Phew, what an exhausting but exhilirating weekend I had. As readers of the moblog will know, on Saturday, I went to Asakusa’s Sensoji Temple for the Sanja Matsuri, one of the three main annual festivals in the Tokyo area. And yesterday, I went to a Sumo tournament for the first time.
Sometimes it takes a tourist’s view to help put things into perspective. I’ve been feeling a bit down on Japan of late, for a variety of reasons. It may be ephemeral, the high of a non-plebeian, low-responsibility (thank you Naoko!) weekend that will wear off shortly, but as I was returning home last night it occurred to me that there’s no place in the world I’d rather be right now than in Japan.
Seeing a sumo tournament was something I had been looking forward to for a long time, and as I was going into Tokyo I was anxious, not so much in anticipation of the event, but rather that perhaps, like so many things in life, it would not live up to the expectations I had laid on top of it. But it lived up to the the advance billing and more. I think I could sense this the moment I got off the train and saw the large paintings of sumo wrestlers in the Ryogoku train station. And when I entered the arena, and I had my ticket torn by fellow Hawaii-bred Jesse Kuhaulua (now Oyakata Azumazeki, who wrestled as Takamiyama), I knew this was going to be a great day. (I was so in awe and not a little bit nervous that all I could do was mutter “Thank you” when he handed me back my ticket!)
I didn’t shoot much digital on either day, so here are a couple of “token” shots until I get back my film from the lab. I went a bit crazy with the analog, racking up about 25 rolls over both days. I even went out and bought a zoom lens, which came in handy for the sumo.
