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These figurines are made of hard plastic (or resin of some sort). Years ago they were made of porcelain. I have the one above of Hakuho, one of Asashoryu and an old one of Taiho all in their own glass display case. Eventually I'll incorporate all my sumo "stuff" into one huge shrine of some sort. Also I have this which I got as a gift when I was a kid... You place the rikishi in a yotsu position and "tap" on the dohyo till they fall or scoot out of the ring...

The new Yokozuna entertains the crowd with his Robert De Niro impersonatiion.. "You tawkin' to me? You tawkin' to me?"

Harumafuji at the morning after interview. About the rank of yokozuna: "A dream I haven't even seen in my dreams. Like the divinity above the clouds." About his win yesterday: "The yokozuna has a bigger body, so he should become tired earlier. I thought that if I keep going on patiently there would certainly come a chance." with oyakata

About the Japanese press reaction... I just found this : In this article published after day 12, the Yomiuri declared that Hakuho threw away his hinkaku (dignity). http://www.yomiuri.c...-OYT1T00239.htm The headline roughly translated says "Ghastly Hakuho Throws Away His Yokozuna Dignity (hinkaku) and Does an Elbow-to-Chin (kachiage) Knockout" This coming from the largest newspaper in Japan (by some accounts the largest in the entire world), we have to admit Triple Masu is not the only one questioning Hakuho's hinkaku because of the way he won over Myogiryu. Though personally I think saying "Should he retire?" at this point is wildly overreacting.

Pineapple colored?

The hemp with which the tsuna is made is prepared today at the heya (asa-momi).

Like I said, it's tomorrow. The secret words he will use to answer the Kyokai messengers* will be the exact words he used when he was promoted to Ozeki - 全身全霊 (I think I love you zenshinzenrei- complete devotion, body and soul). "I still don't know what's what, but I'm really happy.." he said at a press conference yesterday. "I am what I am so I will continue living my life and doing sumo my way," he added, meaning that he will remain true to himself, I guess (unless he is Popeye in disguise, but he isn't so no). "Are you OK?" asked Isegahama Oyakata at some point, to which he replied "I'm OK," raising a few press eyebrows. "Until now I have done it my way and I hope to continue along those lines and do what has to be done diligently and seriously," he said. "I would like to teach him the dohyo-iri the way I did it," said a proud Isegahama Oyakata, referring to the shiranui way. * The head messenger is usually a riji from the same ichimon. Guess who that is. OK, Ikazuchi the shamed. So he won't be going.. Instead, it will be Hakkaku leading."I don't belong to the ichimon but it's still a great honor. A Yokozuna is a "banner" for the entire Kyokai. Together, we will all make it exciting!!" said Hakkaku. "Was that you?/' "Are you kidding? Wasn't that you?/" "No..It was you.." "Gimme a break, it was you.." "Are you OK?" "I'm OK.."

Somewhat on-topic for this, a comment by Hakuho's father in Nikkansports: "As the sole yokozuna it was Hakuho's duty to attend many events, which has not left him enough time to do keiko". He believes that with the duties now being shared around, we'll be seeing a Hakuho reemergence. I'm not quite sure I buy that (he is already 27 now and into year 6 as a yokozuna), but it's something to keep in the back of our minds.

Bump.

People. I think you're going about this all wrong. Hak, in his greatest days, had almost no competition. The then Ozeki group was pitiful and CHiyotaikai and Kaio were on their way out, Osh was never a real challenger, and the rest of the Sanyaku was, to be kind, a rolling group of pastry chefs, well, over their heads. People like Baruto and Kakuryu, Ama, were still developing and were no match for Hakuho then. What we currently have is a bonified, powerful and quite capable group of Ozekis, and having gotten rid of Olde Stuff, Hak now has legitimate competition. The kind he didn't have since Jan of 2010. He now has to deal with people who can, and will take him down. His whole strategy has changed. I think what we're seeing now is the Real Hakuho. Not the one who was happy to mop up the semi-pros of the last few years. The boat isn't sinking. The water level just got higher.

Common technique of Mongolian wrestling that Harumafuji executed was preventing him from putting down his left leg. HF had very deep belt grip from behind of Hakuho putting himself almost directly under Hakuho's center of mass, very advantageous position. The moment Hakuho puts his leg, should he try, HF will either use his left arm or right knee to trip Hakuho. If you look the pictures posted in this forum, you will see that Harumafuji's left arm was right there the entire time when Hakuho was hopping. So, Hakuho executed a textbook counter attack, which is to drag Harumafuji forward and down using the belt grip of his own, creating a forward momentum to both. In this case Hakuho could use his position above Harumafuji and basically fall on top, crushing his opponents load bearing left leg. However, Harumafuji really digged in, launching a counter attach of his own, pivoting Hakuho over himself. In this instance Harumafuji could have collapsed there, but he really managed to launch 154 kilo Hakuho with his single arm. Amazing stuff from both. Many thanks for the clear explanation - I will re-watch the match with that in mind. I watched the big Naadam last year in Ulan Baator - very entertaining - but I can't remember seeing any hopping. But this, of course, does not mean much, as the wrestling was quite a distance away, and for most of the time (ie all the early rounds), there were many bouts going on at once. The later bouts finished under floodlights - but it was quite dark. (Also, beer was being drunk, naturally.) It happens quite a lot usually. Outcome is pretty quick, Harumafuji could have toppled his opponent in a split second with this technique. However, Hakuho was countering the move, making it much longer indeed. Amazingly, Harumafuji was in real danger of losing any moment despite being firmly in driver's seat. That is Mongolian wrestling at its best on Japanse dohyo, displayed by two great masters.

