Oopsie!

We went to the sumo this past Sunday and had a great time, but at the very end the young sumo Minanosato who does the yumitorishiki (bow ceremony) dropped his bow to the amazement of the crowd. I've never seen this happen before, so it was quite funny.

Congratulations, Hakuho!

Hakuho just won his 12th total and 4th perfect tournament yesterday! He also set a new record for the most victories in a year with 86, beating Asashoryu's previous record of 84. It looks like the era of Asashoryu has ended and the era of Hakuho has begun!

Congratulations, Harumafuji!

Congratulations to Harumafuji (previously known as Ama) on his first ever tournament victory!


Yesterday was an exciting day in Sumo as Ozeki Harumafuji took down Yokozuna Hakuho to win his first tournament victory. I've been a fan of Harumafuji since his days as Ama (the cheap horse) and he just keeps getting better and better. He's always been a scrappy, hang-on-and-fight-to-the-bitter-end type, but these days he seems to have really gained some sumo know-how as well as bulking up his frame. I hope we can continue to expect good things of him!

P.S. My mom will be here in only 10 days, and Rintarou shortly after that!

Hakuho and Son

Just saw this picture of Hakuho and his 7 month old son Mahato on Yahoo Japan and had to post it.

Look at his little baby yokozuna-belt. How cute is that?

I'm never going to wash my hand again...

because I shook hands with Asashoryu! That's right; the big Yokozuna, sumo's favorite bad boy, the Blue Dragon himself!


Sho-chan, Shiho, Naoko and I went to the opening day of the Osaka Tournament today and we had a great time. After the tournament finished we were buying souvenirs and getting ready to go when we saw a bunch of camera-men running off down a side hallway. We figured something was afoot so we decided to follow them. Then suddenly from around the corner came Asashoryu with a big smile on his face. I was so excited I could've died but I managed to say: "Congratulations on your win today" and put out my hand and he gave me another mega-watt smile and shook it! This is honestly one of the most exciting things that's ever happened to me. Kyaaaaaaaaaaa~!

(He shook Shiho's hand as well, but unfortunately Naoko missed out and had to be satisfied with just brushing his hand a bit.)

Also, here are some sumo butts:

日馬富士 (Harumafuji)

安馬 (Ama) everyone's favorite scrappy sumo has been promoted Ozeki, sumo's second highest rank and has gained a new fighting name. He'll now be known as 日馬富士 (Harumafuji). Congratulations!

What a Wonderful Weekend!

This weekend was absolutely great!
1) We went to the hospital to see the latest ultrasound of Baby Kanou and were treated to a very clear view of a teeny-tiny perfectly shaped baby foot! We were also able to see the whole shape very clearly and see the umbilical cord. Super exciting!!

2) My friends Naoko and Shiho came to visit and we had a lovely time eating some truly amazing cake from Saint An and watching the sumo.


3) The last match of the sumo tournament, Ama vs. Hakuho was a fantastic drawn out battle to the bitter end. Hakuho eventually won, gaining him his ninth tournament victory, but Ama showed that he is truly worthy to join the ranks of the Ozeki, and I am looking forward to his promotion in January! Congrats to Ama and Hakuho! (This just in- I read that along with his promotion to Ozeki he'll be gaining a new shikona {sumo name} and it won't include the character 安. The cheap horse is cheap no more!)



4) Sho-chan got a cool new hair cut. Here is posing with the stylist Ippei-san. She was alittle camera-shy.


and here is Sho-chan again. I really like this new cut!


5) Ippei-san mentioned that there was a new Indian restaurant that had opened up near us, so we went to check it out. luckily it was still open and we had dinner there. The food was top-notch, the portions were generous, the price was reasonable and the staff were very friendly and courteous. Absolutely 10 out of 10. We will definitely be going there a lot in the future. If anyone wants to go, it's called Subhi Mahal and it's in the little plaza next to Toridoru down the road from the Minamigaoka 7-11.


6) On Sunday my former co-worker Hisae called up out of the blue, and wanted to meet on Monday. I was thrilled, and so she came to our house for a nice chat with her husband Ma-kun and their cute little baby boy, Souma. He was the sweetest, chubbiest little baby and not at all shy with us. Here he is with Sho-chan.


7) Hana-chan came over to work on the budget and we got everything settled, and in the black!

8)Finally we went to the video store and rented Maiko-haaaan! It's about a man who's obsessed with Geisha and Maiko, and it was totally hilarious and over the top. Abe Sadao is really a wonderful actor. Please watch it if you get the chance!

Check out: Saint An's website and be prepared to drool over the succulent and inviting cakes displayed therein.

