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SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Mar 9, 2022

Former amateur yokozuna Hidetora Hanada shifts gears toward NFL dream

The Nippon Sport Science University student impressed in a recent X League combine and will attempt to leave his mark on the gridiron before taking on the world of professional sumo.
Japan Times
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
May 27, 2020

Yusei Nakanishi gets new shikona, but what's in a ring name?

Ring name changes are not unusual, and regularly happen upon significant promotions, or as a way of changing luck after a string of bad results.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Oct 23, 2019

Quest to capture 10 titles a tough challenge for current crop of star wrestlers

It's been over 15 years since Andre 3000 of seminal Atlanta rap group OutKast once asked — and answered — a pressing question: "What's cooler than being cool? Ice cold!"
Japan Times
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jun 12, 2019

Predicting next yokozuna a formidable task

When veteran sumo journalists get together and the conversation turns, as it inevitability does, to up-and-coming wrestlers, talk is rarely of who will be the next yokozuna.
Japan Times
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Apr 10, 2019

As basho sellouts continue, regional tour offers peek behind curtain

Within 90 minutes of going on sale, tickets for the upcoming Summer Grand Sumo Tournament were all snapped up.
Reader Mail
Feb 9, 2018

Admiration for Tochinoshin

The story "Tochinoshin stands out amid chaos" in the Jan. 29 edition represents the current state of sumo in Japan.
SPORTS
Dec 28, 2017

The top sports stories of 2017

The Japan Times newsroom selected these domestic sports stories as the most important of 2017.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Nov 8, 2013

Kyushu Basho 2013 – a tale of two newbies

In Japanese sporting circles, mention of the name Endo has, for the past few years, come with images of national soccer team and Gamba Osaka player Yasuhito Endo. All that is about to change.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Sep 9, 2012

Aki Basho 2012: Time for ozeki Harumafuji to step up his game

When the Aki-basho starts today, all eyes will be on one man, and this time it is not yokozuna grand champion Hakuho. Rather the focus of sumo fans throughout Japan and around the world will be on ozeki Harumafuji. Looking to secure a second consecutive championship victory and thereby guarantee his...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jan 24, 2012

2012 kicks off with a bang for Baruto

Before the New Year's Grand Sumo Tournament, most fans would have predicted that Hakuho, the reigning yokozuna, would claim his third successive Emperor's Cup, and 22nd title overall.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Nov 30, 2011

Kisenosato promoted to ozeki, Hakuho on 21

When the Kyushu Basho down in Fukuoka drew to a close on Nov. 27, much of the conversation was centered on sekiwake Kisenosato and whether or not he deserved his all-but-publicly announced imminent promotion to the rank of ozeki.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Aug 1, 2011

Kaio calls it quits, while Harumafuji secures a shot at yokozuna promotion

From Day 1 at the recent Nagoya Basho the vultures were circling. Some went after the admittedly pathetically low attendances on the first few days of the basho as a sign that all is not well with the public's perception of sumo in the wake of the yaocho bout-buying scandal. Two of the first three days...
Reader Mail
Feb 13, 2011

Match-rigging scandal overblown

Regarding Jack Gallagher's Feb. 9 column, "Shut sumo down for the rest of 2011, put its future in private hands": I was fortunate enough to be part of the English-language sumo broadcast team at NHK for almost nine years. It remains one of my treasured memories of Japan. Early on I was taught by someone...

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