January 2011
| This page contains information about Honbasho 2011. |
| It’s Sumo time! 2011 January Grand Tournament Honbasho is up and running. |
 Honbasho 2011
How to watch Sumo The best way to watch sumo is on NHK TV at first and then go watch it live. It usually comes on TV at 4:00 pm and lasts until 6:00 pm. The Japanese Sumo Association has an English website with links to goo that they update live when you’re watching it on TV. If you don’t live in Japan and still want to watch the Sumo you can go here: Important Links English Japanese East and west indicates the sumo’s names and in the center is the Kimarite used after the fight. If you click on the sumo’s name you will get their stats: height, weight, age, wins, loses, country or prefecture of origin – and much more. If you click on the Kimarite it will show you a diagram of two sumos with a description of the term. List of sumo wrestlers with images and stats Other Links http://www.bitesizejapanese.com/category/7-blog/sumo-2011/ Divisions There are 2 divisions: Makuuchi Division and Makushita Division. The Makuuchi is the upper division whereas the Makushita is the lower division. The Makuuchi is the one televised at 4:00 pm on NHK. Terminology As you would expect, there are a lot of terminology in Sumo. Kimarite – technique used There are over 70 different Kimarite terms for techniques used to get the other opponent out of the ring. Here’s a list of the terms: Kimarite terms In English with Kanji In English only In Japanese Other important terms Yaocho – fixed match Win – Lose terminology Kachi – win Watching it on TV The opponents will be east and west of each other; left and right. When the names are horizontal to each other there will be numbers in red between them. This indicates how many wins they’ve had against each other. When the names are vertical to each other you will see to the left and right of the names the rankings of each opponent. Ranking and salary in months yokozuna: 2,820,000 or about $30,500 USD 2011 Famous Sumo Wrestlers Hakuho – top wrestler from Mongolia – Yokozuna This is just the tip of the ice burg with Sumo. I recommend buying this little sumo pocket guide book by David Shapiro for more references: http://www.bitesizejapanese.com/7-blog/lances-book-club/sumo-pocket-guide-david-shapiro/ |
