I just noticed the Kyodo News on their “live” news ticker is bemoaning that the number of ALIEN sumo wrestlers in the top rank of wresters is now 16—the most in the history of sumo.

You gotta feel sorry for the Japanese. They just simply are too small to succeed in their own national sport, sumo. However, foreign-born sumo wrestlers from the United States are no longer doing very well in Japanese sumo either. Sumo is like boxing, you have to “stay hungry” and be willing to suffer. Basically competitive athletes from a comfortable, middle-class background ( whether they are Japanese or American) don’t succeed in fighting sports.
Nowadays it’s young, hungry guys from Russia and other former communist countries who are providing the majority of the new foreign sumo wrestlers. They’re the only athletes who are motivated and “hungry” enough to succeed in rising from the lower ranks of sumo (where the pay is low and the life is not fun because of the strict–some say torturous–discipline/abuse).

Japan swept first place in yesterday’s Boston Marathon in both the Women’s Wheelchair won by Wakako Tsuchida (1:53:30) and the Men’s Wheelchair won by Masazumi Soejima (1:29:16) [bostonmarathon.com]
To give you an idea of how fast* that is, the handicapped-by-legs record for the Boston Marathon was set by Robert K. Cheruiyot (Kenya), 2:07:14, 2006.

Boston Marathon – Yahoo! News Photos–Wakako Tsuchida of Japan holds up her trophy after winning the women’s division of the Boston Marathon in Boston, Monday April 21, 2008.

*Fast is relative. Even with massive technological improvements in equipment, the women’s wheelchair record time was set way back in 1994 byJean Driscoll (United States), 1:34:22.

From more information, see: Cheruiyot wins Boston Marathon; Dire Tune wins women’s race AP – Mon Apr 21, 4:29 PM ET

Here’s an unintentionally fun engrish name for a Japanese cheerleader team, “CREAM.”
They are shown below whipping off their white cream coverings at the All Japan Cheerleading and Dance Championship in Chiba, just east of Tokyo on March 30, 2008. (REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon)

Click to enlarge.

And, just in case you think that all Japanese cheerleaders are svelte goddesses—Check out the “VIGORS” squad below who were also performing at the championship.

(Yahoo! News)

The Oakland As are warming up right now to play an exhibition game tonight in Tokyo Dome against the Yomiuri Giants. Later the MLB “players” swinging their big bats in Roppongi—-Check out the Red Sox’s David Ortiz getting it on with this kimono lady. At six foot four inches and 230lbs, “Big Puppy” Ortiz complains about his size problems in Japan. ^(note)

However, I bet this statuesque hostess in kimono would be a great “fit” and she would be more than appreciative of his attention since women over 5′8″ in Japan have huge problems finding the right size. Judging from these kissy-kissy pictures, this hostess slipped him her keitai /cellphone number during the photo session.

Footnote:
Via the BostonHerald.com / March 21, 2008—
…Ortiz, he had memories of Japan [from the 2004 season he played here] other than the food… also remembers having difficulty with cabs in Tokyo.
The reason? They were too small.
“I had to get in sideways,” said Ortiz, simulating the position while listeners busted out with laughter...more…

It’s a 3-day holiday weekend here in Japan and people are looking for any way to fill their time without having to go to work such as these exercises for dog and their owners at a “Dog Party”….

AP news…a ‘Dog Yoga’ session at a New Year’s dog party event in Tokyo, Saturday Jan. 12, 2008.

For more about the reason for today’s yoga dog holiday, read my next post: Tokyo babes and big black busses

‘Naked’ feel is in works for shoes
December 30, 2007 / ChicagoTribune.com—
…James Stoxen, a chiropractic physician at Team Doctors Treatment and Training Center in Chicago…. is working with Converse Footwear Co. in Japan to develop a shoe that allows the feet to flex. The company plans to launch it in Japan next spring. We may never see it here, but who knows how much that “naked” feel could catch on?…more...

Nike has given up promoting their popular niche-market “Air Rift” toe shoes and companies like Converse see an opportunity to the void. There’s even an underground market for Air Rifts on e-Bay. In addition, Vibram Corporation is selling their “FiveFingers” footwear (see right) for those who want to going barefoot with some protection and grip.

