SUMO!!!

Sunday I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the final day of the Sumo tournament in Tokyo with some friends from church. We left Yokohama pretty early and made our way up to Tokyo on the train. The first few hours were basically the lower ranked guys. There were a few really good matches and some mismatches, which made for entertaining Sumo. After the lower ranked guys were the middle/upper lever guys. There was a dramatic increase in skill and time before the match started. There is a whole ritual that is done before each match, which includes "singing" the names of the wrestlers, throwing salt into the ring, squatting, slapping, squatting more, getting a drink, squatting, throwing salt, squatting, wiping off sweat, throwing more salt, slapping, squatting, and finally sumo... It was a pretty interesting routine. After the middle level was the top guys (Makuuchi). These guys were the top of the top and they were even better. The yokozuna (top ranked sumo wrestler) was the last group to wrestle. The yokozuna was actually from Mongolia, and he was really good. After the matches the winner received two giant trophies and a flag along with a ton of other papers and littler trophies. Going to a sumo match has been a life long dream, and I am happy to say that I can now check SUMO off the list. Here is a link to a video I made of the SUMO DAY.

http://www.vimeo.com/29602556

Kamakura

Friday we had the day off, so I took the opportunity to take a day trip to Kamakura. I left Kannai Station around 7:20am and made it to KitaKamakura Station a little after 8am. After getting off of the train I went right to the first of many shrines. After  walking around the first shrine I tried to go to the one next to it but it was closed because it was too early in the morning... 

So I continued my walk. I noticed there was still quite a bit of clean up being done after Wednesday's Typhoon. There were down trees and branches littering the roads and sidewalks. The next shrine I visited actually had a large tree down right in front of the gate, luckily there was no damage. At the shrine the sign said closed, but some other people went in so I just followed along and walked with them. When I came out the lady was in the booth to take money, I tried to pay, but she wouldn't take my money. Next I continued my hike on an actual trail through woods... It was nice to be out of the city and have actual dirt under my feet... minus the giant snake a saw... I was happy it was still pretty early and no one was out and about, because I screamed like a little girl.

After hiking for a bit I came across another shrine. This shrine had the coolest dragon purification fountain. Before entering a shrine it is customary to wash both of your hands and rinse your mouth. Further along was yet another shrine. The entrance to this shrine was through a cave/tunnel, which was pretty cool. At this shrine many people wash their money in hopes that it will double. 

Next on my own personal shrine tour was the Daibutsu or the Giant Buddha. This Buddha is the second largest outdoor Buddha in Japan... It was inside until there was a large Tsunami in 1498. The Buddha is about 43 feet high and weighs 93 metric tons. It is made out of copper and lead, and was at one time gilded. After looking at the outside of the statue, I went inside. The statue is hollow, which was pretty cool, I walked inside Buddha's belly. After looking at the Buddha inside and out. I went and had some green tea ice cream, which was quite good. 

Next I had to back track to go to another shrine that I missed... I went on a wild goose chase, but I found it! I ended up walking in on the back side of the shrine. The best part about this shrine was the entrance, which was my exit... There were dozens of orange/reddish Toriis going up the hill. It looked really interesting. 

Further towards to Ocean was the last shrine/temple I visited. This one was by far one of the most interesting. There were tons of statues in this temple. The saddest ones were hundreds of statuettes for unborn children who have died. There were also giant gold statues of who knows who and beautiful fountains and buildings. There was also a neat part of the temple that was in a cave. The first part was really open and then the celling got lower and lower... but then I was back outside. This temple also had the cutest little statues (left). 

Having seen enough temples/shrines for one day (more than I had ever visited in my lifetime). I decided to go spend a little time on the beach. There was still quite a lot of debris from the Typhoon and crews and individuals were working hard to repair and clean up damage. The beach was littered with kelp, rope, buoys, and other debris washed ashore. I even found a car... it was a small toy, but still a car... As I was walking some people snapped a picture of me, I guess I look pretty different here in Japan... But I still find it odd... I sat and watched the surfers attempt to catch a wave, the ocean was pretty flat, but it passed the time and gave my feet a break. After a sitting on the beach I started to get a little hungry, so I made my way towards Kamakura Station. I walked around looking for something good to eat... looking is the key word, because I still have no idea how to read Japanese... So I decided on a little place, that was not the one I had actually decided on but I made eye contact with the lady inside and then I felt obligated to go inside to eat. It was just a little Jazz Bar, which was quite funny. There were only about 10 seats all at the bar. I sat down and then four other people sat down, they were very excited to try out their English on me. Which was fine by me, I had some delicious curry that I was eating and I was more than happy to attempt a conversation. After dinner I made my way to Kamakura Station, and back to Kannai and then home. Kamakura was beautiful and I look forward to visiting again.  

Meiji Shrine and Tokyo

Tim washing before entering
the shrine. 

Sunday I had the wonderful chance to meet up with some family friends (the Roberts) from McMinnville who were visiting Tokyo. We met at the Meiji Shrine in Harajuku. It was very easy to find each other we all stand out in a crowd of Japanese people. Once we met we made our way through the Tori (gate) and walked through a lovely park into the shrine area. Before entering the shrine it is customary to rinse your hands and mouth at the Temizuya (Fountain). Inside was pretty fascinating, there were prayer cards, big building, and people getting married. After walking around the shrine we walked through the park and walked through the Treasures Museum, I would have posted some pictures but, cameras were forbidden.

A very interesting outfit...

  After the park we set out to find the oddly dressed people of Harajuku. We found some... we also found some delicious lunch! After walking around for a while, we made our way back to Shibuya. We crossed the road at the Shibuya intersection. About a thousand people cross at this intersection each time the light changes. I think in a day nearly a million people cross the road at the one intersection. Overall it was a great day! It was especially nice of the Roberts to include me in their Japan Adventures!

Let the games begin...

Sorry I haven't been posting as frequently. I have been really busy with school and coaching. We recently began the tennis season, and I am coaching Boys Varsity and Junior Varsity Tennis at YIS. Coaching is fun, but very time consuming. For example, this week we have matches Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.... But I always try to keep a nice balance between work and play. For my play I went with some friends to the top of the Landmark Tower in Yokohama. This is the tallest building in Yokohama, and the third tallest structure in Japan at 972 feet high. The elevator to the top is the second fastest in the whole world traveling at 41 feet per second. The top of the tower has a great 360 degree view of Yokohama which was quite beautiful at night. Next weekend I will be traveling up to Tokyo to visit some family friends, so you can look forward to some great pictures!