I got excited this week. Last Sunday the July Grand Sumo Tournament started! I am continuing my slow process of learning about this sport, and am conducting my research on a barstool. The barstool is a necessary research instrument, as I do not own a TV here in Japan and I feel that observing the tournament live is crucial for achieving my best learning environment (or I could just be looking for an excuse to drink beer). Luckily for me I have found a place here in Zushi that has a TV (finding a TV in a bar here is harder than imagined) and has good coronavirus prevention in place.
Sarah and I have been trapped inside recently due Japan’s rainy season, known as Tsuyu. This means “plum rains,” as it coincides with the plum ripening season. For the Kanto region, within which Zushi and Tokyo reside, this usually starts around June 8th and lasts until around July 20th. We decided to get out of the apartment and head up to Tokyo to visit the Edo-Tokyo Museum in Sumida, which Sarah has been wanting to visit since we arrived in Japan. I also had an interest in going, but I was eager to head to Sumida this particular day, as right next door to the museum is the Ryōgoku Kokugikan, which is the stadium where the July sumo tournament is being held.
Before we entered the museum, we decided to walk around the stadium to see if there were any festivities taking place for the opening day. Unfortunately, there was not much to be seen aside from a few fans lined up, waiting to take pictures of the wrestlers when they left the stadium. As there wasn’t much to see, we started walking to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. That’s when our luck changed. We ended up near the back of the stadium, and through a fence we saw numerous rikishi (professional sumo wrestlers) walking outside dressed in colorful yukatas, or summer-weight kimonos. These wrestlers were much larger in person than I had imagined. After we finished up at the museum, we headed back to the front of the stadium, where we observed some more rikishi leaving the stadium for the day. Needless to say, I got my fanboy on hard that day.
As I wrote before, Enho has become my favorite rikishi. I have watched all his matches during this tournament, and he is 2-2 so far. He is in the Makuuchi division, which is the highest of the six professional divisions in the tournament. He is ranked as Maegaeshira #6 from the east region, which puts him in the middle of the pack for the division. He wrestles out of the Miyagino Heya or stable, which is also the stable to which the current East Yokozuna, Hakuho, belongs. Hakuho, who is from Mongolia, is the longest serving Yokozuna (the highest sumo ranking) of all time and has broken numerous sumo records during his thirteen year Yokozuna reign. Sarah found an exhibition match between Enho and Hakuho from February 2020 where the two rikishi have fun with their significant size difference. I am looking forward to enjoying the rest of the tournament and hope to get tickets to attend in person.
Exit Haiku
Large men dance on clay
mountains that crash and collide
alas, one must fall.