Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

44 Comments

Sumo give away #3

Due to a rather convoluted link to the sumo world, I have once again managed to bag a few spare banzuke, this time from the fairly recent New Year tournament. Keeping one for myself, it leaves me with two that I’m willing to post off to Tokyo Times readers — irrespective of where they happen to reside.

sumo banzuke

This particular banzuke (pictured above) has unique historic value as it records Bulgarian Kotooshu’s promotion to Ozeki — sumo’s second highest rank; an achievement that is set to feature prominently in the sport’s record books, with the tall and athletic wrestler becoming the first European to reach such dizzy heights.

Being good-looking (and foreign), the quiet and unassuming Kotooshu is often referred to as the ‘Beckham’ of sumo, although due to my seating position I couldn’t really capture this aspect of the man — a clear shot of his ‘attractive’ back and side being the best I could muster.

kotooshu

For those interested, leave a comment below, and the two that interest or amuse me the most will receive a banzuke. Given sumo’s traditional nature however, all comments should be made in the form of a haiku, which if nothing else will help give proceedings the air of a real competition — or at least a dodgy fairground tombola.

As a reminder
It’s five, followed by seven
Then five to finish

Good luck to you all
I hope you can do better
Than this poor effort

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. すもばんずけ
    ギミギミプリズ
    かっこういいですよ

    Reply

  3. This is my haiku
    It has sev’nteen syllables
    Just like all haiku

    Not really bothered about the banzuke though! But LOVE stoopid haiku

    Reply

  7. Are you giving away the banzuke or the Sumo? I’d much prefer the Sumo, but will settle for a banzuke!

    Reply

  13. I won’t submit a haiku, since I already won the last time. I just wanted to thank you for the great prize. Yay for banzuke! I love showing it off!

    Reply

  14. Damn, Neil totally just won. 🙁 Oh well, may as well try anyhow…

    Mighty Kotooshu
    Even you must bow your head
    Before Lee’s sharp wit

    Reply

  28. I was at the January Sumo — same day as the Emperor. I saw Kotoosho go down, Asa go down, watched the Zabuton fly, then headed out for some totemo oishi yakitori at Gonpachi, washed down with a nice Shochu and Yuzu. That was a good day. One of the best this year. Sugoi desu ne.

    Reply

  37. I will post my most favorite Haiku ever, and as it has nothing to do with Sumo, I am going for the Humor side of things.

    Tasty Taco Mine,
    What Meat Art Thou Concealing?
    Who Cares? It’s Tasty!

    As I am minutes from the border of Mexico, it holds a particular affection in my heart.

    Reply

  41. As strange as it sounds
    I am the perfect woman
    To own the poster

    All the sumo guys
    They are so nice to look at
    When you close your eyes

    I would scream out loud
    If you could give it to me
    You will hear it there

    A scream that would shake
    Tokyo, Kyoto and Tsu, too
    Hayaku – can’t wait!

    I can’t pick it up
    So I rely on you to
    Send the banzuke

    I want for my wall
    So I can dream of Japan
    And sexy sumo

    This was my haiku
    Which I hope you enjoyed much
    With love, MoonSoleil

    Reply

  42. Sorry for the delay, I’ll announce the winners on Friday.

    Any further haiku submitted before then will also be included.

    Reply

  43. I do not want to
    Influence your decision
    On the banzuke

    There’s one small thing though
    Me Рtanj̫bi on Friday
    Would be a nice gift

    Another haiku
    From the hoping birthday girl
    That soooo likes your blog

    Reply

  44. Ok then, here are the results – at last.

    For perfectly capturing the highbrow humour of Tokyo Times, Andrew gets the first banzuke for this effort:

    Banzukes are Cool,
    But I’d prefer that swimsuit,
    Complete with some shit.

    His faeces related offering cleverly incorporating the sumo give away and a bizarre swimsuit and excrement related news story.

    The second one goes to Charlie, whose effort is worthy of a banzuke for, erm, doing exactly the opposite.

    Foreign letterforms,
    fude strokes so tightly knit
    The grace strains my eyes.

    This haiku quite frankly puts the vast majority (if not all) of this site’s posts to shame, making it more than worthy of a prize.

    I shall be in contact with the winners soon, but for those who missed out, I should have some more banzuke in the future – I hope.

    Reply

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *