Day 15 – 10th April
A very early start but we do manage to enjoy the usual great breakfast at the Grand Nikko Hotel ( although our Janesco tour is over we have decided to stay an extra 5 days at this superb hotel.)
Both Gail and I are very keen to learn more about the world of Sumo wrestling and whilst we are in Tokyo at the wrong time to see an actual contest we have booked tickets to watch morning practice at the Chiganoura Sumo Stable in Taito -Ku, a long way north of the centre of Tokyo and from our hotel in Odaiba. As need to be at the stable by 7.30 am we take a taxi and arrive in good time. We are dropped off outside the gates of what appears to be the Sumo stable and we wait there together with a few other people here to attend this event.
We have by now become accustomed to Japanese punctuality and we are, therefore , surprised to be still waiting long after the starting time. It is now that someone working in front of the ‘ stable’ manages to get the message through to us that we are , in fact, outside a temple and the Sumo stable is in the building next door! We are eventually ushered through to sit on the floor of a room where the obviously less-navigationally challenged tourists are already enjoying the initial warm-up exercises.
For over an hour we observe 3 wrestlers, under the watchful eye of a very large Hungarian master, put through a surprisingly strenuous work-out which gives us good idea of the rituals and the culture of Sumo wrestling. One very young man, who is clearly the novice of the group, seems to be put through a particularly tough session and for much of the time is coughing , spluttering and about to throw up after each short tussle with his opponent. He clearly has a long way to go before he reaches Yokozuna status ( Grand Master )
We are allowed to have our photograph taken with the wrestlers at the end of the practice and I certainly never felt less like an OBESE Ferret in my life!
We next set off on foot towards the Tokyo Sky Tree, at 634 metres the city’s tallest structure and on the way we come across some spectacular cherry trees in full bloom along the banks of a waterway.
It will come as no surprise to anyone that I decide to give the Sky Tree a miss but Gail is of like mind and we get on the Metro to Ueno -koen park where the Tokyo National Museum awaits. Well, it would on any other day but it’s closed on Mondays. Nevertheless, it’s a delightful park with a very attractive lake and we are now well and truly getting our fair share of the much-vaunted spring blossom. While walking near the lake we come across a group playing Gate Ball which is a game akin to croquet with one notable variation. This allows a player to place one ball in front of another, stand on the rear ball which is then hit to propel the front ball towards the gate ( hoop ). This information will no doubt only be of interest to the Busselton Croquet Club members and they may need to refer to Mr Google for more enlightenment on this variant of the game.
Given the throngs of people out and about enjoying the park it’s a minor miracle that we meet up with Ken and Lyn from the Janesko group who are also staying on at the Grand Nikko until the end of the week. They have already become more familiar with this area and recommend to us that we should walk to the Yanaka Cemetery north of the Ueno Park where we will see more blossom in a much more tranquil setting ( hardly surprising, really!)
We arrange to meet up with Ken and Lyn on the coming Wednesday evening and set off in search of the promised peace. The area around the cemetery has a delightful ambience and there are some very stylish homes complete with luxury cars to match. Certainly we feel well away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
While roaming through the cemetery a Japanese gentleman encourages us to follow him to an enclosure which he explains contains the graves of the last Shogun and his family.
We continue to walk among the graves and take yet more photographs of the now ubiquitous cherry blossom but we leave the best to last when we enter a small shrine and park as we are on the point of walking to the metro station. As the photos show the large pink blossom tree offers a display the equal of any during our trip.
After a very enjoyable and relaxing day it’s back to Odaiba on our driverless train.
Cheers
The Obese Ferret
2geonomads 