Sumo Wrestling

We wanted to experience a mix of old and new traditions in Japan. Unfortunately, the baseball game was sold out by the time we finalized our itinerary. That will be on our short list on the next visit. We did manage to score tickets to a Sumo Wrestling tournament. We ordered them online from the United States through this site. I bought my tickets about a month before we arrived which was too late for the good seats (but ours were fine).

We arrived about 1:30 and the arena was fairly empty. In hindsight, we should have arrived closer to 3 pm. The level of competition increases as the day progresses.

The concept is pretty simple. Two big guys are in a ring. The first one to step outside the ring loses.

The matches only last a few minutes. 

There is a lot of showmanship before the matches.

Sumo evolved from a practice within the Shinto religion. Throwing salt before the match relates to the religious purification. 

I haven't decided whether these are legitimate matches or 'fixed' like professional wrestling in the US.

But, these are professional athletes. As the day progressed, the stands started filling in.

Most of the athletes now come from outside Japan. They lived a highly regulated life - living with their trainers. It does not sound like an easy profession.

We were not surprised to learn the wrestlers have a life span about 10 years less than the average man. I was surprised to learn that alcoholism is a big problem among wrestlers. 

Apparently, there are ways to track results & the locals seemed to know many of the athletes. You could hear the crowd favorites.

The attire in the crowd was a mix between work clothes and fancy clothes. No one in Japan ever looks like they are wearing workout clothes or shorts.

The food & drink in the arena was good. We had just eaten so we didn't bring in food. But, Nick bought some sort of box of food. We think it was fish. It was tasty whatever it was.

We stayed almost to the end of the day. On our way out we saw one of the wrestlers. He is apparently well known as he was flocked with fans on the way out to his car.