BootsnAll Travel Network



Fight of the Mostly Naked Fat Men + The Tokyo Underground Music Scene

Kanako and Yuri met me at Ryogoku station and we took a short lunch in an Udon shop before heading to the second day of the fifteen-day Grand Sumo Tournament.  We entered the Kokugikan around 2pm and before entering the stadium we took a walk through the tiny Sumo Museum.  There were a few pieces of quality artwork, but the real impression was made by the hand prints and measurements of the giagantic wrestlers from the past!

When we entered the arena the places was practically deserted, even though the matches started four hours earlier.  We ignored our nosebleed seats (a.k.a. cheapest tickets available) and stole a few seats near the press box.  After snapping a few pictures and reading the pamphlet on Sumo history cover to cover we were all immensely bored and decided to leave.  Even though the audience was arriving, better wresters were bouting, and a wave of excitement was beginning to fill the air we already had enough of watching these half naked disgustingly-fat men shove each other. 

Disclaimer:  Please don’t misunderstand my negativity.  All of the ceremony and intense action of the thirty second matches are worth sitting for ten minutes between each one.  Just don’t make the same mistake we did and show up too early.  Go around four o’clock and catch the excitement! 

 

Click here for more pictures of the Grand Sumo Tournament

The three of us proceeded to Shibuya to meet my friend Nabe.  He was opening up for a local rock show at a small club called ‘Room’.  His set consisted of a solo bass guitar run through two looping pedals, and a few spacey effects.  It was seriously cool music.  The audience fell into a deep trance for the entire 25 minutes he was on stage.  With his permission, I’ve uploaded an mp3 of the entire performance to my website.  I highly recommend listening to the whole thing.  It picks up to a astonishing crescendo by the conclusion that is a must to hear for anybody interested in cutting edge experimental music!  If you like it, don’t be afraid to send him an email with your support:

Sml speaker Nabione – 5.1.2007 @ Room, Tokyo Sml speaker

Kanako left early to catch some rest before a magazine photo shoot she was being featured in tomorrow.  After checking out a few of the following acts, Nabe, Yuke and I met up with Megumi and went to a late dinner.  When the girls had to catch their metros back home, Nabe invited me back to his section of town to hang out with his friends.  I hopped on the back of his bike and we sped out of Shibuya through the through the crisp night air and traffic of Tokyo.

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