🌐 Location: Kawagoe, Saitama
😝 Goofometer: ◾️◾️◾️◾️◽️
This is the penultimate day of the 2018 Fuyu Jungyo. Before we begin, a health check:
- Absence since mid-Jungyo: Yutakayama, Kotoyuki
- Off the torikumi but present: Kotoshogiku, Kakuryu
- Started off the torikumi but now participating: Hakuho, Goeido, Yoshikaze.
While Terutsuyoshi gets over his morning blues, rikishi are already exercising with vigor around the venue. Asanoyama is stretching:
And Takayasu is stretching while trimming his fingernails:
Who said men can’t do two things at the same time?
Takayasu doesn’t settle for just the pedicure and flex. He also lifts his weight – Tagonofuji.
OK, I’ll go off at a tangent here for a second. There are lots of fujis in the sumo world. We are used to seeing fujis at Isegahama beya, but they don’t have an exclusive hold on that suffix. Hokutofuji is from Hakkaku beya, for example. Most of those fujis end with 富士 – the same as the kanji for Mt. Fuji. Many of them are “no-fuji”. The “no” is a particle that indicates possession or characterization. The most common ways to write the “no” are の, ノ and 乃. So the other day, it was announced that Takayoshitoshi, Takagenji’s more evil twin, is going to be renamed “Takanofuji”, and some Terunofuji fans got really pissed off, because that name was chosen by Takanohana, and he used the same “no” as “Terunofuji” – ノ- and they really don’t want the unfortunate former Ozeki from Isegahama to have anything in common with the tsukebito-beating brat from Takanohana beya (now Chiganoura).
But not all fujis are even 富士. In this case, the “fuji” in “Tagonofuji” is 藤 – “Wisteria”, which is a lovely plant with lilac-colored flowers. He also has that ノ – but nobody seems to have any issue with that.
OK, back from our tangent, let’s continue our round around the walls. Ikioi and Chiyoshoma want to have a practice bout, and go for the full monty, including the sonkyo (ceremonial crouch):
But the actual execution is a little less impressive:
The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast Of Traal must be roaming the Jungyo grounds again, because Aoiyama is doing his best to hide from it:
See how useful towels are?
Guess who the rikishi stretching near the wall is?
Hint: he is considered about as ravenous as that beast of Traal. Look at those thighs!
And I can’t really move on to the on-dohyo exercise without showing you Takanosho and his Mickey-Mouse towel:
Now that Kakuryu has joined the Jungyo, he also practices with his tsukebito. So we can get reacquainted with Shohoryu. Who is not Hoshoryu.
Looks like Shohoryu’s servitude is rather intense. I assure you, though – Kakuryu is not the type to give his tsukebito bitter memories. Hard work – sure. In fact, the one who gets to practice in this photo is the tsukebito, not the Yokozuna:
His former tsukebita all respect the Yokozuna very much.
Another tsukebito who is being respectful is the American delegate to the Jungyo, Musashikuni:
Actually, judging from their positions, Takayasu is on the dohyo. So I’m guessing this is not just a show of respect, but the cup of water Ozeki enjoy when they do san-ban. There is probably another tsukebito with some towels around as well.
At one corner, we have a nice show of rhythmic gymnastics:
These guys take their exercise seriously. Here is Tobizaru doing a wheelbarrow exercise:
Enho is not allowing himself to trail behind:
It’s actually very rare to see Enho practice together with his heya-mate, Ishiura, in Jungyo.
So here is some on-dohyo practice. We have Azumaryu with Chiyomaru and with Ishiura:
Jokoryu with Akiseyama, then Jokoryu with Hakuyozan:
The on-dohyo exercise that really drew attention this day was this:
Yes, for the first time in this Jungyo, Yokozuna Hakuho is practicing actual sumo, not just giving butsukari/kawaigari. In fact, it’s the first time in the past 3 months!
Hakuho took Shodai for 8 san-ban matches, and won all of them.
He said at first he was a bit hesitant about doing actual sumo (interestingly, he doesn’t consider the “wari” bouts to be actual sumo), but as the bouts flowed, he was relieved to find himself in satisfactory shape.
The practice part of the day gone, the sekitori went to shower and have their hair done. Then some relaxed in the shitaku-beya and… what are you reading, exactly, Mitakeumi?
It’s a magzine. And it appears that it’s a magazine about very poor women, who can’t afford to buy much in the way of clothing. I’m sure he is reading this magazine out of warm empathy with the poor women who need to go through the winter wearing no more than three square centimeters of cloth each.
OK… outside the shitakubeya, Juryo wrestlers were getting ready for their dohyo-iri. And that means Enho. And that means a bunch of guys vying for Enho skin:
In this very short clip we have Terutsuyoshi who, as usual, has the pixie in his arms. Then as the pixie cuts loose, it gets groped by Jokoryu, and then, although Terutsuyoshi tries to get some attention, Tobizaru also lays a paw on the tiny Miyagino man. Twice! And how about that hand fan the fan hands him? It’s bigger than his head! And it has “Enho” on one side and an element from his Kesho-mawashi on the other.
Seriously, everybody loves Enho.
Juryo bouts are performed, Kakuryu demonstrates rope tying, and so Yago has to wait his turn patiently (when there is a rope tying demonstration, it takes place before the last three Juryo bouts). Yago is lonely, and needs a hug:
And then it’s time for Makuuchi dohyo-iri. And of course… it’s boring to wait for dohyo-iri… so let’s play a game!
