Tori's Blog

  こんにちは! About a year ago, a video from the Futagoyama stable's (二子山部屋) Youtube channel, "Sumo food - Sumo Wrestler's Daily Life," appeared on my home page. From the very first watch, I was hooked. For those unfamiliar with the sport, Sumo is organized into "stables" where wrestlers (called  rikishi ) live, train, and eat together. I've been following the Futagoyama wrestlers' growth for more than a year now, keeping up with their performances in the six Grand Sumo tournaments that happen every odd month. The video I've linked is a brief interview with one of their rising stars, Nobehara, who is celebrating his  Makushita Championship  win! To give you some context on why this is a big deal: The Format: In the professional ranks, there are six divisions. Nobehara has recently been competing in  Makushita  (the third-highest division). The Record: While a tournament lasts 15 days, wrestlers in his division only fight seven times. Nobehara and his ...

Hi everyone! I'm Tori, a senior majoring in Computer Science and Chinese. I'm very excited to learn Japanese with you all! The reason I chose to study Japanese ties into the reason I choose to continue studying Chinese -- learning a new language, while daunting and challenging, is incredibly fun and rewarding! Having taken language classes for ~3 years now, I have learned that learning a new language is not simply learning a new means of communication; learning a language means also learning about a culture, history, and tradition, allowing you to gain a better understanding of the language as well as the people who speak the language. Ultimately, I look forward to learning the language and gaining insight into Japanese culture and history.