I’m a fan.

Homarefuji Yoshiyuki – one of my new favorite athletes

does he really weigh 360 pounds????

from the event program

So, obviously, the lady at the Tokyo hostel who totally hooked it up! There were around 1,000 people at the event, and when I arrived at the ticket table, before I told anyone my name, the women at the table saw me and started nudging each other and whispering. So I hand over this paper the lady at the hostel typed up for me, to tell them who I am and I’m that there to pick up my ticket. But before I can even give it to them, they hand me an envelope with my name on it and the ticket inside! I guess they knew that ‘Stephanie Harris’ would look exactly like me??😂

super stars

I can add this to the list of sports that I like to watch😊 This was a sumo exhibition, where the professional stars of the sport are there to be seen, sign autographs, and be funny (I can not believe how limber they are).

Then, the lower-level guys are actually wrestling each other for real, even though I don’t think it counts on their official records.

They did a skit with an actor… most of them just stood there and laughed:)

I missed the part with the kids wrestling against the pros, but it was at least cool that I got to see the little ones in the sumo garb😄 They also did the traditional stuff from a match / tournament, which includes singing… I guess to be a sumo wrestler you have to be willing to sing in front of thousands of people??!!

This was held in a small town in Fukuoka Prefecture, and it was five hours round-trip on the train to get there! It was totally worth the trip though… this was a bucket-list experience that I have now done and not been disappointed😍 Here are the rest of the pictures from my day.

messing around

they’re famous

the crowd

explaining technique

cool costumes (kesho mawashi)

big boys

squatting

beating up the ref

Next up: Osaka