Large men with small outfits...

Sumo Face!

This weekend Jeff and I went to a Sumo Match in Hiroshima.  It was far more interesting than I expected.  

The first little interesting bit happened right when we walked in the door, we were handed a little bag and instructed to take our shoes off.  The bags were not for western size shoes.  Jeff and I both have relatively small feet but I was wearing knee high boots so they didn't exactly fit in the bag.

We were shown our seat by a very helpful usher.  I was extremely happy that we opted for the cheap seats.  They were on the upper level and were actually seats.  The floor seats were literally on the floor.  There was a mat or tarp on the floor that was marked off with different seat numbers and people in those seats sat or knelt on the floor.  Many people had cushions and they sold them at the arena as well.  I was very happy to have a normal seat with a back and my feet on the floor.  They were very narrow seats but my knees and back are not used to sitting on the floor.  One other interesting thing about the arena was that they had no air conditioning on or fans on.  It is October, but it still got amazingly hot and stuffy by the end of the match.  Many people were fanning themselves (me included).

You can see the floor seats and the stage structure in the photo.  This is the sumo wrestlers introducing themselves.

When we first got settled there was a comedic relief duo that were mock wrestling.  They were both extremely large men and surprisingly agile.  They dropped to the ground and rolled, picked each other up and and one point the both dropped in to full middle splits.  We really enjoyed them and were impressed by their athleticism.

Next there was a ceremony where the wrestlers took the stage and each sang a little song.  It is my understanding that it was an introductory song where they told a little about themselves and did a little smack talk.

After everyone had a chance to tell their story they filed out.  They came back in 2 at a time from opposite sides of the arena and approached the platform where the wrestling took place.  The platform was filled with sand and a rope in a circle marked the wrestling area.  The opponents would bow to the stage and wait their turn if another match was still in progress by sitting on the floor in front of the stage.  When it was their turn to wrestle the announcer would sing their names and they would mount the stage and go to their respective corners and take a sip of water.  Then they usually would drop to a low squat then tip over with all their weight on one leg and put their un-weighted leg high in to the air and then repeat on the other side.  Then would then grab a handful of salt and toss it in to the ring (to purify it).  Next the wrestlers would face each other, clap their hands and put their arms out to show they are unarmed.  Then would then repeat the squat leg up ritual in front of each other.  then would then squat down and glare at each other for a little bit before standing up and going back to their corners.  There was usually a little ritual looking thing that each one would do (similar to any pro athlete before a game) then they'd grab and toss more salt then go back in the ring.  They would squat low right in front of each other.  Sometimes they would start wrestling and sometimes (something Jeff and I couldn't quite figure out) one of them would decide it wasn't time yet and they'd get more salt, toss it and then squat in front of each other again.  This could happen 2 or three times before the match actually started.

Here is the leg lift ritual.  These guys weren't as good as some of the others who managed to get their feet up to the level of their heads.

There are basically two ways to win at sumo, you either get your opponent to step out of the rope circle (on the rope is ok) or you knock your opponent over.  The day was set up so that the less experienced and skilled wrestlers went first and they finished with the more known and better wrestlers.  The techniques varied but it was obvious even to our untrained eyes that the later wrestlers were much better.  The match always started the same.  The wrestlers would launch from their squat at each other with an impressive explosive force.  There was no countdown or obvious signal to start.  The wrestlers would just watch their opponent and decide to go or not.  Some waited several seconds and others went right away.

The low squat right before they start.

Techniques seemed to include:  straight up pushing the other guy backwards out of the ring, picking the guy up by the sides of the loin cloth and out (this was often done with a twist from a guy with his back to the outside of the ring), repeatedly slamming in to your opponent to push him out, there was one choke hold where a guy was pushed out by his neck, and several slappers which was really odd looking when done by large adult men.  There were several leg sweeps, one guy simply side stepped and pushed his charging opponent past him and out of the ring.  The matches were fast and lasted from 30 seconds to maybe 3 minutes of actually wrestling.

Here is an action sequence of two guys smashing in to each other from the initial squat, this was at 7 frames a second, so less than a half a second passed.

Here are a couple other action shots that I took.

In this one, one guy is being picked up by his opponent by his belt.

This is the match where the victor side stepped his opponent and ran him out of the ring.

After the matches each wrestler would exit the stage and bow to the stage.  Victors would usually watch the next match and the losers would usually politely exit.  Everything was very polite and dignified, typical Japanese.

Like wrestling in the US there is a belt for the champion but it is quite a bit different looking and there was a bit of presentation that went with it.  There was a victory dance by the champion before he got the belt with lots of demonstration on his ability to squat low and do the standing side split thing.  Then a bunch of guys came out with the belt and tied it around his waist and made a very elaborate knot at the back.

