Tokyo Sumo Beya Chiganoura and Gora Kadan ryokan in Gora

Tuesday april 4

Packed up and ready for our next adventure, we checked out of the hotel, loading all our suitcases onto the bus.

We had an appointment at a sumo stable, Chiganoura,to watch their early morning training. Sumo is an ancient art form that initially was only performed in front of the Emperor, but 400 years ago they started doing it in front of commoners. It involves all sorts of rituals and has a shinto origin. The ring is sacred. No women are ever allowed to touch it or set foot on the ground around it. They believe gods live under the ring so before any match they stamp their feet to warn the evil spirits. The goal of the joust is to push your opponent out of the ring or flatten them on their back. 

The wrestlers live in the stable under the auspicies of the elder Oyakata who mentors them. This stable had six wrestlers, a hairdresser, a ring groomer and a referee all living in the same house. Like the geishas, there is a hierarchy with the younger ones doing housework and the older ones getting the better rooms. There is a lot of respect paid to the wrestler and the ground with bowing before and after a match.

We were met outside the door of this house by a very disgruntled assistant. They had never had photographers attend their training session, and women to boot. Seth and J.P went in with Tomo our guide, for some serious negotiations whilst we waited on the street (entertaining ourselves with photo's of the vending machine with the stable name on it).

Finally they emerged. We were allowed to go in if we were totally silent. Taking shoes off we would be  pointed to a stage where we could sit in rows, rotating positions ever few minutes for different angles. Under no condition were we to sit with our feet facing the ring as this is the sign of serious disrespect, and no woman was to so much as touch the ring of this sacred sport.

Meekly we entered what can only be described as a frat house, walking by broken sofas and vacuum cleaner through a small corridor, then led in to an annex with a sunken dirt floor. We sat on the floor and watched these HUGE men in loin cloths making grunting noises and slapping their thighs. In turn they would call out instructions and do squats and leg raises all intermingled with thigh slaps.

After a while they started doing balletic stretches, one arm reaching to your spread out leg whilst sitting on floor. This was followed by a yoga pose when you lean forward and try to flatten yourself on floor reaching forward. No mean feat with rolls of belly fat!

It was animalistic to watch these, almost naked,men do their routine in total concentration and silence other than a barked out order. The Oyakata was on the floor with us observing the sunken ring and would sometimes quietly signal to them.

 We were totally ignored. No eye contact, nothing.

Finally we got to the meat of the matter when they took to shuffle sliding across the ring, bear wrestling practise and then some real jousting.

Watching the routine from start to finish was fascinating. They signal to the least experienced to water the ring with a watering can when too dry, stop for a drink or towel off, and when finished, sweep the rink with brooms,put a shinto mini shrine and sprinkle the ring with salt. Sacred rituals that are centuries old.

What was even more fascinating was that one of the wrestlers had pale skin and western features. Turns out he was Hungarian which is very unusual for a Japanese sport.

After a match the trophies are usually handed out by the mayor of the city where they compete. One of the cities had a female mayor but she is not allowed into the ring. The sumo association demanded a deputy. The mayor refused to back down. Finally they reached the compromise that the sacred ring would be covered with a tarp so she could hand out the trophy without despoiling the ground.

Of all the things we've seen I found this the most fascinating. Like Noh theatre, I know nothing about sumo, but looking beyond the visual of sweaty fat men with more of an understanding of what lies behind it, it became quite beautiful. After their practise, they eat, then have siestas, before they start all over again.

We drove west out of Tokyo for about two hours before reaching Hakone. It was a lovely, sunny and warm day. Along the way we stopped at a huge rest stop where the toilets had so many cublicles, they had a sign up telling you which number was free.

Snowcapped Mount Fuji was clearly visible when we started climbing a windy road with patches of snow among the rhododendron bushes by the roadside.

Hakone lies in a vulcanic mountain range with several crater shapes as peaks. It lies on lake Ashi which never gets colder than 4o C despite it's elevation,due to the vulcanic activity underground.

We had lunch at a Hakone hotel with a view of Mt. Fuji and the lake, before visiting the Shinto shrine where a 9 headed dragon is worshipped as the deity for love. Folklore has it this dragon used to steal the village girls before he was chained and thrown to the bottom of the lake. He was rescued by a monk convinced by his change of heart and enshrined to look after the people.

The torri gate is right at the lake front creating lovely reflections in the water.

We then drove back to the small harbour to board a boat for the 40 minute crossing across lake Ashi.

On the other side we were met by our bus and taken to our Japanese inn, a ryokan, for the night.

 The Gora Kadan has a garden with hot springs and prides itself on it's  two outdoor baths. No swimsuits allowed and segregated by sex. Feeling positively svelte after the sumo wrestlers, we discarded all modesty and gave it a try. There are rituals of washing involved before you get into the springs and your hair must be tied uo, in keeping with Japanese extreme cleanliness.  It was very relaxing and invigorating to lie in a pool of warm water, outdoors, surrounded by mountains and gorgeous trees.

The ryokan has tatami mats. Some rooms have futons on the floor whilst others have very low platform beds that feel like futons, with beautiful muted lighting inside the headboards. We all had lovely views of the garden with sliding doors to small, private terraces. You are provided with cotton kimonos, yukatas, that you are expected to wear at all times, as well as the rush slippers and socks with big toe separation. You take slippers off in your room before entering as well as in the banquet rooms.

Wearing yukatas in a private room for our group we had a dinner consisting of many courses accompanied by sake.

This is a beautifull inn, part of the Relais & Chateaux consortium with a very authentic Japanese feel. We are getting positively good at taking slippers off backwards ( so they are facing the right way when you put them on again) any time we enter a room, and leaving no bags on the floor! 

Sleeping in futon style made for a very restful night ( even though our room felt like cheating with the low platform beds)