For those who have not seen it in previous Jungyo, this game is a Japanese children’s game called Atchi-Muite-Hoi. The two players do rock-papers-scissors. The one who wins moves his finger in any of four directions – up, down, left or right, and the loser has to move his head in one of the same four directions. If he moves his head in a different direction than the winner’s finger, he is safe, and the game begins again. But if he moves his head in the same direction – he loses the game. And in this case, he receives a punishment – a dekopin. The second dekopin is so painful, that Tamawashi immediately decides he wants to play, too. 🙄
The dohyo-iri is followed by the Yokozuna dohyo-iri. It seems Hakuho is working on straightening his arms:
But Kakuryu’s are still straighter:
And then it’s time for Makuuchi bouts. And if you thought for a second that Tamawashi would leave off at the dohyo-iri, you are dead wrong:
Poor Kagayaki. Definitely got the cooties there
Tamawashi has been on his best behavior as long as he was on the Island of Kyushu. He has a reputation to maintain in Fukuoka. But as soon as he is back in Honshu… rikishi beware!
Later (because Nishikigi is in a surprisingly high position on the banzuke) we also get the good old “where are Nishikigi’s glasses?” game:
Glasses make you look smarter!
Well… unless you’re Shodai. In his case, glasses make him look ridiculous. But then, many things tend to make Shodai look ridiculous.
Eventually Nishikigi gets back from his bout and wins his glasses back:
Ooh, somebody is getting confident (much to the amusement of Narutaki).
Ah, yes. I have no bouts whatsoever. Sorry… Here is a cogitating monkey for you instead:
My guess is that Mitakeumi wasn’t actually doing a lot of reading there. ;-)
So that’s what Mitakeumi does instead of practicing 🙄
There’s an interesting cultural point here: if a top British sports star were to be seen in public perusing a “gentleman’s special interest” magazine he would be metaphorically flayed alive on twitter. They do things differently in Japan.
Perhaps Mitakeumi is thinking, “Hey, I spend my professional life wearing next to nothing before millions of eyes, so what’s the big deal?”
or, growing up in a population that doesn’t suffer so much from grotesquely puritanical attitudes, he might be experiencing something like ‘wow, she sure is purdy!’
Which population is that, I wonder.
I wonder who took this picture and where it was published
I picked it from that magzine’s Twitter account, of all places.
I think Enho is treated a bit like a leprechaun, it’s good luck if you catch him. And that expression on Mitakeumi’s face Is as revealing as his magazine 😄
Sensei I have a question! What is the “武” in “阿武咲” (Onosho)? Is it a fourth way to write “no”?
I don’t think so. The 阿武 part comes from his oyakata’s name, Onomatsu. The Onomatsu myoseki started with Yokozuna Onomatsu, the 6th Yokozuna. His shikona was after a pine grove called “Abu no matsubara” – Abu being another reading of 阿武. But the reading “Ono” was used instead.
“It’s spelled Raymond Luxury-Yacht, but it’s pronounced Throat-Wobbler Mangrove”.
Aaaaah Hyacinth 😁
It pleases me greatly to see Tamawashi getting up to his backstage, bored mischief again!
so takayasu is too important to clip his nails into the trash basket?
no doubt his lessers will tidy up after him
treating the world like your own private toilet bowl is no way to show leadership or earn respect
seven demerits and no yusho for him
at least until he can learn third grade manners
Um, I wouldn’t get all worked out about clipping his nails over his personal towel. If it’s he or his tsukebito who goes and shakes it over a trash can – in either case it’s not a big deal.
And frankly, not all places have the same rules of politeness. In my country, for example, people eat sunflower seeds during sports events – and usually just throw the shells around them. I don’t like that much, and always bring a bag with me, but it’s considered acceptable in general. In Japan it used to be common for people to spit in the streets in the 80s. I haven’t seen it recently, though.
interesting and well put
thank you
(and an extra-big thank you for your dependable, upbeat and very fun coverage of jungyo world;
worth so much)
still, at just one rank below the top
isn’t it time to move toward more exemplary behavior? youngsters are watching and learning
after all, aren’t the champions still gods? (or, at least, somewhat godlike?)
if we leave out the spiritual, what is sumo worth?
a real rikishi gives babies real blessings
not just pretend
we can still hope that none of us has a photo of raiden, chiyonofuji or hakuho
exhibiting their private grooming in a public forum
inconsiderate, arrogant and icky
is there nowhere left in our world as a temple?
i would prefer to see Hakuho trimming his nails into his towel than ignoring lower ranked rikishi showing respect by greeting him or by the disturbing extra shoves.
i hadn’t heard about him ignoring juniors
anyone doing that without cause is doing wrongly
as to the extra shoves, agreed
disturbing and unworthy of the yokozuna
both are independent from the topic of private grooming performed in public
for which the only excuse is ignorance, and that only briefly
I like the frame design of Nishikigis glasses, suits him (and all the others who put it on – I remember a picture of Shohozan) very well. For me, every man with glasses looks attractive anyway :-)
This year I spent a week in Tokyo during Natsu Basho and managed to go to the Kokugikan – the first time I’ve ever seen rikishi in real life – I was surprised how many rikishi wear glasses.
Again, my poor underrated Shodai…. I wouldn’t agree that he looks ridiculous, but always cute – with or without glasses… Could it be that he is just a good-natured guy? So, would please someone let him know I will always stick by him ;-)