This photo of the week is for the cosplay fans. This was taken during the 2010 World Cosplay Summit, in Nagoya.
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On the final day of the Osaka Spring Tournament we enter this day with these stunning facts:
- Mongolian Sekiwake-ranked Kakuryu has 13wins-1loss
- Fellow Mongolian Hakuho has 12wins-2losses
- Kakuryu needs Hakuho to lose to avoid a play-off and to win by regulation.
- If Kakuryu wins, he will be the first Sekiwake to win the tournament, and be promoted to the second highest rank Ozeki since 1999.
* Sekiwake is a low rank, Yokuzunas are the highest and most expert ranked wrestlers.
Today
- Homasho charges against and defeats the thrusting Miyabiyama.
- Toyonoshima defeats Kitataiki by going belly to belly, and wins a pile of cash and also wins his fourth technique prize, which also includes a pile of cash.
- Tochinoshin defeats Fujiazuma the dirty way by jumping high and pushing his forearms down on Fujiazuma’s back forcing his to the floor.
- Wakakoryu defeats Tochiozan by locking up his arms in a sumo cuddle and forces him out.
- Gagamaru defeats Tokyotenho by big-dude barge out
- Aminishiki narrowly defeats Aran, as both fall out of the ring. Video replay might have offered a different outcome.
- Goeido defeats Kakuryu in a sharp and fast start, causing a huge upset. Kakuryu is now at two losses, matching Hakuho, causing a play-off. Goeido worked hard for his home crowd, and spoilt the tournament for Kakuryu fans. Everybody’s now on edge.
- Kotoshogiku slides Kisenosato out of the ring for a cringe-making-fall of the side of the ring. Good sumo from Kotoshogiku.
- Harumafuji swings / rolls Koto Ooshu out of the ring. Very spectacular. Everyone in Bulgaria must have cringed and closed their eyes.
- Hakuho struggles against the Estonian Baruto and almost loses.
Play-off: Hakuho vs. Kakuryu
I had to turn Twitter off in the lead up as hash-tag #sumo was overwhelming my computer! Wow! Twitter was going wild!
Kakuryu wasn’t mentally prepared enough with his eyes, for the first time, too close on the prize. Exciting. Hakuho forced Kakuryu to the edge of the ring, kakuryu came so close with his feel on the hay bales, and heels so close to the dirt, Kakuryu was able to lever forward a little, rescued himself, just to be rolled over any way. He will be promoted to Ozeki any way. The whole situation reminds me of the wonderful potential of Harumafuji. Well done to Hakuho, and to Kakuryu for his first attempt at the Emperors Cup.
File image of Hakuho, Nagoya, July 2011
There are soooo many things to see and do in Japan, and so this list cannot do this country justice. However, if you have just five things to aim for, put these in that list, and let everything else be added bonuses.
1. Kinkakuji Temple (aka ‘Golden Pavilion’)
Kinkakuji (and by extension, Kyoto) is the number one destination for Japanese tourists, school groups, traveling seniors, university clubs, and more. Many foreign tourists place Asakusa as #1 just because it’s in Tokyo and therefore closer to the airport than Kinkakuji, so Asakusa should be your bonus.
2. A temple & shrine
Any temple or shrine should do. The one pictured below is in some small neighbourhood in a no-where special part of Japan, and all that glitters is often old, and gold. The decorations, aesthetics, and mood, and feeling is quite different to a christian church. Christian churches are criticised for plundering the poor just to fill their own coffers, but reality is religious buildings in most countries are old, and through time gradually accumulate such pretty things. Admire the uniqueness of the Japanese temples and shrines.
A statue of Buddha leaning forward ready to help someone in need, inside the Jokoji Temple of the Jodo Shinshu sect of Japanese Buddhism.
