Jonas and Liz's Japanese Adventures: 9月 2012

Dear Readers, Jonas here with the latest from this weekend's Sumo Tournament. First off, I have always wanted to see Sumo. They are amazing athletes and it has always interested me. I used to pretend to be a Sumo wrestler when I was a teenager just as a joke. What we saw this weekend was no joke. You could hear the strikes to the chest and throat all the way back in the cheap seats. It should be noted that "cheap" was still nearly 5000 yen or roughly $60.00. I'm getting ahead of myself though. On the way we stopped at a truck stop for a rest break and got some onigiri (rice balls) and little baked donuts shaped like teddy bears. They were yummy and adorable. It should be noted that Onigiri is the Japanese version of a PB and J. They are available everywhere, are yummy, and really stick with you much longer than a sandwich.

Our first stop after the bus ride was to the Tokyo Edo museum. It was way cooler than I thought it would be. It is a multi-level museum with miniature city scenes and period homes. Rickshaws and artwork galore. We have included some pictures of the painstakingly detailed scenes below. One of the downfalls to Japanese building design is that they do not hold up well to fire and other disasters. I was relieved in a way to know that the city had been burned and rebuilt a number of times before the war that we Americans played a part in. They did a good job of reporting the facts of the war without pointing fingers. It did not surprise me as over-all every Japanese person we have talked to about the war regards it as a good thing. Many have told us that the new Japan is better without constant war that marked much of life prior to WWII. It was amazing to see this glimpse into life in old Japan. They showed the progression into the modern age and so many beautiful details of life.

We then headed over to the arena that was right next door to the museum. We followed the flow of people and saw quite a few lower ranking wrestlers walking about outside. We found our way inside and looked for food. It was past lunch time for sure and we were ready to settle in and watch the matches. We found that they sold large bento boxes with sumo wrestlers on the box. These were twice the size of a normal bento and I think designed so you could eat like they do. We just shared though and got some Yakitori (grilled chicken on a stick) as well. Our seats were labeled "West" in Kanji so we looked for the symbol and found our group. We turned on our little FM radios so we could here the English commentators live in the arena. There are no broadcasts over loudspeaker in the arena. The announcers in the ring and the ref do a fair amount of yelling but we could hear them just fine with no mics. I should say we could hear them but no understanding for these western ears. The afternoon opening ceremony was just beginning. There was a procession of the "East" wrestlers and then the "West" wrestlers. It is an arbitrary distinction though as the matches are one on one and you could end up fighting anyone depending on how well you do. We even saw two teammates who were very good friends battle each other. The winner launched his friend out of the ring and flat on his back spectacularly and then rushed to help him up and make sure he was ok. This caused a huge cheer from the crowd. The process of sumo is very interesting. The battle itself is proceeded by a fair amount of sacred symbolism and a large amount of posturing and mental intimidation. This can go on for up to four minutes for lower ranked sumo and up to ten minutes for higher ranks. This also causes the crowd to go nuts for their favorite as they toss salt to purify the ring, face off against each other slapping and scowling at each other, pressing down as if they are going to launch, but then back to the corner for more salt. This builds and builds until finally they knuckle down (literally) to the ground and launch at each other. They strike each other in the chest and throat hard enough that you can hear and feel it all the way in the back. Most matches are determined in seconds, but it is breathtaking. One round both men turned and the winner ended up driving the opponent down into the hard clay ring and we could feel the impact all the way back to our seats. We also heard that the day before one of the fighters was taken to the hospital after an elbow strike to the chest. He was back in the ring and fighting for us the next day. The ring is hard packed clay lightly coated with sand. It is considered sacred ground and no spectator is allowed to touch the ring. Once the opening ceremony is complete the matches go back to back with no breaks. The next two fighters are ready to step in the ring as soon as the last two bow and the winner is given an envelope from the sponsors. We were told that it was not uncommon for the envelope to contain one million yen or more for this tournament. Roughly $10K for five minutes of work and a lifetime of dedication and sacrifice. It was truly impressive and really fun. Enjoy the pictures below and thanks for reading!

Rickshaw man's license.

Opening Ceremony

Sumo Bento: Eat like the big boys!

Inside view

Sponsors flags of course. The true purpose of sports.

Smily McSmilerson and his lovely wife.

Not meant to offend but some rather funny Engrish.

Hello dear readers! It's already mid-way through September...hard to believe. The weather here is still very warm, but we feel like the 60s-70s we enjoyed pretty much all of June are being paid for now. I hear it is cooling off a bit back in the states, I'm sure you were all more than ready for the break!

