A Day of Sumo or as Elspeth calls it, 'some thigh slapping goodness'

We took the subway with this rikishi and decided that he must know where he was headed...so we just followed him. The tournament was was held beside Nagoya Castle. I had seen sumo wrestlers all week, in the streets, on the train. Supposedly some are staying at a shrine near Obu. I even saw a wrestler riding a bike down the street....yes, that did look strange.



We asked this cute usher to help us find our seats. He took us to the wrong seats. When Elspeth pointed this out he turned bright red and took us to our actual seats. We spent the next few hours keeping an eye for him. Oh, and Elspeth took spy photos of him and he totally saw her.


Now for some sumo info (thanks English info guide!). The ring is called the dohyo and it is made of a special kind of clay, covered in a thin layer of sand. Over the dohyo, a roof resembling a shinto shrine is suspended and the huge tassels signify the seasons.


A bout is won by forcing the opponent out of the inner circle or throwing him in the dohyo. The rishiki who touches the ground with any part of his body (even his topknot - how would it happen that only his topknot would touch?), or puts even a toe out of the circle, loses the match.


Oh, and no striking with fists, hair pulling, eye gouging, choking or kicking in the stomach or chest. It is also against the rules to seize the part of the band covering the 'vital organs'. Good to know.


Six Grand Tournaments are held a year (this was the only one in Nagoya) and each rishiki fights one fight a day for fifteen days. After each tournament the official ranking list, or banzuke is revised. Currently, there are about 800 rishiki in professional sumo. The upper division, or maku-uchi include the yokozuna and ozeki positions.

Okay, now for a break from all that technical talk to look at some hilarious artwork done by local kids.


My favourites (above & below)

Elspeth's favourite (below)


We went out to get some lunch (the food selection in the area was limited and VERY expensive). When we got back, people were starting to arrive (the bouts start at 8:30am but the more well-known wrestlers are near the end of the day so a lot of people don't come until the late afternoon).






At one point the little old lady sitting next to me told Elspeth that a very famous Hawaiian ex-sumo was sitting behind us. I couldn't really see him (there was a pole in the way) but Elspeth managed a spy photo. People in the stands kept turning around to look at him and girls in yukata kept coming up to him for a picture.


(below) The dohyo-iri (entering the ring) ceremony. Each of the maku-uchi rikishi walk down the aisle wearing kesho-mawashi (ceremonial aprons). Get this - the aprons, which are made from silk can cost from 400 000 to 500 000 yen ($4000 -$5000)!!



The final ceremony before the higher levels compete is carried out by the yokozuna. He wears a massive hemp rope (weighing from 25-35 pounds) that is tied in a bow. Hanging from it are paper strips found in Shinto shrines.


The yokozuna claps his hands to get the gods' attention and then puts out his arms and turns his palms up to show that he is not concealing a weapon. Finally he lifts his leg and stamps, driving evil from the dohyo.




It was amazing to see the rikishi get ready to fight. They throw some salt, stamp their feet and then crouch down into position. They glare at each other....you think they're going to start....and then they stand up, throw more salt and walk around. This builds up the tension for them and in the room. The higher ranks have 4 minutes to glare before they must start (lowest rankings must begin immediately).


(Below) Sometimes during this 'glaring time' guys would run out and walk around the ring with advertisements. Once there was a hello kitty ad but Elspeth wasn't fast enough to get a picture.



The girl sitting in front of us was a fan of the high ranking foreign wrestler (perhaps Bulgarian?). He is very popular in Japan and I've seen him on celebrity talk shows. This girl made a sign for him (we were SO FAR from the ring....I have no idea if she thought he'd actually see it).


(Above) He is the super tall rikishi in the middle of the picture....unfortunately, he didn't win his bout and ended up being thrown out of the ring (below) and into the crowd (those people paid BIG money for their cushions...but I thought it was kind of dangerous....very large men occasionally come flying at you! No thanks, I'll stick to my cheap seat!)


And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...it's VIDEO time!