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Asahi Shimbun
6 days ago
- Sport
- Asahi Shimbun
VOX POPULI: Onosato's rapid rise to yokozuna signals new era for sumo world
Ozeki Onosato, foreground, defeats maegashira No. 4 Takayasu on March 23 to capture his third Emperor's Cup at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka. (Takuya Tanabe) A father ordered his son, who was leaving home to become a sumo wrestler: 'Do not come home until you've made it to 'sekitori.'' (Sekitori means sumo wrestlers in the highest 'makuuchi' division and the second-highest 'juryo' division.) This was paternal 'tough love' par excellence. Aware of the hardships his boy was about to face, the father knew that the best thing he could do for his son was to just let him deal with the tough challenges like a grown man. The son debuted in the May tournament in 2023 and became a sekitori after only two tournaments. By the Bon summer holidays that year, he was able to visit his family at his home in Ishikawa Prefecture. The situation makes me almost picture his father trying unsuccessfully to suppress his glee by telling his son with mock dismay, 'Aren't you home a bit early?' This episode was introduced in the Hokkoku Shimbun, a local daily newspaper. The son's name is Daiki Nakamura, whose 'shikona' (ring name) is Onosato. Because of his phenomenally rapid rise, his hair did not grow fast enough to be styled into a proper topknot and he sported a messy 'do' until recently. And, less than six months after he was finally able to wear the formal 'oicho' topknot, he was promoted to the highest rank of yokozuna. From his ring debut, it took him only 13 tournaments to reach that pinnacle—said to be the fastest since yokozuna became an officially recognized title during the Meiji Era (1868-1912). Anyone holding that exalted rank is expected to have achieved perfection in what is called 'shin-gi-tai' (spirit, technique and physical strength). Scriptwriter Makiko Uchidate once complained of 'young men' who raced up the ranks and behaved with no manners whatsoever on the dohyo. But Onosato, the 24-year-old new yokozuna, has been working on self-improvement forever. There is already something about him that suggests greatness. For instance, after toweling himself before a bout, he would fold the towel politely before returning it to the 'yobidashi' (ring attendant) as a matter of courtesy to the latter. He is more than just a great wrestler, enthuses author Nobuya Kobayashi in his recently published book 'Onosato wo Sodateta Kaniya Ryokan Monogatari' ("The story of Kaniya Ryokan that raised Onosato"). Yokozuna Wajima (1948-2018), another Ishikawa Prefecture native, established the 'Rinko Jidai (Era)' together with yokozuna Kitanoumi (1953-2015). Onosato's promotion to yokozuna ends the 'single yokozuna' situation that lasted three and a half years. A new era of sumo has dawned. —The Asahi Shimbun, May 29 * * * Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Asahi Shimbun
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Asahi Shimbun
VOX POPULI: After 16 years, citizen judge system needs to keep evolving
A courtroom at the newly renovated Tsu District Court in Mie Prefecture on March 6 (Asahi Shimbun file photo) A scene from 'Kasai no Hito' (Family Court Judge), a manga published 32 years ago, depicts a 'court of the future.' At the counter of an "izakaya"-style watering hole, a male defendant blurts out to the proprietor who is a judge, 'When I was walking the back streets, I just got sick and tired of everything.' The judge tells him, 'Everybody feels totally desolate at times.' Interestingly, the story's setting is that this 'court of the future' was established by the Supreme Court to change the 'authoritarian judicial system dating to the Meiji Era (1868-1912).' As the judge keeps lending a sympathetic ear to the defendant, the latter breaks down in tears and promises to turn his life around. Apparently satisfied with the result, the judge notes, 'If you are always good and righteous, you'll start drifting away from society.' Jinpachi Mori (1958-2015), the creator of this manga, was deeply committed to reforming the judicial system in real life. A supporter of 'saiban-in seido' or the citizen judge system, Mori held that 'the people who will be most relieved and made happy by this system are the judges themselves.' He went on to explain that the system will give the judges a chance to receive inspiration from citizens and win their trust by showing them what they can do. On May 21, the citizen judge system turned 16. Over the years, about 130,000 citizens have participated, most of whom found the experience to be 'favorable,' according to a survey by the Supreme Court. Has this made the judges 'happy'? In a story in The Asahi Shimbun, the judges said they found the citizens' viewpoints 'refreshing.' And many judges made positive remarks, such as that they are cautioning themselves against taking trials for granted. I hope they are being honest. I am relieved that the initial doubts, voiced in certain quarters about the ability of ordinary citizens to act as judges, have proven unfounded. However, given the fact that nearly 70 percent of people who were called up for service have declined, I realize how difficult it is for the system to take root. When all is said and done, courts still remain unfamiliar places for the general public. I won't say they should become as 'approachable' as izakaya, but I wish they would become less distant. —The Asahi Shimbun, May 22 * * * Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
NHK
16-05-2025
- NHK
Japan to list historic canal as national treasure
Japan's government is updating its list of national treasures. The new addition is a historic canal running from Lake Biwa to the city of Kyoto. The Agency for Cultural Affairs made the announcement on Friday. An expert panel singled out five facilities, including a brick aqueduct at Nanzenji Temple, three tunnels, and a railway for transporting boats up and down a slope. They were constructed during the Meiji era in the late 19th century, when Japan adopted engineering and construction technologies from the West. The experts say the facilities are profoundly significant because they became an essential part of Kyoto's landscape. The agency also says a set of 24 structures along the canal will be designated as important cultural properties. And so will "Tower of the Sun," a landmark in Osaka Prefecture designed by artist Okamoto Taro. The work served as the centerpiece of the 1970 World Expo. The expert panel says the event has come to symbolize Japan's postwar economic boom.
