Hot SUMO action caught on camera

Do sumos have girlfriends/boyfriends? Do they get married? Do girls swoon over their photos and try to meet them "backstage"? Wikipedia leaves me stumped on this issue. And if you were, say, sumo-inclined, would you date the thinnest or the fattest? Antony gave us some good advice: "If you're gonna date the sumo, you might as well date the biggest." Well, they say size does matter...

Just as sumos may experience pain in their training, so did our Cambridge Uni/Finland crew as we left at the nauseatingly early time of 7.30am after far too few hours of sleep. This was in order to queue at 8.30am for non-reserved general admission tickets for 2,100 yen, opposed to all the other reserved tickets which ranged from 3,600 - 14,000 yen. However, once we arrived at the dohyo, there was no queue in sight and so I began to feel somewhat cheated of sleep.

A grand tournament is held 6 times a year and lasts for 15 days. Each sumo fights once each day, beginning with the lowest ranks and moving up to the high est ranks. Much as we were feeling very privileged and cultured to have tickets (despite the fact it's a massive tourist thing), the prospect of watching over 8 hours of matches was not so appealing. A quick trip to the Edo-Tokyo Museum was in order, so we could continue feeling cultured. As with all museums, I never really learn that much, although I did find out that Tokyo's population was reduced from over 7 million to 2.4 million after the Second World War due to heavy bombing. Wow. Damage rivalled Hiroshima.

However, on a more light-hearted note, I also learned that:

1) the Japanese are watching you! We innocently climbed onto the fountain edge on the rooftop plateau and a security guard over 100m away fetched a loudpeaker to shout at us. Furthermore, in an indoor seating area, I had hardly got the water bottle out of the bag before the attendant was leaning over me to tell me off for drinking. Ironically, the water bottle contained water out of the fountains that they provide and to add insult to injury, it tasted of wood!

2) I still do not like onigiri (rice-filled seaweed wraps) as wonderfully evinced by Antony's photography.

To the main event of the day: the Grand Tournament! Check out the arena:

About sumo matches, it is important to realise that they don't last very long. To put it simply, some don't even last 5 seconds. As soon as one sumo is pushed/thrown out the ring or touches the ground with any part of his body (other than his feet!), then the fight is over. The fight preparation - clapping to attract the attention of the gods, foot stamping of evil in the ground and glaring at the opponent - generally takes a lot longer:

Still, even though we were watching the novices, there was some awesome action:

We then took a break in order to eat some chanko, the traditional stew that sumos fatten themselves up on. They don't eat breakfast, then train, eat the stew, then sleep which helps them gain weight faster. However, weight rules are less strict nowadays because, surprise surprise, being very very fat lowers your life expectancy quite considerably.

It was a long afternoon but finally, at around 4pm, the pros came on. The Japanese were obviously much wiser about this than us because the arena seats actually began to fill up at this time... Although before sumo wrestling had seen a lot like slapping, we saw a much greater variety of moves, including legs trips and arm throws. One sumo obviously had a taste for theatrics and came on beating his chest. The final fight though was over in seconds!

It was a very long day but a lot of fun. I wanna be a sumo when I grow up!

SHE'S BAAAAAACK

My blog from my last trip to Tokyo met a somewhat untimely end after I started doing intense, serious research (read: having too much fun). Now thanks to a wonderful exchange programme that Cambridge has with Nihon University, I am now back for a 3 month course of Japanese and for more curry doughnuts.

My story can only begin with the journey because things didn't exactly go smoothly. Firstly, I managed to tip 250ml of water into my handbag, saturating the contents, including my boarding pass. It was still legible but despite my protestations, the lady at the gate referred me to another desk in order to get it reprinted. I promptly approached this desk with the announcement of "Hello! I am water leakage girl!" Don't ever refer to "leakage" and yourself in the same sentence unless you want people to regard you with barely-concealed horror.

To top off this general leakage theme, I managed to get the seat on the plane with the fold-out tray that doesn't lie straight. The wonderful slant angles everything towards my lap. In an attempt to cut a slice of chicken breast, I near-catapulted a cup of apple juice over the elderly Japanese man next to me.

So....so far so good. After being greeted at Narita and then Shinjuku station, Antony and I lugged our stuff into the taxi and then into our raaaather nice accommodation (bedroom, kitchen, bathroom - and spacious by Tokyo standards!) to then be given a tour of the area where we're staying: Shimotakaido. Now, it's only 5 mins walk to that station but somehow we ended up..."admiring the view" along several other streets before we finally found our way back. By that point, I had been on the go for 26 hours. Whew.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today, my fellow students and I took a stroll round Asakusa and Ueno in the unusally high temperatures for this time of year (33degC+) but the not-so-unusual humidity. Highlight was possibly watching the wildlife in the the lake in Ueno Park. Turtles and carp and a duck all battled valiantly for bread. As a result, I can now introduce you to a world exclusive game: Duck, Fish, Turtle. Rules are the same as Rock, Paper, Scissors. Duck beats fish, fish beats turtle, turtle beats duck. Invent your own hand signs as necessary.

Sounds, smells, sights....Thomas the Tank Engine?!

A quick update as I'm pushed for time. I've not slept a hell of a lot....

My second day in Tokyo involved me getting lost. My third day did too actually. I have a feeling many more days like this are to come.

I tried wandering down to Akihabara to find a bank open on a Saturday only but I ended up trekking through Akasusa past where I saw that shrine yesterday. Then I decided to head to Akihabara to check out the electronics stores. There were a lot of electronics. There was a lot of anime. Anime porn. I think I'm going to end up fantasising about cartoons. I'm also obsessed with the lucky dip vending machines where you can slot a coin in and get an anime character out. Grown men and women get stuff all the time - they love these things!

I then tried to walk to Sumida River area, once again disorientated. By the time I arrived and found the Sumo Museum - which was closed - the humidity had turned me into a slimy mess. In desperation I caught the subway to Ueno where I admired the shrine and the TURTLES IN THE LAKE!! I also went to the National Museum of Japan. I loved the history of Buddhism exhibit. But the best thing was that you can sleep in the comfy chairs. Loads of people were doing it. My jetlagged led me to do it. Sorted.

Arrived at Yuji's. Met a load of people from France, Poland, Holland, US and who knows where else.

Best smell of the day:
Warm sugary crepes on street corners filled with ice cream and/or fruit.

Unusual sounds of the day:
The peace of Ueno Park being interrupted by the Thomas the Tank Engine theme tume.
The National Museum playing Auld Lang Syne at closing time - did I miss something?

Crazy dogs of the day:
A dog being carried in a handbag
A man wiping his poodle's bum - I know the toilets in Japan have jets to spray your bum (I did have fun today) but for dogs as well? Next they'll be training them to use loos!

August 2nd

We set off to Harajuku where we visited a flea market and I picked up a couple of bargains.
Found my favourite clothes shope in Takeshita Street - think sequens and tassles and everything garish and outrageous - wait, that sounds like my normal wardrobe? Well, I'm not denying it ;-)
Discovered the importance of an umbrella after rain turned me into drowned rat/ general hobo and ruined my potential Shibuya sight-seeing.
Went to Shinjuku, the "Times Square" of Tokyo. Discovered my hatred of the station. We (me and fellow CSers) could not find the west side of the station. The west side was on the east side of the tracks.
Sat eating a crepe at Roppongi Hills, a swanky, futuristic, and gigantic complex, when out of the ground a musical fountain emerged. Bells, tunes, the lot.
Another good sound - the pop melodies played everytime a subway train arrives at a station *be happy, disco, you have arrived....*