>>> Item number 7669 from WRITERS LOG9301D --- (71 records) ------ <<< Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 14:07:47 JST Reply-To: WRITERS Sender: WRITERS From: Mike Barker Subject: RE: Star-Crossed Lovers in Japan (Part 2) [a quick update for anyone who missed the intro - Rie-chan is a local starlet who was engaged to Takahanada-san, a rising young Sumo wrestler, near the end of last year. A little over two weeks ago, the media uncovered problems with their love affair, due to the Sumo world's desire for her to drop her career if they marry and the media world's desire for her to continue. That's where it stood...] The developments recently have added a little more flavor to the play, but still no resolution in sight. We had a sumo tournament, and Takahanada-san did so well that he moved up to the second rank (Ozeki). [turn that chain of the dilemma a little tighter] The media watchers carefully recorded Rie-chan visits to the tournament, and then her trip to President Clinton's reception (she talked briefly with Clinton in a reception line. You might have seen her, wearing a black turtleneck and bright patterned dress.) She was one of the Japanese representatives. [crank this chain of the dilemma a little tighter, too.] Sunday, Jan. 25, she arrived back in Japan. In the background, we had the prince's engagement, and the Audrey Hepburn specials and mini-film festivals to keep the media busy. During the two weeks, aside from everyone trying to wring meanings out of the tiniest details, there was one important article by an enterprising media person (I'll assume they were enterprising, instead of considering paranoic thoughts of a plant). They discovered that Takahanada-san's stable (sorry, that's the term English papers here use for a group of Sumo that live and work together - roughly 20 wrestlers) brings in about .4 million dollars a year. Then they dug into Rie-chan's finances - she brings in about that much in one month! This was loudly and repeatedly announced. We had the spectacle of at least one elderly Sumo advocate blinking in shock on nation-wide t.v. when informed of this, then suggesting that maybe Rie-chan could slowly withdraw from her career, or, uh... [well, I thought it was funny, Randy.] Monday, Jan. 25, with the Sumo tournament safely over, everyone felt free to start raising the issue again, on talk shows, specials, etc. Takahanada-san had the customary Monday morning interview for a new Ozeki, however, no one raised any questions about the engagement. There has been quite a bit of speculation about the fact that he appeared for the interview without the leader of his stable (contrary to tradition). And, naturally, we have seen every piece of tape from the last week repeatedly, with media highlighting glimpses of the engagement ring, slight hesitations in speech, and other trivia. As of Tuesday morning, the newspapers and other media seem convinced that the engagement will be broken. However, neither of the two has made a public statement, so these are all guesses. Personally, I've come up with an unlikely scenario that I think would rock Japan. I'd like to see the two lovers and the leader of the stable hold a joint news conference, announcing three points: 1. Takahanada-san and Rie-chan will get married. 2. They will both continue their careers. 3. Rie-chan has purchased the stable, and is giving it to Takahanada-san as an engagement present. Not likely, but we'll see. Let you know when we get a solution (I think it has to be this week, guessing at the politics behind the visible flurries). [cultural reporter slightly unfit for duty due to falling down laughing at the tangled web Puck has laid, sah!] mike