Name: We Go To Our First Sumo Tournament | Life in Japan Episode 102
Uploaded: 2021-04-09T17:55:13.000Z
Duration: 19 min
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Look what I have! I'm going to my very first Sumo tournament!

You got the Switch, you got your backpack,

And we're going to go to Uncle Paul and Tia Pri's. Alright, let's go.

We're dropping Joshua off here at Ruth's brother's house, Paul, and Tia Pri.

And he's going to hang out here while Ruth and I go to Sumo— YES!

We've lived in Japan for seven years, but this will be our very first time to a Sumo tournament.

To help us navigate it, Ruth's friend Aya is going to meet us at the stadium and be our guide.

Sumo is the official sport of Japan, full of tradition and ceremony,

so having our friend with us is a huge benefit to understanding the overall Sumo experience.

I think we found the right station. We did.

We exited the station at Ryougoku and headed towards the stadium or Kokugikan.

The drums and the flags tell you that it's tournament day.

Sumo tournaments last for 15 days and are full of matches all day long.

This tournament, called the Grand Tournament, is typically held in Osaka, but due to the pandemic was moved to Tokyo this year.

It's a perfect chance for us to check out Sumo for the first time.

So you can get different omiyages (souvenirs) for the different players?

So all of these are the champions from previous years.

That is your favorite of all time? Yeah, yeah!

So 69 and 71 are still Yokozuna, so the top notch...

And they're still working, but they're absent today.

The stadium was operating at limited capacity, but I was still able to try something I had been wanting to try: Sumo Curry.

If I eat enough of this, do you think I can get their size?

With a belly full of Curry, I felt a bit like a sumo wrestler

and it was time for the main event: the sumo match itself.

The trophy was awaiting the winner, so it was time to see who would fight for the win.

There are six different divisions in sumo.

Wrestlers move up and down between divisions based upon their record.

If you have a winning record after the tournament, you move up.

If you have a losing record, you move down.

The day starts with the lowest division competing first and moves up in prestige as the day goes on.

Each wrestler is called into the ring and stretches and prepares for the match.

As you move up in divisions, this ceremony becomes more and more elaborate, as we will see.

Normally a stadium is full for a Sumo tournament, but the restrictions due to the pandemic keep the attendance and cheering to a minimum.

What is the goal? What are they trying to do?

They have to put only here, the bottom of their foot.

So only their feet — the bottom of their feet can touch.

This is one of your favorites? The one on the left or the right?

He was the strongest level but then he moved down.

So since he won, does he stay there then and fight the other ones?

They prepare everyday for just one match.

So how many different Sumo wrestlers are there?

So that brown little banana-thingy is where the emperor sits when he comes to watch.

Who are the players up on the walls here?

Are the matches usually very fast? Yeah, usually.

So today the strongest wrestler is Ozeki.

So you have to reach the top level and win at that level to win the tournament?

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We Go To Our First Sumo Tournament | Life in Japan Episode 102

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