SUMO!

06.12.2009

Last weekend, November 28th, I went to Fukuoka to a sumo match. I didn't think that I would like it, or rather really I was worried that it would be slow and not very interesting, but it was great and I had a so much fun watching it. The trip was organized by the Hiroshima JETs and since Okayama is next to Hiroshima it's easy to plan trips together (or in my case it's easy for me to jump on board their trip!). It was a long weekend. On Friday the 27th I left Kibichuo and drove to Yakage where my friend Maggie lives. We stayed in Yakage on Friday night and woke up at 5:30 a.m. to catch a train to Fukuyama, Hiroshima. I stayed over at Maggie's because Yakage is closer to Fukuyama than my town, and since I don't have a train in my town it was easier to stay in Yakage. So we arrived in Fukuyama at 7:10 and met some other Hiroshima JETs and set off towards Hiroshima city. We had a charter bus so it was a very comfortable ride and I took advantage of the time to sleep. We stopped in Hiroshima city to pick up the rest of the Hiroshima JETs and then set off to Fukuoka. Fukuoka is in Kyushu, which is the southern island of Japan. In total it took about six hours from Fukuyama to Fukuoka. We arrived in Fukuoka at 1:00 p.m and checked into our hotel. Before we went to the sumo match we had to get lunch. Maggie, my friend Dave, and I ended up following two sumo wrestlers into a restaurant because we figured that they would know which restaurants are good and we also wanted to see what they ate. They let us down though. The food was fine but they only ate a normal sized meal! We decided that they probably don't eat a lot during the tournaments and eat more during their training.

After lunch we stopped at a convenient store and stocked up on drinks and headed towards the arena. Our hotel was conveniently located across the street from the arena! Here are two pictures of the arena. The first one is of the sumo banners and the second one is the main view of the building.

IMG_2554

IMG_2557

Going into this trip I knew very little about sumo wrestling, I still wouldn't say that I am an expert but I know some basic rules. The sumo ring is called the dohyo and is made of a special kind of clay. The surface is covered with a thin layer of sand. In between, and sometimes during the matches, men would sweep the ring. There is a roof suspended over the ring and it resembles a Shinto shrine. The four tassels that hang from each corner of the roof represent the four seasons of the year. A match is won when a sumo is forced out of the inner circle, when they are thrown down, or if they touch the ground in any way.

IMG_2561

There are six grand tournaments a year, three in Tokyo, one in Osaka, Nagoya, and Kyushu. I think that I will go to the tournament in Osaka in March. My ticket cost 2000 yen, which is about 20 dollars (well, it might be more now that the dollar is falling in value), and I sat in the general seating. There are reserved seats that are small private cushioned boxes, and I noticed that a lot of the people reserved many boxes for their families and brought box lunches. Those seats are significantly more expensive and I was happy with my cheaper ticket.

Before a round the sumo wrestlers enter the ring in the doyhyo-iri "entering the ring ceremony." They enter in opposite order of rank. They wear colorful aprons called kesho-mawashi. They are made of silk and embroidered with different designs.

IMG_2566

IMG_2568

During the matches the wrestlers are naked except for a silk loincloth that is called a mawashi. It's made of heavy silk that is about 10 yards long by 2 feet wide and is folded six times then wrapped around the wrestlers waist four to seven times depending on their girth. Apparently there are seventy winning tricks that can be achieved by maneuvering the opponent's mawashi. When they enter the ring each wrestler goes through a series of symbolic rituals. He rinses his mouth with water to cleanse his body and mind. Each sumo will scatter a handful of salt onto the ring to purify it and protect him from injury. Then they squat and face each other in the center of the ring. They won't start the match right away. They might return to their corner several times and stamp their feet and beat their arms in preparation. I think it's mostly just for show in order to psych their opponent out. There is a ten minute limit for each match so eventually they have to start, but the actual wrestling portion takes less then a minute to conclude.

IMG_2576

I was really impressed with the power of each wrestler. It was very awe inspiring and entertaining. After the first hour of watching we decided to guess which wrestler would win each match. All in all we spent about four hours watching sumo. I was sad when it ended and am definitely looking forward to going again.

Fukuoka, as a city, was also really great. Kyushu is known for it's ramen, and Fukuoka had all of these makeshift ramen stalls on the street. They looked really good. I ended up getting ramen on Sunday for lunch and it was one of the best things I've had here. I know, ramen isn't that exciting, but fresh ramen was so delicious. I spent Sunday walking around with Maggie and Dave. We found this park that had a huge lake with a series of islands that we crossed. It was a lovely city and I want to return for golden week in the spring.