A Sumo Otaku is born

N. was practically besides himself when he learned that I was crazy about sake and R. was nuts about sumo. "You guys must be old-school Japanese." Maybe, but even I can't understand R.'s fascination with sumo. Doesn't mean it can't be indulged though - watching sports with the wife. So, N. set about arranging box seats for the three of us so we could get right into it.


N. gave us our tickets last night, and with those, we had all day access to the tournament. While the main matches don't start until about 3:30PM, juniors and lower-ranks fight from the morning onwards. And R. wanted to be there for the whole thing. Which explains why we were standing outside Ryogoku in Tokyo at 9 in the morning.


"Can we take them home? Please, please, please, oh, puhleeeeeeaaaase?" Fortunately, the action was slow enough that R. consented to us going out for a bit, back to my favorite bits of Asakusa and Akihabara before coming back right after lunch. Of course, R. was the one who noted, while standing on the subway platform, the pleasantly sweet smell of roses and talcum powder."That's the smell of a sumo wrestler. They're nearby, I tell you." Turns out, she wasn't wrong - it was the scent of Omi oil, the hair wax used by sumo and geisha alike.


"I'm so happy, so happy, so happy!!


While R. geeked out on the sumo, N. and I. helped ourselves to all the snacks and beer we could find, plus sake by Ozeki, one of the sport's main sponsors. Not my usual drink but I have to say, it wasn't bad. Ozeki means "champion" and until 1909, it was the highest rank in sumo wrestling. Some irony then that ozeki is now only the second highest rank in sumo (although the term yokozuna predates 1909 by several 100 years, it did not refer to a separate or higher rank before this time).


Makuuchi ring entrance ceremony.


Yokozuna Asashoryu's ring entrance ceremony.


Very impressive strength and flexibility.


Ama, in silver, showing fighting spirit against Hakuho. It was this bout which converted R. into an Ama fan.


Bow ceremony, performed at the end of each day's matches.


It's been a tough day - N.'s first time to watch sumo live, in fact.


Outside, R. caught a whiff of the Omi hair oil again, and discovered that it was none other than Ama. Not sure if this counts as stalking or not. Yes, I think.