9/17/2011

Sumo ー 相撲


When I first came to Tokyo, in October 2007, it was for three months. My husband was working every day, and I don’t know how it happened, but I ended up watching the November tournament and I got hooked.

2007年の10月に初めて東京に来た時の滞在期間は三ヶ月。夫は毎日仕事で忙しく、どういう流れでそうなったのかははっきりわからないけど、気がついたら秋場所を見続けて、私はすっかり相撲にはまっていました。



It might seem like a strange sport to fall in love with, but I love the ceremony, the athleticism, and most of all the various characters that make up the upper ranks of sumo (the white guy from Belarus, the two battling Mongolian champions, etc.) For each of those 15 days, 4:00 pm would find me in front of the television, watching the best 15 battle, round robin style, until the one with the most wins was awarded the Emperor’s Cup.

大好きになるには不思議なスポーツと思われるかもしれないけど、相撲の儀式、運動能力の高さ、そして何より上位にランクする力士のそれぞれの個性(ベラルーシ出身の白人や、二人のモンゴル人横綱の戦いなど)が大好きに。15日間の間、毎日16:00になると私はテレビの前に座り、総当たりとなる上位15の取組みを、勝者が天皇杯を持ち帰る日まで観戦し続けた。


Watching sumo on TV is fun; but getting the chance to watch it live is even better. It’s so exciting to hear the crowd cheer for their favourite wrestlers. You can even pass lower ranking sumo wrestlers in the hall after their matches.

テレビで相撲を見るのはもちろん楽しい。でも生で見るのはもっと楽しい。観客が応援する力士に声援を送るその歓声を聞くのは本当に興奮する。さらに、下位の力士となら彼らの試合後、廊下ですれ違うこともしばしば。

1 comment:

  1. Dear Kate,

    Being passionate about Japan and its traditions, I've been following your blog for quite a while now. I'm more than delighted to read you enjoy sumo, since I am a fan of sumo as well. I went to the Nagoya Basho 3 times and, other than that, I watch it from home (Paris) on the Nihon Sumo Kyokai's website. During the next tournament, when I'm watching, I'll be thinking of you ;-)

    Sandrine

    ReplyDelete

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