Hakuhou news and Aki 2009 preparations

[Kaji 1]

AFAIK Japan does not accept double citizenship under any circumstance.

OFF TOPIC ALERT

Except the circumstance of being under 20.

In fact, you can be a joint national... if you take Japanese citizenship, you do not have to revoke, say, British citizenship. You just don't tell the Japanese government about it. (It was explained to me in great detail by the consular section of the British Embassy... but really we are going completely off topic now).

:-)

That's my point: an anonymous person can do that (not telling the japanese goverment about retaining his original citizenship), but can a public person, as Hakuho, do that? I mean, whatever he does will be in the headlines, if he inherits a beya or has business in Mongolia. Is the japanese goverment that tolerant in such matters? That is my doubt.

Kaji

[Kintamayama 45,111]

Hakuhou greeted the visiting Ozeki Harumafuji with 30 bouts, winning 22. "I am very happy with my pace so far", he said, satisfied.

[Kintamayama 45,111]

Hakuhou hosted Harumafuji hagain today at Miyagino-beya. They had 21 bouts, 16-5 in favor of the Yokozuna. Harumafuji seemed to be nursing a right-shoulder injury, hence the relatively low number of bouts, but Hakuhou's stability came shining through. "It looks like his shoulder is bothering him. It's best to train when you're fit..", said Hakuhou, concerned about his compatriot's situation.

Hakuhou and the favored right shoulder:

[Kintamayama 45,111]

Former team Japan women's voleyball player Yoshihara Tomoko came to watch the Miyagino keiko session today. "Watching the basho can be exciting, but this is way better!", she enthused.

Hakuhou and Tomoko-san:

[Kintamayama 45,111]

Harumafuji went to Kasugano today, only to find Gideon's Bible that Hakuhou had gone to Kasugano, so he raced after him and went there as well. Hakuhou went for degeiko for the first time this time. They did not face each other, but Hakuhou was 19-1 (against Tochinoshin, Iwakiyama and 5 other sekitori) and Harumafuji 15-2, although his shoulder was still bothering him. "I was concentrating on moving forward. I felt the strength", said Hakuhou. When someone said he seemed to be in good shape, he answered: "Yup, right?"

As for Harumafuji, he looked disappointed. "I may be suffering from insufficient keiko..I did manage to cope with all of my opponents today..", he said.

Edited September 9, 2009 by Kintamayama

[Treblemaker 254]

"I may be suffering from insufficient keiko..I did manage to cope with all of my opponents today..", he said.

Must be some new medical condition. Is that like being low in iron? Not getting enough vitamin O? Suffering from scurvy?

I know there's a translation gap in there somwhere, but it still sounds funny. HF's problem, I think, is that he overdoes the keiko. Sometimes, and for some people, more is not better. He doesn't have the body mass to withstand a lot of brutal training. And most of his ability is his intelligence, strategy, understanding leverage and how to use the opponent's movement against him. He also tends to psyche himself out of a lot of bouts.. too much thinking, too many nerves. More training isn't the answer - smart training is.

And running after Hak is just silly. Let him beat up on the lesser guys.. builds confidence, refines technique. With Hak, he usually just gets pounded, no?

[James H 0]

That's my point: an anonymous person can do that (not telling the japanese goverment about retaining his original citizenship), but can a public person, as Hakuho, do that? I mean, whatever he does will be in the headlines, if he inherits a beya or has business in Mongolia. Is the japanese goverment that tolerant in such matters? That is my doubt.

I am shocked you think my sons are anonymous. I now promise to not rest until they have replaced SMAP as the biggest thing on Japanese TV.

I get your point, but the fact is that there is nothing the Japanese government can do about it - you can remain a citizen of another country because it isn't theirs (the Japanese government's) to take away. They can make you give up a passport, sure, but not citizenship. The only way that works is if both countries involved demand single citizenship... and in my soon-to-be-as-famous-as-KimTaku sons' cases, the UK govt doesn't.

Back to the sumo, kind of...

The ex-volleyball player is a "real" fan - she goes to Tokyo basho at least three or four times a basho (courtesy of a very thickset gentleman who has top-dollar sandy seats, excellent taste in pinstriped suits and dubious taste in hosiery - he wears translucent stocking-like socks. I know because he sat in front of me every day for the past three years).

Edited September 9, 2009 by James H

[Asashosakari 19,319]

I know there's a translation gap in there somwhere, but it still sounds funny.

Just replace "from" with "the effects of", and it's perfectly fine. Of course, I don't think what Moti wrote is oddly-phrased at all, but maybe I'm just, err, suffering from a language barrier, as well.

Edit:

With Hak, he usually just gets pounded, no?

22-8 and 16-5 in recent days. Looks very reasonable to me for a matchup of a dai-yokozuna and a strong ozeki.

Edited September 9, 2009 by Asashosakari

[Kintamayama 45,111]

I wrote Miyagino, but someone hacked my account and wrote Kasugano, and also some bad words like "suffers from insufficient keiko" or something or other.

I demand a full investigation and severe punishment to the culprit-you know who you arse!

[Otokonoyama 2,735]

That's my point: an anonymous person can do that (not telling the japanese goverment about retaining his original citizenship), but can a public person, as Hakuho, do that? I mean, whatever he does will be in the headlines, if he inherits a beya or has business in Mongolia. Is the japanese goverment that tolerant in such matters? That is my doubt.

I am shocked you think my sons are anonymous. I now promise to not rest until they have replaced SMAP as the biggest thing on Japanese TV.

I get your point, but the fact is that there is nothing the Japanese government can do about it - you can remain a citizen of another country because it isn't theirs (the Japanese government's) to take away. They can make you give up a passport, sure, but not citizenship. The only way that works is if both countries involved demand single citizenship... and in my soon-to-be-as-famous-as-KimTaku sons' cases, the UK govt doesn't.

James,

To the best of my knowledge, the Japanese government may not seize or make you give up your foreign passport, unless they have probable cause you are involved in crime. While the Japanese government may not recognize dual citizenship, that does not have anything to do with possessing dual nationality. They could however, in theory, make it difficult when attempting to renew a Japanese passport.

[James H 0]

While the Japanese government may not recognize dual citizenship, that does not have anything to do with possessing dual nationality. They could however, in theory, make it difficult when attempting to renew a Japanese passport.

Thanks for the clarification. I thought that was what I thought, but when the whole citizenship versus nationality thing rears its head, my head empties.

All I know is that 20-year-olds with joint nationality are told to choose by the Japanese government. How they enforce this remains a mystery, and to my knowledge, is impossible.

Anyway, back to the sumo and apologies for hijacking the topic.

So how did Hakuho look, anyway?