Sumo!

About a week ago we had the opportunity to see a sumo tournament.  Normally a "basho" or tournament is a 15 day event but this was a special kind of single elimination tournament in one afternoon.  We took the train and got to the stadium about 2pm.  There were a few wrestlers taking pictures out front but we hesitated to ask them for a picture and missed our chance.  We took this picture instead:

We took our seats just in time to see some of the sumo wrestlers going against some children.  The children looked tiny next to the wrestlers and were very entertaining.  Maddie really got a kick out of it.  Next there were some comic wrestlers who came out and did a funny routine.
Afterwards the real tournament began.  The league is made up of two main groups, East and West.  Each group comes out and lines up in a circle around the floor as their names are announced.  We like seeing their fancy cloths.
Next, the Yokozuna (Grand Champion) comes out and does a ceremonial type demonstration to show his power.

Before the actual wrestling began Troy ran out and got some goodies for everybody.  Yakitori (chicken on a stick), a bento box (boxed lunch with rice, seafood, salads and other yummy stuff) and beer.
We got to see all of our favorite wrestlers.  The one below is huge.  His name translates to Mountain Mountain (I think).    The single elimination was great because we got to see our favorites over and over again as they won.  Unfortunately, our most favorite, Baruto, lost his first match.
We had a really good time.  Sumo is an amazing sport.  All of these guys can do the splits!  They are incredibly strong and nimble.  In Japan, these athletes are treated like rock stars.  We love sumo!