Sumo

A few weeks ago a friend and I went to a sumo tournament in Tokyo. What an experience! Sumo is by far the most eccentric sport I have ever seen. The rules are quite simple: push your opponent out of the designated fight circle, or make him touch the ground with any part of his body other than the feet.

In a way, the game is maybe the personification of everything Japanese. Each game starts with someone making a melodic call. Then the two wrestlers enter the ring and make some moves meant to invoke the good spirits and discourage the opponent. Some of the moves are rather funny, like lifting a leg, which can be a challenge in itself. At the same time, the ring referee makes some very acrobatic stretches at well, while five other side referees wait patiently. When they finish this ritual, the referee gives a sign and the bout starts with a fantastic force and intensity. The fight is over within seconds. It rarely lasts longer. Then the two wrestlers bow and leave the ring. No smiles, no celebrations, no emotions.

Obviously, to get any good at this sport one needs to be agile and massive. So young sumo wannabes start by joining a sumo school, where they train, eat and drink. The traditional food is a kind of Japanese soup, a greasy stew with fish, meat and vegetables, which can provide up to 20,000 calories per day. I’m not sure if the food is provided by the school, or if they have to pay for it, but I guess this is a bit like investing in your education.

One would think not too many kids dream of becoming a sumo star, given the extreme life (and size) of a sumo wrestler. However, it looks like the temptation is big. Top division players get a nice salary and they are very respected. And they get to date the hottest Japanese women.

For more pictures, see my Picasa album.

Imperfection

I visited Nikko, a beautiful little town with many temples and shrines. At Toshogu Shrine, I was told that this five-story pagoda has its first four roofs built in Japanese style, while the top one is Chinese. Very mysterious... It turns out this isn’t some architectural error. The belief is that by building the fifth roof in a different style, the designers intentionally wanted to avoid perfection. This was to stop the evil spirits and gods getting jealous. They obviously don't like seeing humans accomplishing something faultless. That’s a privilege exclusive to gods. But the human inventiveness has no limits and the evil spirits were tricked. 

The same idea can be found in the Yomeimon gate. It has twelve pillars with some patterns carved on each of them. However, on one of the pillars the patterns are upside down. The evil spirits were fooled once again. 

It looks like even some modern companies adhere to this philosophy. Like “7-Eleven” for instance, a well-known chain of convenience stores. On their logo, “eleven” is written in capital letters except the “n” at the end, which is lowercase. 

So to all those wondering why I’m not the perfect husband, employee or friend, here’s my answer: I do it on purpose!!! Can’t risk getting the evil spirits angry!

Road Sign

I saw this road sign at some point last year. I didn't even know these traffic signs existed. It made me a bit nervous and my imagination went wild. What if just around the corner there was another one reading something like: “Low flying ballistic missiles. Please mind your head!”? Or “Watch out for artillery holes on the road!”?

Mermaid

This mermaid was for sale in my local supermarket back home. Obviously it was in the fresh fish department. Where else?