Otoi-Oh-Sumo

there isn't much in my small town of Nomura, but there's sumo. last weekend Nomura hosted the largest sumo festival this side of Shikoku. in all seriousness, it's quite a big deal. the entire town is cleaned up and banners are hung everywhere. even the street pothole covers are cast in the image of a sumo match. this year the professional sumo wrestler Tamaktsuga, a native from Nomura, attended the event for a retirement ceremony. his highest rank achieved was that of sekiwaki - third highest sumo honor. a bunch of other JETs headed to the dojo with me and we had a blast! i even made friends with the old lady sitting next to me!
students from all over seiyo competed in a junior and elementary school tournament. a third year student from nomura middle won the tournament (and honor) for the junior high bracket.

sumo manhole cover

these women were making mochi rice snacks by hand. first the rice must be pound with a huge hammer until the consistency is uniform - like a big sticky blob, then it will be covered is powdered suger and stuffed with anko paste.

inside the dome it was full house! the remaining of these pictures are courtesy of my friend, Kitt Jennings. my camera died halfway through the tournament, but hers are always more beautiful anyways!

most of these men were professional. the day's schedule was: the elementary school tournament, followed by the junior high bracket. after all the schools went, amateurs were able to compete against each other and professionals. the winner of today's event would be given the oppotunity to break into sumo professionally, so the stakes were pretty high. in this picture i think it was just purifying the ring with the priest (dressed in red).

this little man needed some uniform assistance.

amateurs purifying the ring.

at the end of the day the elementary and junior high kids got to "compete" against the big time pros. this man is from bulgaria and was fluent in japanese. he's a beast, and he's only 25 years old. he was cracking up the whole time and really enjoyed himself. this was one of my favorite matches! the first grader toppled over after he was set down because he was so dizzy. priceless!