Sumo and link to pics

So Sumo was also a real treat and a fun Japan event. The professional wrestlers, the top ranked ones, don't have matches until around 2:30-3pm. Kenn and I arrived a little earlier to walk around and check out the Sumo museum. It wasn't really a museum so much as a room, but it had some cool pics and stuff. Some of the lower ranked Sumo wrestlers were walking around the stadium. Man, Sumo wrestlers sure are big guys. Not just fat but tall too.

We settled into our second floor seats which run about $45 a pop. Lower level box seating is at least a hundred dollars or more. We were able to see perfectly fine, the stadium is not that big.



It was all pretty interesting. Most of the time is spent with rituals. The wrestlers come out. They stomp their feet (stomp out the bad spirits), slap themselves, throw salt in the ring (purify it), and drink water (purify themselves). The matches take less than one minute each. Though these guys may look fat, they are pretty flexible, have great balance, and many different wrestling techniques. It's pretty cool to watch.



The pic below is one of the ceremonies where they introduce all the wrestlers at that level. There are a few white guys in the professional level - 2 brothers from Russia and a Bulgarian guy who rose up the ranks pretty quickly. But there has bascially been one winner, the same winner in the past like 12 years or something. The only time he didn't win was when he had an injury that prevented him from continuing the tournament. No one really knows if he is just really awesome or everyone else is just so-so... Anyways, he won again this tournament.



Here is the link to all the Tsukuji market pics, a few from Omotosando/Harajuku shopping, and Sumo. If fish guts and the like gross you out, you might want to skip over those and straight to the others ;) I added titles/comments on some so you know what you're lookin at. Enjoy!
Tsukuji and Sumo pics