May 11, 2011
Sumo Wrestling
Well, amongst starting University and attending auditions for musical theatre club, I was given the opportunity to go and watch day 2 of the (Gogatsu Basho) May Sumo Tournament.
To me, Sumo wrestling has always been that thing that happens every few months that gets in the way of watching television between about 4.30 and 6.30. For two weeks. My parents love it. I enjoy it sometimes, but there is only so much semi-naked fat men footage that one can take without begging to watch the news. The same goes for things like The Biggest Loser, and in the summer, daylight savings brings Sumo Wrestling and The Biggest Loser back to back. Wonderful.
But I was very keen to go and watch the wrestling in Tokyo, and a family friend offered to take me, so I was very much there.
An initial misstep with trains (I don’t think there’s a whole lot that’s worth three train changes in order to attend) meant I got to Ryougoku late which, if Japan were a religion, that would be the sin which for one cannot atone without furious and repeated bowing. But the family friend was kind enough to both forgive me with only mild bowing and even bought me a drink.
We headed into the arena, and it really is an arena. Seating is 360 degrees around the dohyou (where the wrestlers fight). We were sitting in one of the higher tiers
The lower seats have people sitting down on mats. The pictures you see on display are of champions past and present, and are absolutely gigantic.
This dohyou is built over a few days and starts as a mound of clay dirt, and is pounded with wooden instruments until it is flat. As you can see here:
This is the initial ceremony where the wrestlers come into the ring and walk around in their ceremonial belts. I’ve always called it the skirt ceremony.
The respective fanclubs of the sumo wrestlers pay for these belts. These fanclubs can follow the wrestlers to various tournaments and offer donations that go towards the wrestlers’ pay. There are also special parties held after tournaments that fanclub members can attend. I will be attending one in September, quite possibly, for the Sumo wrestler Wakanosato.
Gaze upon that glorious visage.
He’s been a wrestler in the highest sumo class as long as I have been watching, thinking of all the Neighbours, I was missing in summer.
Once the skirt ceremony is completed, out comes the Yokozuna, Hakuhou.
A young Mongolian lad, Hakuhou is the top of the top. And he’s really nice, which is somewhat refreshing. The last yokozuna, another Mongolian lad, was pretty much the bane of the Sumo world’s existence, pulling hair during fights, pushing competitors off the dohyou unnecessarily, punching out a car mirror (I think that was him) and, worst of the worst, skipping out on a regional tour complaining of an injury, only to be filmed playing soccer while he was supposedly injured, like a Today Tonight or ACA story about insurance scams.
Yokkoisho
Once these ceremonies are performed, the wrestling starts.
Bouts take a fairly short amount of time, and a wrestler wins if they push the other beyond the rope, or they manage to make the other touch any part of their body other than their feet on the dohyou.
Oh, and if what they’re wearing comes off, instant loss. Possibly to symbolise the loss of sanity and innocence of all those watching.
The day I was there, I watched a number of bouts, from 4.45 to about 6.30. None of these bouts bar one lasted for more than a minute. In normal tournaments winners receive money donated by sponsors but because of a recent match-fixing scandal not only do winners not receive money, the whole tournament is not televised and tickets in the higher tiers were given away for free.
The fights, though short, are very impressive shows of force. The person on the left in the first picture is about 2 metres tall and is from Estonia. He also looks like Leonardo Dicaprio if Leo ever thought acting was not enough for him and decided to get a lot taller and a lot fatter and start fighting men in very little clothing. All the different ways of winning have different names that are announced at the end of the fight.
There are so many different intricacies and ceremonies involved in the fights, before and after and someone with less homework can tell you about them. There’s salt, singers, beautifully dressed umpires, and water is given to the wrestlers before they fight, but never by a fighter that has lost that day.
One of my favourite parts of the Sumo Wrestling, however, is when the result of a bout is unclear. The poor gyouji (umpire) risks his reputation and is required to choose a winner, but if the judges that sit around the ring (I call them “The Committee”) are uncertain, or think the gyouji made the wrong choice, they get up in the middle of the ring and argue about it.
The day I was there I was lucky enough to see a contested decision.
"The Committee"
Two wrestlers fell almost simultaneously (one being the utterly and insanely popular Takamisakari, whose warm-up is so adorable his fan club is probably the biggest amongst the wrestlers who are not in the highest levels, and maybe even bigger than those) and it was decided that the Umpire made the right decision in saying Takamisakari won, and he was not disgraced, and safe to gyouji for another day.
I want to hire The Committee to make life decisions for me, and then have the head announce the results over the microphone.
It isn’t just the wrestlers that are interesting. People who go to watch the sumo are often long-time fans, who yell out the name of their favourite wrestlers before they fight. Children are often amongst those who yell. My favourite yeller was before the bout of the wrestler Aminishiki
“GO! GO! AMI-CHAN!!!!”
Actually amazing.
There is much noise, and much excitement. It is so different to watching it on tv. Maybe the lack of close-up wobbling of cellulite that made it better.
Dinner was Chanko Nabe. Chanko is the name given to food that sumo wrestlers eat; often full of protein and energy that the wrestlers need for their long practice sessions and their important bouts. I needed energy to…get home, so I appreciated a hot pot of chicken and vegetables in broth.
It was very good.
As my host insisted that I eat a large amount, there was also sushi
and vegetables that we grilled ourselves, and fried prawns. This was apparently not enough so I also had dango for dessert.
I managed to eat a surprising amount of it, and it was all very very good. I washed it down with cold Soba (Buckwheat) tea.
So that was my latest adventure, please comment and tell me what you think. And thanks again for reading. I doubt I will have any adventures in the near future due to Waseda and Musical Theatre club taking up almost all of my time, but if I do you’ll be the first to know.
