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Sumo at Ryogoku Kokugikan

Posted on 05.13.16 under sumo

Day 2 with John Tymkiw, who kindly invited and sponsored my ticket.

John is an art director in NYC now, but a few years back when he was living in Hatsudai, Tokyo we did a few jobs together, a music video and some 2-D print stuff is what I remember.

John and his wife, Takako, have been coming back to Japan this time of year because Takako’s father died May 1, three years ago in Fukuoka. They just had a few days in Tokyo and John contacted me asked if I wanted to go. He would have gone by himself, but he definitely appreciated the company!

Ryogoku is a fun place to be when a tourney is on. Sumotori are everywhere.

Great face!

All the upper deck seats were sold out, so we got box seats that were almost to the very back. It was far, but the level is good.

The Juryo entrance. Professional sumo is divided into 6 ranked divisions. Juryo is one level below Makuuchi, the highest division. Makuuchi is highest division of which the highest rank is yokozuna, followed by ōzeki, sekiwake and komusubi. There are typically 8-12 wrestlers in these ranks with the remainder, called maegashira, ranked in numerical order from 1 downwards.

I’ve always felt that sweeping had a spiritual element.

Big man crushes smaller man…

May I suggest additional support?

Yep, it’s contagious.

The Makuuchi enter…

Many of the sumotori have hoarse voices.

The yokozuna enter…

Sponsors’ banners. Towards the end of the day, the higher ranked sumotori get ads in the form of these banners before their match. Each banner is ¥70,000 which is $644 at today’s rate. The heya (stable) takes half and the Sumo Association takes ¥5,000 leaving the sumotori with ¥30,000 or $276 for each banner.

Sumo at Ryogoku Kokugikan

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