Sumo!!!!

Ah yes, what would a stay in Japan be without Sumo???? I had only vaguely been aware of Sumo over the years as a bit of curiosity and a slightly odd performance of under-clad humongous men bashing into each other after a random number of personal butt slaps.

Coming to BSCIS I realized that, just like the Canucks get talked about in BC staff rooms, Sumo is one of THE popular sports here talked about at length in staf rooms, followed on TV and debated about in bars all over the country. It is a surprise to go into a store and find the quite elderly woman who owns the store glued to her TV screen watching Sumo. All of the TV screens in our fitness centre are on the Sumo channel while the tournament is on.

My colleague Masachi-san knows everything about Sumo, loves Sumo and gave me a thorough play by play of his last time at the big tournament. I casually said to him that we would come the next time and BAM! there we were, 2 rows behind the big wrestling mat, at the National Sumo tournament along with a group of my excited colleagues.


                               

Getting in the right mood for the event (life-size cut-outs!):

                                          

They are BIG boys... over 200 kg!

                               

Shelley in the arms of the "hottest" wrestler from Tokyo, Endo:

                                               

Dan in my next career:

                                               

Like any sports Sumo has its' stars (Yokozuna; Grand Champions)

                                                

And the brass hand prints... check out the size:

                                               

And all of the many sponsors who want to get a piece of the action (names on flags):


                                        

If you look in the background of this photo, you will see a beautiful kimono. Kimonos are still very much worn in Japan for dress occasions.

So before we go any further into the excitement of the event you might want to check out some of the history and meaning in Sumo, a sport that goes back hundreds of years. From our uninitiated eyes there are many "unique" aspects of the sport, but a quick look at this web-site will help you understand the depth of this sport along with some of its' quasi-spititual/ritual meaning. Click here to get the background on Sumo.

Once we wended our way through the excited throngs, the souvenir buyers, the groupies lined up to catch a glimpse of their heroes, we entered the main hall:

                                    

slowly filling up with the days' crowds. It was quite impressive to see the shrine roof poised over the ring, maintaining the sacred space of the bout. Apparently there is a vat of rice buried under the central rink that is considering part of the blessing of this event.

We were "lucky" enough to get good tickets near the front in the tatami booths... that were not designed for big foreign bodies. This meant we spent 6 hours squished in these little matted areas surrounded by excited fans, supposedly squatting on our knees; ouch! Where can I stretch my legs out please, please, please?

                     

Other than the progressively intensifying physical discomfort we had a fascinating time watching each match, having all of the subtleties explained my Masachi (front and center in the photo), cheering for our Mongolian hero who won his match, and generally soaking up the atmosphere at this amazing event.

The event started with a ceremonial/ traditional "dance" performed every year by the Grand Champion. This year it is Hakuho, the huge Mongolian, who is breaking all records in terms of wins. Click here for more on Hakuho.

In each of these short videos you will see the ref, in the middle,who makes the final call, the linesmen in black squatting around the edge of the ring, the crowds and the wrestlers. Interesting that there are literally no holds barred other than punching and biting!

The bout only starts once both wrestlers have both fists on the start line. Until that point there is a lot of mind games with stomping, slapping and salt throwing to purify the ring.
                                         

Once the match starts the goal is to force your opponent out of the ring or onto the floor in any way you can. Amazing power and weight! They measured the force of the original impact at 2 tons!!!

                                      

The match finished with this final traditional ritual, prised by experts for the subtleness of the delivery of the moves.

After that intense and fascinating afternoon, Shelley and I had a long, quiet and relaxed walk to stretch our cramped limbs to go for dinner under the shadow of the other interesting area of that neighbourhood, the Tokyo Skytree.

I learned a huge amount from our day, gained a tremendous respect for this sport with such a long history and so many interesting rituals.

I also learned that we will book the actual seats in the nosebleed section next time! :)

I brought the appropriate souvenirs back to the office: my cool Hakuho t-shirt and an Endo doll for the class mascot.

Another amazing day in Tokyo!