The Sumo Hunt!

Today was one of the best days in Japan so far. We started out early, 5 a.m., to look for sumo wrestlers. We had no idea when we left the hotel if we would be successful or not. We started out giving an address to the cab driver. We wanted him to take us to a neighborhood where we thought sumo stables were located. One member of our group of three found the address on the internet. We didn't care if it was acurate or not, it was a place to start.

The cab took us to where he thought the address was. Japanese addresses are very difficult because they do not exactly follow any ordered pattern. We got out of our cab and the hunt began. We wondered around the neighborhoods. It was interesting. We came across a park for dogs to play in. Then we found a park with senior citizens exercising. They invited us to join them with a motion of their hand and a smile. We politely declined with a smile and a wave.

Then we found one! A man dressed in a yukato walking down the street. We knew he must be a wrestler. We followed him for a while, then lost the sumo trail again. Next we decided to go to the Sumo Museum and stadium. The security gaurds did not speak English, so they were of no assistance. Then we ran into an American man who lived in Tokyo. He was very happy to direct us down the street a few blocks. Very weird to be given directions in English. So off we went.

He was exactly right. We found a sumo stable where practice was taking place. We asked a young wrestler if we could come in and watch. He went inside and returned to motion us into the practice room.

It was amazing. We sat perfectly still for 45 minutes. I was mesmerized! Then we had to go because we had a meeting at 9:30 and needed to shower yet. No, I didn't want to leave! This was absolutley awesome. They were young wrestlers and not very big, but still sumo guys anyway. I couldn't resist on our way out of the stable to ask a young wrestler if I could take a picture with him. Who knows maybe some day he will be a champion. One item marked off my "Japan bucket list".