Common technique of Mongolian wrestling that Harumafuji executed was preventing him from putting down his left leg. HF had very deep belt grip from behind of Hakuho putting himself almost directly under Hakuho's center of mass, very advantageous position. The moment Hakuho puts his leg, should he try, HF will either use his left arm or right knee to trip Hakuho. If you look the pictures posted in this forum, you will see that Harumafuji's left arm was right there the entire time when Hakuho was hopping. So, Hakuho executed a textbook counter attack, which is to drag Harumafuji forward and down using the belt grip of his own, creating a forward momentum to both. In this case Hakuho could use his position above Harumafuji and basically fall on top, crushing his opponents load bearing left leg. However, Harumafuji really digged in, launching a counter attach of his own, pivoting Hakuho over himself. In this instance Harumafuji could have collapsed there, but he really managed to launch 154 kilo Hakuho with his single arm. Amazing stuff from both.

... And all your other posts to show just how much sumo has changed and how "violent" it has become.... And I really like this one: Ok, Masu, let's put it this way: 1. Sumo has changed exactly 0% since, say, the 90's/80's70's... Check some of the old vids on YouTube. Any bout, any year, in Japanese or English. The bouts remain the same.Bodies and names and faces change, but essentially thnigs are as they were from years ago. No more "violent" than Asa hammering a young Osh and knocking him silly (in that rediculous blue mawashi Osh used to wear) or a good old Kaio arm-bar guaranteeed to cause ligament damage (see Toyonoshima), or that weird moron (now banished) who used to slap people's faces until they bled. Sumo is still a noble sport. Get over it. 2, Hakuho would rather poke his eye out with a stick before exhibiting any kind of behaviour that might label him as "Un-Yokozuna-like". He carries himself well, and his bouts are always the Class Act, even the time he pulled a henka. The likelyhood of him coming out of the stall with any deliberate intent to injure ranks right up there with the possibility of you being sent to the Moon on the next flight out of Upper Slodiniavitch. In a slingshot. Wearing pajamas. Get over it. 3. Take it from someone who's had his share of darts/arrows/grenades/napalm thrown his way for comments made, and flame wars fought. People are going to disagree with you. I disagree with you. Frequently and often. People disagreed with me. At one point, I left the Forum for almosty a year. I got over it. So, sumo hasn't changed in many years. (See old videos on Youtube for evidence.) And HF will become the next Yok, in spite of the fact that you don't like him. And Hak will not retire, just because you don't like him. And keep making posts like the one above, and people will respond in kind. Get over it. And get over yourself.

It is indeed complex and I know, that some of these guys will not become oyakata because of their own decision.... But anyway, I´ll give it a try and sorry for the graphics. Dewanoumi ichimon - 3 free kabu till 2013 + 4 free kabu till 2016; 3 toshiyori karikabu being afraid of retirement of owner/active rikishi (2 extra-ichimon - Musashimaru (I am still counting with Kyokutenho as future Oshima), Kakizoe (Takekaze), 1 intra-heya - Tochisakae (Tochiozan)); 6 active rikishi eligible for kabu by current standards (let´s forget Hamanishiki´s case, right;-)) (Miyabiyama (family business?), Bushuyama, Kitataiki, Goeido, Toyohibiki, Myogiryu) Nishonoseki ichimon - 3 free kabu till 2013 + 1 free kabu till 2016; 2 toshiyori karikabu being afraid of retirement of owner/active rikishi (both intra-ichimon - Tamanoshima (Wakanosato), Tamarikido (Kisenosato); 3 active rikishi eligible for kabu by current standards (Kotoshogiku, Yoshikaze, Tamaasuka) Kasugayama-Isegahama ichimon - 2 free kabu till 2013 + 2 free kabu till 2016; no nominees Tokitsukaze ichimon - 2 free kabu till 2013 + 0 free kabu till 2016; 2 toshiyori karikabu being afraid of retirement of owner/active rikishi (extra-ichimon - Shikishima (Aminishiki), intra-heya – Zaonishiki (Toyonoshima) – I know he won´t need any kabu by 2017, so we can omit him); 1 active rikishi eligible for kabu by current standards (Homasho) Takasago ichimon - 2 free kabu till 2013 + 0 free kabu till 2016; no nominees Takanohana et renegades ichimon - 0 free kabu till 2016; 1 active rikishi eligible for kabu by current standards (Wakakoyu) In total – 12 free kabu till 2013 + 7 free kabu till 2016; 9 toshiyori karikabu being afraid of retirement of owner/active rikishi ; 11 active rikishi eligible for kabu by current standards Does it makes sense? Edited thanks to Raishu´s following post