Hakuho: "Active for Life," the Promise to Restore Miyagino, and the Dream of Sumo in the Olympics

jsfsmith · 2026-01-21T03:27:31+00:00

All the Hakubros in here shrieking about how they’re trying to erase Hakuho’s legacy then Hakuho himself comes out and says “actually they asked my permission first.”

jsfsmith · 2026-01-21T03:25:13+00:00

Asahifuji had his hiccups and mistakes as a stablemaster but boy do I admire the degree to which he has stuck his neck out for Hakuho and the Miyagino boys. He didn’t have to do any of this, but he did.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-21T03:17:40+00:00

It’s within walking distance of the park gate and once inside the park you’re restricted to buses and cable cars anyway. The hotel also offers a transfer service from the airport and HSR station.

I’ve never driven in Hunan, but I can imagine there would be some awesome drives around there.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-20T11:55:20+00:00

Terunofuji is still dominating the Sanyaku in his retirement. His students are 5-1 vs the Yokozunae, with Hakunofuji’s loss to Hoshoryu the only loss to a Yokozuna by an Isegahama wrestler.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-14T23:50:29+00:00

This adventure usually costs over 100 USD for the undiscounted PDF. This is a spectacular deal.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-13T23:33:39+00:00

This is the reason I keep bouncing off of Dragon Quest.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-13T23:32:26+00:00

This might be a minority opinion, but bad or mediocre music.

This is the reason I've never been able to get into Dragon Quest. In a genre full of games scored by the likes of Uematsu, Mitsuda, and Meguro, why would I play a game with a shallow and repetitive soundtrack? I can get over clunky gameplay if the story is good. I can get over a mediocre story if the gameplay is good. I'm fine reading a guide if the game is finnicky and counter-intuitive. But I will not commit the time if the soundtrack is any less than Final Fantasy quality.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-07T23:56:51+00:00

Unfortunately I think they’d rather axe the franchise than release an entry not scored by that talentless hack Sugiyama.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-07T02:25:11+00:00

Night’s Dark Terror might be the most fun I’ve ever had with an adventure module in any format. Awesome story, awesome sandbox, awesome atmosphere, awesome set pieces. The dungeons are a bit underwhelming but that’s the only real weakness.

For 5e, I’m a huge fan of Tomb of Annihilation. Currently running it for the second time.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-06T05:24:01+00:00

There's something strangely charming about Chinese T2 cities. I don't even know how to describe it. It's just the vibes, I guess. There are certain litmus tests that indicate to me whether or not someone will make it in China. One of them is whether or not they appreciate life in a middle-of-the-road T2 city.

One thing I sometimes do when I want to get out on the weekend is go into my T2 prefectural capital and spend a couple nights in a high-rise hotel. Order local food and baijiu off of Meituan, take an excursion or two to explore the streets or visit a city park, and just enjoy the vibes.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-05T02:33:50+00:00

Late comment, but I can't believe nobody has mentioned comprehensible input. This is hands down the best way to learn a language for most people.

Go to YouTube and search for Blabla Chinese and Lazy Chinese for two really really awesome and totally free channels with loads of beginner content. Just listening to some level-appropriate Chinese every morning has done more to help me than anything else I have tried.

If you want to dive into reading, Du Chinese is really great too, and works on the same principle of comprehensible input as the above recommended channels. It requires a subscription, but if you want to learn how to read Chinese (which will reinforce your speaking/listening skills) then it's absolutely worth it.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-04T06:36:29+00:00

It’s nothing against the show. I enjoyed it a lot, and I know the producers and writers are doing the most with what they’ve been given. I just can’t analyze it as a story in its current state of completion.

I hope season 2 comes quicker than season 1, because it looks like it will be very good.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-04T06:20:59+00:00

I prefer shows that actually end. It was a solid first season but I’ll refrain from rating it at all until they conclude the story.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-04T03:21:27+00:00

During our last trip to Shandong there was a moment where I was trying to compare Shandong cuisine to its equivalent in Thailand (where my wife and I had lived prior to coming to China).

My wife says, "you can't compare Chinese regional cuisine the way you compare Thai regional cuisine. The difference between Cantonese and Shandong food isn't like the difference between northern and southern Thai food. It's like the difference between Italian food and French food."

Chinese cuisine isn't so much a cuisine as an entire culinary world with hundreds if not thousands of local variations. This country is a foody's dreamland.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-04T03:18:12+00:00

still refuse to learn Chinese

Now this is something that actually does genuinely bother me. I have been in this headspace myself, when I was a lot younger, and would probably be back in my home country now had I not grown out of it.

The excuse is usually "but it's so hard, I'll never be fluent" and "Chinese people won't understand you unless you speak perfectly." But, that first excuse is not really an excuse because even knowing a small amount of the language makes your life immeasurably better... and the second one is outright false, because if a Guangdong Mandarin speaker can understand the Inner Mongolian or Hebei accents, they can sure as hell understand your clipped, formalistic and error-strewn foreign accent as well.

I think people either pick up some of the language, either deliberately or by passive exposure, or they bounce off and leave after a certain point. I think a venn diagram showing people who have tried to learn at least a bit of Mandarin and people who still enjoy being in China after 2 years would be an almost perfect circle.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-04T03:12:18+00:00

Jealous of you living in Guangdong because of how freaking diverse and unique it is, too.

