Wait, is this Japan’s Ivanka Trump?
Hardly. Just a woman I wish I had married so I too could watch sumo from that seat each day of every Tokyo basho.
The most impressive thing about her is that she sits in Japanese formal position, and then doesn’t move for the entire two hours. When I sit like that my legs are screaming in pain within two minutes.
She is definitely a ghost, my dude. The phantom of the dohyo.
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Sumo reddit has gone completely nuts over the mystery sumo girl. Naturally, my man Ikioi on UP had the inside scoop about who she is all along.
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Amusing to see foreign sumo fans scrambling to figure out this “mystery.” Everyone in Japan who follows sumo knows who she is.
She’s not the only one, by the way. There are plenty of other regulars both at the Kokugikan and at the other three regional basho.
One was Olympic Ojisan, who wore the gold top hat and always sat right in the middle of the screen, but he passed away last year.
Then there is another older, bespectacled gentleman who often wears Hawaiian shirts. He was the former chairman of the sumo supporters association as well as a Hakuho supporter. Though I think he’s staying away this time around for COVID safety reasons.
Another famous one is the bespectacled, kimono-clad woman who is religiously in attendance at the Nagoya basho.
Then there is Pei and Paako, a Japanese comedy husband and wife team, always clad in pink, who attend once each Tokyo basho. I took this pic myself during the January basho.
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I knew about Olympic Ojisan, but only because John Gunning had an article about him. Damn, he never did get his chance to see the Olympics return to Japan.
Sumo woman update. I’ve done some more research, and it appears that this might not be the woman everyone first assumed it was.
The daughter of the supplement company owner, though she has a similar frame, is apparently in the hospital right now. And her fashion sense, as well as her posture and reaction level, are all different.
I’ve been combing through Japanese sources, but no one seems to have any idea who this current mystery woman is.
GAME RECOGNIZE GAME
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Takakeisho was the winner of the basho.
This was the most exciting basho Inthink I’ve ever seen. My boy Takakeisho is well on his way to becoming the next yokozuna, and Ternofuji is making a strong comeback. January is going to be a very consequential tournament.
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Especially for the two Yokozuna. If they don’t show up, or do show up but end up going kyujo, especially Kakuryu, they will be politely asked to turn in their ropes and retire.
Hakuho kind of drew me into sumo, like when I get a chance to see the GOAT in a sport that’s 500 years old, I can’t not take advantage of witnessing that moment. Having said that, a part of me wants him to hang up his mawashi; it seems like there is a lot of parity between 'Keisho, Takarafuji, Shodai, and Asanoyama. Would love to see a tournament where these guys are all healthy and the yokozuna are out.
Hakuho pozzed. :(
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Depending on who was in contact with who and how recently, this may put the entire basho in jeopardy.
At the very least, we can expect the Miyagino beya contingent to miss the tourney. No Enho. No Ishiura. No Hokuseiho…
That was about three weeks ago, and since then all rikishi went back to training within their own respective stables, so hopefully any spread from Hakuho is contained within Miyagino-beya.
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