On arriving at Narita Airport, we made a dash for the Japan Railway Pass office to redeem our S$677 Japan Railway Pass. That's roughly the same price as our air ticket, by the way. The Pass offered unlimited train and subway rides on the Japan Railway lines, which basically meant that about 7/8 of all transport costs were covered by the Pass. We booked all our Shinkansen (bullet train) tickets for the whole trip, and were all set.
But first, we had to find our Capsule Hotel in Asakusa, Tokyo for the night. Meandering in and out of the many different subway lines before finally reaching the Hotel was no mean feat, considering the fact that we carried backpacks the size of little toddlers. Also, the fact that everything was in Japanese and not many people knew English, we were in for a rough ride. Thankfully, we reached our Capsule Hotel, after some searching, before it got dark.
The man who greeted us at the Hotel looked kindly. He asked us to purchase a coupon each from the vending machine and leave our shoes in the lockers provided. He then took us up to our capsules and showed us the public bath area- yes, PUBLIC. When we saw our "mortuary-lookalike" room and the tiny doors of the capsules, there was no doubt how much they looked like the metal doors that housed dead people in the hospital. Thankfully, it wasn't as small as a coffin, as we managed to put our backpacks inside. There was even a pay TV and a small locker inside your personal capsule! Think of it as a hobbit's house.
Shortly after, we went to explore the old town of Asakusa. We met my cousin, who was studying in Tokyo, for dinner, and asked about what to do and where to go in Japan. She mentioned "Matsumoto Kiyoshi", the Watson's of Japan which housed brands like Kose, Majorlica, Shishedo and so on but at cheaper prices. Cathy was hooked immediately, and from that day on, she set her eyes, and feet, into every Matsumoto Kiyoshi store we came across.
After a night of learning how to bathe in a public bath with other strangers (you get used to it, after a while, really. If you cover everyone's faces with towels, you can't really tell who is who. We all look the same neck-down, if you don't look too hard. If you do, then you're a pervert.), we slept peacefully in the capsule. Or rather, I did. I snoozed like a pig that night. Cathy and Felicia complained they kept waking up in the middle of the night though. Felicia was very disturbed by the lack of space in the capsule. Which proved that not everyone can stay in the Capsule Hotel.
The next day, we woke up early to watch the ongoing Annual Sumo Wrestling Competition in Tokyo that coincided with our trip. It was a 13-15 day tournament and we were able to buy tickets to catch one entire day of preliminary games. There wasn't much of a crowd in the morning, but tickets for the next few days were already sold out. When we went into the arena, two sumo wrestlers were about to get it on. They crouched behind their respective lines, staring deeply into each other's eyes. Soon, they turned on each other and were pushing and shoving. In a matter of seconds, one of them was pushed out of the small ring. They then stood opposite each other and bowed, while the umpire took his fan and did a salute to the winner.
For the next fight, two sumo wrestlers got up of their cushion seats, stood atop the ring, and did the "stamping-feet" ritual where they raised their right hand and right foot at the same time, then placed them down. It may seem easy for the ordinary folk to do it, but believe me, looking at a 100 plus kg man in pseudo-diapers do it is worrying. One, you worry that he may not even be able to lift his 20 kg foot at all, and two, you worry that when he put his foot down, there might be an earthquake.
It was a clash of the fats after that, as either one tried to push the other out of the ring or make his opponent fall. Once any other part of a wrestler's body touch the ground, they will lose. We sat there watching, for about an hour before we were a little bored. These wrestlers were the unranked ones, they were in the lowest level, and hence, their matches were a little unexciting. There was, however, the occasional really fat Sumo guy (we're talking about really huge boobs here) and we were happy for the skinnier ones when they manage to beat the really fat ones with their man boobs.
We went off to lunch shortly after, so that when we came back, we would be in time for the more exciting matches. Coincidentally, many Sumo wrestlers were walking in or out of the arena at the same time, and we tried to get one to take a picture with us. He refused politely, and walked quickly ahead. Shortly after, when we picked a cheap "Yoshinoya" restaurant called "Sukiya" to eat in, we spotted him in the same restaurant.
When we went back for the afternoon matches, there were more people in the stadium, and the wrestlers were more well-known. This were evident as they took longer and longer to fight. According to the introduction booklet, the higher ranked sumo wrestlers could wait till up to 4 minutes before they clash. This meant that they would warm up, do their stamping thingy, go to the line, stare at each other intensely, then break out of the stare and go back to their towels. Some of them would sprinkle salt on the arena for good luck. Thus, we had to wait for them to finish all that before they would fight. That clash, which was the most exciting part of the match usually last at most 1 minute. Cathy and Colleen were so tired, they only opened their eyes when the wrestlers really clashed. However, in that 1 minute, it was really intense seeing two rhinocerous banging against each other. Some wrestlers were smart- while their opponents charged forward, they duck or change direction, forcing their opponents to grab thin air and fall. Some wrestlers relied on pure strength, inching their oppenents out of the arena slowly but surely. Some wrestlers were lucky. From time to time, the game was lost before it truly began as some wrestlers tripped over themselves or flew out too fast and fell. However, all the matches were nice to watch, and it was an eye-opener to see real-life Sumo wrestlers at their best.
We left around 4pm to go back to Asakusa, and on the way out of the stadium, we saw a lot of people waiting for sumo wrestlers to come out as well. One funny incident which I remembered was the woman who thrust her baby at every wrestler, forcing them to carry the baby while the mother took a photo of the wrestler and the baby. It was quite a sight to see a overgrown man carrying a tiny child, but I do admire the mother's courage and her strong faith in these men that they will not accidentally tear the kid apart.
That night, as I crawled into my capsule, I figured that these sumo wrestlers probably will never be able to stay in a Capsule Hotel. And I suddenly felt skinny.
Our capsule rooms!
A Sumo match going on. The clothed man on the arena is the umpire. Around the platform are sumo wrestlers waiting for their turn, and the men in black help the umpire in case the umpire cannot see who lost first.
Wrestlers doing a dance during their introduction. This was before their whole set of fighting was about to begin.
We caught a wrestler and he agreed to pose with us! He smelt of olive oil and we suspected that he used a lot on his hair to make it look slick.
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