Yubaru comments

Just continuing in the footsteps of his predecessors! (No one should forgive it!)

These people are an extremely small minority with no influence. 

Then pray tell, what do you call the LDP?

Japan country..

Japan culture..

Japan religion..

Get used to it..

Their comment was spot on, and it just seems you dont have the ability to even attempt to understand the situation based upon the thinking back in 1945. Different world back then, and the US really didnt give a crap about Japanese culture, religion, or the country.

Get used to it! Things were different back then.

Well, the intentions were probably right for the era, but over time, it's actually turned out to be a meaningless gesture.

They haven’t admitted anything, and they haven’t apologized,” Hiramoto told reporters after the interviews.

This is Japan. If they did either, they would be admitted fault and opening themselves up to further lawsuits and problems.

It's an investigation, not an apology session!

That's not true as i saw a nurse enter the ring last year.

And in the photo the girl is inside the ring

Maybe you need glasses

The nurse was called out on it, and the ring was ritually sanitized afterwards, if reports are to be believed.

Also as noted, the girl in the picture is not in an "official" ring! FYI overseas there are female sumo wrestlers too!

Konishiki should have been top-ranked. Others were promoted with much less skill or wins.

Ahh, but he fell to the "rule" that as an Ozeki it was REQUIRED that he HAD to win two tournaments in a row before he could be even considered for promotion, no matter the number of prior victories he had. (See Kisenosato) The sumo association is racist when it comes to "foreign" rikishi, and it burns them to no end that Hakuho is the all time "champion".

internet, France 24, Aljazerra, sky, ABC, uk newspapers, American tv channels on YouTube, and more.

now locals are very angry.

Links..... without them, it's unnecessary and unwanted hearsay.

I recall the great days of Kaio and ‘Robo Cop’…Asashoryu and Haramafuji! Those were truly great years!

They were "great" for the foreigners watching along, but believe me, still today as well, the folks who run sumo have an open disliking and almost hatred for all the foreign rikishi who have held a stranglehold on the yokozuna position.

Those years were far from great, as they included gambling and hazing issues too!

To them "only" a Japanese person can be a true "yokozuna", as it's not just about winning or losing, but HOW they win, or lose, and more importantly how they act in public.

The media circus around Kisenosato being promoted to Yokozuna in 2017, as the first "Japanese" born one since 1998, when Wakanohana was promoted was embarrasing. Kisenosato really didnt "deserve" promotion as up until then, the "requirement" for promotion from Ozeki was to win two tournaments in a row, he didnt, but the sumo association, in their rush to promote a Japanese one, they talked alot of bs and promoted him anyway. He only won 1 tournament at yokozuna before retiring. The sumo association gave him plenty of leeway too, after he was injured, and he also holds the ignominious record of losing 8 straight bouts, as a yokozuna, over the course of two tournaments, that he was "forced" to retire.

The sumo association is hardly the altruistic culture standard bearer of Japan.

You could name any sport in the world- sadly all are affected by these. Gambling and match-fixing is chronic in sports like cricket, for example - and you'll find it in everything from table tennis to football.

Nice try at deflecting and obfuscating away from the point. None of those "sports" have the history nor the culture that sumo has here in Japan. You don't see tournaments cancelled because of gambling or match fixing.

the Japan Sumo Association is a non-profit organization and thus the money it makes is not taxed. In addition, rikishi (sumo wrestlers) are exempt from paying taxes on cash gifts if they receive them from individual supporters (gifts from corporate supporters are taxed). And there are special tax rules for rikishi that mean they pay slightly less in income tax than what the average person who makes the same amount of money would pay.

Sumo wrestlers get tax breaks that regular folks don't even though it is called the "national sport" of Japan, sumo is run by a non-profit organization, and there is no law anywhere that makes it the "official" national sport of Japan.

Nice fluff piece about sumo. Sadly the Japanese people don't see it the same way, as fewer and fewer young men and boys are interested in living the life of a "rikishi".

It's a hard life, and not many live into their 60's or older, as they have numerous health issues, biggest being diabetes, back, and knee, problems due to the diet, and lifestyle. There aren't many "sports" that the higher echelon athletes need to weigh 150 kg or more to be successful.

Foreigners may find it interesting and get their "taste" of Japanese culture, but for the sport to continue and be successful, it too has to adapt and change with the times. I highly doubt any of the "retired" professionals actually enjoy having foreign tourists try and push them out of a dohyo. But hell, they have to eat too!

Not many businesses want to hire former wrestlers, as they have little to no skills necessary to succeed in business, as they have been in a sumo stable since graduating HS. No education, other than sumo, and no skills other than sumo.

There is a hell of a lot more to what's happening in sumo, and articles like this just whitewash it away!

The U.S. and Japanese flags are hoisted next to a traditional Okinawan Shisa statue at the U.S. Marines' Camp Foster in Ginowan, Okinawa.  

Shisa come in pairs!

What an equivocal statement. Can't recall ever having seen one.

Only someone who has actually been interrogated by the police would actually know, so by your admission here you have been, more than one time, right? So what were you convicted of, as Japan has a 99% conviction rate?

