0086 Hot Dog Champ Defeated

Arthritic jaw? Recent wisdom tooth extraction? The universe saying “It is time”? Whatever. All we know is that Japan’s six year domination of Nathan’s Famous July 4th Hot Dog Eating contest at Coney Island came to an end this year. For the first time since 2001 the mustard yellow belt went to someone other than Takeru Kobayashi, the reigning king of wiener chugging. Eschewing the delicate table manners that define Japanese etiquette, Kobayashi crammed 63 hot dogs with buns into his mouth. Alas, this fell short of the 66 gulped by Californian Joey Chestnut. It only took three franks for Kobayashi to fall from überdog to underdog…well, there’s always 2008. #bleier #ceas #japan #tsutsui