About the show
Sumo Kaboom!
A weekly podcast dedicated to our favorite sport - sumo wrestling. We chat about tournaments, current events, history and our favorite wrestlers.
We are performers, improvisers, and creators and have absolutely no sumo training. But, we are huge sumo fans.
Having lived in Japan, Leslie loves the history and traditions of sumo. She also has a deep love for sumo karaoke singers. Laurie is fascinated by sumo wrestler fandom, the sumo training regimen and physicality of the sport.
Together, we serve up exciting sumo treats for sumo-curious fans. We share an enthusiasm for sumo and like all sisters, we work amazingly well together. All of the time. There are never any issues. Ever.
We also occasionally send out sumo related content. It is NOT hard-hitting sumo journalism and is usually very silly. If you want to receive our writing about all things sumo or receive notification when Sumo BINGO cards are available, join our Substack below. We won't ever share your info, because we hate spam, too.
Sumo Kaboom on social media
Episodes
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189: Days 4-10 Kyushu Basho 2023
November 22nd, 2023 | 46 mins 6 secs
basho, kyushu, november
The basho is heating up and it's anyone's trophy!
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188: Days 1-3 of the November basho
November 14th, 2023 | 52 mins 35 secs
days 1-3, kitanowaka, kyushu
An short overview on Kitanowaka and then we get right into the latest basho.
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187: Newbies! Roga, Tohakuryu, and Chiranoumi
November 8th, 2023 | 33 mins 22 secs
chiranoumi, roga, tohakuryu
There are 4 new faces in the top division of sumo this basho. We'll tell you about 3 of them this week.
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186: A Very Spooky Sumo Halloween
October 31st, 2023 | 42 mins 11 secs
halloween, mawashi, naked, scary, spooky
Three "scary" sumo related Halloween stories and lots of talk about nakedness.
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185: Sumo Unions & Underdogs
October 25th, 2023 | 41 mins 43 secs
organize, shunjeun incident, underdog, union, unionize, unions
Did you know that sumo wrestlers tried to organize to fight for improvements? And, have you ever wondered why we all love rooting for the underdog?
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184: Musashimaru and New Sumo Recruits
October 18th, 2023 | 39 mins 34 secs
hawaii, hawaiian sumo, musashigawa, musashimaru
Musashigawa was in the news this week, so let's talk about the former yokozuna Musashimaru.
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183: Sumo Lingo
October 11th, 2023 | 38 mins 53 secs
japanese, lingo, slang, sumo
This one is all about words. Words used mostly (or only) in the sumo world.
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182: Retirement Rabbit Holes
October 4th, 2023 | 39 mins 49 secs
kaisei, okinoumi, retirement
We watched the retirement ceremonies of Okinoumi and Kaisei this weekend, and they led us down very different rabbit holes.
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181: Aki Basho Days 11-15
September 27th, 2023 | 1 hr 1 min
2023, aki, atamifuji, basho, takakeisho
Who won our Sumo BINGO game? And who won the 2023 Aki Sumo Tournament?
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180: Aki Basho Days 4-10
September 20th, 2023 | 45 mins 19 secs
As always, we're LOVING this basho and can't wait to see who wins.
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179: Days 1-3 Aki Basho 2023
September 13th, 2023 | 39 mins 14 secs
2023, aki, basho
Our favorite moments from days 1-3 of the September, 2023 basho.
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178: Nishikigi and the Slow Risers
September 6th, 2023 | 39 mins 47 secs
nishikigi, slow rise, ydc
Here's to all those who take a while to get to the top. The Slow Risers!
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177: Sumo Scandals Part 4 - Violence
August 30th, 2023 | 39 mins 8 secs
death, jsa, scandal, sumo, violence
What happened in a heya in 2007 and how it changed sumo. ** This episode contains descriptions of violence. **
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176: Sumo Scandals Part 3 - Drinking and Drugs
August 23rd, 2023 | 52 mins 16 secs
cannabis, drinking, drugs, haramafuji, pot, scandal
Yet another sumo scandal. This week, it's drugs and drinking.
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175: Sumo Scandals Part 2 - Match-Fixing
August 16th, 2023 | 44 mins 1 sec
freakanomics, match-fixing, media, scandal, statistics, yaocho
Accusations of match-fixing in sumo are nothing new.
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174: Sumo Scandals Part 1 - Gambling and the Yakuza
August 9th, 2023 | 42 mins 19 secs
betting, gambling, scandal, sumo scandal, yakuza
Part 1 in a series about the scandals of sumo.