Nagoya Sumo Tournament

Previous days events

We went to the sumo pretty unprepared. We had no real idea what to expect. The tickets were very expensive but hey, its not everyday you get to go to the Sumo.

When we got there it was explained (thanks Pruss) that before the final day two wrestlers had 13 wins and one loss each. If they both won on the final day, they would be a final match-off to see who became grand champion. The two were Kotomisuki (a local boy from Okazaki city near Nagoya and the other Asashoryu (a Mongolian wrestler) .

Another Mongolian wrestler Hakuho had just been promoted to yokozuna before the Tournament so he was another to look out for.

Video by Jossmo ."Asashoryu beaten by Aminishiki on the opening day of the 2007 Nagoya Basho. And the crowd aren't impressed! " .

We had a big cushion throwing experience, but not because of an upset, rather it was just the end of the tournament. In the case of the video, I actually think that Jossmo has misinterpreted the cushion throwing. The wiki Makuuchi page says "If a yokozuna is defeated by a lower ranked wrestler, it is common and expected for audience members to throw their seat cushions into the ring (and onto the wrestlers)."

Match Fixing

Last year I read a book called Freakonomics. It argues that some matches at least are decided in advance, especially the matches where there is a 7-7 win loss record going into the final day. This is mentioned on the Sumo Wiki page which contains the following

Due to the amount of money changing hands depending on rank, and prize money, there have been accusations of yaocho (corruption, bout-fixing) in sumo from time to time. A 2000 economic study on corruption[17] focused on sumo as a closed system in which to study corruption. The authors of the study found that 70% of wrestlers with 7Yo-7 records on the final day of the tournament won. The percentage was found to rise the more times the two wrestlers had met, and decrease when the wrestler was due to retire. Freakonomics also features an extensive discussion of this subject, showing essentially irrefutably that years and years of records indicate that an immense number of matches suggest cheating. - Wiki Sumo Page

On the day we were there, there were 5 wrestlers with a 7-7 win loss ratio. Of those two faced off against each other and the other three all won.

Nagoya Sumo Tournament

The bouts are held on a special clay square called a dohyo that is swept by a huge ground crew after each bout. Events were traditionally held .(I did not realize that in Nagoya, fans could take home pieces as souvenirs!-see Wiki dohyō page )

When you buy a box for the sumo, it is not what you first might imagine. A huge temporary construction gridded up into tiny sections, just big enough to seat four people. At the back of each box was a tiny area to store shoes. but had me worried the who time that what we had stored would get knocked and fall into the abyss of construction.

dohyo-iri (ring-entering ceremony).

Before the match, the sponsors names are carried around the circle. Sponsors vary by match and each of the sponsors gives cash in an envelope which is handed to the winning wrestler at the end of each bout

The matches were sometimes quite exciting. They seemed to start even before the actual action. Once there was loud clapping for a good stare off. I also got used to looking at big bums, especially in the warm up routines.

Matches could be a few seconds and after a while I could determine some of the different techniques. They were sometimes very impressive.

Action shots

The passing of a envelopes full of cash to the referee to hand on to the winner

And then it was All Over

Hakuho performing the bow dance. The bow dance was a surprising bit as we were walking out the door. After looking it up, is is called the Bow dance.

If you are interested I found a video from another tournament of the bow dance. The video is not great though, but does give an idea of what happens..
The video if from the Final Tournament at Kokugikan. May 2006 (Video by more pain)

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Nagoya Sumo Tournament

Previous days events

Match Fixing

Nagoya Sumo Tournament

And then it was All Over