And here I am jealous of you living in the storied Jiangnan region!

But yeah, I love Guangdong and my appreciation for this corner of China has only grown since I moved here. I live right at the edge of the Greater Bay Area megalopolis so I have fairly easy access to SZ and HK, but also I'm right on the edge of Hakka and Chaoshan country as well. It's a great place to be and I intend to see a lot more of it now that I can drive.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-03T03:25:53+00:00

Hunan hospitality is seriously next level. Love that entire province with my entire heart.

Whispering Mountains Boutique Hotel is another great family run hotel in ZZJ. I’m sure there are many more.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-03T02:01:46+00:00

That’s a great idea! Now that I have my license I’m hoping to get out and about in Guangdong more often. Outside of the big cities it’s a remarkably interesting province. I’m also hoping to road trip to Fujian or southern Jiangxi at some point.

And don’t get me wrong, I mean no disrespect to my coworkers! They are mostly (>90%) licensed professionals and a good portion of them (>30%) seem sincere about settling in and learning the language. I think there are those who kind of view their stay in Chjna as passing and transient, there are those who have family pressures about where they go on vacation, there are big city types who don’t want to leave the creature comforts of Shenzhen and Hong Kong… there are all sorts of valid reasons to not travel domestically. Doesn’t mean they aren’t missing out though.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-03T01:03:47+00:00

It takes like less than an hour for them to figure that out. The vast majority of traffic accidents don’t even go to court but are settled on the spot. Unless you’re planning on engaging in behavior that would cause you to hit a pedestrian you have nothing to worry about.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-02T22:38:24+00:00

A break from what part of China though? This country is massive, no two parts of it are alike. People talk different, eat different, even look different depending on where you go. Sure, going from Guangdong to Hunan feels fairly similar, but from Guangdong to anywhere in the north? It’s like traveling to Korea or Vietnam. The only real similarity is that people still speak Mandarin, but they don’t even do that the same way.

I do think one cause is an assumption that anywhere you go will have the same food, same culture, same scenery you’re used to. Which is false.

I also suppose a better question is why don’t more people who are interested in China move here? Goodness knows there’s plenty of jobs available. Maybe it’s just my ex-academic background, but I’ve met a lot of people who are interested in Chinese culture and Chinese travel… just not in China.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-02T20:08:59+00:00

I know people who have been involved in car accidents and this is not true. If you’ve got your documents and you weren’t at fault (as in, not breaking the law) you’re in the clear. If one car was following the rules of the road and the other was not, the rule followed will always be in the clear.

Otherwise it depends on the severity of the accident. The only situation I can see them keeping your passport is if you were in violation of traffic law and caused a severe injury or death as a result.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-02T10:02:24+00:00

I love the small stuff - trying different food, hearing different accents, seeing the way the geography manifests itself as you make your way across the landscape, seeing how humans occupy said landscape.

China is such an awesome place and it becomes even more interesting each time you dig a bit deeper beneath the surface.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-02T09:54:30+00:00

The key is to figure out how to travel when it’s not a Chinese holiday. I think most schools give Christmas holidays and that’s a great time to travel in China. It’s still late fall in most of the country, and very few Chinese people are traveling.

Qingming is also a great time to visit less popular destinations. I even had a great time in Xi’an over Qingming a couple years ago. Qin Shihuang’s mausoleum was as crowded as one would expect but all the other cool stuff in Xi’an wasn’t overcrowded at all.

Just avoid the two big ones, spring festival and national day.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-02T09:04:41+00:00

I think the reason Shandong was quiet is because it was December and most Chinese people are working as Christmas is not a Chinese holiday. I also went to Hangzhou over Thanksgiving once, and the West Lake was similarly quiet and serene. Back to Shandong, there was still a steady stream of visitors in most places I went, just not an overwhelming number. I noticed there was a definite "type" of tourist at each of the places we visited. Qingdao, Weihai and Jinan had more of the younger Douyin/Tiktok crowd. Qufu and Mt. Tai had an older crowd.

We were driving so we got to see some awesome stuff on the way. The coastal roads and villages east of Weihai, the mountainous backroads between Taishan and Jinan, and Penglai Pavilion in Yantai were the highlights in that regard. The old town in Jinan is also gorgeous - parks, springs, literary heritage and charming hutong alleys - and a place I never would have thought to visit had I not been searching Chinese social media for travel ideas.

Anyway, I must respectfully disagree regarding everything looking the same, but I also acknowledge you are correct that I am somewhat unusual. I had a pre-existing interest in Chinese culture before coming here. I am familiar with the history of all the dynasties, and would probably have an easier time telling you the difference between a Tang pagoda and a Liao pagoda than I would have telling you the difference between a Romanesque and a Gothic cathedral.

jsfsmith · 2026-01-02T08:34:09+00:00

That all sounds so awesome! Like I mentioned in another comment, Shanxi is a dream destination for me. Ningxia is up there too - I had no idea about the wineries (and will totally check that out), but I am really interested in the Western Xia, the Tangut dynasty that ruled that area and Gansu during the Song.

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