The guys tying the belt

The bow from behind

The belt from the front

Again, I'm not sure why this guy got the belt and no-one else but it was interesting.

It was a very interesting experience and glad we went.  We followed with dinner at our favorite restaurant in Hiroshima, it was a good day.

New blog platform - any problems?

Hi all!

I decided to see what would happen if I changed the blog from Blogger which is a Google platform to Google+ which is also a Google platform.  I think the transition will pretty much be seamless for all of you but I'm not 100% sure.  If you see any differences please let me know.  I've got 30 days to decide if I want to switch back to the old platform or not.  This is what happens on rainy afternoons when I'm cooped up in the house, I start messing with things!

Sky

Bizen day 2

We got up in the morning in Okayama and decided to check out the garden, Korakuen.  It is fairly famous in Japan for being unique with it's size and open spaces.  Most Japanese gardens are smaller and do not have as expansive of views.

This little girl was all dressed up with her parasol for some photos in the garden, I thought the kid to parasol ratio was pretty awesome so I grabbed a pic.  There was also a couple getting wedding photos while we were there.

Koi hoping I would feed them with the lake in the background.  If you look in the top center of the photo, you can see the top of Okayama castle.

Tree just starting to turn and a more expansive view from the garden.

Chrysanthemum from their fall display.

I think I prefer the more intimate feeling smaller gardens but I was glad we took the time to explore this one.

After the garden it was getting about lunch time when we happened across the Organic Garden Market.  It was maybe 50 tents of people with organic veggies, fruits and other products.  The best part however, was the pizza oven.

Mobile wood fired pizza oven.

My very tasty freshly made pizza.

It may look like R2D2, but the mini wood fired pizza oven made darn good pizza!

Next up was the Bizen Sword Museum.  They had a great video (though unfortunately no English subtitles as it was all in Japanese) that showed how they start with iron ore and how the heat it up and fold it over and and pound it out and fold and hammer to make the steel so strong in Japanese swords.  They also showed the shaping, polishing and sharpening processes.

After watching the video we walked around and looked at the swords they had on display.  The artistry in them was amazing.  We then walked around the compound which had a working forge, they heat it up every other weekend and still make things at this site.

The forge.

Jeff checking the weight of one of the hammers they use to pound out the steel.  They are very heavy.

Where they do some of the blade polishing and shaping.

The sword museum was very interesting.  It was a shame it wasn't one of the weekends where they were making things but it was still very cool to see.

After that we made a quick ice cream stop and headed for home.  It was a great weekend trip.

Bizen day 1

This weekend Jeff and I went off to Bizen for the Pottery Festival.  Bizen is famous for its unique pottery.  It is typically unglazed and the coloring of the pottery comes from the materials around the pots when they are fired such as straw and when ash touches the pottery as it is fired.  The clay has a high iron content and is slow fired.  The result is very strong pottery with a surprisingly diverse color pallet.  For more info you can Google Bizen pottery or here is a link with some basic info.

I love pottery so this sounded awesome to me.  When we got to Bizen I was completely amazed at the number of potters displaying their wares, the number of people that showed up for the pottery festival and the beauty and diversity in the pottery.  The town of Bizen itself was completely adorable.  It had a little river running through town with benches along it and little bridges.

A quiet place to take a break from the festival

I was amazed at the number of vendors that spoke some English.  Everyone was super polite.  I bought a sugar bowl from a woman who is a 9th generation potter.  They had a beautiful garden behind their shop and offered us tea and coffee.

I am always amazed at the beautiful presentation of food in Japan.  There are beautiful fresh cut flowers and a tiny sweet for each of us with our complimentary cup of tea and coffee.

Pottery displayed at shop.

We walked around all day and really enjoyed the festival.  Even without the festival, there are pottery shops every 2 doors throughout the town.  You can see the smaller kilns in town and there are enormous kilns on the out side of town that the only fire a couple of times a year.

Here is one of the smaller kilns.  It has some pottery loaded in it already.

Pottery being displayed on the outside of a small kiln.

This small grouping of pottery shows some of the diversity in color and texture from the firing process.

It was a great day.  I hope to take another trip to Bizen with visitors.  We stayed that night in nearby Okayama since hotels in Bizen were booked.  I'll admit it, I dreamed I was a potter that night.

Miyajima Kikka Festival

One of the other Micron wives invited me to go with her to a autumn festival that they do in Miyajima this week.  There is some dancing that they do at the temple to honor the fall Kami (spirits or gods).  It sounded like fun and I got a new camera for my anniversary and this seemed like a good opportunity to play with it, so I met her at the ferry terminal and off we went.

It was a beautiful day.  

