Asashoryu o sakeru

A happy Labor Thanksgiving Day to you all. Yes, it is a Japanese holiday, and no, it's not some confused combination of two American holidays. No turkeys are eaten, no pies are baked, no football is played, and it's probably not really related to President Lincoln's holiday, despite what General MacArthur might say. I garuntee.

It is, however, a good time for universities to shut down their computer networks, thereby forcing Internet-dependent researchers to work from home, where they can focus on more important matters, such as sumo. Yokozuna Asashoryu came close to losing today on a strong charge by first-ranked maegashira Tamanoshima, but recovered with a fine drop. Last night he manhandled the diminutive but surprisingly good Ama, carrying him like a sack of potatoes out of the ring. Kotooshu is now 8-3 and dangerously close to becoming the first western ozeki in the long history of ozumo. Which, by the way, is not as popular as it once was.

Today's Japanese lesson: when the people on TV say what sounds like "mi-la-san", they are not in fact addressing me personally, but saying "mina-san", or "ladies and gentleman". I spent the better part of a day feeling very paranoid about this.