In March of 2009, the Japan Sumo Association
won a lawsuit against Kodansha, a large Japanese publishing house. Kodansha had alleged that match fixing was rampant in Sumo, even at the highest levels. However, in the last week, police have discovered
text messages between wrestlers showing proof of fixing, including negotiation over compensation.
[more inside]
posted by Ghidorah
on Feb 5, 2011 -
24 comments
The Crying Game. The Japanese proverb
Naku ko wa sodatsu says that "A crying child thrives." During the annual
Konaki Sumo ("Crying Sumo") festival held at
certain temples in Japan, babies are held facing each other and
encouraged to cry by priests and sumo wrestlers. The one who bawls first, or loudest, is the winner, thought to be blessed by the gods with good health.
posted by gottabefunky
on Apr 30, 2007 -
29 comments
Nature's Sumo Wrestlers. Hundreds of thousands of
northern elephant seals once inhabited the Pacific Ocean. They were slaughtered wholesale in the 1800s for the oil that could be rendered from their blubber. By 1892, only 50 to 100 individuals were left. Today estimates are that about 150,000 roam the Pacific Ocean. And they are extraordinary animals - the males can average 1,800 kg and 5 meters in length.
Mirounga angustirostris spends eight to ten months a year in the open ocean, diving 1000 to 5000 feet deep for periods of fifteen minutes to two hours, and migrating thousands of miles, twice a year, to its land based rookery for birthing, breeding, molting and rest.
Once on the beach, they survive up to 3-4 months with almost no food or water. You can spy on them at through the live cam at
Ano Nuevo State Reserve from
9am to 9pm (EST) though at this point, it’s mostly only the pups that are still on the beach as most of the adults have
headed back to sea. Also, they
do not like to be woken up.
posted by otherwordlyglow
on Mar 15, 2007 -
28 comments
Chankonabe. If you've ever wondered how sumotori achieve their
epic bulk, this article from
Gastronomica details the complex preparation and serving rituals of the (
perhaps not) delicious, protein-rich chunky soup that's the staple of their diet (with recipe helpfully included).
posted by melissa may
on Mar 26, 2005 -
7 comments
Pehaps one of the advantages of massive cable channel proliferation is the market for geek sports.
Full Metal Challenge is the latest creation of
Cathy Rogers(slashdot) who also produced
Scrapyard Challenge/Junkyard Wars. (Previously discussed
here almost two years ago.) Contestants are given $3,000 and a month to build their own vehicle to compete in a variety of challenges with names "sumo", "wetropolis", and "hall of mirrors." One of the things that makes this show work is the color commentary by Rennaissance punk
Henry Rollins.
posted by KirkJobSluder
on Dec 18, 2002 -
18 comments
Akebono's sumo retirement ceremony American-born sumo Yokozuna Akebono retired from the sport Sepetember 29th in Kokogikan, Japan.
This excellent photo essay talks about a few of the 300+ people scheduled to help cut off the topknot, a little on the history of Sumo, and why he needs 8 men to help him with the
belt tying ceremony.
Also a few good photographs of another American-born Yokozuna, Musashimaru, and one Japanese one, Takanohana.
posted by swenson
on Jan 5, 2002 -
10 comments
Not many still-practiced sports existed at the dawn of recorded
history. Sumo wrestling is one of them. I've been trying to
learn
more about Sumo lately, and with the Aki-Basho tournament coming
up next month, now is the time to
follow
along on the
web as the drama unfolds.
posted by machaus
on Aug 25, 2001 -
5 comments
