[sumo] From the Guardian (UK)

[Barbara Ann]

Well, for one thing, Asashoryu's comment was taken out of context, 
and from a report by Doreen in Metropolis magazine a year and a 
half ago:

http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/616/feature.asp

If you read the article, you will see that his comment is
not directed towards Japanese youths, but kids in general,
wherever or whomever they may be, and, judging from his 
immediately following comment, more than likely Mongolian 
kids....I also don't think Doreen was being critical, either, 
just, as Tetsuonoumi says, pointing out the myriad choices for a 
young Japanese boy.

For those of you who do not want to read or re-read the excellent 
article, here is what I am specifically referencing:

"Explaining his compatriots’ success, Asashoryu points to the 
hardships of life in Mongolia, where even children do their share 
of the work. In the suburbs of Ulaanbaatar, in the encampments of 
ger (padded tents) and simple houses, it is the children’s job to 
fetch water from the pumping house, and even playtime has a 
serious side as kids work like grownups but on smaller scale.
“This is why Mongolian rikishi are strong,” he says. “People might 
criticize making children work, but helping adults is very common, 
normal, in Mongolia. This is something the children do of their 
own accord. They copy the grownups because it’s natural to do it. 
Helping out with real work is the first step to becoming a 
responsible adult.

“Nowadays there are all these computer games, which children play 
alone and only exercise their thumbs
but in general Mongolian 
children brought up the traditional way will give a job all 
they’ve got. If you offer a kid a candy to do a job for you, he or 
she is likely to put in the effort that ought to bring in a 
hundred candies.”

Just my 2 tugriks:-)

Sumobaba

On Fri Jul 06 06:48:31 PDT 2007, Tetsuonoumi
<wcb at BostonDynamics.com> wrote:

> Maybe I'm an ostrich with my head buried in the ground, but I 
> find the Guardian's article to be extremely negative and 
> one-sided.
> 
<SNIP>
> 
> 	- Asashoryu and Simmons coming across as condemning Japanese 
> youth, while I think that at least Simmons was trying to make a 
> subtler point that Japanese kids today's have a wealth of 
> interesting opportunities that compete with sumo as a career 
> choice.
> 
> 	But the pictures link was great!  I recommend it!
> 
> 		-Tetsuonoumi
> 
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