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Published: September 14th 2008
Well, I'm really tired but we had such a great day today I have to share! It'll mostly be pictures, but that's good, too, right? Especially after my venting yesterday? 😊
Today worked out just about perfectly...like it sometimes does after a storm. Maybe we were just in a place to be appreciative and happy? At any rate, Samia & Alice decided to go to Kamakura. Rachel wasn't interested & I already went with the tour group. So, we split into two groups.
Rachel and I weren't sure what we wanted to do, but we definitely wanted to take it slow. She hasn't been feeling 100% and I'm just tired...pretty typical, actually. We knew from before that there was a Grand Sumo Tournament starting today, but we didn't have any details. We couldn't get tickets online, and the guy at the convenience store which was supposed to sell didn't seem to know what we were talking about! So, we decided to just jump on the train and head over there. Check it out in person, you know?
We walked through Ikebukuro to get to the JR station. It was really happening and busy! It's Sunday, which is some
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How cool is this? We were a part of the action.people's only day off. Even the students tend to go to school six days a week...though, Saturday is often a 1/2 day or clubs day. Therefore, it was crazy-busy. The stores were going full tilt. It was an awesome cacophony to walk through. Rach & I did very well with staying on task walking towards the station, but we were tempted a couple of times. With me, it was the anime & cosplay shops.
At any rate, we made it to Ikebukuro sta. and jumped on the Yamanote line. This is a great JR train that basically goes around in a circle covering the heart of Tokyo. It stops at all the central neighborhoods and stations with connections to get you most anywhere. If you stay on it, you can ride the whole route in a little over an hour. We rode about halfway around and it was fun to watch the city go by. Subways are a far second after trains, but they are still very fun. Especially this afternoon, because it wasn't very full.
We rode to Akihabara and switched trains. Two stops had us to Ryogoku. From that station, you can look out and see
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Judges conferring. Very serious business. the sumo complex...especially right now with all the players' flags waving. If you are confused, look for the bored young man standing absolutely still in front of the station holding a sign that basically says: "sumo this way" and has an arrow pointing out. Awesome!
We got to the arena and, of course, the cheap seats (¥3600) were sold out. This wasn't a shocking surprise (it's the first day of a 15-day tournament during a holiday weekend) but was disappointing. Rachel really, really wanted to see sumo. So, we're standing there w/looks of consternation and disappointment on our faces. There were seats in the 4-person boxes availabe for (¥36,800) but that would be pretty crazy...like almost $400. So, we're about to leave in sadness, when an employee approaches to help us. We were pretty dismissive, after all she can't help us if there are not tickets, right? Au contraire, turns out there is the option to pay for two individual seats in a 4-person box & just sit w/strangers if someone else buys the other seats. These tickets were ¥18,400 for the two of us. We thought about it for, like, a second, and then decided to splurge. After
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Our buddies with their first round of drinks and food. all, there are only six Grand Sumo tournaments per year. And only three of those are in Tokyo. What are the odds we would be here during one and tickets would be available? So, in we went.
Some initial confusion as to where our seats were and we totally confused one of the cute little aisle assistants. Turns out we were on the wrong floor! We were still thinking w/the poor man's mentality of cheap seats. The boxed seating is on the ground floor. And what amazing seats they were! Seriously, we could see everything...well, with sumo that isn't necessarily a good thing, but it was incredible.
Box seats consist of four cushions in the square. No chairs. As Rachel says: "Chairs are for squares." My favorite quote of today. You have to remove your shoes before entering and put them underneath.
Well, I won't go on and on, but it was one of the coolest things I've ever done. The pass is good all day and you can exit and return. We figured sit for awhile, take a break, come back. Uh-huh. We barely took bathroom breaks! The fights were cool, if incredibly short, but the
ritual and ceremony was endlessly fascinating. There is a foot-stomping, belly & butt-slapping, salt-throwing, leg-raising ritual the fighters go through every time. They are introduced by a guy with a fan who sings their intro. There is a referee in the ring with them and judges all around the ring. If there is any question, the judges convene in the ring to make a decision.
The crowd steadily grew as the day wore on, but no one ever came to our box. Which means we had phenomenal seats that we paid 1/2 price for. It might be the best thing we've done while in Japan. It really had everything. History, sporting, fun crowd (very multicultural!), tradition and spectacle. Plus, we could enjoy it all from a stationary position...we were both ready for a day like that!
