Sumo in all its forms - Expats in Japan since 596 days
attack today was the second decisive week of the third sumo tournament of the year in Tokyo. No eliminations as at Roland Garros, but the vanquished rolling in the dust of the "dohyo" as the defending champions racket on the earth Red Porte d'Auteuil. You can follow the scores on a comprehensive French site sumo
sumofr.net
, and watch the champions compete every day of the fortnight from 16 to 18 hours, Japan time, on NHK.
Before that, Delphine was fortunate to attend in March to a daily workout of "heya", much better translated as "brotherhood" in the book below by the English stable (stable). The champions and wannabes mingle their body and their sweat in stretching exercises, confrontation and concentration. Extremely restrictive, this training begins at dawn for novices and wannabes, a little later for the strongest.
Rumors of bullying can be very violent and chronic fuel the deteriorating image of sumo in Japan as the noblest sport born of religious rituals or funeral of our era. The site "
Japan Today
" cites an interview with one of the two greatest wrestlers of Japan, "" Some sessions could last up beating 45 minutes, he said during a press conference. The first twenty minutes are incredibly painful, but after (...), even if you continue to get hit, you feel less pain, "he recounted, choosing his words carefully." Of course I cried. And when my eldest told me 'This is for your own good, I cried even more, "he told Hakuho (" the big white bird "), one of the two yokozuna (" Champion Supreme ") currently in operation in Japan The highest grade of strict hierarchy of sumo. "
To dive deeper and intimate, it must read the excellent autobiography former wrestler Kazuhiro Kirishima, "
Memoirs of a sumo wrestler
, available in translation Liliane Fujimori in Picquier pocket. Beyond exhausting workouts and tournaments repeatedly, we retain the incredible struggle that man Standing
muscular but "too little stomach" ... to grow. Gavage scientifically organized by one who would become his wife is the only way for him to rise above one hundred to ten pounds, allowing it to pass into the category of Ozeki (champion). His technique works wonders when it is not projected as a feather by Mountains and over two hundred pounds (no weight classes in sumo), his battles in the 1990s against the monster 260-pound Hawaiian Konishiki apparently remain in the collective memory of the Japanese.
A year ago , we had the chance to meet this old master of sumo clever and agile in the restaurant that his family has opened near the brotherhood he now heads as body weight returned almost normal, it emanated him a nobility and wisdom that compelled admiration. 
Finally, to see the beautiful babies frolicking in front of us so much relaxed and nonchalant, it is important not to miss the annual demonstration in the Yasukuni shrine when 'hanami' cherry blossoms. This year, it was magical: the good-natured exhibition was held outdoors the first real warm day of the year, with a nice breeze was fluttering rain of petals of cherry blossoms like so many flakes a milky pink. The colossi are carelessly left to comb the bun by their hairdressers VOR, a retired beverage distributor, to be photographed smiling, before fighting for the pleasure of school classes and expat women clustered around the magic circle of dohyo.
go, good luck with Asashoryu and Hakuho, both Mongolian Kotooshu to my favorite Bulgarian, and more! May the best wins, not rumors of match fixing, that sumo is one of the most beautiful symbols of Japan.
