My favorite rikishi (sumo wrestler) of all time is Musashimaru.

I first came across him on my Iwate host-mother's tv, lo these many years ago (15, to be exact). At the time, he wasn't a yokozuna, but he was one of like 3 american-born rikishi in the upper echelons of the sumo world.

And he was cute. He had these thick, drooping eyebrows and an expression somewhere between a thunderous grandfather and a hound dog. My host mother called him "kommatta-chan", which could be translated as "little Mister troubled."

And in the interest of foriegners-in-Japan solidariy, he became my favorite wrestler.

He's retired now, but check out this cell phone commercial (don't be fooled by the company's name (softbank) Naoto turned me onto. Brad Pitt and Komatta-chan in a kind of surrealistic relationship.

I tried like crazy to translate the little slogans at the end of the clips, and can't really do it. The first one says something like "he's light if you use a cellphone" and the second one is kind of like "Don't be so picky, with your cellphone, too."

I know, I know, it doesn't make much sense.