[sumo] Fwd: [Sumo news] - Interview with Tamawashi

[Jeff A]

Moti

Gaijingai

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Moti Dichne <niramiai at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Mar 5, 2025 at 5:37 AM
Subject: [Sumo news] - Interview with Tamawashi
To: Sumo Newsletter2 <sumo-newsletter2 at googlegroups.com>


Tamawashi (Kataonami beya), 40 years and 4 months old, is ranked
at Maegashira 7 west for the Haru Basho. His consecutive appearances since
his debut are the longest in history. but there are about two other records
that he may break every tournament.. He doesn't really care about that
anymore, and it's become customary for him to answer, "Maybe it will become
a topic of conversation after I retire." He won nine bouts last tournament,
becoming the second person in history to get a kachikoshi in two
tournaments in a row in his 40s. On the final day of the tournament, he
lost to Kotoshouhou in the bout for the Fighting Spirit Award, missing out
on tying Kyokutenhou for the record for being the oldest rikishi to win one
of the three sanshos, but there is a good chance that he will set another
record in the future. During last basho he began saying some surprising
things: "I want to further improve myself as a person, Tamawashi. As a
human. To do that, I have to study. I've been a rikishi for 20 years, but
there are still many things I haven't noticed or don't understand. I'm not
good at sumo, after all."

Interview, by Kentarou Tsukasawa:

When I asked him, "Are you bad at sumo?" he thought for a while, then
looked ahead and began to speak. "I'm still lacking. When will I get
better? I can't get better at oshi-zumo. I'm not a genius, and I'm very
clumsy. That's why it's fun. There are a lot of things to look forward to."

Many Mongolian wrestlers enter sumo after graduating from high school or
university in Japan, but Tamawashi has worked hard despite having no sumo
experience and has won the yusho twice. He has a great personality and is
excellent at fan service. He cares for the people around his lodgings at
regional tournaments and always expresses his gratitude. At home, he is a
good father and seems flawless, but he says he is still growing.
Tamawashi's sumo is often described as youthful, and when interviewing him
in the dressing room, his skin looks tight and there is no sign of aging.
The oldest-ever active makuuchi wrestler is Noshirogata
<http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=3689>, who retired in the May
tournament in 1936 at the age of 41 years and 1 month. Since the
introduction of the six-tournament system in 1958, Kyokutenhou
<http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=41> (currently Ooshima Oyakata)
is the third - ever oldest rikishi active in Makuuchi at 40 years and 10
months, with the rest born in the Meiji and Taisho eras. Tamawashi is of
course the oldest rikishi in Makuuchi at the moment and I would like him to
break that record as well..

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-- 
Best regards,
Jeffrey Anderson

For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these:
It might have been.
- John Greenleaf Whittier
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