Sacred sumo tournament canceled due to corruption

    Sumo, the national sport of Japan, is facing the possibility of its annual spring tournament being canceled for the first time in history due to corruption. Sumo is a sacred sport with religious ties to Shintoism, a traditional Japanese religion. The way in which sumo is practiced and celebrated has remained unchanged for centuries. However, this spring tournament may be canceled due to a police investigation that discovered phone texts between sumo wrestlers alluding to throwing the match.  While many outsiders would compare sumo wrestling to that of American professional wrestling, nothing could be further from the truth. In American wrestling, throwing matches is expected to further entertainment, but sumo is a form of spiritual cleansing, and sumo wrestlers are expected to be above material greed. Sumo wrestlers live in communal houses they refer to as stalls, in which they eat, sleep, and practice. The evidence showing 14 different sumo wrestlers to be guilty of throwing matches has shocked and angered the entire nation.

Even if the Japanese Sumo Association does not cancel the tournament, there may not be many viewers this year. NHK Japan's national network plans remove their coverage of the competition as a form of protest.

(I hadn't realized this was sitting in my blog as a draft)

Introduction

Welcome to Stephanie's JOUR4750 international news blog!

In this blog, I'll be posting comments and reports related to international events presented by the media. Look forward to seeing different links, videos, and news articles from different news sources. I'll be looking to compare the different perspectives international media corporations and reporters take on the same events.