Sumo:

Imagine not just big, but huge men each wearing a thick thong, but a thong nonetheless, slapping pulling and pushing their opponent in matches that take less time from start to finish than the warm up exercises and posturing that precede the match.

Maybe it doesn’t sound exciting, you would, perhaps, have to be there. A match every few minutes, non-stop for the four hours I was there. Besides, two men with a combined weight of over 500 pounds is pretty exciting when they throw each other out of the ring, set a few feet above the ground, and fly into one of the judges sitting on each of the four sides. Or, one leaps into the air like a cat and you cannot believe it because someone that big shouldn't be able to leave the ground much less with such agility, like a cat.

Sumo sums up Japan more than anything else maybe. It is the place where the Japanese let go and forget for a moment their conservaitive reputation they usually live up to without fail.

At the end of the match when the champions of the day battle for the championship, which often ends with the judges conferring in the center ring and ruling on the winner, the purple pillows that once served as seats fly through the air as the audience shows their approval.

Most of these photos were taken early on before most people arrived, thus the mass of empty seats. Crowds pile in later in the afternoon when the more well-known professional wrestlers start appearing around 2:30. The tournament takes place over two weeks with matches starting perhaps at 10 AM and running through until the finale at 6 PM and there is hardly a pause all day.
Sumo photos:
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