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 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, hakuho, sumo, tz7 zs3, video. Comments: 2

On Day 13 (of 15) in the current tournament, Yokozuna Hakuho lost to Ozeki Taio, giving him three losses for the tournament and virtually assuring Yokozuna Asashoryu (who only has one loss) a tournament victory. If Asashoryu wins on Saturday, even if he loses to Hakuho on Sunday, he will win the tournament.

What if Baruto had beaten Asashoryu a couple days ago? A Hakuho win over Asashoryu would have then given Baruto the championship, which would have been the first by a non-Ozeki, non-Yokozuna in almost a decade. Instead, Baruto will have to settle for just a promotion to Ozeki instead.

Here is to hoping Asashoryu loses on Saturday (and isn’t awarded a stack of cash like he was in the above photo last September when I saw him) so that Sunday’s bouts (when I will be there) mean something.

Posted on January 22nd, 2010 under Japan. Tags: asashoryu, hakuho, sumo. Comments: 2

Baruto is making things very interesting for the January Sumo tournament currently being held in Tokyo. While he isn’t my favorite wrestler, he is a distant third to Takamisakari (高見盛) and Masatsukasa (将司) in my book, he has beaten two of the best (including yokozuna Hukuko (白鵬)) so far and is tied for the best record. I hope he keeps it up and forces at least a playoff on the final day of the tournament because I have tickets.

Today’s picture of Baruto arriving at Ryogoku, by the way, is not from the current tournament. I took it last September, during the last Sumo tournament held in Tokyo.

Posted on January 17th, 2010 under Estonia, Japan. Tags: people, sumo. Comments: 2

I understand that some of my relatives, following the blog, wanted to see more pictures of overweight males wearing little. So today’s entry is for them. 😉

It is at moments like those shown in the above photograph that you are glad you don’t have a first row seat. There isn’t much space outside the ring before the Sumo wrestlers fall into the spectators below. With hundreds of bouts in a day, several people end up with hundreds of pounds of flesh falling into their laps. I’d be surprised if there haven’t been some injuries.

Today’s pictures are from the September tournament. The November tournament is now underway in Fukuoka. The above photo is of the Ryogoku Kokugikan (両国国技館) in Tokyo.

As mentioned in a prior entry, the above yokozuna, Hakuho (白鵬), was defeated on this night. Hakuho has been the best sumo wrestler of late, winning 10 of the prior 15 tournaments. This photo captures his last happy moment of day 6 in the tournament. Hakuho went on to win the rest of his bouts, including one over the other yokozuna, Asashoryu. Unfortunately for him, Hakuho’s loss on day 6 of the tournament meant that he would have to beat Asashoryu twice to win the tournament. Asashoryu doesn’t lose twice in a row often and he didn’t on day 15 of the tournament either. Asashoryu won the September tournament with a record of 15-1, including the playoff victory, for only his fourth tournament victory in the past 16 tournaments.

I can hardly wait for January to come around as the tournament will return to Tokyo. I have tickets to the final day. Stay tuned.

Posted on November 21st, 2009 under Japan. Tags: buildings, clouds, hakuho, people, sumo. Comments: 4