November Grand Sumo Tournament

Placed in: playja, tomos, culos,

A Saturday spent appreciating the National Sport of Japan, perching on comfy cushions measuring about two feet to a side, with four of them nearly overlapping making up the floor space of a box. Naturally there was some limb spillage over the metal bars which marked the boundaries of our space. The Fukuoka Kokusai Center was nearly full, and we had excellent seats courtesy of the Yame connection. It was good, cozy, careful-don't-knock-the-beer-over fun.

From 9am lower division matches were held, and the Makuuchi upper-division bouts were in the afternoon. In between was the Yokozuna ring-entering ceremony. It is impossible to describe the aura flowing out of the current sole Yokozuna, Asashoryu. You could feel it from all the way across the auditorium. He is the very best of arguably the most powerful martial art in the world, and how that is more than just strength and technique is actually palpable.

My personal favorite is Kotooshu, and not only because he's really hot. This Bulgarian native (who is sponsored by Meiji's Bulgaria line of yogurt)is 6'8" and is very good despite his light weight and extremely high center of gravity. I was actually surprised to learn that Akebono is the same height as Kotooshu! However, Akebono weighed almost twice as much and countered his height disadvantage with long reach and insane strength. Kotooshu's got it going on too, defeating the incredible Asashoryu later in this tournament and gaining the rank of Ozeki- a rise of unprecedented speed. He lost the bout we watched, though, was pushed way out into the spectators. (Watashi no omoi wa omosugita kana?)


Another favorite is the home-grown Kaio, who last year was a contender for Yokozuna. Kaio hails from Nogata, in Northern Fukuoka. The big fan favorite is.. Takanowaka was it? He psyches himself up in a really cool way. My students say he moves like a robot.

The final match was over in mere seconds, as with no preamble Asashoryu blasted his opponent out of the ring. The tournament ends with a special longbow ceremony which is quite elegant despite the drunken cushion-throwing that goes on. Much less throwing this year than last, when Kaio lost his bout. Though filled with ceremony that may seem arcane sumo is actually extremely exciting to watch live, and the wrestlers themselves are marvelously agile and quick. This is my second time and though extremely expensive, I would definitely be up for it again.

Placed in: [ Playing In Japan ] [ Cultural Osmosis ]