I think it's safe to say I have a new obsession. I've felt this way before--about beer, Charles Bukowski, Ernest Hemingway, Formula One, jazz music, and probably a few other things--and know this feeling well. And this time the object of my affections is sumo.
I've always liked sumo in a mild sort of way but now it is taking over my life. And I like it.
I have read two books on the subject, have already been to sumo in Tokyo two different times (and am planning a third for May), watch it religiously every afternoon when there is a basho going on, during said watching time I am also online following the results as they are put up on the website, and I read about it in the paper every morning. I know the names of many of the top forty rikishi, sumo wrestlers, have my favorites, root for them, feel good when they win and rather pissed when they lose. And as I learn more about this whole subject, I just want to keep learning and watching. I can't get enough. It's madness, I tell you.
But sumo really is a great sport. Once you get past that voice in your head that says, "You do realize you are watching fat, near naked men, pushing each other around, don't you?" you can see the beauty that makes sumo such a fun sport to watch and understand. You develop an eye for it. You know what to look for. You know what each matchup means. And you begin to really understand what's going on (although I admit I still have a lot to learn).
I could explain sumo here, but I imagine most of you would either fall asleep or stop reading this journal altogether, so I won't. But just know that if you come to Japan to visit me during a basho (a basho is a sumo tournament, they last fifteen days and are held every other month), you will either be going to Tokyo with me or at the very least will see it on tv. And if you watch it with me, you will have to listen to me explain a few things to you. So don't say I didn't warn you.

Now, with sumo in you head and in my veins, I have to tell you that I don't normally get giddy about things. I prefer the calm, even-keeled approach. But I am damn giddy. Turns out that the sumo boys will be in Kofu on April 8th for some kind of a demonstration. I'm not sure exactly what it's all about but I saw the fliers in my favorite restaurant and I saw the dates and venues online and thought to myself, "Holy yokozuna (that's the highest ranking in sumo), I have to go to that!"
Unfortunately, after doing a bit of research, ie. looking at a calendar, I figured out that April 8th falls on a Thursday. A workday. So at that point I thought I might have to miss this once in a lifetime event. But as it turns out all is going to be ok and I will, in fact, get to go.
Here's what happened....
A couple weeks ago I went to my Friday school and there was a note on my desk. It was written by Katsumura-sensei and said something about Ono-san, from the Kencho, calling for me and asking me if I'd like to go to a festival on April 10th, a Saturday. Then it said that if I did want to go to the festival I could have a day off on some other day. This confused me and I dialed the number he had left to clear this up. So I got him on the phone and all I figured out--because of the language barrier--was that yes, if I decided to go to the festival, I could have a day off of my choice. "Damn," I thought, "I would have probably gone to the festival anyway. And now I get a day off for it." So that was that and I didn't think too much of it.
But this Tuesday, he mentioned the festival again. This time I was at the Kencho and he showed me a piece of paper, all in Japanese, of course, that essentially said that I, as a volunteer for this festival, needed to attend a meeting on Monday, April 5th. "A meeting for what?" I thought to myself.
Well, after a question as to the language of this meeting--Japanese--and a question that went, "Ono-san, what will I be doing at this festival?" I got my answer and it all came clear.
Apparently, you're going to love this, I will be dressing as a samurai warrior and parading down the friendly streets of Kofu. That's right, I will be dressing up as a samurai warrior. Ono said he did it eight years ago. And from the picture he showed me it looks like there will be a few of us, mostly Japanese men, of course. "Well," I thought, "What the hell?"
So I said to Ono, "You mean I will be the last samurai?"
"Uh," he answered, getting my joke, "perhaps not the last."
So yes, your humble narrator will dress like a samurai and march down the street. I don't know how I get into these things. Sure would help if I could speak Japanese, I imagine.
But anyway, getting back to sumo, after we had successfully enlisted me in the Japanese Samurai Army, Ono said to me that I could take a day off that week before the big day. And at that moment it clicked in my head, "Yipee! I can go to the sumo thing!" So I pulled out the flyer on it I had in my bag and showed it to Ono, "I want this day off," I said and he laughed. He laughed because many Japanese think a foreigner being interested in sumo is funny. I'm not sure why, but I find it funny that they find it funny. So anyway, he said I could have that day off and today Robin ordered tickets for herself and Gary and me.
Sumo in Kofu and I get to go. What could be better?