Just 12 more days until the March Sumo tournament begins in Osaka. Between tournaments various demonstrations are held. One was in February in Tokyo. Tokyo International School students and parents attended. We didn’t, as a demonstration didn’t sound that interesting after seeing the real thing. Plus, the tickets were expensive, and Ryan wasn’t willing to enter the ring with the professionals anyway.
Since I wasn’t there, I didn’t take today’s photos. Another TIS parent took these pics and did a fantastic job.
Ozeki Kotooshu (琴欧州) and Ozeki Kaio (魁皇) look like they are having a better time than the kids.
Kaio, by the way, has the most wins in the top division of any sumo rikishi in history.
After Asashoryu won the January sumo tournament, I predicted it would be his last time being grand champion, never imagining that it would be due to his retirement. I should have put some money down on that guess as he retired today.
Since the tournament he has been under fire for hitting someone in the early morning during the tournament. Then it turned out he lied about who the person was. Now it looks like the Japan Sumo Association may have told Asashoryu that if he didn’t retire, in order to stop making them look bad, they would take some strict actions against him.
Ironically, some may have thought, including myself, that the final day of the tournament may be Kaio’s last bout. Camera flashes were going crazy to capture what were his possible final moments in the ring. As it turns out, we were witness to Asashoryu’s final match, a defeat to Hakuho. Here are some more scenes from Asashoryu’s last tournament day as a professional sumo yokozuna.
Asashoryu’s final yokozuna ring-entrance ceremony (土俵入り) in three parts…
The final stare down between Yokozuna Asashoryu and Yokozuna Hakuho…
The last picture I took of the day… Yokozuna Asashoryu waving the Mongolian flag as he rides away from Ryogoku Kokugikan for the last time as Grand Champion.
Some special events happen on the final day of a sumo tournament. One is a short demonstration or ceremony put on by the Yokozuna- and Ozeki-ranked rikishi before the final few bouts of the day. Above you can see Asashoryu, Kaio, and Harumafuji doing the sanyakusoroibumi (三役揃い踏み) which includes shiko (四股, ceremonial sumo leg raise and stomp). In the background you can see Hakuho and Kotooshu.
Ellie and Ryan are in front of the entrance to Ryogoku Kokugikan.
You can watch the top rikishi enter the grounds between about 1 and 2:30 p.m. on the south side of the building. Fans are supposed to stay behind the blue cones, but this little guy ran out for a handshake. Neither the rikishi (I think this is Toyonoshima; can anyone confirm or correct?) or security seemed to mind.
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.
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.
Subscribe in a reader or get updates via email
