Enter the Dohyo

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Leviathan men, rotund bellies, squat legs, gigantic thongs, and elaborately coifed hair are images that come to mind when I think of sumo.

I have always held some sort of interest in this foreign and complex sport that has been perfected and finely tuned through thousands of years of history, rituals, and legends. And, it also just so happens to be the national sport of the beautiful archipelago that I now call home, Japan.

I knew that my stay in Japan wouldn’t be complete without with a trip to one of the six Grand Sumo Tournaments that are held throughout Japan every year. So one fine Friday afternoon, Shannon and I made the long journey up north to watch the September Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo.

These are just a few of the 500 hundred pictures that we took that day. We had only intended to stay for half of the bout but we were so taken away but it all that we ended up staying for the full 8 hours. In retrospect, it was one of the most memorable things I have done in the year and a half that I have lived here.

Since then I have only become more interested in the sport and watch most of the grand tournaments on TV. I’m not sure about in the cities, but in the Japanese countryside, it is still a very popular sport and it’s a good conversation starter for the local islanders and I. Even 80-year-old men can list off stat after stat about the different rikishi, or wrestlers, from heart.

I never thought that I would be switching batting averages, RBI’s and HR’s for the heights, weights, names and ranks of rotund men.

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Photos

Yokuzuna
The man from Mongolia himself, Asashoryu.