Daily Diary 07/08: Tokyo, Nagoya and Hiroshima

Today is the first day of our excursion week. Our plan for today is to depart NYC, take Shinkansen to Nagoya, watch sumo tournament in Nagoya, and finally arrive at Hiroshima.

Our day started at 8:15 AM. Since we have a busy traveling day, we have to get up early! We gathered at the lobby of D building and store our luggages, and after that, we are ready to go.

At the main gate of NYC, before departure

The train we are going to take from Tokyo to Nagoya and Hiroshima is Shinkansen, one of the quickest and easiest ways of traveling between major cities. Shinkansen stations are linked to local metro stations, that allow us to travel from Tokyo to Hiroshima in one day plus a visit to Nagoya without much rush.

We firstly activate our JR pass and get onboard Shinkansen at Shinjuku station. Before departure, we bought ourselves bento boxes in the JR station. There is a bento shop that sells all sorts of well-packaged bento boxes and because we don’t have time to have a "formal" lunch, the bento box is a nice try.

Bento boxes

This is the first time we take Shinkansen as a group. Shinkansen network consists of multiple lines, and we had a transfer between lines from Nagoya to Hiroshima. There are two types of cars: reserved and non-reserved. Reserved cars provide reserved seats, allow them to travel without concerns of standing for the whole time in case the non-reserved cars are heavily congested. We reserved the seats weeks before our departure thanks to Miki, we did enjoy a spacious car with comfortable seats.

Reserved-seat tickets(Tokyo-Nagoya, Nagoya-Shin-Kobe, Shin-Kobe-Hiroshima)

We arrived in Nagoya after two hours of traveling, where the Sumo tournament is taking place. The 2019 Grand Tournament is scheduled one per two months from January to November, and the one we watched is Sumo Nagoya Basho which starts on July 7th and ends on July 21st. Sumo is a “national sport” of Japan, and it is famous for the sheer size of wrestlers, the traditional Japanese rituals and its popularity among people at any age regardless of their occupations and social status.

After we got off the Shinkansen, we took the metro to Nagoya Castle, where Aichi prefecture gymnasium located. When we arrived at the place, the intermediate level wrestlers were in the middle of the game. Each of us has a list of wrestler’s names. Some sumo fans circle out their favorite wrestlers’ name and make notes on the lists. 

List of names of Sumo wrestlers

The whole arena has inner and outer circles. The inner-circle has traditional tatami, people brought snacks, eat and chat chilly with their friends and family while watching the game. The outer circle has normal seats, and because it is a bit far from the center, some fans bring their own telescope to watch the game.

Inner and outer-circles of the arena

Shinto religion has a strong influence on the rituals of sumo, participants wear colorful Shinto Gaara and stand outside the ring while their names are announced before the game starts. After introducing wrestlers from both sides, the game started. The ritual actually extends the length of the game greatly because of the actual physical confrontation usually last than less a minute—it is an intense sport. The way the officiator reads wrestlers’ name is very interesting, too: he doesn’t “read” it, he “sings” it. The sound is much like the sound in a Kabuki play that could immediately remind people of certain rituals and grab people’s attention.

 At the entrance of the arena

 Sumo 

The rituals including tossing the sacred salt to maintain the purity inside the ring, two competing wrestlers facing the audience, clapping their hands above their heads, slapping their left and right thighs. After that, two rivals face each other, repeat the rituals and lean towards the ground behind a white line, and wait until the judge announced the start.

Sumo 

The rule of the game is simple, anyone who firstly being pushed out of the ring or fallen on the ground lost. After the loser left the ring, the winner squats down quickly and left the ring soon. Many audiences are mostly elderly and foreigners, and it seems sumo is losing its attractiveness to the younger generation. It is worth noting that, sumo is regarded as a game “inappropriate” for women to play, so only male wrestlers are allowed to participate in the game.

We head back to the Shinkansen after the game, and we arrived at Shin-Kobe station, and transfer to another train to Hiroshima. At around 7:00 PM, we arrived at our hotel, the Hiroshima Apa hotel.

At Hiroshima Apa hotel