Sumo!

Hey all,

So I finally found an internet cafe! Unfortunately, it defaults all websites to their japanese versions and I can't figure out how to change it to English, so I hope this works!

Today was very fun and exciting. I went along with 4 other new Nova teachers to watch sumo. There are 6 15-day long sumo tournaments every year in Japan, three of which are in Tokyo. Luckily,Tokyo's in the middle of the September tournament now. We got to the stadium at around 11:30 and were surprised to find it practically empty. Checking the schedule, we found out that the lower level matches happen in the morning, with the big show starting around 4pm. Fortunately, at around that time they opened the Chanko lunch hall up. According to my nifty guidebook, Chanko is "the tasty stable boiled potpourri for sumo wrestlers". Basically, it's chicken soup with a bunch of odd vegetables in it too. So I ate like a sumo wrestler :)

After lunch we took a sumo break and explored the streets around the stadium. We happened upon a little shrine and cemetery nestled in amongst the buildings (something that's quite common here). Japanese often leave little gifts, incense, food, etc for their relatives at their grave markers. It's all very reverent. I noticed a little building set apart from the other graves, so I thought I'd check it out. I was a little nervous that this might be a private area and not a proper place for me to visit, but I thought I'd check it out anyway, making sure I was extra cautious. Inside appeared to be small stacked compartments, which I assumed at first were for cremated ashes. Looking closer, I noticed that many of the compartments had pictures of dogs and cats on them. Apparantly Japanese pets are well taken care of in the afterlife, as well as this one.

Anyway, back to Sumo. By the afternoon things really started going. The stadium was full of people, including the most foreigners that I've seen in one place since being in Japan. We met one very high-class woman from New York City who apparantly flies to Tokyo every year for the tournament. We also saw many of the earlier, lower ranked wrestlers hanging out in the stadium after their bouts, still wearing the ceremonial dress (the robes, not the little loin cloth thingys) and smelling oddly of baby powder. More than one was rocking out to his ipod.

The last match of the day featured Asasyoryu, the only wrestler to currently hold the sports highest rank, yokozuna (which basically means grand champion). Asasyoryu has won 17 tournaments. No other active wrestler has won more than one. He didn't disappoint either, winning his bout, although his challenger put up a good battle. I didn't really realize until I saw them up close just how strong and muscular the sumo are. These guys are crazy built, as well as very flexible. The tournament runs until Sunday, I'll let you know who wins it all. My money's on the yokozuna.