3. A festival.
Any (traditional) Japanese festival. These are typically so different to what you are used to. The locals often dress up in true-Japanese dress, kimono in spring / autumn, yukata in summer, and happi (shirt / jackets) for most things else. As you would see in the Kuwana Ishidori these aren’t parades meant to be watched, but parades meant to be participated in. Also see the Tagata Fertility Festival, the Naked Man Festival, the Nagoya Dance Festival, and more.
4. Todai-ji (The Big Buddha temple, aka Daibutsu)
The Todai-ji is in Nara, the city regarded as the original and ancient capital of Japan. There are many things to see of historical Japan. To journey to Nara, is also to indulge in Japanese history… assuming you read the history section of your guide book on your way to experience Nara. Much of the foundation of Japanese history is acclaimed to begin here. However, you should also consider the Shinto religion’s equivalent to the Vatican: Ise Shrine.
5. Food
It is the signature of any country. The foods, restaurants, the servings, dishes, cutleries, garnishes, and condiments are mostly unique to each country. Mayonnaise and Thousand Islands dressings are internationally common, but the Japanese love to have mayonnaise with lots of things you haven’t dreamt of; similarly the Taiwanese love Thousand Islands dressing with lots of different foods. Have you ever tasted spicy spaghetti bolognese? Well, South Korea is the place for that. Don’t expect the ingredients to be the same as home. Also don’t expect the real Japanese foods to be like the “Japanese food” you apparently had served to you in ‘Japanese restaurants’ in your home country. And for that matter, don’t expect restaurants serving food from your country to really resemble your country’s food. That said, Japan is a very well-off country, and so there is a wide variety of restaurants for you to discover.
Below, a restaurant district in Kyoto, Japan
Update:
(25th March) Following the updates (see below), there are some inevitable bugs that need some sorting out. Most of these should be sorted in the next week or so.
Original notice:
I received this e-mail from the host of my PhotoShelter portfolio:
Dear PhotoShelter Member,
This is a final reminder to help you prepare for the full system downtime and major feature upgrades coming on March 24. We’re all really excited to bring you the first phase of a brand new PhotoShelter, and it kicks off this weekend. …
Planned Downtime:
The following is the official time window for the planned system downtime:
Date: Saturday, 24 March 2012
Summary: PhotoShelter System Upgrade – Full Site Downtime
Duration: 8 hours
START: 12:01 AM EDT 24-MAR-2012
END: 08:00 AM EDT 24-MAR-2012
(US Eastern Daylight Time; UTC-04:00)
Announcement of website maintenance
The crowd got a lot of sweaty sumo action today, and a day of upsets.
- Aminishiki wipes the ring with his opponent, and uses his opponent to wipe out an umpire sitting on the side, and a member of the crowd.
- The bruised-pride of Baruto easily overcomes Harumafuji with thrusting-at-neck attack. Harumafuji falls onto the same umpire who was squashed and bruised in the previous bout.
- Kakuryu (I still don’t know how to spell his name) struggles in a belly-to-belly battle, but overcomes Kotoshogiku.
- Bulgarian Koto Ooshu easily pushes out Russian Aran, they both hold onto each other, and fall out together and into the crowd.
- SURPRISE!!!!!!! Kisenosato (aka Blinky) pushes out top-ranked Mr Undefeatable Hakuho!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS Kisenosato
Summary
- Low-ranked Kakuryu, with one loss, is now the sole leader of the tournament.
- Top-ranked Yokuzuna Hakuho now has two losses.
- If Kakuryu loses one bout, he would need to face Hakuho on the final day. Often the higher ranked wrestler wins and takes home the Emperor’s Cup.
File image, Kisenosato is the wrestler with the bull and frog apron.
The Day 11 Round up.
I’ve been doing this when I can on Google+, but thought I should start putting some round up summaries here, too.
- Wow! Aminishiki dominates Toshinowaka, only to make a mistake and gets pushed out. Amazing bout.
- Kakyuryu defeats Yogiryu in an exciting / entertaining battle of arm flailing (the win is officially known as an “under-shoulder swing down” I saw it, but I have no idea what the official announcement means).