Osaka Expo ¥1,000 coins go on sale for low price of ¥13,800

Author's attempt at sarcasm here no doubt!

Only a fool would pay 13x the face value of legal tender.

Tell that to the person who purchased a $1.00 silver coin, at auction, for over 13 MILLION times it's face value.

Who knows, maybe 200 years from now this coin will have ￥13,000 in value, to a collector. I sure the hell wont be around, so I am not going to waste my money to find out!

3 months to evaluate him? I would really like to know just what kind of tests they are doing on this guy? Or are they planning on giving him a lobotomy and need the time for recovery from the surgery.

You pay 13 times for something that has face value 1000 Yen?

Or the silver content valued at ￥3,100, that is if you chose to melt it down and sell it at market price for silver.

I wonder who came up with the idea on pricing. It probably is costing them the silver price, plus minting costs, so what maybe half of 13,800 so they automatically doubled it thinking that because it's a "memorial" coin folks would buy it?

No thanks! I'll pass.

Yeah, let's not show any sympathy for our fellow man, many of whom have likely looked forward to and saved up for their dream trip for a couple of years. Right?

Wrong! They only have themselves to blame as it was known for at least a week prior to it hitting that the weather was going to be bad, one way or another. And no I have zero empathy for people who can afford to spend literally thousands of dollars for a "vacation" when most of the world has no idea what a "vacation" even is.

You should look up the meaning of the word "sympathy", as you used it incorrectly here, as you are stating you want me to have pity for them, and there is no way in hell I am going to feel pity for someone who can spend that kind of cash on a vacation.

The word you should be using is "empathy"

While the ladies should all be proud for being such a great team the Japanese media and broadcasters should be extremely ashamed for not airing or covering the team’s matches on terrestrial TV because they weren’t expected to do well.

Here! Here! As with so many other sporting events here in Japan this happens far too often, and seeing as how some of the "so-called" networks do not have stations in all prefectures, this happens far too often.

Not to mention NHK, the supposed NATIONAL broadcaster, only had matches on their BS (Quite literally the perfectly "named" Bull Snit) channel, not everyone could watch!

oo many tourists around here, many uncouth, loud and with poor manners. 

Yup! And it's just going to get worse as more and more foreign travelers take advantage of the weak yen and come here to visit.

I almost felt sorry for the people who were stuck here in Okinawa last week during the typhoon. Spend all that money just to stay in a hotel room!

But then I woke up!

The samurai women have nothing to be ashamed of, they did the country proud! Well done!

This is like the big holiday season in every country.

FYI, no it isn't. Odds are that there are few people in "western" countries that have ever heard of "O-Bon" in their home country, prior to coming to Japan.

This "holiday" rush of traffic is endemic to only a few countries, and Japan is one of them!

"Crowds".... there are crowds every single day, in nearly every single municipality, in Japan at one point or another.

I have read some pretty lame stuff here over the years, but this one is just stretching things.

Define "crowd"

Pop quiz time! How many times does O-Bon occur in Japan?

If you said "one", you would be wrong! So would "two". There are actually 3 different O-Bon in Japan. July 13th, 14th, and 15th, August 13th, 14th and 15th, and lastly in Okinawa the "lunar" O-Bon which varies from year to year. This year the Lunar OBon which is the 13th, 14th and 15th day of the 7th month of the Lunar calendar, falls on August 29th, 30th, and 31st.

Pop quiz time! How many times does O-Bon occur in Japan?

If you said "one", you would be wrong! So would "two". There are actually 3 different O-Bon in Japan. July 13th, 14th, and 15th, August 13th, 14th and 15th, and lastly in Okinawa the "lunar" O-Bon which varies from year to year. This year the Lunar OBon which is the 13th, 14th and 15th day of the 7th month of the Lunar calendar, falls on August 29th, 30th, and 31st.

 were going to Australia for 5 days and it was costing him ¥350,000

Me thinks you are missing a zero at the end here. I HIGHLY doubt that he is going to Australia for 5 days, and only spending ￥87,500 per person.

Is this what Japan has come to?

Relying on tourism for their economy?

Hardly worthy of a G7 member.

Let me guess, you either literally just started reading about the Japanese economy yesterday, or you've had your head in the sand for the past decade or so.

Which is it?

Not good news for Japan who are down 0-2 Sweden deep into the second half.

Kind of hard to win when you only have 6 shots on goal compared to 14 for Sweden with only about 15 minutes left in the match!

Incorrect. Over the last 30 years or so Japan has "reinterpreted" it's constitutional restraints to meet it's needs. To assist Taiwan, Japan would not be starting a war, which is prohibited under Paragraph 1 of Article 9. Furthermore, should assisting US forces come under Chinese attack, the JSDF would be authorized to act in Collective Defense which has already been recognized.

You miss the point totally. Japan doesnt need to "start" a war of aggression, and "reinterpretation" of the current constitution is open to discussion, and not based upon YOUR definition!.

Construction workers aren't competing. 

You have no idea of what the construction world is, if you think they are not competing!

Dont be so naive!