Word: sumo
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Japanese political life is usually as exciting as a Noh play. But the events leading up to September's Diet election had all the thrills of a sumo smackdown. In August, the Diet had voted down one of the most cherished reform projects of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi?a plan to privatize the government postal system, which, among other things, is the world's largest savings bank. Koizumi then made good on a threat many had considered a bluff. He dissolved the Diet's lower house and called a snap election, positioning the vote as a referendum on whether...
...President of Chile is as arbitrary as saying that I would like to be the world champion of sumo wrestling in Japan...
...Performance of the Week In his hometown of Dzuljunica, Bulgaria, he is known as Kaloyan Stefanov Mahlyanov. But in Japan, he is KOTOOSHU, the country's hottest sumo wrestler. After a brilliant performance in last month's Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament (which included his decisive defeat of Japan's top-ranked wrestler), the Japan Sumo Association promoted the 22-year-old to ozeki, the sport's second-highest rank. The 143-kg former amateur wrestling champ is the first European to hold the title, and he achieved it in just 19 tournaments?the fastest advance in the history of Japan...
...Japan, however, sumo is not just a sport but also a revered institution, an intrinsic part of the national genome. A number of its esoteric rituals are rooted in Shinto, the native animist religion, and its training emphasizes ancient Japanese virtues, such as duty, fortitude and respect for elders, as much as it does pure athletic prowess. Even though the foreign invasion has reignited public interest in the stagnating sport, many elders at the clubby and hidebound Japan Sumo Association have become fearful that admitting too many hungry foreign upstarts will dilute what they routinely rhapsodize as professional sumo...
Since most sumo stables have filled their quota, there are very few that can even consider taking on Gorgadze, no matter how bright his prospects. Wearing the traditional mawashi loincloth and taping his feet just before a recent practice, Gorgadze says, "I know I would do well if I were given a shot." If something doesn't open up soon, he says, he will be forced to return to Georgia in January when his temporary visa expires. And that will probably be the end of his dream. "I don't really understand why the rule exists," he says with...