Between the Olympics black-out and the natural gap between Hatsu and Haru, sumo fans are seriously starving for information! Have no fear, the Haru bazuke is published in about 24 hours from RIGHT NOW.
Of course, Tachiai will bring you analysis and details in the two-week run-up to Osaka’s yearly sumo tournament. We expect there to be a flurry of news and action prior to March 11th’s opening day.
I love that NHK shows all 15 days of each tournament but their coverage could be much better. Their 30 minute highlight could easily be stretched to an hour giving us a chance to see ALL the matches in the top division and, maybe, a couple of interest in the lower division. Plus, between tournaments, there is virtually zero sumo coverage on NHK except for a preview show a day or two before the tournament begins. I’m not complaining because I am very very appreciative of what the channel does offer up—–but their coverage could be improved. Just saying.
I think even some very more modest changes could go a long way. I would propose something like the following:
Most Sumo highlights shows run about 23 minutes in duration followed by a 2 minute “sumopedia” and then 5 minutes of something else (usually a cultural piece) before the news starts again at the top of the hour. While I appreciate NHK World’s cultural content, the stuff that’s really good are their longer form (~20 mins) pieces. It would be cool if NHK could extend the main sumo highlights to 28 minutes to cover another 3 bouts. On weekends when the NHK Newsline only runs for 10 minutes, they could extend this to 38 minutes or so in order to still leave 20 minutes for cultural content.
We could use some new Sumopedia as well. At this point I have seen them all several times.
I could agree more!!!! In the mean time, we’re grateful for Jason and Kintamayama.
Totally agree, but I’m appreciative of the 30 minutes for such a niche sport. A while ago I really liked Ishiura and then they didn’t show his next like 4 or 5 matches. I would love a little more ritual before the matches, lower division matches, or longer sumopedia. Wishful thinking. I would also like more Kendo and Judo out of NHK for that matter.
Nothing worse than on Day 4 you see the first televised match for 2-1 Ishiura or 1-2 Aoiyama or 0-3 Kagayaki simply because NHK is hellbent to repeat the same 20 or 30 minute newscast every hour on the hour 24/7. Makes me nuts.
made me laugh, but true
Everyone needs to know about the Miselet site on Youtube. It features all of the divisions, each day, and in HD. Lately, it’s been a mix of NHK and Abema. Sadly, it does not have the bilingual version of the NHK broadcasts. The site seems to be based in one of the post-Soviet “stans”. There is no telling how long it will continue (I suspect NHK simply hasn’t turned its beady little eyes on it yet) but, for now, it’s great. Personally, I combine it with Jason’s videos, just because he is such a great character.
It’s back? I thought it was stomped on about a month ago.