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March Tournament 2015: Day 2

Andy Hakuho (白鵬), Harumafuji (日馬富士), Ichinojo (逸ノ城), March Tournament 2015 , , , , , , , , , ,

Harumafuji wanted to end Tochiozan’s slow pre-tachiai ritual. He normally plants the balls of his feet and twists his heels to the center three times…kinda like a slow-mo, fat Dorothy. Well, Harumafuji may have put an end to Dorothy. He did not want to wait and just plowed into Tochi from Kochi. After giving him a little unnecessary extra shove, seems to taunt him a bit more, like, “What are you gonna do?” Uncharacteristically unsportsmanlike but I like the attitude. He’ll need that fire to beat Hakuho.

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March Tournament 2015: Day 1

Andy Hakuho (白鵬), Harumafuji (日馬富士), Injuries, Kakuryu (鶴竜), March Tournament 2015 , , , , , , ,

Day 1 and two big dawgs already down. Kakuryu pulled out of the tournament late due to injury and Ichinojo picked up the forfeit win. Kisenosato was overpowered by Tochi from Kochi. It was a good battle but Tochiozan had inside position and a lower center of balance. Once he got the ozeki to the edge, one last shove sent Kisenosato into the front row. The early loss does not bode well for a Japanese yusho.

With Kakuryu down, it looks like Harumafuji’s hungry again. After a powerful tachiai, he retreated, crouched, and engaged Tamawashi with full force, launching the Komusubi into the spectators. Hakuho followed up with a frenetic disposal of Myogiryu. These two have an interesting history. Myogiryu has gotten a gold star off the yokozuna but he’s also been on the receiving end of a ruthless knockout.

In other first day bouts, Goeido and Kotoshogiku earned decisive victories. Tochinoshin got a great win and Osunaarashi out-maneuvered a hard-charging Kyokutenho for a close victory. That was a good start for the Egyptian since he’s getting over that illness from last week. Hope

Unfortunately, Endo, Ikioi, and Gagamaru all started with losses. Endo charged strong but over committed and got spun around. Toyonoshima was then able to capitalize and push him off the dohyo. Hopefully they can get it going tomorrow.

The matchup I’m looking forward to tomorrow is Tochinoshin vs. Ichinojo. They’ve had some great, evenly contested, bouts, including that amazing uchimuso win for Tochinoshin in January. Ikioi will battle Osunaarashi tomorrow. Takayasu’s got an impressive 8 wins in 12 tries against Goeido so this may be Goeido’s first stumble as ozeki in front of his hometown crowd. It will be an important bout if he wants to have a strong tournament.

As always, thanks to Jason and Kintamayama for the videos!

Ichinojo New Kesho Mawashi

Andy Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Japanese Culture, Sponsorship, Travel , , , , , , , , , ,

Ichinojo has appeared in Baby Star commercials and a cartoon version of him is used on their packaging. Now Baby Star features on his new Kesho Mawashi. At the last tournament, he was sponsored by NiBank, the National Bank of Mongolia.

The Oyatsu Company makes these Baby Star brand ramen chips that are popular among kids in Japan. Oyatsu actually means snack in Japanese. The baby star mascot features on one version of the new Mawashi while Mt. Fuji features on the other with the Oyatsu Company’s name written out in Japanese below the picture.

I’m actually not sure why they haven’t made it to the US, yet, since legit ramen is finally becoming “a thing”. My son loves the chips but I’ve never had them. I will try to remember to have some next time we travel back to Japan.

Osunaarashi has “Apple Disease”

Andy Injuries, Sumo Topics , , , ,

One week ahead of the Osaka tournament and Yahoo! Japan is reporting that Osunaarashi has come down with “Fifth Disease”. In Japan, it’s known as “Apple Disease” because the of the red cheeks one gets from the facial rash. I’m not a doctor but Wikipedia says that in adult patients, swelling joints can lead to an arthritis or arthritis-like condition. His doctor also stated a concern that in adults these can take longer to get well.

Apparently, he would have also been contagious before the symptoms presented so it could be possible that other wrestlers may have contracted it. The incubation period extends over the time of the basho so some may fall ill during the tournament. It would probably be more likely within his training partners, like the others in Otake stable. Let’s hope for a speedy recovery and hope that no one else catches it.