The NPR sports show Only a Game has a 6 1/2-minute segment on Sumo.  It’s largely a primer on the sport but also focuses a lot on Asashoryu, the controversial, Mongolian, grand champion who is one of one of only two top-ranked yokozuna.  In brief, he seems to get himself into trouble such as breaking a car mirror after a […]

The New York Times recently ran an article on horse breeding in Japan.  I have to say, horse breeding and horse racing are not my thing, but if you’re into it, give the article a read.  It mostly focuses on a horse named Casino Drive who is related to many big-name horses and is living and training in […]

The news reports on the Japan leg of the Bejing Olympic torch (which some are calling the “flame of shame”) relay in Nagano made me wish I had been there with a camera.
Large numbers of Chinese “students” were on hand as were groups of free Tibeters, all of whom seemed to be carrying flags and […]

Danica Patrick became the first woman to win an Indy Car race by winning the Japan 300 in Motegi. I’m not a huge motor sports fan myself, but it is certainly a historic first and worth noting. Here’s ESPN’s take on the event.
Patrick finished 5.8594 seconds ahead of pole-sitter Helio Castroneves on the 1.5-mile Twin Ring Motegi oval after […]

A BBC article asks
The Chinese guards protecting the Olympic torch have been described as heavy-handed, aggressive and even thugs. Who are the men in blue tracksuits?
A Times article responds - “The Chinese torch guards are actually paramilitary police from a squad spun off from the army,” and goes on to say that they will […]

The New York Times has a quartet of articles related to Japan.
One article deals with a lawsuit regarding WWII forced suicides. I have not heard much about this issue before and it is quite interesting. The topic of revisionist history is a universal one. In this particular case an author wrote about […]

The Washington Post recently had an excellent recap on the ongoing investigation into the death of Takashi Saito, a 17-year-old wrestler who was literally tortured to death by his stablemaster and mates.
His death, which police initially ruled to be the result of “heart disease,” led to the arrest last month of his former sumo […]

In case you were losing sleep wondering about it, a study conducted at University of Glasgow has come to the conclusion that the color of a judoka’s gi (uniform) does not affect the outcome of the match. Apparently, there were studies out there that claimed blue uniforms provided some sort of edge over white ones. […]

The British Olympic Association (BOA) reportedly is forcing the nation’s athletes to sign contracts that effectively ban them from speaking out against human rights abuses in China.
The controversial clause has been inserted into athletes’ contracts for the first time and forbids them from making any political comment about countries staging the Olympic Games.
The […]

He made his only previous appearance in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964 at the age of 22. You might expect 66-year-old Hiroshi Hoketsu to be looking forward to spectating at this year’s games, but remarkably, after a 44-year absence, he stands to make a record-breaking comeback when Japan officially announces its Olympic […]

If you thought you’d seen the last of the Kameda family, I’ve news for you. They’re back. I know. I’ve missed them too.
The demure, urbane and modest Koki Kameda, it has been announced, will return to the ring on March 22 for a non-title bout with Spanish flyweight Jose Lopez Bueno at Makuhari Messe […]

On gaining respect for Japan’s oldest sport

Two titans squaring off
Sumo — quivering mounds of flesh set into sudden motion that is at once jarring and engaging. It’s the sport of gods, literally. However, it took me some time to appreciate sumo. Long before I made my way over to Japan, my image of sumo […]

If you thought sumo a sport of slow moving fat guys in thongs engaged in an aggressive shoving match, guess again.
As any follower of Sumo knows, Sumo wrestlers are fast, strong, and agile. They also know how to take a fall real well. And they get tossed around a lot.
The following is a series of […]

Young golf star Ryo Ishikawa marked the New Year by turning professional last week, thereby becoming Japan’s youngest ever pro.
Still only 16, Ishikawa set off for Australia today to make his professional debut in a tournament that would see him qualify for this summer’s Open Championship (British Open) if he secured a top four finish […]

Fourteen year old Mirai Nagasu has won the senior Ladies Free Skate at the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul. She was the leader after her short program.
And despite an early fall in her long program, went on to capture the gold.

Congratulations to Mirai Nagasu!

Sumo fans will remember 2007 as something of a low point. Record low numbers of recruits, diminishing media coverage of actually wrestling, and instead of scandal after scandal - first the death of a young rikishi attributed to a brutal training regime, and then the rather strangely larger row that blew up when Asashoryu […]

There’s a new queen of the ice and her name is Mirai Nagasu. Both her parents are Japanese, but Nagasu herself was born in the US and holds American citizenship; she has always skated for the US. Her parents are dedicated to her success, and the hard work seems to be paying off.

This clip is […]

Have you ever noticed that when two groups occupy a similar space, rivalries emerge? Whether you’re talking about Mac vs PC, Coke vs Pepsi, or the national rugby teams of Australia and New Zealand, each party will try as hard as they can to win against their hated rivals.
The top two private universities in […]

Mr. Pink writes in to tip us to a story about the All-Japan Bodybuilding Tournament held in Tokyo last year.
The following video is of Aki Nishimoto, a 41-year-old Tokyoite, who took the title of Miss Japan.