Asahi Shimbun
16-05-2025
- Asahi Shimbun
Tower of the Sun, Biwako Canal set for heritage recognition
The Tower of the Sun, created by artist Taro Okamoto in Suita, Osaka Prefecture (Kazushige Kobayashi) The iconic Tower of the Sun in Osaka Prefecture is set to be designated an Important Cultural Property, while a historic canal complex connecting Kyoto with Lake Biwako will be recognized as a National Treasure. An expert panel of the Cultural Affairs Agency submitted its proposal to the culture minister on May 16. Standing approximately 70 meters tall, the Tower of the Sun was created by artist Taro Okamoto in Suita as the centerpiece of the 1970 Osaka Expo. The top engineers of the time skillfully met the complex challenge of translating Okamoto's extraordinary ideas into a massive physical structure. An original plan to demolish the distinctive monument after the expo was overturned following public opposition. The tower has since established itself not only as the artist's best-known work but also as a nostalgic symbol of the world's fair, held at the height of Japan's postwar economic boom. Its interior, featuring artistic installations, has been open to visitors since 2018. Built between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Lake Biwako Canal was crucial to Kyoto's modernization following the official relocation of Japan's capital to Tokyo. Spanning Kyoto and neighboring Otsu, the canal facilitated water transport, hydroelectric power generation and a municipal water supply for the ancient capital. Of the associated structures, 24 will be designated Important Cultural Properties. Five of these, all early large-scale facilities, are now poised to become National Treasures. These include Suirokaku, a 14-arch aqueduct near Nanzenji temple; the Keage Incline railway, which connects two canals; and the First Tunnel, the longest in Japan at the time, measuring 2,436 meters. Hailed as the pinnacle in urban infrastructure projects of the Meiji Era (1868-1912), these will be the first modern civil engineering works to receive National Treasure status.
Asahi Shimbun
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Asahi Shimbun
VOX POPULI: East and West converged in the life of Hana Glover Bennett
The former residence of Thomas Blake Glover in the Glover Garden in Nagasaki in October 2024 (Asahi Shimbun file photo) This is the story of a remarkable woman. Hana Glover Bennett was born in Nagasaki in 1876, at the dawn of the Meiji Era (1868-1912). Her father, Thomas Blake Glover (1838-1911), was a Scottish merchant who played a pivotal role in Japan's modernization during the final years of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the early Meiji Era. His former home, known as Glover House, still stands in Nagasaki. Hana's mother was his Japanese common-law wife, Tsuru. Lovingly raised in a cross-cultural household, Hana married a British merchant employed by a trading firm in Nagasaki. She was 21 at the time—shortly after the end of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). When her husband was later transferred to present-day Incheon, a key port city on the western coast of the Korean Peninsula, Hana accompanied him. She would spend the rest of her life in that distant land, as chronicled in 'The Glover Family' by Brian Burke-Gaffney. I first learned about Hana from Ikuko Toda, a 65-year-old writer and translator based in South Korea. Last month, I visited the Incheon Gwandong Gallery, a space for exhibitions and cultural exchange that she operates in Incheon. There, she showed me a collection of photographs left behind by the Glover family. Among them were rare and valuable images capturing the city as it appeared before Korea became a Japanese colony. One striking photograph depicts a mansion perched on a hill overlooking the port, once home to Hana and her family. The building, later destroyed during the Korean War (1950-1953), had stood amid blooming rose bushes. It was there that Hana and her husband raised four children. 'It was a time of great upheaval,' Toda reflected. 'Even those with wealth and privilege must have faced deep uncertainty about the future.' In one faded photograph, Hana appears in traditional Korean dress, seated atop a yellow cow, her gaze fixed intently on something beyond the frame. Her eyes are haunting—quiet yet piercing. In that bustling port city where the shadows of East Asian history converged, what occupied her thoughts? What did she feel? Sadly, almost none of her words have survived. A few years before Japan declared war on Britain in 1941, Hana passed away at the age of 61. She still rests in the foreign cemetery in Incheon. Amid the hush of surrounding greenery, her white tombstone bears a name—HANA—clearly etched into the stone. On a bright, clear day, the inscription stands out in sharp relief. —The Asahi Shimbun, May 14 * * * Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
