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We were lucky enough to be in Tokyo during one of the 3 times during the year when a Sumo tournament is held. Below is a look at the fascinating, time-honored, sport and spectacle that is Sumo.
Matches last all day from 8:00am until 6:00pm during the 15 day tournament. Between sets of matches, the equivalent of the ground crew sweeps the dohyo and prepares it for the next set of matches.
Before each set of matches, the rishiki (the wrestlers) participating in that set of matches are ceremoniously introduced to the crowd and paraded to the dohyo.
Once the rishiki leave, the dohyo becomes the centerpiece for further ceremony, all with deeply religious overtones.
LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLEEEEEE! After much anticipation, it is time to get it on. Each match begins with the large rishiki walking into the dohyo and engaging in their pre-match rituals, consisting of throwing salt in the ring to purify it, ritualistically raising and stomping each leg, and lining up across from each other staring the other down in a psyche-out job. All of this is presided over by the gyoji (referee) who wears colorful robes similar to those worn by Shinto priests.
Once the ritualistic pleasantries are complete, each wrestler attempts to throw his opponent out of the ring or to the ground. The first wrestler to touch any part of the ring with any part of his body other than his feet, or to step outside the circular dohyo, loses.
More pre-match ritual.
The matches are wonderfully entertaining. While some are amazingly brief, from time to time you'll be rewarded with some truly punishing action as these enormous men are thrown from the elevated dohyo to the ground below.
Two rishiki are about ready to explode at one another.
Rich, humiliated once more, forced to pose as a budding Sumo superstar.
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Once
again, the view from the cheap seats. As the much loved national sport, a
day of Sumo is not cheap. Our tickets, though, were only $21; unreserved
seating in the last row. Of course, we helped ourselves to better seats
until such time as their rightful owners expelled us. In the center of the
stadium is the dohyo, covered by a thatched roof similar to those found at
Shinto shrines.
Most of the seats at the
stadium are box seats, where the patrons, without their shoes of course, sit on
the floor upon cushions. Those with the money for reserved seats are also
given a big bag of goodies, complete with various beverages, food and souvenirs.
Our efforts at trying to scam one failed.
