I Heart Sumo

We took the long way to the sumo arena, but we finally got there. I absolutely heart sumo. Especially when these huge diaper clad men go flying onto the first couple rows of spectators.

I love the show the higher ranked wrestlers make. They have personal cushions to sit on while they wait their turn. They climb into the ring, slap their chests, legs, and faces, then throw salt around to purify the ring. The wrestlers get into place, give each other the "you're going down" look, then get up again and throw some more salt, slap their chests, and basically go through the whole show again. This happens at least one more time before the match actually starts. They usually last about 20 seconds with a spectacular match going barely over a minute.

We went early and watched some of the amateur matches. They didn't get the three minutes of show, but got into the ring, did the leg lift/thigh slap thing and went to it. Since we were so early, we sat just 20 feet away.

Tokyo will host tournaments again in January and May. Guess who's going for her birthday.