So, we're enjoying the fights on our own. We asked our neighbors to the right to take our picture. The kids behind us were totally cute and we "chatted" with them off and on. Then, this group of three executives (all male, 50s-60s) take the box to our left. We didn't interact with them at first...well, I took a picture when they
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Then, take your position...careful not to go early! first got their massive quantities of food and liquer delivered. O-M-G! It was impressive...I mean excessive.
I get up to go to the "toilet" and when I get back Rachel goes. All of a sudden, one of the guys reaches into our box to hand me a bottle of sake and two glasses. He's all smiles (and NO words) making drinking gestures. I smiled and tried to decline, but they were pretty insistant and looked pretty hopeful so I accepted and put it down to wait for Rachel. These guys kept watching to see if I would drink it. Eventually Rachel comes back and I say, it was a gift, even if you hate it, we're going to take a drink and toast with them. Of course, she was game and I poured out for us. We all toasted and swigged, and a beautiful friendship was born! 😊 For the rest of the afternoon, these guys passed over bento boxes, sake, veggies, whatever they had to hand. We took everything (except the beer...gotta draw a line somewhere!) and quite enjoyed it all. Considering we shot the wad to get it, we were being pretty frugal inside. One guy lived
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Finally, throw your opponent out of the ring with any of 80 approved moves. in London for four years (20 years ago) and really wanted to talk to us. It was cute and fun and pretty harmless.
The funniest part to me was that he kept taking our pictures. While Rachel was gone, he snapped one of me alone...eating. I kind of raised my eyebrows and he's all, "it's okay, right?" He's not the first one to take a random photo of me on this trip, so I said, "sure." Well, he stood in the aisle and took pics. Went down a few rows and took pics. When Rach got back, he wanted both of us in the pic. He wanted a picture of us w/them. That part was a little creepy. Even better, though, was how he managed to get some contact info out of us. He says, "oh, I need your e-mail so I can send you the pics." Crack me up! Rachel gave hers and we got into a discussion about names. This was hysterical. He COULD NOT get over the fact that we have the same name. "This is very rare, yes?" "This doesn't happen very often, no?" "You are friends, not relatives, right?" "You have the exact same
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Sumo signing autographs. name?" It was pretty unfathomable for him. He translated everything for his friends and my favorite guy (the sake guy) didn't say a word all day...he just laughed at everything. Totally adorable!
So, in the end, we watched some great matches, made some friends (who we left at the arena!) and had an awesome day. The third guy says to us as everyone is leaving: "Thank you very much. Our day was much because we were sitting by you." How sweet is that? I don't even care that they took a billion photos...it was a hoot.
Made it back to Ikebukuro and headed for the ¥100 Shop...Dollar Store, get it? Closed, of course, but wait! Here's another brand not even a block away. We stocked up on cheap souvenirs and gag gifts and then met the other girls for dinner. We took the subway to Ginza and wandered around for awhile. It was a very bright area, full of high-end stores. Not somewhere I would shop, but we had dinner at the Ginza Lion which was a German pub kind of place. I loved my steak (yum...red meat!) and I ate it with chopsticks...I have a picture as
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Professional level sumo being introduced. Those aprons start at ¥2 million and go up. They're paid for by supporters and sponsors. proof. ><
After that, back to the hotel. We're getting up early (too early) to explore Hakone. Hopefully, the day will be clear and we'll be able to see Mt. Fuji. If we can, that'll be all she wrote for me. I've already far exceeded my expectations for this trip. I have seen and done so much, I can't believe I've been here less than two weeks...feels like much, much longer.
Ta for now. Hope everyone is staying safe. We saw the coverage on the hurricanes, and think it's crazy and sad. Why are 40% of the population refusing to evacuate? I don't get it. Oh, and we're okay after the earthquake in Hokkaido. We're nowhere near there...it is far, far north on a different island...Samia keeps saying she wants to experience a quake ("just a little one") but I would be completely fine without that!
Rae
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mom
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What a fabulous set of experences! I just read them all at one time and I feel as if I've been there with you. Save a little of your enthusiasmj for our vacation; I'm counting on having a good time then alsol Pictures were great, too. Love, mom and dad.