SUMO!!!!!

Roaring crowds - am I in Japan?!

You bet I am - at the SUMO!

I managed to attend one of the last days of the January tournament and accordingly the excitement was palpable.

I arrived just in time to see the entrance ceremony for the highest ranked Sumo wrestlers of the day.

All the Sumo came out from either the east or west side of the arena clad in their traditional kesho-mawashi or 'apron' which is heavily embroidered with tassels at the bottom. They stood in a circle and first faced the crowd, then faced the middle and each other. It was fantastic seeing all of the Sumo in their Kesho-mawashi and a great lead up to the matches.

Sumo entering the ring

Following this came the sword ceremony. Three Sumo came out with an official to perform the traditional ritual. One Sumo held a sword the whole time and the sumo in the middle had a white belt on top of his kesho-mawashi which had what looked like lightning bolts coming off it.

Sword Ceremony

What came next is what all foreigners know of the Sumo - the STOMP! The sumo lifted his leg high into the air. The higher he lifted it, and the longer he held it there the more the crowd 'ooooohhhhed' and 'ahhhhhed'. Then he slammed his foot down and the crowd exploded! But only momentarily as they fell silent in anticipation of the next stomp!

The leg gets higher.....

Boom!

After the ceremony finished there was a bit of a beak in the tournament so I went in search of some souvenirs.

So many touristy thing to buy! But what caught my eye were the hand prints or tegata (the Sumo version of an autograph) of the sumo wrestlers. These were something I knew I couldn't get anywhere else. My turn at the counter came. I got a few things and then I pointed to the tegata/hand prints. The lady asked me in Japanese 'which one?'. I was nervous to try to speak Japanese fluently and all I could get out was 'Ichi-ban Sumo Ima!' Which is basically 'Number one Sumo now!' An old lady a few people behind me said to me 'Ichi-ban?' and I replied 'hai (yes), Ichi-ban Ima!' Then she shouted:

'Asashoryu Akinori!' and smiled at me. Others in the line laughed and agreed. So that's the one I bought.

Asashoryu Akinori's hand print

Unbeknown to me at the time, Asashoryu was the number one Sumo wrestler and had been the subject of controversy during the past 12 months. Over the next 2 hours I was to see why this man was held in such high esteem and was the only yokuzuna (the highest rank a sumo can achieve) at the tournament.

When he came out, the crowd cheered. They loved  and respected him. As I watched him I could see why. He was aggressive and very talented. He knows how to get the crowd excited.
The Sumo have a few minutes to start their match once they have entered the dohyo. There is a lot of pomp and showman-ship that goes on in the lead up to the actual bout, but it all adds to the anticipation and gets the crowd worked up into a lather. They throw salt and sip water and then there is the stare-off.
The Sumo toe a marked line on the floor and crouch down as if ready to start the bout. They try to psych each other out by staring at their opponent and then walking away. You really can't help but get caught up in the hype that the sumo create. Once the Sumo place both fists on the line the bout starts.

Asashoryu won the day on points and went on to win the tournament. How lucky I was to see him in his best winning form.

Asashoryu facing off (on the right)

The Sumo is an assault on a foreigners senses and being in the crowd is such a diverse range of experiences. The crowd surges from polite clapping to roaring cheers and complete silence while observing the traditional rituals and ceremonies. The colourful costumes, elaborate and intricate ceremonies and the unexpected roars of the crowd all make the Sumo a unique day of serious fun.



One of the colourful  traditional costumes of the officials

 From now on I will always try to arrange my future holidays to Japan when there is a Sumo tournament on (there are 6 tournaments throughout the year).

The arena in Tokyo is easy to get to and is very well equipped for foreign visitors. You can get plenty of brochures and information booklets explaining the history of sumo and you can also get a little radio with head phones which has English commentary of the sumo matches.

Have you been to the Sumo?

What did you enjoy the most?

G