Tokyo’s Hotel “Budget” Town | Ryogoku & Sumo Arena Street View

Inside Japan’s Sumo World

 

We enter the secretive world of Japanese sumo, where athletes undertake relentless training and eating, and any scandals are quickly covered up.

In Japan, sumo is more than just a sport. It is akin to a religion, with its stars hailed as demigods.

But it’s a world closed to outsiders, one where professional athletes live together 24 hours a day, women are considered unclean, and scandals are covered up.

Exploring Japans Sumo Town at 6:30 am

 

Today we are exploring Japan’s sumo town right here in Tokyo. From the sumo stadium to the restaurants and training stables… today we are exploring Ryogoku!

BEGIN Japanology - Sumo HD

Health Emergency At Sumo Match Fully Displays Japan's Misogyny

While giving a speech at Sumo match in Western Japan the mayor of the city collapsed after suffering a stroke. What happened next was just beyond the pale even for these misogynistic assholes.

Kyodo news agency reported that Maizuru city Mayor Ryozo Tatami collapsed after suffering a stroke, while making a speech at the Maizuru Culture Park Gymnasium near Kyoto on Wednesday and after several women rushed to help the prone official, a referee repeatedly asked them to leave the dohyo. An announcer's voice was heard over the PA system twice asking the women, who were giving the mayor a heart massage and other assistance, to leave the dohyo.

Fortunately the first responders  persited and the major was transported to a nearby hospital were he's in a stable condition expected to make a complete recovery. 

七人の力士-SEVEN SUMO-How Are 7 Sumo Like A Toyota? Watch and Find Out

Japan has produced plenty of amusing, bizarre, and emotional commercials, some of which still make us chuckle to this day. Only time will tell, but we’re pretty sure this new video from Toyota will be another unusual entry that will have us giggling for weeks come. Why? It features seven sumo wrestlers jogging through Los Angeles as a metaphor for the safety of their cars. There’s even a near head-on collision with a group of running cheerleaders as well as a scene of the wrestlers “filling up” on a meal served at a fueling station.

Part of the weirdness definitely comes from the voice-over, which sounds as if it’s being done by a native English speaker who’s been given a poorly romanized script of the Japanese text to read directly. We have no idea why, but we suppose it must appeal to…an audience. We don’t know who they are, but we’re happy if they’re happy!

Japan upset at French magazine's Fukushima cartoon

Satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine published a cartoon depicting sumo wrestlers with extra limbs competing in front of a crippled nuclear plant, which said the disaster had made it a feasible Olympic sport.

Another cartoon showed two people standing in front of a pool of water while wearing nuclear protection suits and holding a Geiger counter, saying water sport facilities had already been built at Fukushima.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the satirical jabs give the wrong impression about Japan. The government has repeatedly claimed the accident and its waste water problem are under control and should not affect the Olympics.