There is a major faux pas in Japan about leaving your chopsticks stabbed upright in a bowl of rice. If you’ve read any guidebook on local etiquette, you’ll know that this is a pretty serious offense. Basically, it relates to the visual similarity this chopstick posture has to incense sticks commonly seen during Buddhist funeral […]
Sumo: A Thinking Fan’s Guide to Japan’s National Sport by David Benjamin My rating: 3 of 5 stars Sumo, as a sport, too often gets deified and lost in the Shinto ceremonies that are blatantly evident to all who watch, from the throwing of salt to the traditional mawashi(loincloth) the wrestlers wear. David Benjamin does […]
I wasn’t always a Sumo fan. It took me many years to warm up to this traditional Japanese sport, and I am still warming up to it. Last September, I was hooked on the Autumn Basho (one of six annual tournaments) held in Tokyo. That particular tournament culminated in the promotion of a new Yokozuna(highest […]