 zs3, video. Comments: 2

The first thing I noticed when I made it to the Tama River on my walk was the airplane, apparently coming from (and/or going to) the Yokota Air Base, a few miles to the north.

The plane flew fairly low, was very loud, and was the first of many during the day. I wonder if the air traffic and noise pollution is like this every day for the nearby residents. Even though the occupation of Japan by the USA technically ended in 1952, this day in 2010 felt like Japan was still occupied with the constant fly overs.

As I followed the plane with my camera on its course to the base, I caught this image of the most litter I saw all day, next to the only sign I saw all day saying not to dump garbage. Perhaps less is more.

Posted on January 29th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: hiking, signs. Comments: None