The torii gate from the floating temple

Having fun trying to learn how to use my new camera

From the pier back towards Hiroshima

It was a little warm when we started but once the sun set I was sure glad I had on long sleeves and a jacket.  The wait for the performance to start was a little long and chilly but once it got dark it started.  We did not stay for the whole thing (since it takes me a long time to get home and the later it gets, the less trains run and the longer it takes to get back) but we saw about 45 minutes of dancing.  All of the dancers were male.  The whole thing seemed very stoic and serious.  It was not joyous dancing.  There was a lot of repetition of the dances.  For example, first a guy in a red costume did a dance, then a guy in green did the same dance, then they both did the same thing together.  I wish I knew what it was supposed to symbolize.

The pagoda lit up at night

The guys dancing with the torii gate in the background

You can see their costumes better in this one

It was pretty hard to get good photos.  There were signs up asking people not to use flash photography which was largely ignored but I turned off my flash.  This meant that if they were moving very much the picture was very blurry.

It was a fun excursion and a nice chance to see a little bit of Japanese culture.

In the spirit of fall (and playing with my new camera) here is a photo of a chestnut that I took when trying to figure out my camera.  It's kind of cool looking, I think.

Random picture of a chestnut

Saijo Sake Festival

The town of Saijochou has a several famous sake breweries and every year in mid-October there is a sake festival.  It is a 2 day event that brings around 100,000 people to Saijo to enjoy sake and the street food.  

This all happens about a mile from our apartment.  Saturday was a beautiful day.  We walked down in the early afternoon and met up with some of our ex-pat friends.  

While we were trying to find our buddies we ran in to a parade of people playing musical instruments.  It was a mix of kids and adults.  

The sake breweries sell sample to festival goers and sell full bottles as well.  It was a little bit like a wine tasting tour would be if all the wine sellers had their tasting rooms on the same street and they only did wine tastings and opened their doors for one weekend a year.

Once we found our friends they decided to check out a brewery that was doing tastings out of cedar boxes (and you got to keep the box).

Kam-pai!  (Japanese cheers)

I wish I would have taken more pictures of the food stalls and the happening but it was pretty crowded and I'm really short.  Here is an idea of the number of people that were there.

Walking was a slow shuffle at best.  It was all very organized.  They had the streets blocked off and an officer at every major intersection.  The streets had cones and dividers in the center of the street to keep the pedestrian traffic moving.  Food stalls selling everything from squid on a stick, berries in Jello, waffle-looking things on sticks, fruit, grilled oysters, fish on a stick, octopus, sweet potatoes, and even some bratwurst.  There were also a couple of places to get beer as well as sake.

All and all it was some fantastic people watching.  If you are ever in the area during the festival it is definitely worth going to.

Are Japanese women Vampires?

Japanese women go to such extremes to avoid having the sun touch their skin it is the only explanation that I can come up with.

The weather is finally starting to cool down and fall is coming to Japan but all summer long I saw women dressed like it was the dead of winter.  It wasn't because it was cool out side or there was a chill in the air.  It was often 95 'F and 90% humidity.  If you have ever lived in this weather than you know it's like breathing soup, you sweat profusely when you just think about crossing the street and even if there is a little breeze it just makes the sweat drip slightly sideways.

Women in Japan like keep their skin as light as possible.  This means in the middle of a sweltering summer the still wear long sleeves, gloves, a hat, and often a face mask, carry an umbrella to use as a parasol and often their bikes have built in covers for their hands to keep them out of the sun or an umbrella holder.  I'm sure that my exposed arms (I have a lot of sleeveless tops) and tan lines were quite the shocker to them.

I remember this day being particularly sweltering.  I was wearing a knee length skirt and a sleeveless shirt and dripping sweat and this lady walked by like it was a crisp fall day.

This is not the best picture but the lady on the bicycle is not an unusual site with the face mask and gloves and umbrella.  The lady in the peasant blouse is the unusual one.

I don't have any picture of it (since I got a Japanese phone it's really hard to discretely take pictures of people since you can not disable the camera sound and it's really loud.  It is a Japanese law, apparently, to prevent men from taking up-the-skirt pictures on trains.) but women also wear face shields that look a little like cross between a welding mask and one of those visors that were made out of colored plastic that I got as a kid at Disneyland.  Anyhow, it goes from their forehead to their chin and is a see through dark plastic like sunglasses.

Now that it's cooler, people still cover up but it looks a little less unpleasant.

I'm wondering how they get enough vitamin D?  Why don't Japanese women all have rickets?  Their milk doesn't have any added vitamin D like in the US and they don't really drink it anyway.  I have no idea what they do nor do I know anyone well enough to ask without seeming rude, but it seems strange.  On the positive side, they do age better than us tan Americans.