Sumo

[Benevolance]

I doubt that there are a lot of sumo fans on the forums here, but...

Goo Sumo usually has a live feed running during sumo tournaments, but the stream quality is typically poor. But since NHK opted not to show the tourney on TV this time around (it's not an official tournament, just a 'test' meet to repopulate the official rankings list) some local businesses have sponsored a better quality feed so people can still watch sumo. They've even included overlays of the wrestlers names and ranks before each match, and they've got announcers for the top-division matches at the end of the day.

The stream starts around 9:00 am Tokyo time and goes until 6 pm. The better matches don't begin until around 4 pm Tokyo time, which is about midnight here in Vancouver.

Anyway, if you're interested in seeing what sumo is all about, you can catch the stream available here.

[vorghagen]

Thanks for the info, I've been hoping to catch some more Sumo since I went to a tournament in Tokyo last May. Enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

[drventure]

If you like Sumo, you might like reading Freakonomics. He's got a very interesting chapter about the Sumo sport in Japan...

[Benevolance]

Although, to be fair, the sumo association did just expel 22 wrestlers over match-fixing in the lower divisions. None of the top sumo wrestlers and no foreigners, though. That's part of the reason that NHK did not broadcast this tournament and why they cancelled the March tournament (which likely would have been cancelled anyway due to the earthquake). It was mostly confined to the lower divisions, though, and had a lot to do with the very unfair economics of the sport.

But sumo is infectuous to watch. On a bit of a whim, my wife and I saw a tournament in Tokyo back in 2008. I've been following it ever since.

Vorhagen, how long did you stay in Japan? Did you just visit Tokyo?

[vorghagen]

I was in Japan for 5 days, stayed mostly in Tokyo but took a day trip somewhere on the bullet train. It was really just an extended stopover on the way to Europe. I'd love to go back though.