Oversized, almost naked men and drinking in Tokyo

Asashoryu

So last weekend was a fun one. I went to Tokyo to see this man in action. What a beast. Asashoryu has been eating and training for years to get to where he is, and by god does he look good.

So the weekend started with a lovely quiet Friday evening in Kunimi. I then met Christian and Jay at Fuku station on saturday afternoon to Shink down to Tokyo for the sumo. It was here that the fun started. I was super genkii and rocked 3 cans of Asahi on the train down, then when we got to Ueno rocked some more. Wanted to be in a real good place for the sumo. When we got off the local train we weren't entirely sure of where it was we were supposed to go but then a couple of fleshy man mountains wandered by. We knew we had touched down in sumoville. When we got to the sumo, we met up with Lucy M and Sarah S before heading on in to grab our seats. By this time me and Christian were buzzing and all was well with the world.

Grabbed some more beer and some snacks for the sumo and then it began. We were looking down onto a small stage where two gargantuan humans were standing, each one able to eat 3 rather large babies for breakfast each day. They threw salt around, they pounded the ground, and then they pounded each other. Some bouts were over in seconds, others making double digits. All were midly entertaining, most were incredibly entertaining. As the day drew on, I realised that sumo, even with all the corruption in it, is a superbly enjoyable sport to watch. In the ring it's just a bestial competition of one man versus another man. It's a test of sheer strength, brutality, and tactics with very little room for manoeuvering or making mistakes. What more could you ask for while you have a beer in one hand and snacks in the other? Then towards the end of the evening of sumo the big guns were pulled out. Hakuho and Asashoryu stepped into the ring with their opponents. Oh, the joys.

So, as you can gather I rather enjoyed myself at the sumo. Afterwards we went out for dinner in Tokyo and partied it up and I didn't get back to the hostel til about 5.30 after a lot of confusion over a scarf, a long walk, and trains being closed. But that's a story for another time...