鶴竜も何回も（３、４敗の時）休場する傾向あるではないでしょう！横綱を顔を立てる為、休場は残念ながら珍しくないなぁ。Hakuho and Kakuryu, as Yokozuna are keen to save face! The very real possibility of losing for the fourth day in a row was the perfect opportunity for Hakuho to do just that, unfortunately. Sumo Kai, as well, are not interested in seeing more zabuton fly around Kokugikan. I am extremely disappointed as well. One of many reforms for Sumo that are long overdue.
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He appears to have injured his knee again on day 4 in the bout against Hokutofuji but has been gambarising through it as usual. Apparently he only withdrew when the pain got so bad he couldn’t sleep at night. Even Hakuho has his limits!
Looks like 貴景勝 might be up for an 大関 promotion in March, especially if he wins today! And of course back to back 優勝 won’t hurt his chances either. If 玉鷲 (the current leader) loses to 遠藤 today and 貴景勝 wins his bout, we go to a playoff. And 遠藤 has been looking pretty good for the first time in a few 場所, so you never know…
Edit: Word came back after the end of the playoff that they want 貴景勝 to keep his 大関 run going just to be certain after he lost to current 大関 豪栄道 today. Also 遠藤 went down very fast to 玉鷲 so the 優勝 result was decided before the last match. This is all the more impressive given that 玉鷲 also welcomed his new baby boy into the world early that morning and got very little sleep.
The traditional 場所 macaroon was a lovely pink colour.
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Oh, I’m loving Sumo!! I’ve been watching the tournament on NHK 
, which has coincided with my breakfast for the last two week.
Anyway, watching a lot but not getting most of it, today I resumed my graded readers and picked the Vol.2 of the Level 4… and guess what is it about… Sumo!!! 
… Finally a “for dummies” explanation of everything I’ve been watching.
The volume and corresponding story is this one, in case anyone is interested in both getting some Graded Readers and Sumo.
And in case anybody wants to listen the story, it’s available for free download here. it’s the first one from the Level 4, Vol.2
Anyway, now that I’m much more versed in Sumo terminology and the whole setting of it, I’ll wait for the next tournament in Osaka (march).
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I am glad that you have discovered 大相撲. 
We found it a couple of years ago, and it is now one of the fundamental appeals of Japan for me.
I am going to keep on working on a terminology guide that relates things to Wanikani.
I love the graded reader! I think that I will get it.
I can’t wait for the next 場所!
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Seems like Ura wants to get himself fixed up and keep on slogging away! Source.
Welcome to the agony and ecstasy that is Grand Sumo! 
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大相撲三月場所 starts in less than 24 hours.
I will be posting the 番付 up top before then.
It should be really exciting!
Some easy 力士 names:
明生. めいせい
矢後. やご
正代. しょうだい
Even if you don’t know many kanji, you can match many names to 力士.
の or ノ or 大 or 山 are easy, and you can narrow names down much by using the easy ones.
I enjoyed the first day. 白鵬 is back in good form. All of the other current favorites won: 御嶽海, 高安, 栃ノ心, 貴景勝. It was nice to see 豪栄道 win too.
In terms of Japanese, I can see that I have progressed since January. Then, it took me hours to type 力士 names in correctly. Now, I can do it in just a few minutes!
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@RoseWagsBlue, if you move your topic from the Campfire, it can’t stay in the Campfire Table of Contents with all of the other "… Appreciation Thread"s. Are you sure you want to do this?
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What a decision! Hmmmmmm, I didn’t even know that there was an appreciation thread thread.
I think that I like it being out here in the Kanji section. I intend it to ultimately be a resource for learning kanji through sumo, so I like it to be available for the great wide world. So, leave it in kanji.
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I’m not a sumo fan, but if you follow any Japanese sports, a lot of the sumo vocab is helpful to know. Sumo terminology gets generally used in sports writing. The first time I read about Roger Federer getting a “黒星”, I was so excited I recognized the kanji, and so confused as to what this “black star” thing was.
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I have had the same experience. Occasionally, I hear the term 勝ち越し (かちこし), a term I know well from Sumo, very quickly in passing.
A 大相撲 tournament is fifteen bouts, in fifteen days. A 力士 gets their 勝ち越し, or wining record, when they have won 8 bouts in the tournament. I have still not figured out just how the word is used in common speech.
三日目の遠藤対鶴竜戦を見ています！遠藤は右目に出血があるみたい（初日、豪栄道のは激しい戦で）。。。残念ながら押し出しで、横綱に負けちゃって、黒星。
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This 場所 has been so exciting so far. I love the fierceness of some of these 力士! たかけしょう、みたけうみ、たかやす! So great to see いちのじょう doing throws again.
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Also, don’t forget that this 場所 marks the first time in some three years that 豊ノ島 is taking part in the top rank, 幕内! His bout with fellow veteran 力士、嘉風 was pretty heated yesterday!
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It’s almost 大相撲 time again! 夏場所 is a week away, we have a shiny fresh 番付 to mull over - English version - with 押し相撲の新大関 貴景勝.
If people missed March:
- 碧山’s stunningly consistent impression of a 汽車 (level 18) with arms has landed him at the unpredictable 小結 rank
- 逸ノ城’s even more stunningly consistent impression of a 怪獣 (level 26) has put him back up at 関脇
- 栃ノ心 could not clear his 角番 status in March and was demoted to 関脇. This 場所 he’s in the “one last chance” 大関脇 position - if he manages 10 wins, he can advance back up to 大関 in 名古屋 (Level 9).
- Pint-sized 炎鵬 makes his 前頭 debut, and 相撲女子 favourite 千代丸 is back from 十両 too!
- 照強 managed to hang on in 前頭 after his March debut, so we can still enjoy his trademark super-塩撒き
- As for 大横綱 白鵬, the final match of March 2019 (which saw another 全勝優勝 for The Boss) saw him injure his right arm to the point where he had to get assistance carrying away all the trophies. It’s unsure if he’s going to compete at 夏場所 yet, but he did say he wanted to win the final tournament of the 平成 era and the first tournament of the 令和 era back-to-back. We shall see!
Here’s hoping for a great 夏場所!
関 is in level 16. Without it you can’t write 関西弁!
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Thanks! I don’t know how I came up with that …
Thank you for participation this thread again! I have been listening to all of the kerfuffle surrounding 大横綱’s clapping incident, and I am really curious how his arm is. (it seems like 力士 are more secretive about there health, as compared to American athletes. But, I don’t really follow other athletics, so it hard for me to compare …)
I love these posts combining English and kanji. They are right at my level. I am happy to see more people participate!
I suspect everyone’s pretty curious at this point, but as you say 力士 are very secretive. Hopefully it’s not another 稀勢の里 type situation where it could have all gone better if only he’d got surgery… not that we know if he got surgery or not, but he’s been wearing that arm support on the 巡業, so… yeah. Secretive!
Awesome! Takes so long to do the links though!
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I am excited after day 1:
白鵬 is out. 
Gives other 力士 a chance to win.
栃ノ心 looks stronger than ever. The great thing about being a physical strength fighter is that he can still increase his upper body strength, even after lower body injuries.
逸ノ城 loses on the first day. I loved watching him win in 三月.
碧山 looked great. So did 豪栄道.
I will post the current line up on the top of the thread!
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Just saw the 逸ノ城 versus 栃ノ心 bout, it was great!
Why is he out? Was it for the clapping 
?
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