Author: Andy

Hiroshima-based Fans: Do You Want To Do Sumo?

Andy Japanese Culture, Japanese Language, Japanese Society

Raise your hands if you wish you had a chance to try sumo! Hiroshima University’s sumo club is putting on sumo events that Tachiai readers may be interested in. On October 16, they are holding a tournament for international students and then on the 29th they are holding one open to everyone. So often, we just read about sumo. Here’s your chance to DO IT.

Oo! Oo! Pick me!! Pick ME!!

There will be separate male and female sections. Bring a shirt, shorts and a towel! There will be prizes for top wrestlers. If you don’t want to wrestle and just want to watch, it sounds like this will be a great opportunity to see the next generation of university competitors!

If you’re following the Jungyo dates and schedule, the event on the 29th is two days after the Jungyo’s final date in Hiroshima. For those of you in Western Japan, that sounds like an amazing few days. The final three days of the tour are in different areas of Hiroshima prefecture. It’s quite the opportunity to see your favorite wrestlers (unless your favorite is on the kyujo list) and then actually compete!

If you do go, and you’re interested in writing up your experience for a guest post on Tachiai, let me know. If you have more questions about the event, reach out to the Hiroshima Daigaku Sumo Bu ＠hirodaisumou as in the Tweets above. I wish we had this opportunity 15 years ago in Tokyo! I think this is nearer Bruce’s old stomping grounds but I would have thumbed a ride from Tokyo to give it a try. Good luck!

Ex-Aminishiki Danpatsushiki Date-shiki: October 4, 2020

Andy Aminishiki (安美錦), Retirement ,

As readers will recall, Uncle Sumo, aka, the Prince formerly known as Aminishiki retired during the Natsu basho after suffering a knee injury. The resulting kyujo would have dropped the beloved henka-artist into the Makushita division for the first time this side of Y2K.

Danpatsushiki (photo: Nicola)

When the apocalypse did not come, Aminishiki was promoted to Juryo. Rumor has it, this is because all records kept by the Kyokai at the time were all painstakingly calligraphied, anyway, and all historical footage was on 8mm and VHS. It wasn’t until the iPod came out when everything was quickly transfered to minidisc.

Coincidentally, this last kyujo was exactly 12 years after he first reached the rank of Sekiwake, a rank he last held in the Spring of 2012. Since then, he mostly managed to hang on to his makuuchi status until last year when he was demoted to Juryo for the final time. This past tournament was the first since the world met the Teletubbies and Harry Potter, The Notorious B.I.G. died and your humble correspondent graduated high school, without the gregarious rikishi.

Ex-Aminishiki (Ajigawa oyakata) made the announcement on his blog. That entry also linked to his new retirement website: http://aminishiki.jp/ where tickets are now available to the ceremony at Kokugikan and the after party at the Royal Park Hotel.

Jungyo Update: Takayasu Kyujo, Takakeisho to “Participate” from Oct. 16

Andy injury, Jungyo (巡業), Kyujo (休場), Takakeishō (貴景勝), Takayasu (高安) , , ,

As Herouth noted on Twitter, Takayasu will be kyujo from the upcoming Aki Jungyo. Hopefully this was a reassessment of his injury and not a training setback.

To update our earlier report about Takakeisho’s kyujo, Herouth also tweeted news that the re-Ozeki will participate in the latter half of Jungyo, starting with the Hamamatsu event on October 16.

The Sumo World Salutes Jacques Chirac

Andy Aki Basho 2019

Yesterday, I retweeted a respectful note from a former Yokozuna, mourning the passing of former French President, Jacques Chirac. However, it wasn’t until I read this wonderful article from Dosukoi.fr written by Yohann, I realized just how big of a fan he was.

The infamous, and beloved, macaron has not always been awarded by la Republique. Indeed, Chirac instituted a beautiful little trophy in the year 2000. Again, Yohann’s excellent piece has a great little history about la coupe Jacques Chirac. I highly recommend hopping over for a read. Ozeki Hakuho was the last to win the prize in 2007 when Chirac left office.

After Chirac’s trophy was retired, a new prize was instituted by the Ambassador of France. The new cup has the heads of a couple of roosters but we always take note of the giant replica macaron. The winner actually gets a big box of Pierre Hermes macarons to enjoy.

Chirac visited sumo events several times and often watched and kept tabs on television. He also hosted sumo wrestlers in Paris. Notably, the largest event was the three day Tournament of Bercy (Bercy Basho?) that he hosted a few months after he won the Presidential election in 1995.

Nicolas Sarkozy learned a little lesson in diplomacy when he insulted the sport, creating a little international firestorm. He attempted to insult Chirac by proxy, claiming that it wasn’t exactly an “intellectual’s” sport.

Since culinary lore has it that François Mitterrand’s last meal was the ortolan delicacy, I would not be surprised if Chirac had a bowl of chanko.