Post #300! Keeping it Simple!

Well, I just hit my 300th post!  Hard to believe that I had 300 different things to write about and I want to thank all my readers out there for sticking with me.  Looking forward to another 300.

I'm going to keep today simple.  A fellow sumo enthusiast sent me this card of hers that she had with a bunch of other items...she knew it would go to a good home.  Boy was she right!  Although this BC561: 1956 Marusan Jyunishi Nagai 3-4-6 set is pretty common and menko pop up all the time, surprisingly I did not have this particular menko of then Maegashira Tamanoumi.  It is not in perfect shape and well-loved but that is exactly how I like them!

Tamanoumi competed in 4 different decades and was a staple on the banzuke throughout his career.  To top it off, he won the November 1957 championship when he was ranked only at Maegashira 14 with a perfect 15-0 record; a record that even some yokozuna aren't able to accomplish.

Stay safe out there and thanks for dropping by for a quick sumo menko tidbit!

1936 Sumo Wrestling Stadium Set - S361: 1936 Kokugikan Color Set

This is one set I have been excited to scan for a while as it is one of the early S-Series sumo wrestling card sets out there.  Why was I excited?  Well, this set contains the earliest color card with an actual picture (not a cartoon drawing like on the R-Series rikishi) of legendary Yokozuna Futabayama.  And sprinkled throughout are other wrestlers that have only appeared in this set as far as I can tell.  Maegashira Bochozan....never heard of him until today and he only spent 5 tournaments at the very bottom portion of the top division.  Same with Maegashira Oyashima...6 tournaments barely scraping by in the top division.

These S-Series sets were sold at the Kokugikan as souvenirs with the intent of taking them home and using them as visual reference as fans listened to the tournaments over the radio as that was a popular way way to catch the tournament without actually going to the stadium.  As you can imagine, these sets had to have survived the fire-bombings of World War 2 as well as the test of time and to be able to land and catalogue one of these sets is a real honor!  Cards are somewhat small at 1.75" x 2.75" and usually come 32 cards to the set.

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend and stays safe!  Sayonara!

Congrats - Maegashira Terunofuji wins his 2nd Sumo Championship!

It's great to see some lower-ranked rikishi on the winner's podium, especially a former Ozeki who, plagued by injuries, dropped all the way down the 2nd lowest division and then managed to dominate all the way back up the banzuke and win his 2nd championship.  Congrats Terunofuji!  Here is his 2018 BBM card that shows him ranked as a Sekiwake on his way down from Ozeki.  Notice his knees all bandaged up which was ultimately his reason for temporarily faltering.

I hope everyone has a great week!