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Japan; that mysterious country in the far east. The country that everyone thinks is incredibly expensive and hard to visit without a guide. Completely untrue as Japan is very affordable nowadays due to fifteen years of economic crisis and a lot of deflation! But the best part of visiting has got to be Tokyo’s main Sumo event: the Grand Sumo Tournament.

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Have you ever seen 300 kilos meat dodge gravity? Probably not and neither had I. That was until I saw how the Japanese fool around with the laws of physics. Just imaging two massive bodies, dressed in nothing more than a large size dishwashing cloth, having a go at each other in a fighting ring made of clay under the watchful vision of a person dressed like the Wizard of Ozz and about ten thousand crazy Japanese spectators fuel by beer and all sorts of nibbles you’ve never seen before.

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But seriously, a Sumo wrestling game might be one of the most impressive live sports events in existence. The atmosphere, the spectators and the action are just simply breathtaking. We figured we’d watch a few games of the tournament for half an hour or so but we ended up glued to our seats (except for the occasional jumping up and down and shouting bits) until the day came to an end, hours later. The Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo is one of the six main Sumo events of the year and thanks to the Japan Tourism Board we’d managed to get a couple of very good seats which can often be hard to get.

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It turned out to be the highlight of our three-week Japan experience. Never have I seen such big people being so agile. Even after a couple of games you really start to notice what’s good or not. The fights often don’t last more than ten seconds but it seems to be slomo all the time. And once you’ve started cheering with the rest of the crowd they’ll be offering you snacks and drinks. Just make sure to return the favor for some incredibly nice reactions! Be assured you’re in for a afternoon of entertainment with all the rituals that go on between the matches, you gotta love it!

Even better: we also manage to get a visit arranged to a Sumo University of Tokyo, as even in this sport one could us e some formal education. As soon as we stepped through the door we could tell by the reactions from our translator we were entering sacred grounds. One of the stablemasters from the University was kind enough to grant us an interview.

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- “A wrestler has about the amount of weight in kilos as he is high in centimeters, how does one get a body like that?”
Wrestlers have two large meals per day. First and second year students are obliged to empty their plates and to attend all meals, sometimes that’s not an easy task. But even then, there are wrestlers that do like to snack in between. The meals are called Chanko-Nabe, or Sumo Stew, which we eat with large size chopsticks because well, our hands are not really tiny anymore. The afternoon meal is the largest, after that we rest so the calories are completely used by the muscles. Besides that we use supplements for that extra bit of growth.

- “So the biggest guy wins?”
No, it’s not that easy. Of course it is a big advantage if you have a lot of weight but Sumo is way more complicated than that. For instance, there are 48 techniques to floor your opponent (a bout ends when one of the wrestlers is forced out of the ring or any bodypart but the sole of the feet hits the clay inside it). A good basic technique is very important for your status and essential for earning the higher ranks that are so important in this game. Ranks are for instance based on results from previous tournaments but without good technique one can never obtain the highest status, that of Yokozuna. A title that has only been granted 65 times since 1761. The rank is so honorable that only special top-judges may supervise their matches. The wrestler gets this ranking for life but is supposed to stop competing when he can’t perform as good as.

- “Some wrestlers are as young as 8 years old, that can’t be good?”
True, but don’t forget that most wrestlers quit eating so much when they are about 30 years old. It’s incredible to see how fast these guys return to normal weight. By the way, most wrestlers start when they are older though, around 16 is about average. There isn’t really any additional medical attention to the weight issue but the wrestlers are very vulnerable to injuries though. Knee problems are the most common but back issues are quite often worrisome too.

- “And the women?”
Sumo wrestlers have a lot of status in this country, it’s a very honorable profession and the top-wrestlers have god-like status. The most beautiful women accompany them and every top-hotel in this country has specially made seats for them. The best wrestlers have special personal care-takers, a very honorable job as well, as some body parts are hard to reach when you’re this big…

Many thanks go out to:
Japanese National Tourtist Organization (JTNO), Japan Airlines and the Conrad Hotel.

Text & photography: © 2005-2008 Rutger Geerling (Fotograferen.net)