SUMO - September 26, 2009

Another fun experience in Japan - SUMO WRESTLING!!!

Sumo is the national sport of Japan and it is taken very seriously here! Tournaments are held 6 times a year and last about 2 weeks. The tournament we attended was at Ryogoku Kokugikan Hall in Toyko. The bouts begin with lower division wrestlers at 8:30am and continue until the highest division, Makuuchi, start around 3:30. (We didn't go for the entire day, just for the Makuuchi division.)

Getting set...or are they? One of the #1 things I learned about sumo is that it's verrrry ceremonial and bouts don't last very long. Soooo, wrestlers set up a MINIMUM of 3 times before they actually wrestle. There is lots of thigh slapping, salt throwing(to purify the ring), leg raising, stomping and going back to their corners to start all over again!

On the left is one of the Yokozuna's (grand champion) - making his ceremonial entrance with two attendants and the gyoji (referee). At right - dohyo-iri(entering the ring) ceremony in kesho-mawashi(ceremonial aprons).

All I can say about the actual wrestling - just picture 2 trains colliding. Two 300 pound men hitting full force is no joke...and just imagine what it's like for the little photographer sitting in the front row who gets crumpled when one of them goes flying off the platform!

MLB and AAR

A few weeks ago, I went with Andy and Tiffany to watch my first Japanese MLB game!

It was pretty similar to games in the states, with a few exceptions. There was plenty of cheering and noise making, but when the opposing team was at bat there was respectful silence.

This is one of a group of guys throughout the stadium who organized cheers, chants, and applause. We couldn't understand what they were saying, but joined the clapping.

Rather than vendors walking the aisles with hotdogs and peanuts, they sold box lunches er, dinners. I went for chicken and it was pretty tasty. The brown ball is some sort of meat ball type thing - I don't like meatballs and this was no exception. Everything else was really good though. Pair it with a Chuhi or beer and you're set!

I've posted before about the unusual mascots here in Japan so I wasn't surprised to see one at the game...but EIGHT mascots?! I understood the baseball (though I'm not sure what the antenna looking thing is sticking off it's head, or why it has such an unusually large tongue!) Couldn't say what the black thing is though...

And these guys? any guesses? It doesn't end here....

The two yellow ones are stars - the hometeam is the Yokohama Baystars, so I understand them. What about the alien bird and the mouse looking thing in dark blue?! I find them very amusing!!

Completely unrelated, but also amusing - the All American Rejects gave a free concert at Yokosuka! I have to say it was pretty fun and I knew a lot more of their songs than I expected. I think they were going thru a type of culture shock on stage that had nothing to do with being in Japan though. I would guess that at least 30% of the audience was children under 12...not exactly their usual crowd! It was a pretty good turn out considering a lot of the ships were gone, but when they had to stop the concert because of a lost little kid at the stage, I couldn't stop laughing! (Not at the kid, but at the lead singer's reaction). I'm curious to see what it will be like when Flo Rida comes in a few weeks since the concerts are suppose to be "family friendly"...