Last sunday we went to the Sumo matches in Tokyo.As a European man I don't know much about this type of culture so I went there with little expectations. The first 4 hours went by pretty fast despite a lot of ceremony's, one evolving the retirement of a Sumo wrestler. There is a lot to see in the amazing stadium the event takes place. Souvenir shops, history information, pictures of matches of the past and you can even take a photograph with a Sumo champion as they walk through the hallways just as any other visitor.
Then the match finally begins for real, and the wrestle matches itself turn out far more interesting then the previous ceremony's. The huge Sumo wrestlers go on stage and give everything for 20 seconds or so to push each other out of the ring. Once you think those guys cannot get any bigger the next fight has even more enormous wrestlers then the previous ones. Very cool to see how they fight each other and keep having respect for one another before, after and during the fight. I'm from a culture that a fight can be much tougher and harder and a opponent is only defeated when his feet won't allow him anymore to get up.. While I must say I still like that form of sports a little more I was suprised how entertained I was here and even more about the respect everyone has for his opponent. Sumo is a must see for everyone who is interested in Japanese culture en traditions.