Hours after yesterday’s entry, Hakuko was defeated by Kisenosato to end his run of 63 consecutive victories. Maybe this will be an interesting tournament after all. Baruto is 2-0 but still has a long way to go.

Posted on November 15th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: hakuho, sumo. Comments Off on I jinxed Hakuho

The November Grand Sumo Tournament has just begun. Sumo has become a bit boring since Asashoryu’s retirement. Initially, it seemed that Baruto would take Asashoryu’s place as Hakuho’s main challenge. However, since Baruto’s promotion to Ozeki, he has turned into a barely above average rikishi with only one 10-victory tournament along with two others in which he only barely made kachikoshi (more wins than loses).

Hakuho, on the other hand, hasn’t lost since January and is daily extending his modern record for consecutive victories. No one, it seems, can come close to defeating him, let alone win a tournament while he is around. All of this, of course, makes things a bit boring and predictable.

Posted on November 14th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: hakuho, sumo. Comments Off on November Sumo

Two years ago I came in 18th place. Last year was 7th. This year I moved on up and into the money with a 3rd place finish for the top photo.

To see the top 27 entrants click here.

An old friend of mine took to doctoring the photo which I have posted below. For more of his work see this site.

Posted on September 16th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: sumo. Comments: 1

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.

Posted on March 2nd, 2010 under Japan. Tags: sumo, tokyo international school. Comments: 1

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.

Posted on February 4th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: asashoryu, hakuho, sumo. Comments: 3