Tuesday evening we got an email from a friend of my sister's, asking if we wanted to go to a sumo match the next day. She used to write for a sumo wrestling magazine and thus knows everything about all the fighters. Of course we said yes.
One of the major tournaments is happening in Osaka right now. Tournaments run for 15 full days with every wrestler fighting once a day, beginning with the lower divisions and gradually making their way to the top fighters at the very end. I think I learned more about sumo in that one day then I know about any other sport, it was exhausting! But such great fun.
The venue in Osaka is a regular sports arena, usually used for basketball. They simply put up scaffolding for the little box seats (those are the pricey ones not just because they are closer to the ring but you also get massive amounts of food and hot tea) and erect a ring in the middle. The ring is actually a mound of clay so as the days go on cracks begin to appear in it and it has to be patched up every once in a while. Because sumo wrestling is such an old sport there are hundreds of arcane rules and regulations that need to be observed, because tradition. I won't bore you with all the weird details we learned but I'll try and slip some in with the pictures.
Each wrestler has a flag with his name outside the venue.All these trophies are awarded to the winner. The joke is that the emperor's cup, that giant one in the middle, is always to heavy and large for the puny prime minister to lift and the sumo wrestler has to 'help' him pick it up. This gets replayed every year to everyone's delight.We arrived at 2 and the hall was still mostly empty. Even though they'd been fighting since 9am that morning.The guy in the middle calls out the names and stables (yes, stables!) of the next two fighters. He does this in an eerie sing-song that would make any muezzin blush with envy.Our first fight. There were many, many more that afternoon...Sometimes the judge can't decide on a call or wants a second opinion from the line refs that sit around the sides. In that case they all jump up and hurry into the middle of the ring to confer. Apparently this also serves as a convenient leg-stretching break.Whenever a new division of fighters comes on they first enter the arena decked out in their finest aprons (paid for by their sponsors, just like Hunger Games) and they do a little dance that cracked me up to no end.Fighters enter from the east and the west.
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After they do their cute little dance, the walk around the ring once and then go back to the dressing room to take off the aprons and get ready.Endo, Japan's new hope for top fighter division or yokozuna. He has risen up the ranks so fast that his hair hasn't had time yet to grow out for the traditional ponytail hairdo.This guy got injured badly during the throw and couldn't walk anymore. So they brought in the most massive wheelchair I have ever seen.Maikos (apprentice geishas) made an appearance too. Possibly hired by the venue to make it look good on TV.Look at the difference in size! I was rooting for the little guy to win but he didn't have much of a chance agains the sheer bulldoze power of the other one.The guy with the blueish apron is Russian and ridiculously tall. Also quite well muscled for a sumo wrestler. A pleasant change on the eyes. :)One of the two yokozuna doing a special display dance after their big entry.During the fights for the final (highest) division, sponsors pay for ads to be carried around the ring before each fight. This one includes an ad for Bulgarian yoghurt, the sponsors of one of the Bulgarian fighters.Small Paw having a ball.The final dance, done by one of the fighters.As soon as the fat lady sings, or in this case the fat guy dances, the show is over and everyone is out of there as if their asses were on fire. This was taken not 5 minutes after the closing dance. All the guys in blue standing around the ring are ex-wrestlers now employed by the association to work venues during tournaments.Everyone rushing out to the subway, in a very orderly fashion of course. This is Japan after all. I think the writing above commemorates all the previous winners.
