Taira Nono Aims To Be Japan's First Matador

[Mulboyne]

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Nono training last year

AFP: Japanese man on course to be matador in Spain
A Japanese man moved closer to achieving his goal of becoming his country's first full-fledged professional matador by taking part in his first bullfight involving mounted lancers. Taira Nono slayed two young bulls at the bullring in the southern Spanish resort town of Torremolinos on Sunday after a picador, a bullfighter on horseback, goaded the animals with steel-pointed lances which weaken their shoulder muscles. "I am very happy and have a real desire to succeed. I love the bullfighting world and am in Spain to become the first matador in Japanese history," the soft-spoken 35-year-old told reporters before entering the ring...Nono has been compared to another Japanese man, Atsuhiro Shimoyama, or the "Nino de Sol Nascientero" (Son of the Rising Sun) as he was called, who achieved some fame in Spain in in his bid to become a matador. His dream was cut short in 1995 when the horn of a 400-kilogramme bull caught on his suit and tossed him in the air during a bullfight, leaving him with a bad limp that caused him to drag his left leg...more...