Well, this is quite a year for sumo overseas. In addition to the LA tour below, it looks like there will also be a tour to Mongolia on August 27 and 28.
This time, instead of just the top ranks of rikishi boarding the plane across the sea, all of the Mongolian boys, of whichever rank, will be able to attend. That's nice. A few of the Mongolian rikishi have languished in the non-salaried ranks or lower than the makunouchi (top ranking level) division, so I know they will all be happy to visit their homeland again! Usually, non-Japanese rikishi are not permitted to return to their homelands until they reach juryo, or, in some cases, high makushita. There have, however, been some stablemasters who have rewarded a good performance or who have tried to boost morale with a trip "home", such as Nishikido Oyakata for Kazafuzan and Tatsunami Oyakata for Daionami, (not necessarily for each of those reasons, respectively). In fact, I just heard from one of the sandanme boys who is just ecstatic, and justifiably so, about returning home after over three years..
This is also exciting, of course, for the two yokozuna, who I am sure are anxious to perform together in their home country for their sumo fans there who may not be able to go to Japan! I know that Asashoryu has been lobbying for this tour for quite some time now.
Stay tuned.........
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PRELIMINARY INFORMATION
For anyone interested in attending the Los Angeles Grand Sumo tour in Los Angeles, to be held in the LA Memorial Arena on June 6 and 7, here is the place to go for information on tickets: www.sumotour.com, Beware - the site is quite slow in loading and information is not quite complete as of this time - but, it is a site to return to for the sure-to-come updates.
The tickets for the tournament will be offered to the general public beginning mid-March.
If you feel that you have any drawing skills, the sponsor, Sakura of America, is having a sumo manga competition with two tickets to the tourney awarded to the winner. There is also a sumo quiz. The press release is here, or you can go to the sponsor's website at http://www.sakuraofamerica.com/sumo
There is also a Sumo Guide, which is basically still a work in process and has a few inaccuracies, which I hope will be ironed out before the tournament, so no flaming yet, please :-)
