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December 23, 2024
 

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Mark Buckton

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Mark Buckton
Mark Buckton has covered sumo for The Japan Times Online since 2006 and has long worked with broadcast media such as the BBC and CNN when things go awry in the sport. He has contributed to six books on Japanese culture, and is a columnist at entertainment magazine Eye-Ai.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Sep 11, 2016
Kisenosato set to profit from Hakuho's absence at Autumn Basho
Early on Thursday, it was announced that yokozuna Hakuho had decided to skip the upcoming Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo due to injury.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jul 27, 2016
Won't be long before Kisenosato wins coveted title
When he won his eighth Emperor's Cup on Sunday afternoon, in the eyes of many, yokozuna Harumafuji also guaranteed that ozeki Kisenosato would forever remain in the sport's second rank, never to win the coveted Emperor's Cup.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jul 6, 2016
Tokyo is squandering resources on its 2020 Olympic English drive
Misguided training program appears to be aimed at turning city workers into unlicensed tour guides.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jul 1, 2016
YouTube poses unique challenges for Japan Sumo Association
Every few days, year-round, I receive emails from foreign visitors to Japan asking just how to gain access to morning training sessions at one of the sport's (current) 44 stables.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jun 8, 2016
Views from Tokyo students: How will you decide how to vote in next month's election?
Hosei University students about the issues that could determine how they vote in July's House of Councilors election, the first in which Japanese 18- and 19-year-olds will be able to cast ballots.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
May 26, 2016
Consistent Kisenosato needs title to secure promotion to yokozuna
Few involved in the world of sumo, as fans or as part of the inner workings of the sport would or could ever claim that Kisenosato has been anything other than the most consistent ozeki in recent memory.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 4, 2016
Views from Tokyo: How do you feel about getting naked with the locals at baths and hot springs?
Foreign residents and visitors on the streets of Tokyo seem fairly relaxed about getting their kit off at the onsen or public baths.
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Apr 28, 2016
May tournament has history of delivering memorable results
There is something uplifting, even magical at times about the Natsu Basho each May.
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Mar 29, 2016
Hakuho's best days are behind him
The time has come for yokozuna Hakuho to look in the mirror, recognize the person looking back at him as head and shoulders above all others the greatest sumo wrestler that has ever lived, but to then accept that it is now time to retire, to call it a day.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 2, 2016
How does the Tokyo Marathon compare to other races you've run?
Some of the 37,000 runners at Sunday's Tokyo Marathon offer their views on how the race sizes up against the global competition.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Feb 25, 2016
Kotoshogiku faces uphill battle to maintain winning form
Every four years just before the Olympic Games begin, the Japanese broadcast, online and print media announce with the confidence bordering on arrogance just how many gold medals the nation's athletes are "expected" to win. The figure is always given as the "minimum expected."
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Feb 17, 2016
Views from Tokyo and Chiba: Have you made any memorable gaffes while learning another language?
Japanese and foreign nationals share their favorite embarrassing missteps on the long journey to second-language fluency.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jan 27, 2016
Fortune smiled on Kotoshogiku during surprise run to Emperor's Cup
If, on Jan. 10, the first day of the 2016 Hatsu Basho, the 11,000 sell-out crowd at the Ryogoku Kokugikan had been asked who they thought would be standing atop the dohyo two weeks later to collect the Emperor’s Cup, few, if any, would have pointed to ozeki Kotoshogiku.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 13, 2016
Views from Taipei: Should Taiwan declare full independence in the event of a DPP win?
People in the Taiwanese capital speak their minds about whether the island should consider declaring full independence from China in the event of a victory by the Beijing-wary opposition in upcoming elections.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices
Jan 6, 2016
Views from Saitama students: What are your post-graduation hopes and dreams?
Sakurako Misaka, 19Ideally, I want to be rich when I graduate from university, and I would also like to live in London.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Dec 29, 2015
After Hakuho exceeded all expectations, can Mitakeumi or Homarenishiki become the next superstar?
When former ozeki Tochiazuma was presented with the Emperor's Cup on Jan. 22, 2006, few in the sport could have predicted that Tochiazuma's third and final championship victory would be the last to be awarded to a Japan-born rikishi for the next decade.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 2, 2015
Views from Tokyo: Would you like to retire in Japan?
How do people out and about in Tokyo feel about living out their twilight years on this archipelago?
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Nov 25, 2015
Kitanoumi’s death overshadows Harumafuji’s triumph
On Sunday, when yokozuna Harumafuji was presented with the Emperor's Cup for the seventh time, the world of sumo was still reeling from the news that Sumo Association Chairman Kitanoumi had died 48 hours earlier from complications related to rectal cancer aged only 62.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Oct 27, 2015
Kakuryu needs titles to elevate place in sumo's pecking order
If for nothing else, the upcoming Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in Fukuoka's Kokusai Center may well be remembered as the tourney in which Mongolian yokozuna Kakuryu was finally able to call himself the "best of the best" — at least for one basho.
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 14, 2015
Views from Tokyo: Have you felt Japan shifting to the right recently under Abe?
With the media reporting breathlessly that Japan is lurching to the right under the Shinzo Abe government, have people out and about in Tokyo sensed a rightward tilt?
Zelenskyy to replace Ukraine ambassador to Japan
Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky delivers a speech during a handover ceremony of Self-Defense Force vehicles to Ukraine, at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, in May last year.
Bankruptcies and suicides rise as Japanese struggle with mounting debt
Lawyers estimate that personal bankruptcies in Japan are on track to reach the highest since 2012 this year.
Honda and Nissan consider mutual production of vehicles, report says
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 at Tokyo Big Sight in October 2023.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
For baseball fans, 2024 brought The Summer of Shohei Ohtani
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani reacts to a standing ovation from fans after hitting his 50th home run of the season, against the Marlins in Miami on Sept. 19.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
Is Japan finally ready to tap its abundant geothermal energy potential?
Steam rises from a geothermal plan in Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture. Despite its long history and potential, geothermal provided just 0.3% of Japan's overall energy mix in the fiscal year from April 2023
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
North Korea aiding Russia where it needs it most, Canadian general says
North Korean special forces soldiers march and shout slogans during a military parade marking the 105th birth anniversary of the country's founding father, Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang in April 2017.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?
By Kathryn Wortley

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