A press release announces the Japanese launch of the Major League Eating Wiiware video game which will be available on October 14. Nobuyuki “the Giant” Shirota and Hatsuyo “the Witch” Sugawara have been added to the game, apparently replacing Rich LeFevre and Juliet Lee.

update TokyoMango has an English blog entry about the release

The blog for the Onion Hamburg Restaurant reports that Hatsuyo “The Witch” Sugawara set a record for its bunless 5 kilogram (11 pounds) burger challenge by finishing it in 47 minutes on July 20. In March, Mio “Sakura” Takahashi became the first person to complete the challenge. Her time was an hour and a half. Ms. Takahashi has an entry about the challenge in her personal blog.

Mainichi has an English article about Hatsuyo “the Witch” Sugawara’s victory in a women-only okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes containing vegetables) eating contest in Osaka Wednesday:

Each okonomiyaki weighs one kilogram and measures 30 centimeters in diameter.

Hatsuyo Sugawara, a 44-year-old housewife from Iwate Prefecture, won the contest after eating 5.2 pancakes, and received 550,000 yen in prize money, a solid gold spatula, and the privilege of having the restaurant’s largest okonomiyaki named after her.

Mio “Sakura” Takahashi reports she finished second with a total of 4.7 pancakes.

Contest video

See also msn.co.jp

CalorieLab has a paragraph in English about this year’s “Gluttonous Queen” contest won by Hatsuyo Sugawara.

Ameba and J-Cast have articles

R Suzuki has part two of her contest report

The contest page on TV Tokyo’s website now has pictures of all the competitor.

BlogLive reports that Hatsuyo “the witch” Sugawara won the Gluttonous Queen contest televised today, denying Natsuko “Gal” Sone a threepeat in that contest.

R Suzuki has a writeup of the first half of the program.

TV Tokyo has set up a page about this year’s edition of the “Gluttonous Queen” contest that will be televised on Sunday. Hatsuyo “the Witch” Sugawara is listed as one of the rivals for “Gal” Sone’s crown.

TV Tokyo also has a page with links to all the Gluttonous King / Queen contests since 2005.

Tomoko Miyake reports that the team burger eating contest held at the Clinton Station Diner on Super Bowl weekend will be televised on March 20. The contest will be televised by NNN news, which usually posts its competitive eating videos online.

In other Japanese contest news, R Suzuki reports that Hatsuyo Sugawara won a televised sushi eating contest. The top 5 in that contest:

1. Hatsuyo Sugawara, 107 plates
2. Takuya Yamamoto, 104 plates
3. Nobuyuki Shirota, 102 plates
4. Tomoko Miyake, 81 plates
5. Taku “Artist” Izumi, 74 plates

A high definition video of the french fry eating contest between Elizabeth “Rubber Gut” Canady and Hatsuyo Sugawara has been uploaded to stage6. The video begins with Ms. Canady showing how thin the skin on her stomach is. She is then examined in a device which apparently shows her stomach is larger than normal. The french fry contest is interrupted for footage of “Rubber Gut” at a diner. Her tab is apparently $539.26.

Video captures from the clip are below:

Hatsuyo Sugawara prepared for the upcoming AICE vs. Japan contest by winning the Morioka Wanko Soba noodle eating contest. She consumed 340 cups of noodles in 15 minutes, which bested the male runner up by 121 cups and exceeded Sugawara’s 2006 total of 298 cups.

R Suzuki reports that Sugawara won the Iwate noodles contest on Sunday by eating 225 small cups of noodles on 5 minutes. Sugawara won the regional qualifying tournament for this spring’s “Gluttous Queen” contest. A news video of the contest can be viewed at http://news.tvi.jp/wvx/16226/video.wvx Each entrant has a personal noodle refiller who is busy throughout the contest. Yama3 wrote a blog entry about his 6th place finish. He received an award for best technique.

R Suzuki has a report on the first and second round qualifiers for the 2007 “Gluttonous Queen” contest. Contests were held in Hokkaido, Fukuoka, Shikoku and Nagoya. The winners of those events then competed for a spot in the finals. Sugawara won that contest and will appear in the finals that will be televised in the spring. Sugawara, a 43 year old from Morioko, came in second in a noodle contest in November to “The Artists” and had the best ever performance by a woman in the 21 year history of that event.