Also a new post on Let's Signing! I've been busy!

Happy Birthday Shiho + Congrats Hakuho

Yesterday we had a mini-birthday party for my friend Shiho at the house. We ate some really wonderful cake, chatted about various things and watched the last day of the sumo on NHK. Shiho and I are both big sumo fans and we cheered for our favorite wrestler in each match. We all had a great time, and we were happy to see that Hakuho won his final match, earning himself a flawless 15-0 record and his first tournament victory in Nagoya!



So: Happy Birthday to my good friend Shiho and Congratulations to Hakuho!

Поздравления.

Today Bulgaria's Koto'oushuu won his first tournament and became the first European ever to win the Emperor's Cup.



Congratulations!

PS I can't read Bulgarian, but that ought to say "Congratualtions!".

Sweet, Sweet Sumo

Beautiful tourney this month with Asa, Brand new yokozuna Hakuho, and future ozeki Kotomitsuki all gunning for the top spot.!

More later

It's official!

After winning his second consecutive Makunouchi tournament, Hakuho has been officially declared Yokozuna No. 69. This promotion comes at the ripe old age of 22, making him the 4th youngest sumo ever to get the title (Asa is 5th by the way, Hakuho beat him by a few months)!

Congratulations Hakuho!



The first photo shows Hakuho practicing the Yokozuna ring-entering ceremony under the guidance of former Yokozuna Asahifuji, and the second accepting the Emperor's cup with his wife Sayoko, their new baby Amiu and his father Munkhbat, a former Mongolian Wrestling champion.

In other news, Balto won the Juryou division tournament for the 2nd time, which means we should be seeing him back in the Makunouchi again next tourney! And he's finally grown himself enough hair to wear a real o-icho and not that stupid little tail he always had.

Congratulations Balto!

Holy Crap!

Asa got handed his third loss today, effectively putting him out of the running for the cup this tournament. Hakuho is in the lead with a perfect record and Dejima and Asasekiryuu are trailing behind with two losses each. If Hakuho wins tomorrow he'll clench the title and he'll become a Yokozuna! Hell yeah!

Hakuho Banzai!

Sumos + Babies = Awesome!

I came across this photo on a link site I visit and I just had to share it with you guys.

It's a sumo baby-off and may the best baby win!

Read all about it!

Awwww, Yeeeeeeah! Sumo Tickets!!!!!!

I just called the Sumo Association this morning and ordered 2 sets of tickets for the March Tournament in Osaka. It's gonna be so sweet! I love going to the sumo, and this year my Dad and his girlfriend are going to come with me, Yeah! (Also my friends Hana and Shu-shu, and my fellow Nova-ers Bec and Dr. G. Wassup! Sumo in da hizzouse!

P.S.- This picture was the first result on a GIS for 'sumo' and shows Takanotsuru, one of the famous muttonchops twins, who, alas, has retired.

That's Right Folks, He's Done it Again!

Asashouryuu has taken home his 20th Emperor's Cup.
This man is a Sumo MACHINE!
He's unstoppable!

SUMO!!!!

Sorry Guys, I've been really lazy about updating the blog lately, but here's a little something from yesterday.

Yesterday was my day off, so I spent the day sleeping in, cleaning my room, doing the laundry, internetting, and of course WATCHING THE SUMO! There were lots of great matches today, including a sweet fight between Asa and Kotomitsuki, but the one that really caught my eye was the match between Tamarikido (玉力道) and Kitazakura (北桜). You may or may not remember, (I'm putting my money on MAY NOT) but Kitazakura is the sumo I like to call 'The Human Salt-shaker', because of his awesome pre-match salt-throwing stlye. And as luck would have it, I was able to see his signature salting of the ring twice yesterday. The match got off to a bad start with a 'matta' (false start) by Kita and then turned into a pretty standard grapple-fest. As the match progressed Tama managed to manouever Kita almost out of the ring, until Kita pulled a sukui-nage on him right on the edge of the straw bales, causing them to fall out of the ring simultaneously.

It looked to me like they fell at almost exactly the same time, and I would have been hard-pressed to decide the winner, but the ref found for Tamarikido. However the oyakatas agreed with me and hustled up onto the dohyo for a mono-ii (deliberation). They decided it was too close to call, and ordered a do-over. I think the sumos themselves must hate to have a do-over, but the upshot is that the fans got treated to Kitazakura's magnificent salt-shower twice in one day.

Anyway, after two more false-starts the second go-round, the match was eventually won by Kitazakura, who currently has a 5-8 record (which means he's lost this tourney, as a sumo needs at least 8 victories to get a winning record.)

