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November 22, 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
Jun 12, 2007
Sumo at the Olympics or a dohyo too far?
Sumo in Japan is on the up and up. We now have two yokozuna with a good half decade of rivalry in the tanks, one young enough to still be around in 10 years time. Irrespective of reports in the Japanese-language media, the sport is not sinking into the abyss with the continued success of its foreign...
SUMO
May 29, 2007
Hakuho wrestles his way into the history books
The 2007 Natsu Basho is over, and it will only ever be remembered for one thing: the 15-0 unbeaten zensho yusho winning record of Mongolian ozeki Hakuho that etched his name forever in the annals of Japanese sporting and cultural history.
SUMO
May 8, 2007
Hakuho for yokozuna or Asashoryu to block his path?
In the days leading up to the May 5th Yokozuna Soken training session at the Ryogoku Kokugikan the Japanese media was abuzz with things sumo.
SUMO
Apr 17, 2007
Springtime sumo: giving it back to the people
Sumo in late March and throughout April each year is about pressing the flesh -- literally.
SUMO
Mar 27, 2007
The good, the bad and the sometimes ugly
Had he been alive today, Japan's legendary kabuki and bunraku playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) could not have written a better script for the recently completed Haru Basho in Osaka.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Mar 6, 2007
Who to watch at the upcoming Haru Basho
Who is going to take a fall in the Haru Basho?
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Feb 14, 2007
How to weed out a wrestling wizard
Centuries ago, the Europeans and, in some cases, Americans liked nothing better than a spot of witch-hunting on a quiet news day.
SUMO
Jan 23, 2007
Numbers break records, character creates legends
At exactly 5:43 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 21, 2007, yokozuna Asashoryu Akinori was presented with the Emperor's Cup for the 20th time in his sumo career; a feat achieved only four times prior, by former yokozuna Taiho (32 total yusho), Chiyonofuji (31), Kitanoumi (24) and Takanohana (22). These...
SUMO
Jan 1, 2007
Great expectations
For many sumo fans, the January Hatsu Basho at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan is the most important tournament in a given year.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Dec 19, 2006
Dear Santa, one new nose, a couple of knees and a lower back, please
In the next couple of weeks, expect the media to start talking of yokozuna Asashoryu and his latest bout with the sniffles, being bunged up or perhaps having fallen victim to a mystery allergy -- again!
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Nov 28, 2006
For the sake of sumo, scrap the Fukuoka Basho
In the Fukuoka Basho's biggest surprise in years, the ozeki, despite their largely poor standards of late, didn't perform too badly. The aging trio of Kaio, Chiyotaikai and Tochiazuma were all well within range of Asashoryu as far in as the mid-way point.
SUMO
Nov 11, 2006
Komusubi Kisenosato
Kisenosato entered professional sumo in 2002 while still in his mid-teens. A native of Ibaraki Prefecture to the northeast of Tokyo and only age 20, he is perhaps the most promising young Japanese rikishi in sumo today.
SUMO
Nov 7, 2006
The safe money goes on Asashoryu
In November, 1957, a maegashira ranked near the foot of the makunouchi division went 15-0 to claim his first ever yusho. His name was Tamanoumi, a 34-year-old Oita man, and his name goes down in history as the winner of the first official Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament.
SUMO
Oct 14, 2006
Haircuts, sumo stars and amateurs in Osaka
Autumn is a time of change for the Japanese. Summer clothes are put away and sightings of thicker, woollier garments become increasingly common. The mercury encounters a daily struggle to stay first above 20 degrees then above 10, and the country collectively takes its foot off the pedal.
SUMO
Sep 26, 2006
Stop thief -- he took my limelight!
Push came to shove, slap turned into frontal force out and both Hakuho (8-7) and Miyabiyama (9-6) flopped big time. Former sanyaku man Takanowaka took the Juryo title 11-4 after a fierce play-off with Toyozakura and Sawaii took the Makushita title 7-0; albeit securing his final win with a rather distasteful...
SUMO
Sep 5, 2006
Lights, camera, action -- 'Hakuho for Yokozuna' -- Take II!
September's Aki Basho approaches and as was the case prior to Nagoya in July, with it comes the talk of how Mongolian ozeki Hakuho will fare; whether or not he'll be performing the yokozuna dohyo-iri alongside yokozuna Asashoryu at the next tournament.
SUMO
Aug 15, 2006
Trips north, south, east and west -- oh, and unwanted amateurs!
While the dust was flying during the should they/shouldn't they (make Hakuho yokozuna and Miyabiyama ozeki) promotion debate that blew up following the Nagoya Basho, the sumo powers that be did what they so often do best and ignored the fuss.
SUMO
Jul 25, 2006
Dominance, Underperformers and Yogurt!
Exactly what happened on Sunday evening at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium is simple -- Asashoryu won his 17th Emperor's Cup to date and his second this year, Hakuho came up short despite his victory over the yokozuna and will not be promoted to yokozuna for the September tournament in Tokyo and Miyabiyama...
SUMO
Jul 5, 2006
The competition finally arrives
In 1958, then yokozuna Wakanohana, uncle of the Wakanohana and Takanohana brothers of the 90s won the first July tournament in the modern era with a 13-2 record.
SUMO
Jun 15, 2006
With Wailing Walls and Dead Sea dips, who needs the World Cup?
Sumo, unlike football -- (the proper one as opposed to the pads and helmet version) -- never stops.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

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

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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