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JAPAN / Media
Jun 6, 2010

The timing behind yakuza crackdown

The media has been filled with revelations of ties between professional sumo and organized crime. Since late May, the tabloids and gossipy "wide shows" on TV have made a huge flap over Sehei Kimura and one other stable master for allowing senior gang members to obtain box-seat tickets to the Nagoya Grand...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Oct 18, 2007

Who killed Takashi Saito?

That any life should be lost during sport is tragic, and sumo is no exception.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 11, 2000

Akebono, in his own words

Akebono is one of the biggest sports stars in Japan, both literally and figuratively. The 30-year-old followed in the footsteps of his oyakata (stablemaster) Azumazeki (ex-sekiwake Takamiyama) and former ozeki Konishiki in making the transition from the backwaters of Hawaii to the rarified heights of...
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Dec 5, 2018

Change in stable can revive wrestlers' careers

Takakeisho, winner of this year's Kyushu tournament, was pictured alongside his stablemaster on Nov. 26 holding up a large red sea bream and drinking sake from an outsized trophy at a celebratory event.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Oct 10, 2018

Departed yokozuna Wajima brought charisma to ring

Last week's column featured links between sumo and American football, including a mention of how yokozuna Wakanohana took up the latter sport after retiring from the raised ring.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jul 21, 2017

Hakuho's place in pantheon of greats continues to grow

On Dec. 24, 2000, a skinny, dejected young Mongolian kid, near the end of his two-month stay in Japan, had seemingly failed in a bid to join sumo. Weighing just 60 kg and barely 180 cm tall Davaajargal Monkhbatyn had been unsuccessful in finding a stablemaster willing to take him in.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
May 4, 2011

Scandals offer a silver lining

Over 20 rikishi have thus far been expelled. Some have gone quietly picking up very nice severance packages on the way out the door. Others have promised legal battles ahead that will, in all likelihood, be timed to avoid a clash with a particular basho. Wherever the yaocho allegations, dismissals and...
SUMO
Jan 14, 2000

Wrestling with a national tradition

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that sumo is not really a sport. No one calls it spootsu anyway -- sumo is and always has been the kokugi (national skill).
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jun 15, 2022

Philosophical living legend Konishiki reflects on launch of career

The Hawaiian-born former ozeki, a driving force in gaining sumo recognition overseas, is celebrating the 40th anniversary of his entry into the sport.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Oct 14, 2020

Once-fearsome ozeki rank no longer sport's 'great barrier'

Wrestlers in sumo's second-highest rank have struggled to emulate the success of their peers in previous generations.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jun 19, 2019

Retirement ceremonies often full of emotion

It's no secret that difficulty in procuring tickets is one of the main hurdles preventing overseas visitors from being able to watch sumo in person.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / Japan Pulse
Mar 17, 2015

Gokon matchmakers fan the passion with sporting dates

Is the couple that watches sports together the couple that going to stay together? Matchmakers place their bets.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Apr 3, 2013

Hakuho sets records, Harumafuji only raises questions

As was expected before the recent Haru Basho in Osaka, both yokozuna, on the back of too little practice, and too many public engagements started the tournament less than convincingly.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jun 15, 2011

NSK gets a glimpse of a (potentially) bright future

In May the English soccer team Manchester United won their 19th English league championship to date — and the world watched on TV, the Internet and via a wealth of other media sources.
EDITORIALS
Aug 4, 2007

A grand champion is rebuked

The Japan Sumo Association has suspended yokozuna Asashoryu from the next two grand sumo tournaments for playing soccer in his home country Mongolia after he had notified the association that he would sit out the Aug. 3-20 summer regional tour in eastern Japan (not Tokyo) because of injuries.
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Apr 12, 2006

Promotions, trips and an NHK departure

With memories of the Osaka Haru Basho starting to fade, a lot of sumo fans will be looking to May 7th and the first day of the Natsu Basho in Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 4, 2005

Brotherly rift surfaces following funeral

The passing of sumo elder Futagoyama has exposed a widely suspected rift between his once celebrated sons.
SUMO
Mar 24, 2005

Education comes first at Nakamura stable

The Nakamura Beya stands out among the 55 stables in Japan's indigenous professional sumo world for its personal computers for sumo wrestlers to take correspondence courses on the Internet.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 16, 2004

Layer up against the cold with chanko nabe

With winter in control and showing little sign of abating, it's time to search out warmth and sustenance of the kind that only nabemono can provide. And no heartier form of the genre exists than chanko, the hotpot that has nourished generations of sumo wrestlers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 23, 2003

Akebono lives life to the full

"It was," my dining companion recalls with a sigh, "a diet with just one purpose: to get you to put on weight."
SUMO
Aug 27, 2002

Asashoryu officially listed as ozeki

Recently promoted ozeki Asashoryu was officially listed at his new position and Takamisakari broke into the upper ranks Monday when the Japan Sumo Association released its rankings for the upcoming Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament.
SUMO
Dec 27, 2001

'Black Sea' makes waves, battles culture

SOKA, Saitama Pref. -- When Tsaguria Merab Levan of Georgia was selected among 16 aspirants hoping to make his mark on sumo's raised ring in May, little did he know that his name would go down in the age-old sport's history books just several months later.
SUMO
Nov 11, 2022

Only certainty about upcoming Kyushu Basho is uncertainty

Predicting who will emerge victorious in the 2022 Kyushu Basho is almost impossible, but another first time champion or unexpected career breakout performance is a safe bet.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Sep 7, 2022

Hakuho coy on details as January retirement ceremony announced

Fans of the former yokozuna can likely anticipate a spectacle when the newly minted Miyagino stablemaster enters the Ryogoku Kokugikan ring one last time.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jul 20, 2022

Recently deceased yokozuna Wakanohana leaves mixed legacy

The giant portrait that commemorates his perfect 15-0 championship in November 1978 still hangs in JR Ryogoku Station and is visible to anyone getting off the train to visit the Kokugikan.

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