@ Can Traditions be Changed? 昔からの伝統は変えられる？
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The question, "Is Japanese sumo a sport or just a cultural tradition?" has become a topic of the day.
Ever since the fixed-fights of some sumo wrestlers came to light due to e-mails left on their cell phones, I have been thinking about what cultural traditions are.
Tradition can be contrasted with modernity. I wonder how these two can coexist in harmony in a world, where society progresses from being traditional to being modern. I wonder whether tradition can be changed or if is it supposed to be invariable?
Asashoryu, who used to be a sumo grand champion of "sumo", became the target of criticism due to his unusual behavior while holding the highest rank of champion. When he won a big match, he struck a victory pose filled with joy, which he needn't have. Once when he left a tournament, he wore a shirt and pants instead of a kimono, which was against the rules. He became a focus of criticism easily because he didn't always follow the traditional rules.
When I have seen young sumo wrestlers acheive a great victory, I have felt sorry for them, for not being able to show their joy. I know that it's a tradition in the field, but I also enjoy seeing them express their happiness. People in Japan have been changing, like showing their feelings more than before. It seems sumo wrestlers are no exception.
Japanese society has changed a lot. I wonder how we can adapt our traditions to the times...
@
The question of "Is Japanese sumo a sport or just a cultural tradition?" has become a topic of the day.
Since some of the sumo wrestlers' fixed-fights came to light due to their e-mails left on their cell phones, I have been thinking about what cultural traditions are.
I wonder how these two can coexist in harmony in the world, where society progresses from being traditional to being modern.
Asashoryu, who used to be a grand champion of "sumo", became the target of criticism due to his unusual behaviors while holding the highest rank of a champion.
When he achieved a great triumph, he struck a victory pose filled with joy, which he shouldn't have.
Once when he went out, he wore a shirt and pants which was against the rules and he should have worn a kimono.
When I saw young sumo wrestlers achieve a great win, I felt sorry for them,not being able to show their joy through their behavior.
I know that it's a tradition in the field though, it's also good for me to see their pleasurable behavior.
Our/Japanese society has changed a lot.
I would say sumo is a very traditional sport. XD
But do Japanese people watch sumo in crowds or is sumo a bit more exclusive?
牛juice,
Sumo used to be more and more polular among people in any generations, but not now. We have heard lots of issues that were happening in sumo world, which is a closed group and living in the confined conditions.
I have found some problems, which young sumo wrestlers cannot adjust. It might be a tradition that has been stuck to for a long time..
I would totally watch a sumo game! It sounds like fun!
がんばって～って言いたい！
The question, "Is Japanese sumo a sport or just a cultural tradition?" has become a topic of the day.
Since the fact that some sumo wrestlers fixed-fights came to light due to their e-mails left on their cell phones, I have been thinking about what cultural traditions are.
Tradition can be contrasted with modernity.
I wonder whether tradition can be changed or is it supposed to be invariable?
Asashoryu, who used to be a sumo grand champion, became the target of criticism due to his unusual behavior while holding the highest rank of champion.
When he achieved his great triumph, he struck a victory pose filled with joy, which he needn't have.
Once when he left the tournament, he wore a shirt and pants, which was against the rules and he should have worn a kimono.
When I saw young sumo wrestlers acheive a great win, I felt sorry for them, for not being able to show their joy through their behavior.
Chiyonofuji was a great sumo wrestler, who was not big big, but very strong!
The question, "Is Japanese sumo a sport or just a cultural tradition?", has become a topic of the day.
Ever since the fixed-fights of some sumo wrestlers came to light due to e-mails left on their cell phones, I have been thinking about what cultural traditions are.
I wonder how these two can coexist in harmony in a world where society progresses from being traditional to being modern. (This was okay, I just made it flow a little better.)
I wonder whether tradition can be changed or if is it supposed to be invariable?
Asashoryu, who used to be a sumo grand champion of "sumo", became the target of criticism due to his unusual behavior while holding the highest rank of champion.
When he won a big match, he struck a victory pose filled with joy, which he needn't have.
Once when he left a tournament, he wore a shirt and pants instead of a kimono, which was against the rules.
When I have seen young sumo wrestlers achieve a great victory, I have felt sorry for them, for not being able to show their joy. (When you said, "When I saw...", it sounds like you are talking about a specific event, a specific time that you saw something. If you say, "When I have seen...", it sounds like you are talking about times in that past when you have seen something, but not any specific time. For example, there is a common pattern in English, "There have been times that I have seen...", and someone might ask, "Oh yeah, like when?", asking for an example of a specific time when "I have seen...." The common response pattern is, "Well, once, I saw...." Do you understand now how "I have seen..." and "I saw..." are different?)
I know that it's a tradition in the field, but I also enjoy seeing them express their happiness*. (You could also say "joy", but I wanted to use a different word since you already said "joy" before.)
It seems sumo wrestlers are no exception. (I kind of guessed what you meant here. "Must" can be used to make a strong guess, like, "My keys must still be in my pants." I use "must" as a guess all the time. It can also be used to show a strong need for something, like, "You must stop the fighting before it is too late," or "You must apologize to your mother right now!", but in that sense it is a little formal. Normally, I would say, "You need to stop..." or "You have to apologize...", but you see how "must" can have a similar meaning to "need" or "have to"?)
It's difficult to balance tradition and modernity. People, even in the West, like traditions or old things. For example, we like old buildings, old growth forests, traditional foods, etc. Actually, we like to protect many of those old or traditional things.
On the other hand, people in the US also like new things, like new fashion, new movies, new video games, new buildings, new foods, too.
We tend to prefer new things to traditional things. We see traditions as the opponents of progress. Often, traditions are important simply because they are traditions, so we become slaves to the way "things have always been done." We don't like being forced to do something that someone else thought was good to do in the past simply because it is "tradition", so we often break traditions or change them so much that they are nothing like they used to be.
I think as Japanese become more individualist and less collectivist, traditions will fade away. Traditions are used to unify large groups of people, but as Japanese become more individualist, they won't want to be forced to be like everybody else.
We actually want to respect tradition and keep it up, but on the contrary, our interests seem to have changed.
がんばれ、すもう業界！ って、言いたい～
添削と録音、ありがとう！！！！！(^-^)♪
Oh! Really? "There have been times when I have seen her" is correct? I understand the difference between those 2, "when I saw~~~" and "when I have seen~". Thank you for your precise explanation!!!
Your guess was correct! I used the word "must" for a strong guess, not for "have to" or "need to." Well, it is difficult to use it. It must be difficult for many Japanese people to use "must" for a strong guess. (^^)
ありがとう～～～～～
I have often seen non-native speakers use "must", but it's difficult to use properly. You'll get better with practice (^_^)