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Makunouchi Banzuke Page
Re: Oshi-dashi'd message
Ahem.
Sumo DIRT? Over my dead body!!!
I joke, of course. :-)
Well, let me first point out that being
interested in the stats of sumo, as well as the
actual mechanics of sumo wrestling, all fall
under the rubric of "secular" sumo. Let me also
point out that since this will be primarily a
news oriented magazine, should sumo related news
(marriages, divorces, pregnancies, births, and
relationships, all of which are commonly
officially announced in Japan) come up, it will
certainly be included on the website. I'm
actually surprised that you say you find this
lacking in sumo magazines, since this kind of
thing is frequently covered. I haven't read a
copy of Ozumo magazine since July, but I do know
that at the time they were running a column
written by a different rikishi's wife every non-
basho month, and Miyabiyama's mother had a
continuing column as well. In particular I
recall the issue featuring Terao's wife, which
was very illuminating. She explained how they
first met and came to date and eventually got
married, what Terao is like at home, what she
calls him, etc. etc. All very illuminating
stuff. I was in fact going to bring it up on
the list, but never got around to it.
(Incidently, most of those articles featuring
rikishi with young women are most likely
interviews of the rikishi by a young, attractive
reporter.)
At any rate, while I personally am only
marginally interested in rikishi's private
lives, I would certainly not object to a column
devoted to such a subject. The problem is,
who's going to write it? Whoever would write it
would have to be able to read Japanese, be
willing to follow the various weekly tabloids,
scan various heya's official webpages for
personal announcements and the like, and
probably subscribe to Ozumo magazine if you want
to get all the juicy information in there.
Someone living in Japan would probably ideal,
and someone who was close to the sumo world
would probably be best.
If there are any such volunteers, let me know.
If not, I can only ask those who are interested
to trust me that the web-zine will not be wholly
dry and statistically focused.
Josh Reyer
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2002 07:36:18 -0500
Subject: Re: Sumo news aspect
From: "J. Douglas" <jdouglas@nyc.rr.com>
While I find the statistical elements of
sumo publications fascinating
and stimulating <<<<yawn>>>>> there are other
aspects of examining sumodo
that further intrigue me. Perhaps it is an X-Y
thing....oops does that get
hyphenated?.... or just call me a yenta, but I
want DIRT on the rikishi.
I subscribe to NHK Sumo magazine and Ozumo
magazine and I do so only for
the great pictures. Sometimes they are just
intense action shots on the
Doyho, but other times there are pictures
showing the rikishi in the
mundane moments of their lives: having their
hair shampooed by their
tsukebito, or having fun with eachother pulling
the mage of the guy in front
of them in a classroom. What are they studying?
There are articles about individual rikishi,
often with pictures of a
girl (or woman). Who are these women? Are they
in love? Did they win a
contest? "Win a day with Asashoryu". What is
Asanowaka's favorite color?
Who is subject to mood swings? Who is the
crankiest Okamisan? Which
Okamisan spoils the rikishi?
Proposed articles: "The New Chanko Weight Loss
Diet", and so on. I can't
get enough of that minutiae. I do love the
stats, and I design databases,
but I want MORE.
One of my favorite Sumo moments was the
wonderful anecdote told to us
by Katrina regarding a conversation she had with
Asashoryu. Using her usual
intelligent and thoughtful nature she attempted
to compliment him in his
native language, but wound up unknowingly using
an idiom that he found
insulting. While very upsetting for her at the
time and until she quickly
resolved it, it was truly a precious piece of
Sumo lore.
Happy New Year to all -
Jude Douglas
Huzayomama
---- ^ÃI^Ã^Ê^ÃW^Ãi^Ã^Ë^Ã^Á^Ãb^ÃZ^Á[^ÃW^ÂÌ^ÏI^Âí^Âè ----
If a first you don't know what to do... henka
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