A lot of media outlets are having a field day with this great story today, including Sky News, which reports on the fact that the Japanese Sumo Association, the governing body that rules sumo wrestling in Japan, has snapped up approximately 60 iPads and had them distributed around the 51 sumo training stables spread out around Japan in an effort to help the large wrestlers with their communication problems.
The thinking behind the association wanting the wrestlers to get their sizeable hands on the iPad is that it will be easier for them to type out emails and text messages on the iPad’s larger keyboard. Apparently the wrestlers, who have an average fighting weight of approximately 150kg, have had problems using the much smaller keys of the average mobile phone to send messages.
According to Sky, sumo wrestling’s image in Japan has been somewhat tainted recently by various scandals, and the JSA has been criticised for its poor handling of the scandals, which Sky says has been in part due to its failure to distribute information properly to some of the sumo leaders. Apparently the association has been relying mainly on the now largely archaic method of faxing to disseminate information, but it’s now hoping that making the technological leap to the iPad will greatly increase its efficiency as an organisation and the image of the sport in general.
“If we place this [iPad] in all the stables, we should be able to contact them anytime,†JSA spokesman Nishonoseki told Sky News.
Source: Sky News
