Maybe it was All Just a North Korean Plot?
Tokyo newspapers are reporting that former yokozuna Asashoryu, who retired in disgrace earlier this year after winning the January sumo tournament, was part of an official Mongolian delegation that...
View ArticleMidway Point at the Kokugikan
The current Summer Sumo tournament in Tokyo has reached the halfway point. It’s been insanely busy around my house, so I’ve managed to watch just a couple of days–and then only by using the...
View ArticleThis and That
We spent yesterday afternoon at the Field Museum of Natural History, taking in the “Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age” exhibit. The centerpiece artifact is Lyuba, the one-month-old mammoth...
View ArticleSumo in Trouble
The powers-that-be in the world of sumo have backed themselves into a corner. The artificially inflated ethical standards that were invoked to dethrone the foreign yokozuna Asashoryu now prove...
View ArticleThis and That
It must be summer, cuz you’re never around (a good line stolen from the Fountains of Wayne). But I protest: I really am around. You just wouldn’t know it from the paucity of blog updates lately. I’m...
View ArticleSumo in Fukuoka
Everyone was looking forward to the current sumo tournament in Fukuoka. Indeed, it’s turned out to be one of the most exciting basho we’ve had in years — but not for the reasons we anticipated. Before...
View ArticleThe New Year Sumo Tournament
It ended today in Tokyo with yokozuna Hakuho knocking off ozeki Baruto (who had already sewn up the title three days earlier), thereby denying the latter a perfect record for the tournament. Here’s the...
View ArticleThe Coming Weekend
It’s going to be a busy weekend. Friday, I’m planning to head downtown to catch Kids These Days, a terrific group that combines hip hop, jazz and R&B, in their set at Columbia College’s “Manifest”...
View ArticleThis and That: Two Weeks in the Life
Apologies for the radio silence around these parts in recent days. It’s been a busy, fun couple of weeks since last I posted here. I was in Tokyo for six days last week, meeting with other scholars and...
View ArticleLooking Back on 2012 (Part One)
I have several projects with looming year-end deadlines. I really should be working on those this morning. Which, of course, makes this an excellent time to devote instead to an update here. 2012 is...
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