Making Light of Sumo
The Nagoya sumo tournament gets underway a week from Sunday. The banzuke (ranking chart) was released last week, with yokouzuna Hakuho occupying the top slot. Fellow yokozuna Asashoryu is up to his usual tricks: after spending many weeks on vacation in Monogolia, he is back in Japan now, snarling at the press and maintaining an irregular training schedule.
Ozeki Harumafuji, who won the last tournament in May, seems to be the fellow to watch this time. He is carrying out degeiko (visiting other sumo stables to conduct practice matches against their wrestlers) on an almost daily basis. A second consecutive title could put him into contention for promotion to yokozuna, though it seems a bit early for that.
In the meanwhile, retired yokozuna Musashimaru, one of the great Hawaiians who were so prominent in the sport in the 1980s and 90s, has filmed a new commercial with Brad Pitt. The theme of the commercial: how light Softbank cellphones are. Enjoy!
