Ryogoku Sumo

Alright, I'm in Tokyo now, slept well through the night, surprisingly, so uhh... you wanna go see some sumo?

...ok

So yea, apparently theres one of the 6 tournaments of the year goin on here in Tokyo right now for another 5 or 6 days or somethin. These other guys from Azalea were going, and they asked if I wanted to as well.

...yes

Now, for those of you who may not be completely aware of this, an average Japanese person... really isn't as tall as the rest of the world. No offence to the Japanese or anything, but demographics are demographics. Theres no bias, its just facts. But lets compare Japan to the USA shall we? The average Japanese male is about 166 cm (or about 5' 5"), whereas the avg American is around 176 cm (about 5' 9" or 10"). Now I'm around 191 cm (about 6' 3"). So that puts me about 15 cm taller than the average in America which is about 10 cm taller than the average in Japan. Yes, 25 cm taller than the average (about 10 inches or so). And as you can see, my friends in the picture are more of the same, or even taller. Oh, from left to right two sumo's (idk their names), Nys (Denmark), Soren (Denmark), Stefan (Germany), and oh yea, me... go usa! lol

So, with that said, image 4 gaijin (foriengers) who don't look anything like the locals, and on top of that are practical giants, walkin around Tokyo, takin the train and such, hahaha. Good Times. But yea, the sumo arena was quite something. Its actually quite a fascinating sport once you learn more about it. Whats really amazing is how they have managed to keep such impressive tradition with such an ancient sport. I'll upload a video I took of a match to YouTube when i get the internet in my room (the free internet in the lobby here is super slow -_-). But yea, it's kind of... a clash of the ancient traditions and modern advances. It's a little funny to hear and see all these ancient traditions in the middle of a match, while there's TV camera's and camera flashes all over the place in a very modern looking and comfortable arena. Oh, and the seating in the lower level is all cushions. As in, on the floor. It is Japan you know ^_^

We watched the sumo for an hour or so, and then ate at a small restaurant in the arena. We all had chanko, a sumo wrestler's meal. It's kinda like a typical udon noodle soup but... very fatty, haha. It was really good tho. Well, with all the fat in it, of course it was. So then we went back into the areana, and watched a whole lot more sumo. Oh, did i forget to mention? Tickets are around 50 bucks. Tokyo is rediculously expensive. Actually we got reserved tickets which are a bit more expensive than the cheaper ones, but even those run around $20-30. But hey, I'm in Japan, this will probobly be the only time i'll go and see Sumo in person. So i'm ok with it. I'll prolly be getting a job later teaching or tutoring english that pays around $30/hr. So that should take care of a few expenses while i'm here. Way better pay than i've ever made back in the states.

Anyways the sumo was cool but kind of.... how should i say, anti-climatic? Cause it took a few minutes sometimes before they start the match that would last less than 10 seconds at time. Its all because they're supposed to start at the same time based on like, eachothers... psychological feeling or something, its kinda... well its different yes? In a way that makes it more exciting but, when you compare it to boxing or wrestling its like, n o a c t i o n but its still pretty cool, especially when you get a longer match. But then again... from the looks of it, it seems they can't really last too long with out geting tired quick which... well its understandable.

I'd love to write more, but its getting close to 4:30 am here, i really need to get some sleep. Maybe i'll write some more tomorrow, but i've gotta get a ton of stuff done yet though, anyways, Sumo wrestling is definately cool, I might get into it some more before i leave, haha. Gotta go to an onsen (hot water spring), get an ice cold glass of beer, and watch some Sumo. The best