Thursday, March 13, 2008

Video: Sumo Tournament

Link to video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKXdlDLg7oE

March 10, 2008, Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, Japan. The annual March sumo tournament nicely coincided with our trip to Japan, so we decided to go check it out on its second day. Each bout is very ceremonial; it begins with about 4 minutes of entering the dohyo (circular ring), staring down one's opponent, leg lifting-and-stomping, exiting, and then re-entering and repeating by both of the rikishi (wrestlers). Every time the rikishi re-enter the dohyo, they toss a handful of salt out onto it, both for good luck and to purify the ring area. The whole process is mesmerizing. In this video of the final match of the day, yokozuna (the esteemed top rank) Asashoryu handily defeats his opponent, Kakuryu, in a dazzling finish. Quite an ending.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

he makes tossing his opponent out of the ring and off the stage look like a piece of cake. do they sweep the salt out of the ring after each match?

you're almost home! can't wait to hear all the stories. love mom/susan

Tara said...

that was amazing how he just flicked the other guy out of the ring!!! so jealous.