[sumo] Classic sumo

[Harold E. Shaver]

I think you might be underestimating the ability of people who
have never even been exposed to sumo before to get hooked on the spectacle
and majesty of it.  

I was first exposed to sumo when I was stationed in Okinawa in 1972
when we returned the Ryukyus to Japan's control.  All of a sudden 
we had an alternative to AFRTS and in July 72 I got my first taste
of sumo.  I was hooked instantly.

Upon transfer to the Philippines in 1973 and back stateside in 1976
I lost contact with sumo but never the love.  I often described it
to my wife, who had never been in Japan and she seemed genuinely
interested.  With the advent of the Internet in the 80's I tried to
find out more about what was going on but the pickings were very 
slim if you didn't read Japanese.  Later in the 90's and later many
good sites came along including Sumo Talk, Sumo Forum, Sumo Fan Magazine
etc. which made keeping up with it easier.

Then a few years ago our local cable company (then AT&T now Comcast) added
TVJ to it's lineup and I made up my mind that the 20-25 bucks a month was 
worth it for sumo every other month.  My wife is hooked, my 30 year old
daughter and even her NASCAR loving, red-necked husband is even hooked, heck
even my 11 year old grandson has been hooked.  His favorite rikishi is
Takekaze!

So yeah there are only so many of us die hards from the services or civilian
job experience in Japan but like a stone in a pond we create ripples.  Each
one of us shares our love and knowledge of sumo with others who in turn pass
it on and so on and so on until the sumo watching demographic of TVJ
comprised of English speaking peoples can be quite large indeed.

My only gripe about TVJ (and it's actually about Comcast) is that they only
provide the English sap program to "Satellite and select cable systems" and
I guess that Fairfield's Comcast is not one of the "select" systems.

Anyway I apparently digress.  I have personally added about 8 individuals to
the fan base and if each of us did the same or better I think you can see
how it could make them take notice if we all started asking for something at
once.


Hal "Chisaiyama" Shaver
極小山
-----Original Message-----
From: sumo-bounces at webtrek.com [mailto:sumo-bounces at webtrek.com] On Behalf
Of Lon Howard
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 1:34 PM
To: Sumo Mailing List
Subject: Re: [sumo] Classic sumo


On Jun 24, 2008, at 5:58 PM, Barbara wrote:

>
>
> Lon Howard wrote:
>> I agree with you regarding TV Japan's service regarding sumo -  
>> it's been exemplary.  I simply meant - but not clearly expressed -  
>> that they COULD easily drop sumo coverage IF they thought it  
>> wasn't relevant anymore OR profitable.  Under these conditions it  
>> would be an easy decision because they wouldn't lose that many  
>> subscribers.  Most subscribe to TV Japan for reasons other than sumo.
>
> TV Japan has no trouble relating the sumo coverage to the number of  
> subscribers they have because a significant fraction of subscribers  
> cancel their TVJ during the 6 non-sumo months, incurring a $5  
> charge instead of $25 for the month, to save money.  TVJ can see  
> their subscriber base going up and down each month.


Thanks for your thoughts, Barbara.  I guess there's no way to know  
what this fraction is, but based on my many experiences 'on the  
ground' with the demographic I belong to, it wouldn't be very high.   
My opinions are based on the fact that this demographic of English  
speaking fans outside Japan (retired/ex-military who were stationed  
in Japan for some years) SHOULD be the one with the most interest in  
sumo, having had direct exposure in Japan.  I just haven't found this  
interest so it's hard for me to believe that there are that many of  
us English-speaking sumophiles out there.   It's possible I've been  
running in the wrong circles, or running in circles generally, but  
I'm just going by what I've experienced.  Anyway, I'm very happy with  
TVJ right now, so I've probably generated an irrelevant sub-thread.

- Shomishuu 
  
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