Sumo in Fukuoka

Roxy and I got up early this morning to head up to Fukuoka where we had tickets to see a live Sumo match.

I’m not an avid follower of Sumo, nor do I understand all the rules involved. So why go to the game?.. I think Japan is the only place where I might see a live game, so might as well see what it’s like while I’m still here! Also, there was a special deal available to all teachers…so we figured this would be as good a time as any to go.

The sumo players are nowhere near as large as I had though they'd be. So many people in North American could easily pass for a sumo player……

The actions they do before beginning a bout seemed funny to me, probably due to the fact that I don’t understand the meaning behind them. The fight itself is so short that if you drop something and bend down to pick it up, you may miss the entire sparring episode (which is what happened to me).
During a break, while walking down the hallways, we could see many sumo players / trainees wandering around amongst the masses of people.

At one point, there was one sumo player walking around with what looked to be his bodyguard (though why he would need a bodyguard is beyond me…) who was about the same size as him, as well as maybe an apprentice sumo player? Anyways, as they were walking by, everyone was pointing at them and whispering to each other. We figured he might be someone famous, so we asked to take a picture of him. He asked his bodyguard to take the picture for us.

Although he looks very upset in this picture, he smiled at us when we asked if we could take a picture together. Maybe it’s just the ‘sumo picture face’.

It turns out he is Kitazakura san! (who is somewhat famous, or so I’ve been told)

We went out for dinner, and came back in time to see the last 30 minutes of the games. We were told that towards the end of the day, the audience gets more into the games, or something like that. Maybe it’s because one of the last players was from Fukuoka, so it attracted many fukuoka fans. Though, I think it’s more likely to be all the sake that people have been drinking during the day.

After the 2.5 hour bus ride back to Nagasaki, we walked to the dark, deserted-of-people parking lot where my car was...only to find that I had left the keys in the ignition!!! I seem to have become so absent-minded when it comes to car related things. Luckily, there was a teacher who was with us, and he was able to call a Japanese version of CAA to help. The whole thing took about 30 minutes of waiting out side in the cold for help to arrive.

It took less than 2 minutes for the man to get my key out, and I’m thankful that my battery was still ok. Good little purple car.

What a way to end the evening..!