Mark Buckton - The Japan Times

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Mark Buckton

Mark Buckton has covered sumo for The Japan Times Online since 2006 and has long worked with broadcast media such as the BBC and CNN when things go awry in the sport. He has contributed to six books on Japanese culture, and is a columnist at entertainment magazine Eye-Ai.

For Mark Buckton's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS

Jun 12, 2007

Sumo at the Olympics or a dohyo too far?

Sumo in Japan is on the up and up. We now have two yokozuna with a good half decade of rivalry in the tanks, one young enough to still be around in 10 years time. Irrespective of reports in the Japanese-language media, the sport is not sinking into the abyss with the continued success of its foreign legion. The 60 or so non-Japanese that make up less than 10 percent of more than 700 active professionals merely add to the color and flavor of a sport that is ever expanding and gaining new fans worldwide, from Norway to New Zealand, from the Americas to Australia.

SUMO

May 29, 2007

Hakuho wrestles his way into the history books

The 2007 Natsu Basho is over, and it will only ever be remembered for one thing: the 15-0 unbeaten zensho yusho winning record of Mongolian ozeki Hakuho that etched his name forever in the annals of Japanese sporting and cultural history.

SUMO

May 8, 2007

Hakuho for yokozuna or Asashoryu to block his path?

In the days leading up to the May 5th Yokozuna Soken training session at the Ryogoku Kokugikan the Japanese media was abuzz with things sumo.

SUMO

Apr 17, 2007

Springtime sumo: giving it back to the people

Sumo in late March and throughout April each year is about pressing the flesh -- literally.

SUMO

Mar 27, 2007

The good, the bad and the sometimes ugly

Had he been alive today, Japan's legendary kabuki and bunraku playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) could not have written a better script for the recently completed Haru Basho in Osaka.

SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS

Mar 6, 2007

Who to watch at the upcoming Haru Basho

Who is going to take a fall in the Haru Basho?

SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS

Feb 14, 2007

How to weed out a wrestling wizard

Centuries ago, the Europeans and, in some cases, Americans liked nothing better than a spot of witch-hunting on a quiet news day.

SUMO

Jan 23, 2007

Numbers break records, character creates legends

At exactly 5:43 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 21, 2007, yokozuna Asashoryu Akinori was presented with the Emperor's Cup for the 20th time in his sumo career; a feat achieved only four times prior, by former yokozuna Taiho (32 total yusho), Chiyonofuji (31), Kitanoumi (24) and Takanohana (22). These were all men whose character, combined with win/loss ratios, went on to guarantee them a place not only in sumo record books but also in the pages of Japanese history.

SUMO

Jan 1, 2007

Great expectations

For many sumo fans, the January Hatsu Basho at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan is the most important tournament in a given year.

SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS

Dec 19, 2006

Dear Santa, one new nose, a couple of knees and a lower back, please

In the next couple of weeks, expect the media to start talking of yokozuna Asashoryu and his latest bout with the sniffles, being bunged up or perhaps having fallen victim to a mystery allergy -- again!

SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS

Nov 28, 2006

For the sake of sumo, scrap the Fukuoka Basho

In the Fukuoka Basho's biggest surprise in years, the ozeki, despite their largely poor standards of late, didn't perform too badly. The aging trio of Kaio, Chiyotaikai and Tochiazuma were all well within range of Asashoryu as far in as the mid-way point.

SUMO

Nov 11, 2006

Komusubi Kisenosato

Kisenosato entered professional sumo in 2002 while still in his mid-teens. A native of Ibaraki Prefecture to the northeast of Tokyo and only age 20, he is perhaps the most promising young Japanese rikishi in sumo today.

SUMO

Nov 7, 2006

The safe money goes on Asashoryu

In November, 1957, a maegashira ranked near the foot of the makunouchi division went 15-0 to claim his first ever yusho. His name was Tamanoumi, a 34-year-old Oita man, and his name goes down in history as the winner of the first official Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament.

SUMO

Oct 14, 2006

Haircuts, sumo stars and amateurs in Osaka

Autumn is a time of change for the Japanese. Summer clothes are put away and sightings of thicker, woollier garments become increasingly common. The mercury encounters a daily struggle to stay first above 20 degrees then above 10, and the country collectively takes its foot off the pedal.

SUMO

Sep 26, 2006

Stop thief -- he took my limelight!

Push came to shove, slap turned into frontal force out and both Hakuho (8-7) and Miyabiyama (9-6) flopped big time. Former sanyaku man Takanowaka took the Juryo title 11-4 after a fierce play-off with Toyozakura and Sawaii took the Makushita title 7-0; albeit securing his final win with a rather distasteful henka. The Sandanme, Jonidan and even Jonokuchi divisions witnessed some enthralling battles for fans of the lower ranks but when the dust settled and when the papers hit the stands after the tournament the name of one man was on the lips of millions -- Shinzo Abe!

SUMO

Sep 5, 2006

Lights, camera, action -- 'Hakuho for Yokozuna' -- Take II!

September's Aki Basho approaches and as was the case prior to Nagoya in July, with it comes the talk of how Mongolian ozeki Hakuho will fare; whether or not he'll be performing the yokozuna dohyo-iri alongside yokozuna Asashoryu at the next tournament.

SUMO

Aug 15, 2006

Trips north, south, east and west -- oh, and unwanted amateurs!

While the dust was flying during the should they/shouldn't they (make Hakuho yokozuna and Miyabiyama ozeki) promotion debate that blew up following the Nagoya Basho, the sumo powers that be did what they so often do best and ignored the fuss.

SUMO

Jul 25, 2006

Dominance, Underperformers and Yogurt!

Exactly what happened on Sunday evening at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium is simple -- Asashoryu won his 17th Emperor's Cup to date and his second this year, Hakuho came up short despite his victory over the yokozuna and will not be promoted to yokozuna for the September tournament in Tokyo and Miyabiyama let the chance to return to ozeki slip through his fingers thanks to a poor showing in the first few days.

SUMO

Jul 5, 2006

The competition finally arrives

In 1958, then yokozuna Wakanohana, uncle of the Wakanohana and Takanohana brothers of the 90s won the first July tournament in the modern era with a 13-2 record.

SUMO

Jun 15, 2006

With Wailing Walls and Dead Sea dips, who needs the World Cup?

Sumo, unlike football -- (the proper one as opposed to the pads and helmet version) -- never stops.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.

The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

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