It’s no wonder that Converse is going to launch their ‘Naked’ shoes product in Japan where there is PRIOR ART for …

“Jikatabi“—often referred to as ‘Ninja Shoes’— the type worn by the ninja of long ago, and are still used today by Japanese workers who need more agility, safety and grip than regular construction boots. Japanese prefer Jikatabi [地下足袋] for their split toes and softness of their soles that gives tactile contact with the ground, as well as their gripping ability that allows workman to use their feet more agilely than rigid-soled shoes allow.
For example, Japanese iron workers who traverse steel girders on construction sites like to know what is under their feet, and Japanese craftsmen such as carpenters and gardeners additionally use their feet as if they were an extra pair of hands to hold objects in place.

(Jikatabi are available via our sponsor J-List.com.)

China kung fu monks seek apology for ninja affront
Fri Aug 31, 1:34 AM ET BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Shaolin Temple, the cradle of Chinese kung fu, is demanding an apology from an Internet user who said its monks had once been beaten in unarmed combat by a Japanese ninja, Chinese media reported on Friday...more…

Ahhh, an Internet “discussion” about martial arts is a certain guarantee having groups of teenagers arguing about which of their quasi-fictional superfighters has the has the most superpowers. Bah humbuggered By the Powers, mates. Pirates demand apology for the Shaolin snub of the superiority of Pirates. A hardy bunch of Pirates could swab the decks of whimpy ninja or Shaolin…. ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

However, Lester Haines of the The Register put it best when he wrote:
…We’d like to suggest that before this gets out of hand the kung fu monks could settle the matter out of court by simply challenging Japan’s top ninja to 15 rounds in a pay-per-view WWF-style “Battle of the Titans”. The last Oriental standing could then go on to challenge aikido death machine Steven Seagal for the coveted “Hardest Man Alive” crown…more…

We had a little bump at 4:30am this morning— a 5.3 M earthquake off the coast of Chiba just east of Tokyo—so I have an early start today. Just as I was drifting off to sleep at 7am, the PA systems in the nearby park began cranking out at 110db, the Japanese “Radio Taiso/Exercise” song for the school kids on summer vacation.

Listen to the exercise song heard everyday throughout Japan via my MP3 podcast site, taro.podomatic.com:

Poor kids don’t even get to goof off for their already pathetically-short, 6-week vacation. Most students are forced to take part in these Stalinesque exercises for indoctrination in Japanese group-think (and more importantly to get them out of their mothers’ hair).

How do you like these “food stamp cards” shown below? As you can guess, this mysterious “STAMP CARD” needs to stamped as proof students have attended their morning exercises.

The Kampo home page has little animations like these and a full explanation (in Japanese) on how to do these Radio Taiso (ラジオ体操) exercises properly.

See the Wikipedia links to Rajio Taiso, and you should watch the music video by YMO showing of the true nature of Radio Taiso as well as the following videos too.

Podcast/audio lesson for aliens called:
Japanese lesson in English
Let’s create greater harmony with those who are different from us!

kodomo no koro no natsuyasumi to ieba,
子供の頃の夏休みといえば、
Speaking of summer vacation as a kid,

「rajio taisou」
「ラジオ体操」。
“radio gymnastic exercises”.

souchou kara okite,
早朝から起きて、
Getting up early in the morning,

sutanpu oshite morau ka-do wo kubi kara sagete,
スタンプ押してもらうカードを首から下げて、
with a stamp card dangling from my neck

majime ni ittotta wa~.
真面目に行っとったわ〜。
I would attend them earnestly.

koutei de rokuji han kara hajiman nen.
校庭で6時半から始まんねん。
It starts at six thirty in the schoolyard.

more….

Here is the official Japanese website with all the various Radio Taiso instructions.
Don’t worry about the Japanese—just click on all the links which will take to all the picture instructions on how to do the exercises: Kampo.japanpost.jp Radio Taiso.

Here’s a useful machine-translation from Japanese to English of the official Radio Taiso website

The “Muscle Musical” featuring twenty-four Japanese ex-athletes, many of them former Olympians and world champions, is starting a new show in Tokyo July 20th called “MATSURI” (meaning festival in Japanese). As you can see by their PR photos here, this performance trends toward a rather kitschy Los Vegas style display of acrobatic skills that will run through to September ninth.
See the official Japanese website: musclemusical.com/guide
Also check out the show’s Los Vegas website in English: matsuri.musclemusical.com