- Harumafuji narrowly defeats Kisenosato by push out on the second attempt, and both fell out of the ring and on top of each other.
- Out-of-form Koto Ooshu narrowly defeats his in-form Euro rival Baruto by push-out and fall-on-top-of maneuver, only to be rolled on top of by Baruto.
- Hakuho struggles a little but eventually pushes out Kotoshogiku in true textbook style. NHK announcer says “Kotoshogiku’s biggest weapon is his belly”, but wasn’t big enough today.
Special spring offer! Use this coupon code: SAKURA2012 for a 10% discount on any photo purchase (including the one below). USD$20 minimum purchase, good until the 10th April 2012 (hurry, while you remember!), and only at my PhotoShelter portfolio.Get this or any other image as prints, mouse pads, mugs, downloads for your project or blog, and more. See the blog for details: http://japanesephotos.asia/blog/2012/03/sakura-coupon/
File image of Baruto (blue) and Koto Ooshu (black):
Special spring offer! Use this coupon code: SAKURA2012 for a 10% discount on any photo purchase (including the one below). USD$20 minimum purchase, good until the 10th April 2012 (hurry, while you remember!), and only at my PhotoShelter portfolio.
Get this or any other image as prints, mouse pads, mugs, downloads for your project or blog, and more.
This Photo of the Week is of cherry blossoms (sakura) at Nagoya Castle in Japan. Soon companies, family groups, friends will gather and start picnicing under these trees. They’ll have a little too much to eat, and a little too much beer. It’s a rare time when Japanese will let their hair down and relax. All the while pretending that it’s not uncomfortably cool.
Tags: cherry blossoms, japan, japanese, potw, sakura
This Photo of the Week is for Spring. In southern parts of Japan cherry blossoms, known in Japanese as ‘sakura’, will soon start blooming, and as the warmer temperature clime moves north blomming will reach central Japan early April, and be in Hokkaido at about the end of April early May. Of the many species of cherry blossoms in Japan, the particular ones Japanese most enjoy bloom for just one week. However, some springs are a bit windy which blows the petals away within a few days, and some springs are warm and so the blooming time can be almost two weeks. Whilst the flowers are in bloom, many community groups, groups of friends & families, and companies get together for picnic, barbeques, and to consume lots of Asahi beer. This kind of party is known in Japanese as ‘hanami’, translated as ‘flower viewing’.
The reason why cherry blossoms became so popular for parties is that they are a metaphor for a warrior’s life. It is short lived, beautiful, and ends suddenly. The tradition continues in modern times presumably because it is a convenient narrow-point in the calendar to identify the time for such parties. In spring there are other species of cherry blossoms that bloom for almost a whole month, and the much prettier plum flowers bloom for a month or so as well.
Tags: cherry blossoms, hanami, japan, japanese, potw, sakura
Radioactive rice may enter the food chain later this year
According to NHK the government announced that for Tohoku-region farmers unable to grow rice last year many rice fields contaminated with radiation can plant rice this year. The government reports that 2% of rice harvested last year contained between 100-500 bequerels of radiation, whilst 0.2% had more than 500bq which is not fit for consumption. The decision was made because of concern for farmers’ livelihoods and maintenance of good quality rice fields. Criticisms included no measures for stringent oversight preventing contaminated rice of more than 500bq to slip into the national rice supplies; no means of disposal of contaminated rice; nor financial incentive for farmers and local officials to be honest. Further, it appears to be a commercial decision in sympathy with farmers, and with less regard for consumers.
Previously there were reports in 2010 of expired rice meant for industrial uses, including glue production, was bought from government stocks and commercially resold to pre-schools and schools for childrens’ lunches in the period between about 2005 and 2010.
More pictures of Japanese rice can be found at my gallery:
Rice – Images by Andrew Blyth
Tags: contaminated, contamination, food, japan, japanese, radiation, rice