Grand Champion Sumo Tournament

One of the perks of being a study-abroad J.D. student is that I am suddenly thrust into a new status of “Junior Socialite”. Temple students aren’t exactly a part of the Japanese elite quite yet, but are enjoying some serious benefits. Take the Sumo Banzuke I attended on January 19. For those of you who don’t closely follow the Sumo Circuit (I’m not exactly sure there is a “circuit”, but play along), there are only 7 tournaments a year. This is Japan’s oldest and most sacred sport, and, needless to say, it’s impossible to get tickets. Imagine if baseball were the only sport in the U.S., and it was played year-round. Now imagine that it held 7 World-Series a year. Now you’re starting to get the picture. So just getting the chance to go was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

And once I was there, I was not disappointed.

It was one of the few times in my early stay that I didn’t feel so foreign. I haven’t commented a lot of the perception of Americans here, nor have I delved into political or philosophical discussions (they’re not as interesting, and I don’t have any pictures to go along with them), but I now know a universal truth: Sports bring people together. For as many times as I’ve heard Bob Costas say it, I now believe it whole-heartedly. Everyone cheers when there is a big takedown. The crowd goes wild when a frustrated wrestler throws salt high in the air to purify the ring after his opponent delays the start. There are winners and there are losers. There is mutual respect, and there are things that make us alike.

…Plus, there are HUGE guys shoving each other while wearing giant thongs!

Which also brings me to my next comment: While I may have suddenly been transported to a place where I am average height, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t people bigger than me here. Take these guys for example. Now I’m not saying that Orlando Pace wouldn’t knock them back to the Tokugawa era, but I am saying that the Sumo are much bigger than I expected them to be…and I figured they’d be some pretty big dudes…