Sumo

We just returned from vacation last night, and we had a great time. We took tons of pictures, and I am looking forward to sharing them with you soon. But,  before that, I want to show you some sumo pictures. 

Travis and I were able to watch the sumo tournament in Nagoya two times this summer. We purchased tickets, and then we were given two tickets as a gift from Travis' supervisor. It was really fun to watch, and it was certainly a cultural experience.

Besides watching the sumo tournament, Travis and I also watched a couple of sumo practices in Nagoya. We woke up early on Saturday morning to watch the sumo wrestlers prepare for the matches. It was really interesting, and I certainly gained a whole new respect for the sport after watching the intense practices. I never thought of sumo wrestling as being too physically taxing. I thought they just got to eat, get fat and run into each other. Seemed like a dream job to me. It's actually hard work, though. 

Here is one of the practices we watched. You can see some of the on-lookers in the front.

And, here's another picture of the practice. Many of the wrestlers were covered in lots of cuts and bruises.

Here I am on the way to the stadium. This wrestler was nice enough to let me take a picture with him. Travis and I were both shocked by how good he smelled. Probably sounds strange, but he was freshly showered, and smelled so nice. 

Here's a shot of the stadium. We watched the tournament on the very last day so it was quite crowded.

This picture is a bit fuzzy, but the wrestler in the orange was enormous. I can't remember his exact weight, but I know it was pushing 600 lbs. Unbelievable.

Here's a shot of the wrestlers before their matches. Sumo is a very interesting sport. Well, to me, at least. There are many rituals and rules I never knew about until actually attending the match and doing some background research. If you travel to Japan during the summer, I would highly recommend trying to get tickets. The tournament travels to different cities so it can only be seen during certain months and seasons.