Fat Guys Wearing Thongs is a Sport in Hello Kitty Land

Before my friends and I went to Obama city (see previous post) we went to the famous city of Osaka. I had been once before but only to Universal Studios, which is very cool by the way. This trip was to experience more of the city. Osaka is known for being a little different than the rest of Japan. Of course every city in the world has its own flavor, but in Japan one city can seem the same as another. Osaka stands out among them all. The people tend to be younger, into fashion, and much more liberal. The natives even have a different way of talking that can throw off even the best Japanese speakers. Osaka is also known for its food. It has a wide variety and it is cheap, delicious and not all that healthy. YUM! The biggest reason we visited the city was for SUMO!! My favorite sport ever! Sumo tournaments take place every two months around the country. The sumo organization has a great website in English. I have chosen to explain the sport with a lot of photos.

       

This is the venue for sumo. Hanging over the stage area        This guy comes out between each match and 

is a mock temple roof. Sumo is a holy sport. There is a            announces the competitors. The better the 

a tassel on each corner that is a different color. They              the players the fancier his outfit gets. 

represent North, South, East, and West. There is                

a judge sitting on each side of the stage area wearing                        

a black robe. The main referee is in the middle.

 

  There are a lot of rituals a wrestler must do. This one is the famous slapping-the-legs-and-stomping. The tassels are for decoration only and are easily removed. They often fall off during the match. The uniform the wrestler wears is made of about 23 yards of fabric! It protects the wrestler while being very useful during the match. There are about 32 different tactics to win using the belt. The "wedgie" is not one

The wrestler who just finished his match offers water to the current wrestler, then he may leave. The person in the  middle is the referee. Again as the match becomes more important the fancier his outfit gets. You can see that wrestlers wear their hair in a bun or knot as they call it. The style is based on the wrestlers ranking. It is held in place by a special hair wax and the knot is actually protective. It acts as a helmet for the back of the head. 

 

Next the wrestlers enter the ring which is 18meters in        Another ritual movement. 

diameter. They throw salt to purify it. 

   

Then they stare each other down. This is all part of the ritual. They size each other up and try to intimidate the opponent.  

At this point the men can choose to fight right away or stand up if they are not ready. Once someone stands up they both go back to their corners and gather their thoughts, get pumped up, drink more water. The higher up their ranking the more dramatic their pumping up ritual gets. They sometimes even start slapping their arms, legs and head. The audience loves it! Then the  two go back to the center of the ring, again they can choose to stand up at this point. It sometimes happens  3-4 times. Usually by the same guy, and I put my  figurative money on the guy who isn't standing up. 

 

Finally they are ready. Both hands on the ground. It is a split second before they class.

 

The initial attack! These guys have a lot of muscle! Most of the time they fight it out for about 10 seconds. But sometimes one of the guys just steps to the side and the opponent falls. Of the 30 or so matches we watched this move was used 2-3 times. 

These pictures are from a few different matches. In order to win your opponent must touch the ground with some other body part than his feet OR be knocked out of the ring. Even a small finger on the ground or outside the ring will cost you the game. There are about 50 matches a day starting at 8AM and finishing at 6PM. Every wrestler fights once a day for 15 days straight. Your opponents change based on your ranking. So if you are a little guy and you are doing well, you could be fighting a really big guy! Typically though the little guys (lowest ranking) go at the beginning of the day.  Each match can not take longer than 4-7 minutes. If you are high ranking then you have more time. This is used to get the audience excited. The low ranking guys though must fight when they get to the middle, no time to gather your thoughts.

At the end of each match the winner collects money from the referee that is in an envelope. Sponsors pay for advertising during the match. The better you are the more sponsors thus more money.  

 

The wrestlers are divided into sections. you have 3 sections (I think). The REALLY low guys are in the morning, the middle guys in the afternoon, and then these guys. Before they start the matches, all wrestlers in that section walk out and form this circle, then perform ritual movements. They wear these aprons over their belts at this ceremony only. The apron is purchased by their sponsors and can cost upwards of $30'000. Some are encrusted with jewels!

There is ranking among the wrestlers that is separate from the daily rankings. Wrestlers can work their way up to earn titles. Once they have earned  a title it can not be taken away unless they break a MAJOR rule. If a title holder performs badly at a few tournaments then he is expected to do the honorable thing and step down or retire. Pictured here, in the middle, is one of the ozekis. Kotoshu is from Bulgaria and nicknamed the "David Beckham" of sumo wrestling. Pretty hot isn't he?!? There are many non-Japanese wrestlers and there is some controversy over that. An ozeki is the second highest ranking. Yokozuna is the highest ranking and their are currently two and they are both Mongolian.

At the end of the day a yokozuna performs the traditional bow dance. The special belt he wears is reserved only for the yokozunas and features the white fabric that looks like lightning. You can find this same white fabric on anything that is holy in Japan. Although many people choose to make their escape from the venue at this time, I think it is worth watching. At the end of the tournament the person with the most wins gets the Emperor's Cup.

So that is sumo. It is a lot of fun and if you are ever in Japan during a tournament I think it is worth going to check it out.