SUMO!!!

I went to SUMO today!!!!! Yay! Sumo matches occur six times a year, three times in Tokyo, and once in Osaka, Nagoya and Kyushu. Each tournament lasts 15 days. The matches start in the morning around nine with the lower ranked wrestlers and progresses through the ranks until the day's matches finish at six.

I called Cecy just before noon, rallied her out of bed and we took off to Osaka. We didn't know just how much sumo we could watch in one sitting, but estimated it at less than an entire day. We got to the gym around 1:30, just as the higher-ranked rikishi, or wrestlers, were arriving. People lined the streets, creating wall of digital cameras and cell phones to snap photos as the wrestlers stepped out of the taxis. They arrived wearing yukata, or lighter versions of kimono, with their hair pinned neatly atop their heads.

After snapping a few photos, we found the ticket window and were dismayed to learn that all of the cheaper tickets had been already sold. All that were left were the 8500 yen tickets. Figuring that this was my last chance to see sumo in Japan, and that we had already made it to Osaka, we bought our very very expensive tickets. We wandered off, got some lunch, swung by a convenience store for snacks and made it back to the gym.

At the ticket gate, a very energetic woman attached herself to us as a guide to our seats. As Cecy was using the restroom, I confessed that although I like to watch Sumo on TV, this was my first time seeing it live. Upon hearing this, my guide rushed off and came back with some secret presents for us- promotional photos of the yokozune Asashoryu that they had handed out the first day. After stuffing them in our bags- so no one could see them, she excorted us into the sumo hall.

Dohyo-iri or "entering the ring" ceremony. The rikishi, or upper division, wrestlers enter the ring wearing their silk aprons.

Yokozuna Asashoryu, attended by lower ranking rikishi, one holding a sword, performs ritual stomping in the dohyo-iri.

Ozeki Kotooshi (far side) and opponent. A Bulgarian, this is Cecy's favorite wrestler.

I'm not sure who this is. But he is performing the yumitori-shiki, or "swinging around a bow" closing ceremony.

It was soooo awesome! That's all I have to say.
Love, Allison

It's March!

Hi Everyone!

In updating the settings on this blog, I realized that some of my very favorite people in this world had been leaving me messages that I had accidentally blocked! This whole time I thought no one was reading this thing so I sort of started slacking on my entries. Sorry! 'Specially to Jim Sensei, Tom Newhall, and my Mumsy, who have all left me wonderful messages recently.

Not much new to report here. It's cold and rainy right now. The Japanese teachers have been harassing me for not learning how to make Japanese food while I've been here, so I'm about to undertake teaching myself how to cook Japanese food. I just attempted to make my first ever Japanese style bento (lunch box) for tomorrow at school. I think it's pretty.

Ingredients:
-Nanohana (Rapeseed Blossoms) in Mustard-Miso Sauce
-Japanese simmered pumpkin and carrots in a mixture of mirin and soy sauce
-Baby Tomatoes
-1 hard boiled egg

-Rice with Black Sesame Seeds

The Nanohana dish is pretty good- but I think I made the sauce a bit too strong. The simmered veggies are good also, but I think the flavoring is a little to weak. I'm no Iron Chef, but I'm learning!

I really need to learn to make Tamagoyaki- the rolled sweet egg omelet- to make this an official bento. I bought the special rectangular pan that one needs to properly roll the eggs after school today, so hopefully I can start experimenting soon. There are all sorts of variations I want to learn, like dashimaki- made with nori and katsuo dashi (dashi- traditional broth is usually made from a combination of seaweed-nori- and dried bonito flakes-katsuo), and norimaki eggs- made with nori rolled inside. Shouldn't be too hard once I get the hang of it.

Moving on from food.

Sooooo, Sunday was my Birthday! I didn't really do anything for it. My dojo had testing for belt ranks so I was at the dojo all day. I was asked to take ukemi for the kids class in the morning, then I went to the adults class in the afternoon, and the really long eating/drinking party afterwards. The really cute boy in the dojo led everyone in a round of Happy Birthday (in English)- and this made me pretty happy. I'm having a big dinner party at the local pan-Asian restaurant tomorrow night then we're going out for drinks.

Birthday Flowers from Naoki!

Well, off to Karate! I really love my dojo. My Sensei is so awesome and nice. Although they regularly hit and kick me really hard, they're really nice about it. I haven't seen Mafia-Sensei in a while. He's the teacher that usually stands around kicking students until they limp away. He only caught me once! and well... my leg hurt for the next week... Yay for karate! Off to the dojo!

Ciao!