Taka's marriage

[tanaka@deltanet.com (Yokichi Joe Tanaka)]

Just got back from Japan and thought I'd post some info on how some people
view Taka and his bride after it became apparent that their marriage was a
"dekichatta kekkon" (loosely translated as an "oops marriage") referring to
their imminent offspring.  Before I go on, I do want to make it clear that
I really don't care if a couple ties the knot because of pregnancy.  Things
happen, not a big deal.  But, apparently both Taka and his bride-to-be
vehemently denied this fact until now.  Anyway, here goes:

The new phrase that appears often to describe Taka (mostly from sumo-fans
that don't like Taka or from non-sumo fans):

"Heiki de uso wo tsuku on'na tarashi de kami no nagai debu."

(A long-haired womanizing fat-so, who doesn't think twice about lying.)

I really don't know why they would try to conceal the pregnancy prior to
their marriage unless they were going to abort it.  People were going to
find out.  I think Taka is training to be a Japanese DIet-man (analogous to
congressman).

Also, the same people are calling his wife:

"Man ni hitotsu mo honto no koto wo iwanai on'na."

(A woman who speaks the truth not even once every 10,000 times.)

Also, the general feeling I got for sports in Japan was that Hideo Nomo's
exploits in the major leagues are changing the way people view baseball,
soccer, and sumo (the 3 major sports) in Japan.  It seems like baseball is
making a strong comeback at the expense of soccer (too many teams are
diluting team talent ... which is at an all-time low).  Some of the
die-hard baseball fans are now craving major league baseball over Japanese
baseball after getting a taste of the Bigs, but in general baseball
interest is way up.  The baseball all-star games were quite spirited this
year ... being influenced by the major all-star game.  In terms of sumo,
now that the sumo world has at its apex a true Japanese, people are
starting to yearn a little bit for "fair play".  Even some die-hard sumo
fans are starting to "shirakeru" (get bored) with the lame match-ups for
the first 11-12 days.  Some of the commentary I read went something like:

"As the American Dodger fans root for Nomo, can't we root just as hard for
foreign born Akebono?"
(See, I ain't the only one who senses this.)

I was at Dodger stadium when Nomo got his first victory.  I know how hard
Dodger fans of all race pulled for Nomo.  It brought tears to my eyes.

Anyway, I hope I don't rock the boat too much in this newsgroup by bringing
up this kind of subject.  (Hey, at least it's different.)  But, I wanted to
let you know that there are sumo fans in Japan, and there are non-sumo fans
in Japan, and there are marginal sumo fans (or maybe these are the true
sumo fans) in Japan who view sumo as a sport and not a cultural "gishiki"
and have lost total interest because of the unsportsmanlike
no-same-heya-bout rule.  I disagree with some of the traditionalists, who
insist that sumo is a total package of sport, spirit, tradition and
culture.  Sumo is a great sport ... great enough to stand on its own purely
as a sport.  (Thus, I think isami-ashi sucks and shouldn't be a kimarite.) 
If you need gishiki and culture, you can go to a tea ceremony or visit a
temple.  Sumo should be a sport before anything else, and the kyokai should
do what is best for the sport.  The kyokai has finally gotten its
Japanese-born yokozuna, so we should go back to a more level playing field.
 At the very least, there should be some rule that forces a heya to split
up if they place x number of people as "yaku-rikishi".

Any replies, you can e-mail directly back to me at tanaka@deltanet.com.  I
may or may not catch it if you post a follow-up.

Tanaka