Poor Kitazakura, I'm still rooting for you buddy!

And that's all she wrote!

Goog Morninger.

Asa: He came, He saw, He conquered

Yesterday Asashoryuu took home his 19th Emperor's Cup after another flawless 15-0 tournament. (His fifth perfect tourney). There's no stopping the man from Mongolia. He's well on his way to becoming a great Yokozuna. After all, when Takanohana retired he only had 22 tournament victories under his belt, Current head of the Sumo Kyoukai Kitanoumi had 24 and Chiyonofuji (the Wolf) had 31. It's only a matter of time before Asa smashes these records as he did last year with the record for most consecutive tourneys won.

Go Asa!

Sumo Starts Next Weekend!

That's right, the November Tournament will begin next Sunday the 12th! Aren't you excited?

Some changes in this basho:
Koto'oushuu has changed his Shikona (sumo name) from 琴欧州 to 琴欧洲. Don't see the difference? Look at the last character, he's had a sanzui (water radical of 3 strokes) added on, but don't worry, it's still pronounced Koto'oushuu.

Two of my favorite wrestelers Ushiomaru (Butterball) and Kitazakura (The Human Salt-Shaker) have moved back up from Juryou to Makunouchi, yeah! I was a little disappointed that my boyfriend Takanowaka didn't get re-promoted as well, seeing as how he took the division title last tourney, but I guess that's why I'm not a member of the Sumo Kyoukai.

Goog Morninger!

P.S. Pictured above is Kitazakura: the Human Salt-Shaker

For Mom #2: Technique Prize

My Mom asked how the Sumo Association decides who will win the Special Prizes, so here is an example.

This Tournament Maegashira #3 Aminishiki took home the Technique Prize (His third!).

Aminishiki's Profile (you can't tell from this picture but he's actually quite handsome

Let's take a look at his record:

Day 1 W - beat Miyabiyama with a pulling overarm throw (uwate-dashi-nage)
Day 2 L - lost to Iwakiyama
Day 3 L - lost to Asashouryuu (no surprise there)
Day 4 W - beat Koto'oushuu with a forward push-out (oshi-dashi)
Day 5 W - beat Kaiou with a thrust-down (tsuki-otoshi)
Day 6 W - beat Hakuho with an outside leg trip (soto-gake)
Day 7 W - beat Kyokutenhou with an outside leg trip (soto-gake)
Day 8 W - beat Toyonoshima with an overarm throw (uwatenage)
Day 9 W - beat Kotomitsuki with a thrust-down (tsuki-otoshi)
Day 10 W - beat Kakizoe with a hand pull-down (hiki-otoshi)
Day 11 L - lost to Chiyotaikai
Day 12 W - beat Futenou with a rear push-out (okuri-dashi)
Day 13 L - lost to Tochiazuma
Day 14 W - beat Kisenosato with an outside leg trip (soto-gake)
Day 15 W - beat Kokkai with a hand pull-down (hiki-otoshi)

This is a good record. He won 11 out of 15 matches and beat 3 of the 5 Ozeki (sumo's second highest rank). He also did several nice throws and trips rather than relying on the standard frontal force-out (yori-kiri) or slap-down (hataki-komi). All in all a very solid technical performance; looking at it this way it's easy to see why he was chosen to receive the Technique Prize this tourney!

Goog Afternooner

PS: Here is an exhaustive list of all sumo winning techniques (kimarite) for those interested

Asashouryuu Triumphant Again!

Asa took home his 18th career victory in the makunouchi division yesterday. He earned a respectable 13-2 record, having been taken down only by Kisenosato and Chiyotaikai, but I still would like to see him return to his peak form and sweep with a 15-0 record again.

In other news my old boyfriend Takanowaka won the juryou division title and is probably looking to be bumped back up to makunouchi in November.

The special prizes were awarded as follows:

The Shukun-sho or Outstanding Performance Award went to Kisenosato
The Kanto-sho or Fighting Spirit Prize went to Ama
The Gino-sho or Technique Prize went to Aminishiki

Also I learned that the Sumo Association web site has special section detailing various statistics of interest. Now sumo is a sport with a ton of statistics, and some of these were quite interesting. For example : "[Kokkai is]... the thirteenth foreigner to earn a sanyaku (sekiwake or komusubi rank) debut." Some of them however make you just think WTF? "[Hochiyama's debut]... is the thirty-seventh Makuuchi Division debut by an Aomori Prefecture native since the end of W.W. II" Umm... good to know.

Check it out here if you're interested

Goog Niter
PS: Pictured here with Asashouryuu are his wife, Tamir and his daughter Ina.