Tachiai exists for the sumo fan community. We do not want to alienate any fans so we will not use photos without permission, and the photos will be sourced. Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and other social media embeds are different from static images as they directly reference the source and visibility is under the control of the source. In those cases, the blog is merely pointing to or referencing a publicly available account on a publicly available website.
I am very responsive to requests to remove content. If anyone wished to request we remove content there are have been several options, either leave a comment on the blog, or reach out via social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). My DMs are open and there has always the option of directly reaching out by tweeting @tachiai_blog.
However, I realize I may miss a comment or a tweet…about six months ago I gave up on my goal of reading every comment because some of these threads take on a life of their own. So, to consolidate, I have set up an email account: andrew.martin@tachiaitimes.com. If you want me to remove any content, email me.
Many fans have been quite happy to share content and I would like to formalize that, as well. So I also want to extend an invitation to any in the sumo fan community who want to proactively join a Tachiai “White List” of Twitter and Social Media accounts to share your content. If you join the white list, we will post your pictures with clear attribution and you can still request that we pull down any pictures at any time (maybe you don’t want your boss to see a picture of that time you went to Jungyo with an AV model or when you were out sick from work😁). If you want to be white listed, and probably add a few dozen followers, email me or DM me on Twitter and I will add you to the list.
A Personal Note from Andy
I started Tachiai several years ago as a way to reach out the sumo fan community, especially the English-speaking fan community. Community is key to our purpose and mission, and because of that I am making things a bit harder on us than is really necessary. I wanted to write about sumo and share news, free from the stereotypes and nonsense, because the main news outlets do not do enough. I realize people do get news from us and because of that have started to hold us to a standard of journalism, which is quite flattering…if a bit misplaced. We’re a blog, not the NHK, AP or Financial Times.
The NHK and Sumo Kyokai are doing great things for English-speaking and foreign fans and I like to think that we have caused some of those efforts. The Sumopedia is wonderful. Their sumo site continues to add more content, from basics, to technique and even some data. But American news media never covers sumo, when they do it’s loaded with misconceptions based on stereotypes. And many of the formal Japanese news outlets prioritize sumo below figure-skating and high school baseball, and when they cover sumo they certainly do not cover our favorite low-ranked wrestlers. For example, Herouth found this gem featuring Midorifuji practicing with Sakurafuji, two guys who we wouldn’t know existed, much less be able to watch without the ability to travel to Japan.
Along with Japan, I’ve studied in and traveled in Latin America. I have many friends there now, and many more who’ve moved to the US. In the past week, there were major news stories in Mexico and Ecuador or continuing drama in Honduras and Argentina (and now Chile?), which never get any coverage, so we do find quite a bit through our friends and others on Social Media. As the noted, it “is really a news source.” But the unfiltered firehose of Social Media can be too intense. I definitely don’t let my kids on there now…and this is why I see Tachiai’s mission as so critical. Being able to share news about sumo, with friends, free from trolls.
We want to learn more about sumo and our favorite wrestlers. Hakuho’s arm appears to be healing well and Takayasu may be able to compete in November. But Enho may have real challenges if he ever makes it into the joi. We fans want more and Tachiai will continue to curate what we can.