Last Sunday we went to Osaka for the Opening Day of the Sumo Spring Tournament. Coming out of the exit from the train station we crossed paths with a rikishi who was heading for the stadium. He not only posed for us, but also showed us the way! Unfortunately we didn't get his name. Can anyone help?!
It was a really entertaining day and for us the processions, traditional costumes of the gyoji (referees), the ancient rituals of dohyo-iri (entering the ring), yumitori-shiki (the final bow-twirling ceremony) and the posing and salt-throwing were just as impressive as the bouts themselves.
3 comments:
The wrestler's name is Kabutoiwa and he is from the Kise stable. He is a lower ranked rikishi (that's the word for sumo wrestler, not "sumo"). About the middle group of 8/9 ranking groups. He is very sweet and also serves as assistant to Kitazakura, whom you may rememebr from your day of sumo throwing a huge amount of salt up in the sir. His nickname is Mr. Beans, but don't say I told you :-)
Sumobaba
Sorry for the typos. That last bit should read "He is very sweet and also serves as assistant to Kitazakura, whom you may remember from your day of sumo throwing a huge amount of salt up in the air. His nickname is Mr. Beans, but don't say I told you :-)
Thanks, Sumobaba! Not knowing his name really bothered us. As you say, he was a really nice guy to take the time to pose for photos and show us the way when he was probably totally pre-occupied with his upcoming bout. And I apologise for inaccuracies (notice I've edited out the worst ones. This is all very new to us!)
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