Sumo and Universal Studios Japan

Sumo, Japan's traditional (and national?) sport is OH SO exciting! On Saturday a bus of English teachers from Hiroshima prefecture drove to Osaka to watch the second last day of a two week tournament. We managed to catch about 5 hours of matches between the best wrestlers. The fights go on all day from 9a.m., and get better as the day progresses. At the beginning I was too excited to sit down, so I started to wander. I found myself in the stairwell with some sumo men warming up, getting dressed and just hanging out. I was a little shocked to see them there, but kept walking. Then I was standing at the dressing room door where groups of wrestlers came and went. I continued...and at last was standing at the wrestling ring entrance. The wrestlers walked around freely throughout the stadium, as did the spectators. It amazed me, because this would never happen at home. If i were at any sort of event at home, and was in the proximity to stars of the show that I was in Osaka, I would be surrounded by baracades and endless security guards I'm sure! I thought that this was going to be the perfect place to get some awesome photos, but the sumo guys didn't make it easy for the picture takers...always turned away at the wrong moment! We were lucky in our group to have a true sumo fan among us. Our friend Kate was able to tell us who was popular, who wasn't, and who deserved to win. It totally added to the experience being able to cheer someone on. Thanks Kate! There is a lot of traditional etiquette and ritual that goes into a sumo tournament, including before and after every match (many introductions and bows). Each match can last up to 4 minutes....about 3 and a half minutes of trying to psych the opponent out and mere seconds of actually fighting. There's an amazing amount of power that goes into that short time though! When the excitment of sumo was finished, we walked the brightly lit streets of Osaka. Man, I miss living in a big city! (I've included a bit about sumo at the bottom if you're interested)

Sunday we made the mistake of going to Universal Studios Japan. Not a mistake, as in it was terrible...more a mistake because it was the first weekend of Spring Break, so the theme park was absolutely maxed out with people. All of us only made it on to one ride, as the lineups were 2 to 3 hours long each! Despite only getting on the 'Back to the Future' ride, I still had a fun time! The first two and a half hours of the day were spent in line playing games to fill our time. After the 6 minute ride, I decided I couldn't take another minute of waiting around! We spent the rest of the day walking around. We went to the Pink Cafe, with a Pink Panther theme, where I had pink raspberry beer....it was surprisingly delicious! I met Marilyn Monroe and Popeye on the street, and enjoyed Happy Hour at Finnigan's Irish Pub. We were lucky to catch the afternoon parade where we saw Charlie Brown, Sesame Street, Shrek and Hello Kitty sing and dance!! Watching the other visitors was also a highlight of day...everyone was so into the movie merchandise. They were all dressed with ET hats, Babe pig noses, Hello Kitty ears...completely decked out! Sumo and theme park...a great weekend!


Sumo, in brief
(information taken from ''Sumo'' brochure by Nihon Sumo Kyokai)

The sumo ring is called the dohyo. It is 18 feet sqaure and 2 feet high and is made of a special kind of clay. The surface is covered with a thin layer of sand. Hanging over teh dohyo is a roof resembling a Shinti Shrine with four giant tassels hanging from the corners.

After entering the dohyo each wrestler goes through a series of symbolic movements. He washes his mouth with water to cleanse his mind and body, and he throws a handful of salt to purify the ring. They then squat in a 'get ready' position and stare at each other. They don't start the fight right away though. They go back to their corners a number of times, scatter more salt and continue to glare. They are given a 4 minute limit by the judge to get themselves in the right pyschological position to fight.

A match is won by forcing the opponent out of the inner circle or throwing him down in the dohyo. If any part of the body other than the foot touches the ground in the ring, the wrestler looses the match. They are prohibited from striking with fists, pulling hair, choking, kicking or gouging eyes. There are no weight limits in sumo, so a wrestler may be put up against an opponent twice his own weight.

There are six tournaments a year, held in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Kyushu. A tournament lasts 15 days, with each participant fighting once every day with a different opponent. The winner of the tournament is the wrestler with the best record of wins over losses, and is awarded the Emperor's Cup on the final day after the last match. The highest ranked wrestler is the yokozuna. The current yokozuna is Asasyoryu. There have only been 62 yokozuna honored in the past three hundred years.

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