I got a message the other day from my friend and ex-Sheffield senior Joseph Tame asking me if I’d be interested in going to watch one day’s worth of the sumo tournament, which is held in the Kokugikan, an indoor arena in the Ryogoku area of Tokyo. As I’d never, in my 15 months worth of time in Japan, been to see the sumo I jumped at the chance, especially as it was really cheap. When we got there we realized the reason the price was so relatively low was because we were sitting so far back we might as well have watched from the train, but it was great nonetheless.
Now I don’t really know how sumo works. I mean, the first person to touch the ground with anything but their feet or be shoved out of the ring loses, that much I can follow. But each bout involves both wrestlers sizing each other up and getting into the fighting position at least twice, then leaving the ring and re-entering. I’m sure this has some highly significant traditional reason, but from what I could see it was all about winding up the crowd. It really worked – even way back at the top of the arena people were cheering and yelling, and I have to admit more than once I got caught up in the excitement and cheered my favourite. My favourite being whichever sumo wrestler had the coolest mawashi on.
So here are my photos! Please click one and then use the left and right arrows on each photo to view them all. I took some video, but we were so far away it’s really blurry and not worth posting. My apologies.
Now I have to admit, a lot of the time I was watching I didn’t understand what was going on. As it may have become clear, I didn’t know who any of the wrestlers were (aside from Asashoryu, who’s amazing career is really worth reading about) and we were a long way from the action. But still I found myself really drawn in and loving every moment of this amazing spectacle of human strength and speed. I’d go again at the drop of a hat, and who knows, maybe next time I’ll fork out for better seats. Or maybe I’ll fight!
…nah, Asashoryu might get hurt.
Read Joseph’s post about the day here.
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your pics still came out decent.
Looks like a great experience. A sumo match is something I want to experience while in Japan.
Jamaipanese: Yeah, I would 100% recommend it. Did you sort out when you’re coming yet?
Sumo wrestling is pretty fascinating, I’d love to see a few games in real life, although watching them on Eurosport is pretty entertaining too. I don’t think I’d want to spend a whole day there though^^