sat nov 21, 2009
I was given the greatest opportunity of a lifetime: going to a sumo tournament in Fukuoka with my friend Dustin. It was an amazing experience that I would definitely do again if given the chance. You'd be surprised how many local Japanese people have never been to an actual sumo tournament. I learned so much about this great sport, deeply rooted in Japanese history. The tickets were about 47,000 yen (about $50) per person. Our seats were awesome too! Thanks again Dustin for putting everything together!
Me and Dustin about to undertake an all-you-can-eat yakiniku dinner ;)
So the basic gist:
Sumo wrestlers are organized into 3 main classes: the beginners, the juryo class, and the highest of them all, the makuuchi class. Within these classes, there's a division between wrestlers of the east (higashi) and those of the west (nishi). A sumo tournament lasts for 15 days. Everyday, an eastern sumo will face-off against a different western sumo in their division. That's it. You only get one shot for a win per day. They keep track of your wins and losses. We went on the 7th day of competition. The day starts off at 8:30am with the beginner sumos and concludes at 6pm with the yokozunas (the highest ranking sumos in all of Japan). Pretty exciting stuff. It was a one-time entry sort of deal, so Dustin and I stayed in the arena from 9am to 6pm!!! 9 hours of sumo!!! YAY!! :) The stadium was pretty much empty when we arrived, but was packed with people by 5pm.
This is what the arena looked like at about 5pm. Super crowded!!!
Main idea of sumo, don't step out of the circle. The first person to place any part of their body outside of the circle (or over the line marking the circle, or inside the circle) loses. It was interesting to see the different strategies of sumo. Some would try to lift up the other sumo's belt and hoist them out of the circle. Others would use their size. And others would use their quickness and flexibility. I saw many smaller sumos defeat their larger-set counterparts. Amazing! Oh, and E. Honda's 100 hand slap move really does exist! Some of the fighting was pretty intense!
Check out this low-quality video of a sumo match! I call it "The Walk of Shame"...you'll see why ;)
These were the makuuchi division sumos. That thing they're wearing was specially made for each of them.
It was awesome when the yokozunas faced off against their opponents. I learned that in order to get the ranking of yokozuna, you have to meet a whole bunch of requirements. In the past 300 years of sumo since the title was made, only 69 sumos have received such a ranking. I think it's amazing how such a sport has been maintained throughout the years. I saw many young people at the tournament holding up signs for their favorite sumo. Simply awesome :) I would definitely do this again. There are 6 major sumo tournaments held every year, so maybe I'll get a chance once more!
my trip to hell
sat nov 21 - mon nov 23, 2009
The girls (Kris, Me, and Hozumi) after an awesome time at the onsen!
Following sumo, I proceeded to Beppu, Oita on Kyushu via the Sonic Expressway. There, I met up with my friends Hozumi, Kris, Ryan, and Eric. We had a great time exploring the city of Beppu. We stayed at the Koraku Hotel, which had an amazing outdoor onsen on the roof. Good times :) They served us a super delicious nabe dinner on the second night. On Sunday, we went to the "hells" (jigoku) of Beppu, which are actually 9 hot springs situated near each other (well, 2 of them are a bit aways) and maintain their own unique characteristics. One was known for providing good conditions for crocodile breeding, another had a blood red coloration to the water, another made a rumbling sound like a "sleeping demon", and another one is like a geyser that shoots up water every 30 min. Check this out for info on the others! http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4702.html
Me, Eric, Kris, Hozumi, and Ryan in front of hot spring #1.
Unfortunately for me, they were just for viewing and picture taking, as they can reach temperatures of over 90 deg Celsius. A little too hot for my taste ;) I originally had thought we would be partaking in each hot spring, so I wore pants that were easy to take off and opted out of wearing stockings, as it would be easier for me to dry off between hot springs. To my dismay, there was no need to dry off, as we just walked around and did the touristy thing. Although it was raining that day and an onsen would have felt amazing, we managed to have an awesome time! One had a zoo, another had a mini aquarium filled with non-colorful and scary looking fish, and another had a huge crocodile collection!
On Monday, we decided to play tourist and went to Umitamago Aquarium and Mt. Takasaki. The aquarium was great! It's way bigger than Hawaii's mini aquarium. They had an exhibit dedicated to sardines. We saw a dolphin show, the cutest little sea otter, and a whole bunch of colorful fish! At Mt. Takasaki, right next door to the aquarium, there was hundreds of wild monkeys! They walk about freely, and every hour, the staff feeds them food. It was cool...for about 10 min...then I just started getting scared that they were gonna organize themselves and attack us.
The dolphins were sooo cute! My most favorite animal!
I swear, them monkeys were organized!
I also got to see my friend Sunny, a cool Canadian kid that I met at Tokyo orientation. Great seeing you Sunny!!! We ate Japanese food w/everyone before heading off for the aquarium. Aquarium = EPIC WIN!!! :)
Me and Sunny after our onolicious (delicious, for all you non-Hawaii people!) lunch!
All in all, it was a very eventful, long, weekend. I'm so glad I went! Can't wait for all the other adventures Japan has to offer!
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