Yesterday was beautiful, even though it was in the upper 80s. We hopped on the bus that takes us from the base to the New Sanno hotel in downtown Tokyo, our final destination being Ueno Park and the Ueno Park Zoo. Once we arrived at the hotel, we hopped over to the Metro station and took a short subway ride to Ueno. We had a quick picnic right outside the park, enjoying the people watching and the shady spot to eat. On our way to the zoo we were stopped by a very friendly group of Japanese that were "seniors" in their English class and doing a class project to go out and speak English. The man approached us and asked if we could talk and it was a very fun experience (I regret not taking any pictures of them...sad face). They asked us simple questions about where we were from and when we came to Japan. After less than 5 minutes, including the time it took for us to pose with them for several pictures, one of the ladies pulled out 2 packets of origami paper and insisted that we take them for helping them out. It was a sweet gesture, the conversation was gift enough. We didn't want to insult them by not taking the paper, so we did take them but thanked them profusely...and btw J is actually quite awesome at origami so it was a nice bonus. Interestingly, all 3 of them were older and when we were discussing everyone's age (except the 2 ladies, we did not ask and they did not volunteer) we were shocked to discover that the man was 78! He seriously looked maybe 60. The "asians never age" thing is so not a cliche!

The zoo was really nice, but it seems like every zoo trip in my memory includes sweating profusely. I would like to make a vow right now that we will return to the zoo when its COOL. Ugh. By the by, I DO remember "Polar Bear Days" at the Tulsa Zoo, however I have zero memory of actually going to the zoo on those days. But I digress. Aside from sweating our butts off, it was a very nice day. Right inside the gate were 2 Giant Pandas and I am getting old enough that I cannot recall ever seeing one in person before...so I apologize to all the pandas out there that I cannot remember seeing. J says: I know for a fact I have never seen a panda. It was pretty crazy. I mean I've seen them on TV and movies and stuff but it's pretty surreal looking at them in real life and thinking that its a first even when it doesn't feel like a first. Anyway, these 2 were adorable and I probably snapped like 43 pictures within 10 minutes of walking in the zoo. We greatly enjoyed...ok I greatly enjoyed the Small Mammal house in which I almost gave myself a sore throat from going "omgeeee they're sooooo cuuuuuute" roughly 400 times. J says: I greatly enjoyed watching her watch the little critters. Also there was a naked mole rat. It was really cool to see in real life. I also really liked the balance the zoo seemed to have. They worked equally hard at giving the animals an appropriate living space and making it so we could see them. Sometimes zoos focus too much on making it a "real" habitat and no one can see the animals. Which for the record is better than "prison" zoos that showcase the animal in a concrete cage. I thought Ueno got it just right. We saw many other classic zoo animals including a polar bear with an amazing habitat, hippos, a giraffe, zebras, lions and the like. Final picture count was about 360, just a few of which I have shared below.

On our way back to the train station we were discussing the many dinner options. We are both trying to watch our calories but then decided that walking for roughly 5 hours straight was going to lend itself nicely to vanquishing dinner calories! We remembered seeing a sign for Hard Rock Cafe inside the train station, so we decided to check out the menu. Ummm we saw page 1 which included Starters and saw the 2280 Yen nachos ($29!!) and decided to visit the gift shop instead. I mean, if I'm gonna have $30 nachos, it's not gonna be at freakin Hard Rock! Just sayin. So we quickly decided to find a nice bowl of something and took to the streets to check out the what seemed like miles of shops that displayed their picture menus. We walked for quite a bit before deciding on a very tiny little restaurant that served very yummy pork katsudon (breaded pork cutlet...very good...not extremely calorie friendly though but totally worth it) and it hit the spot. After dinner we headed back toward the train station on a different street, got a tad turned around (the pics should help you understand why) but had fun winding our way back to head home.

On the long, long, LONG train ride home, we had a very rewarding experience with a Japanese lady. The train was very packed and we finally found seats in the "priority" seating but you have to keep an eye out for elderly or people with small children because you're supposed to give them your seat. So, J being diligent (and sweet) went to get up for a very elderly lady (who in reality was probably like 55 lol) that got on at one of the stops but she had her back to him and he was trying to get her attention. The elderly lady turned around and was smiling but waving her hand like "no thanks" and saying some stuff in Japanese and the lady that was already sitting with us said "she is getting off at the next stop" in perfect English. So when J sat back down we started talking to her and she was the sweetest woman. Kept trying to tell us about stuff to do around Ueno, including a free bus from Ueno station to the Tokyo Skytree. She told us about her children and about how much she loved visiting the United States. It was really nice to just chat with her and she kept smiling, clutching her chest like she was so happy saying "this is very good day." It was amazing!! I mean, we are sorta awesome but we aren't celebrities. But we felt like we were after talking to her. She shook our hand (very Western, Japanese people do not shake hands, they bow when meeting) when it was her stop and said "thank you, it was so good to meet you" and we of course returned the sentiment. I would have hugged her but thought that was probably pushing it lol. We love this country!