Tour Report January 13, 2016(Weekday Tour)
- 2016.01.15
Today we welcomed 7 guests from Finland, Australia and Canada. We all enjoyed the pleasant walk under the clear blue sky. Many guests mentioned that they would go see the Sumo tournament during their stay. So here is a quick introduction of Sumo. Sumo is Japanese style of wrestling and Japan’s national sport. It goes back to ancient times as a performance to entertain the Shinto gods. Therefore many pre-match rituals are involved. Here is the standard ritual: 1) Both wrestlers welcome each other when sitting crouched. 2) They look each other in the eye (sometimes escalates into challenging eye contact towards the end of ritual). 3) They rub their hands, and clap them once (by doing this, they ask for the attention of the gods). Then they move their arms horizontally sideways, the palms of their hands facing up. Later they turn their hands of the palm facing down, then put their hands on their knees. 4) They lift each of their feet. Wrestlers wear only “Mawashi belt”, and practice above arm/leg movements to show the Shinto Gods that they are unarmed. Over the course of the ritual, salts are sprinkled on the ring by wrestlers to purify themselves […]