We landed at Narita on Thursday evening. By the time we reached our hotel in Ueno, it was past 10p.m. Because of jet-lag, we didn't get much sleep that night and woke up early.
We were lucky that our trip coincided with one of the three sumo tournaments held every year in Tokyo. We could not order the sumo tickets online, so decided to try to get some tickets for the day early in the morning. So off we went to the Ryogoku kokugikan (which means "stadium of the national sport").
As we approached the kokugikan, we could hear a drummer announcing the day's tournaments and then we saw him at the top of his tower, with sumo banners on both sides.
At 8a.m. there were some folks queuing, mostly tourists since Tokyoites had already purchased their tickets weeks before for much cheaper. With our day tickets, we were given a free English guide which was quite useful, as well as the day's programme. The real matches between ranked sumo wrestlers would start as from 2:30p.m. Since we already had plans for the afternoon, we decided to wait for the first matches between wrestlers from the lower divisions that would begin at 11a.m.
In the meantime we headed to the nearby KyuYasuda Teien Gardens and the Edo Tokyo museum. KyuYasuda Teien is quite a small garden, perfect for a relaxing stroll around the beautiful pond.
We then went to the Edo Tokyo museum. As we were waiting for its opening at 9:30, we observed schoolchildren lining up and listening to their teachers' instructions. Unbelievable discipline!
The Edo Tokyo museum is a museum on the history of Tokyo. The building is very original, elevated on pillars, the inspiration being the traditional storehouses of the Edo period.
We enjoyed the different exhibits, in particular the reconstructed buildings...
and the section on the 20th century. These are the 3 sacred objects (washing machine, refrigerator and TV), symbols of the electronics boom that swept through Japan in the mid 1920s.
They also offered a Japan-centric perspective on WWII bombings.
After the museum, it was time for some sumo. Following the opening rituals...
the matches started. Before the actual wrestling begins, the sumo wrestlers need to go through a ceremonial.
The match began once the wrestlers put both their fists on the floor simultaneously.
And the winning throw. That must have hurt!
Here's another match:
The referee could not designate a winner, so the 5 judges were called in for deliberations.
We watched several more matches, until we had to leave for our lunch rendez-vous at Chateau Robuchon in another part of Tokyo (next post).
After a pleasant lunch we walked around Yebisu Garden Place, visiting some shops, before taking the train to Shibuya, a popular shopping and entertainment area.
Walking out of the station, we saw many people around the statue of a dog. It's actually the statue of Hachiko, a dog that lived in the 1920s famous throughout Japan for its loyalty towards its owner, waiting for him in front of Shibuya station every day for 9 years after he had died.
To foreigners Shibuya is famous for the intersection with several crossings, one of the busiest in the world and featured in several movies including 'Lost in Translation'.
Waiting to cross...
Notice the diagonal crossing that allows one to cross directly in a straight line, without having to cross 2 streets. Only the Japanese have thought about it!
After some shopping, we walked towards the Meiji Shrine.
Next stop, Harajuku. We walked along Takeshita Dori, a teenagers' shopping area where cosplay gatherings take place on week-ends.
Before continuing onto Omote-sando, Tokyo's equivalent of the Champs Elysées with all the luxury brands and a high number of European cars.
Final destination of the day: Akihabara, the electronics district, where we had a fun kushiage dinner before visiting the electronics and games area. Since it was getting quite late, many shops were closing...
while hostess bars were trying to attract clients, with hostesses clad in schoolgirl uniforms.
As we were returning to our hotel, we came across this billboard.
That was one long/jetlagged day in awesome Tokyo!
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