[sumo] asashoryu and SUMO reality

[Pierre Wohlleben]

Joe Petrow wrote:
> Takamisakari is cheered because he has a gimmick.  Mitoizumi (and his
> successor Kitazakura) threw out a big geyser of salt.  Asanowaka was
> cheered because he crouched down like a frog.  Katayama is cheered
> because he can do shikiri like a ballerina.  Takamisakari is cheered
> because he whacks himself before the tachiai.
> 
> None of these rikishi have ever come close to yokozuna promotion, but
> I think that Mitoizumi was asked to limit his salt geyser to the last
> throw, and that Asanowaka was ordered to stop his frog-like crouch
> (the cheers died down soon after)  So far the psyche-up thing has been
> deemed innocuous, but I'm pretty confident that someone would tell
> Takamisakari to stop his histrionics if he were ever promoted to
> ozeki.

And more than that, there are plenty of rikishi in the lower divisions exhibiting oddball tendencies, too. Mongolian (!) Hoshikaze reportedly engages in some extremely funny antics before his bouts, and apparently also has Kitazakura-like animated reactions after hard-fought wins (and losses, I would presume).

Asashosakari