Our second weekend back we went to our first sumo tournament. It was really amazing. Chris' coworker organized the entire thing and got tickets.
We arrived to the stadium at 12:30 and watched the lower ranked wrestlers. The stadium is much less crowded at that time so Chris was able to sit very close to the ring and take some great pictures. The way we were seated was a lot different than the West. We had a designated square, which is a railed in piece of the floor with four cushions on it. We had to take off our shoes and sit on a cushion. It was all very Japanese. There were food vendors outside the main area so we were able to purchase whatever we wanted to eat and drink and bring it in to our cushioned area. We had sushi and beer and watched a bunch of heavy boys throwing down. Not too bad for a Saturday. The matches got progressively harder as the day went on. We could definitely notice the increased level of skill. The rules are really very simple; any part of the wrestlers body that touches the ground (aside from the soles of their feet) or moves outside the ring, is a loss. It was a lot of fun. We have a few pics for you to look at.
We arrived to the stadium at 12:30 and watched the lower ranked wrestlers. The stadium is much less crowded at that time so Chris was able to sit very close to the ring and take some great pictures. The way we were seated was a lot different than the West. We had a designated square, which is a railed in piece of the floor with four cushions on it. We had to take off our shoes and sit on a cushion. It was all very Japanese. There were food vendors outside the main area so we were able to purchase whatever we wanted to eat and drink and bring it in to our cushioned area. We had sushi and beer and watched a bunch of heavy boys throwing down. Not too bad for a Saturday. The matches got progressively harder as the day went on. We could definitely notice the increased level of skill. The rules are really very simple; any part of the wrestlers body that touches the ground (aside from the soles of their feet) or moves outside the ring, is a loss. It was a lot of fun. We have a few pics for you to look at.
