nirumaruyama

I'm not a henka fan. I don't enjoy seeing henkas performed by anyone on the dohyo. I admit to feeling cheated and slightly soiled when watching them. Yet with the new year approaching I have decided to give up this negative attitude towards this now common move, and while I don't leap forth to embrace the henka it's time to adapt myself to its current role. The reason being is that I compared, on a general level, the stance taken by the authorities in my other favourite sport, football, against that being taken by the authority in sumo. Fans of football have complained for many a season about diving by players to get free-kicks/penalties etc. or faking amputation in order to get an opposing player sent-off. The football authorities have reacted by instructing referees to give out yellow cards to players for such acts as they are not in the spirit of the game. It hasn't necessarily eliminated diving or faking but everyone knows it is against the laws of the game. Turning my attention to sumo and the general reaction to the henka, a move now common to various degrees in all levels of the top division. Certainly the sumotori who do a henka mutter ashamedly about doing so but carry on regardless. Various oyakata also grumble about it not being sumo. Yet when a henka is performed, the gyoji or ring judges don't leap up and order a restart to the bout or the offending rikishi isn't ordered to forefit the bout. In fact when proper ringside etiquette is not performed, such as a bow, we see rikishi being called back and ordered to do it properly. This leads me to the conclusion that the henka is currently accepted within the sport as a legitimate move albeit one that is taken in an effort to win the bout rather than perform good sumo. If that's the situation I should accept it as it is and not waste my time or my enjoyment of the sport by getting worked up over it. Anyone else agree or disagree?

honestly - a dark suit is still a must even for women!

Cash is all you will ever need. It might be worth you opening a bank account/post office account - but you will need your supervisor to help you out with that. If you are going to be living in an apartment rather than dorms you will need to have a bank/post office account so that you can pay your electrcity/water charge/gas/telephone bills out of. Osaka should be good for buying clothes as there are enough gaijin in that neck of the woods but I found shirts impossible to get and I'm a slim 188 cm tall. So you may need to think about bringing a few business shirts with you. And a dark suit - don't leave for Japan without it! Living in Japan is not that expensive, especially compared to some European countries, such as Ireland. I don't know if you are getting paid for your time in Japan but if you are don't waste energy converting it into dollars - you are getting paid in in yen and for the most part you will be spending it in Japan so there's no point comparing costs across countries. I found food quite cheap but in more built up places such as Osaka fresh veg and meat can be more expensive. You'll soon find the cheapest places. I think toiletries are about the same, I guess. Shower gel and toothpaste and the like are readily available. Who needs more than that! You will rapdily pick up Japanese once you are over there. I had none before I went over and within 6 months I could hold basic enough conversations and hadn't much trouble shopping or booking trips. As long as you make the effort over there to learn you'll be fine. Don't get hung up on kanji - it's only one aspect of Japanese. All train stations and street signs are given in romaji. And supermarkets are laid out just as they are in the west so there is no danger of confusing a packet of washing up powder for sugar. Shoes and socks - buy new socks as ones with holes can provide you with embarassing situations. Have some business shoes as well as standard shoes/runners. I you are going to be wearing shoes indoors where there are a lot of wooden floors try to get runners/shoes that don't leave a black mark on the wood (my bad!). Osaka is going to be hot in the summer! Have a great time over there, so long as the anticipation doesn't kill you first.

Will bad knees, pressure and lack of confidence cause Kotooshu to miss his 8 in January and drop him to Sekiwake?

If Baruto was to be promoted to Makuuchi for Kyushu is there a possibility he could refuse by saying he needs another tournament in Juryu to get his fitness back? Is there a precedent?

Thanks Doitsuyama. That's an impressive search engine! 12 yorikiri wins in one basho!

Has any rikishi gone a solid 15 days with just yorikiri wins or alternatively has any rikishi gone a full 15 days winning or losing by yorikiri alone? Edit: I know the first question implies a zensho yorikiri tournament.

Kotooshu just lost to Wakanosato again from a throw and again because he touched down first. Is he just too tall for that type of sumo?

Depends on how he learns in general. Japanese is a relatively easy languge to learn to speak and to a small extent read. I didn't start, like many others here, to learn Japanese until I was 23. I'm no genius but i get by better than average in it. And I was hopeless at languages in school.

Highest rank of Sekiwake held to falling off the banzuke?

Surprisingly..... No :(

In the video she did get up on the dohyo rather ponderously as if she didn't have proper control of her body. And her notebook looks like it has lots of scribbles and things. She probably just wanted to explain something to the guys up there. When I worked in the Japanese embassy every week or so we'd get a letter written in different coloured inks and in circles etc. with diagrams of how Einstein and Newton got things wrong or how to build the super battleship.

Was it not Asashoryu who was using an air rifle?? Edit: It was, allegedly, Chiyotenzan who had an air rifle shooting habit.

Damn that magic hair oil!

I hope the woman is looked after ok. out of curiousity what would they do if a little girl (let's say a 6 year old) got on to the dohyo?