Japan

Okay, so I am FINALLY trying to update since October, and SOOOOOO much has happened since then! I went to an amazing Sumo tournament in late October and after that, stayed very busy at work and prepared for my trip to Thailand and Cambodia. So now, here are some pics of the Sumo tournament.

Going to the sumo tournament was definitely one of the highlights of my experience here. I saw THE BEST sumo wrestlers in Japan right now. My friend Akie knew the manager of the event, so we were so lucky to get some of the best seats in the house for half the price! We were very close to the front, and of course, everyone near the front was sitting on the floor. It was really cool because I didn't see any other foreigners and the crowd mainly consisted of groups of old, goofy-acting Japanese men laughing and drinking loads of sake!

This tournament wasn't a technical match, but actually sort of an exhibition, so I not only got to see wrestling but they were also joking around a little bit and having fun. One of my favorite things was a little comedy skit where two wrestlers were pretending to really get mad and they were throwing water and salt on eachother, giving eachother wedgies and talkin' trash. Akie was translating for me as quickly as she could, but of course I couldn't catch everything. One of them was calling the other a "lightweight sissy-boy" as we might say. Akie literally said, "that one say other one wrestle like woman," but I kept imagining one of the wrestlers saying in an Ahhnald voice, "you Guuhhhhlly mahhhn!" One of the wrestlers then went out into the crowd and started grabbing everyone's beers and colas, drinking them, and handing the empty can back to them. While he was drinking, the other started getting peoples' lunches. He first ate a plate of sushi, and once, he got a bag of chips and dumped the whole thing right into his mouth!

Akie and I got lunch their and we split a "Sumo Bento" which is a traditional, very typical lunch for a sumo wrestler. I guess I just imagined that they ate stuff like cheeseburgers and pizza all day, but they actually eat extremely healthy! In the bento was two different kinds of fish and rice, Japanese veggies and sushi. So it was all really healthy stuff, they just eat a truckload of it.

Sumo is just so ritualistic. Maybe you've seen it on tv, but, before they wrestle, they do a series of bows and throw salt on the ground as to purify/clean the ring. They also take a drink of some special kind of water and spit it back out to clean their mouths. This is apparently a very Japanese thing to do because when I visited Yuko's house for a tea ceremony, I had to clean my mouth and hands in a small spring in her garden before entering her tearoom. Anyway, I just think it's funny because, well, naturally, you'd think that a human that large that wrestles gets very hot and sweaty and probably doesn't smell all that nice, but, the wrestlers actually smell so good! I walked by several of them throughout the day and all of them literally smelled like flowers! I learned that before a match, they scrub their entire bodies and use a type of chamomile flower oil mixture to set their hair up to make a "mage" (pronounced like mah-gay), which is what they call the very fancy, tucked-in ponytail they all must wear. As part of the exhibition, they demonstrated how to make a mage in between matches. You wouldn't believe just how long, healthy and absolutely beautiful their hair is.

Another thing that surprised me was the fact that the wrestlers are just walking around the dome like they are part of the crowd. The big wrestlers like Asa Shoryu and Koto Oshu actually have a rock-star kind of status in Japan, yet they are just walking around freely. But, I guess it's not like they need bodyguards, eh? I just walked up to some of them and asked if I could have a picture and they were so kind and friendly! They are just soooo massive! But standing next to them, I didn't feel scared or intimidated like I thought I would. They really seem to be gentil giants because they have such a humble, respectful attitude. They are truly amazing!