Sumo Tournament

Hello everyone.
So here are some of the pictures/videos I took of the Sumo tournament this Tuesday, along with a little explanation of what it's all about.

The sumo ring or dohyo in Japanese is 18 feet (5.4m) square and 2 feet (0.6m) high. Suspended above it is a roof resembling a Shinto shrine. The four giant tassles in each corner signify the seasons of the year.

The sumo wrestlers, or rikishi, are divided into several different classes based on skill level. When we arrived, the matches of the second best sumo class had just ended. Before the top class (Maku-uchi) matches began, the rikishi enter and encircle the dohyo wearing their ceremonial aprons, which can cost about $4,000-$5,000 each.




For the second half of the dohyo-iri, or "entering the ring" ceremony, the top ranked rikishi called the yokozuna enters the dohyo wearing a ceremonial apron with a massive 25-35 pound hemp rope with paper cut in a zigzag pattern haning from it. These hemp ropes are an ancient religious symbol and are found hanging in Shinto shrines and in some Japanese households. The yokozuna begins the ceremonial dance by clapping his hands together, to attract the attention of the gods.

The yokozuna then lifts each leg high in the air and brings it down with a loud stomp to symbolically drive evil from the dohyo.




This is one of the gyoji or referee. The rank of a gyoji can be determined by the color of the fan he carries.



Now the matches finally begin, well, kind of.

Before each match can actually happen, the rikishi go through what is called shikiri. During this time the rikishi squat down in a "ready" position several times and glare at eachother before standing up, returning to their corner and scattering a handful of salt to purify the dohyo and protect themselves from injury. The length of the shikiri usually increases according to the ranks of the rikishi in the match, as it also helps build suspense and excitement among the spectators.

Once the match does begin, the rules are pretty straightforward. A rikishi loses a match when an body part aside from their feet touches the dohyo, or they are forced out of the dohyo by the other rikishi. Each matches usually last about 30 seconds or less.
Below are some photos, along with a video shot by a fellow student, of the very first of the maku-chu matches which was by far the shortest and, in my opinion, the most humorous match we saw.







This next match was one of the most interesting. Both rikishi ended up falling out of the dohyo and one of them took a sizeable chunk of clay out of one of the steps.



Some of the higher ranked matches are sponsored by certain companies. If this is the case, before the match men circle the dohyo carrying banners with the company name or logo on it. Each banner costs the company about $600USD, $300 of which goes to the winning rikishi. Below is a picture of the banners that were displayed before the final yokozuna match along with a video of the match itself. The yokozuna, named Hakuho, is the rikishi on the left. Right after the match, I attempt to zoom in on a couple groups of school children who were shouting and cheering quite a bit before the match began. When I focus on the dohyo once again, you can see Hakuho receiving his prize money from the gyoji. And soon afterwards you can see a rikishi beginning the yumitori-shiki, the closing ceremonial "bow dance".





Well I hope I didn't bore you all to death with that "little" explanation. I must admit I did have a bit of help from an informational pamphlet I got at the door.
Leave a comment if you have time, as I said before I love hearing from you guys.
じゃあまった