The Natsu Basho is up and wrestling! I’m quite into the whole Ozumo experience and have been watching since it started on Sunday. There are six tournaments per year, three in Tokyo, plus Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka in Kyushu. This one is in Tokyo in the imposing spaceship like architecture of the Ryogoku Kokugikan, the home of Ozumo. Here are some shots from my visit there. This is a lively downtown area and not far from the Sumidagawa river and various flyovers so good for sketching too…
The large hand print in sumi ink is that of Hakuho, the top Yokozuna at the moment, a supremely skilful Mongolian who has had a bit of a shaky start, losing his first match for the first time in three years. So it could be a chance for Baruto, known affectionately (I think) as the Estonian monster, to try hard to win his first basho. Follow the link to stream live, the most exciting time to watch is the final matches at 5-6pm Japan time (9-10am GMT) but you can watch the other levels before this too if you are an enthusiastic fan. It runs daily until Sunday May 20th. Goyukuri douzo.
Go to the official Nihon Sumo Kyokai page
