A friend kindly gave us a valuable ticket to the Kyoto Grand Sumo Tournament, so we went to the Kyoto City Gymnasium Kataoka Arena in the afternoon. The venue was already almost full, and we were surprised at how popular sumo is.

At around 12;30 noon, the “Makushita bouts” began, and even from our second-floor seats, we could feel the intensity of the sumo combat. A large banner of a Kyoto sumo wrestler was hanging on the wall.

Sumo wrestlers occasionally exploded over the barriers and into the front row seats, and rolled around threatening to crush onlookers who seemed to revel in the excitement of the whole spectacle.

After the makushita bouts were over, there was a performance called “Shokkiri” in which two Sumo wrestlers perform a salt-throwing ritual, much to the delight of the audience.

“Sumo Jinku” is a kind of folk song with a unique 7-5 rhythm. The sumo wrestlers on the ring take turns singing it, and all of them are good singers with gorgeous voices.

Finally, the “Yokozuna Dohyo-iri” begins, and the well-known sumo wrestlers advance to the makuuchi bout. Even when viewed from afar, the Yokozuna’s presence carries a particularly powerful energy, conveying his prestige in the sport.

Although we didn’t support any wrestlers or have any knowledge about sumo, we had a fascinating time learning about the history of this national sport of Japan, a culture that has continued for hundreds of years.