Thirty Hours Over Tokyo

Willard Korson took this awesome shot. He was sitting next to me in the 3rd level and has a great camera.

Arriving in Yokohama and seeing Mount Fuji in the distance was a glorious sight.  Not only for the sheer beauty of the port, but also because we went through a harrowing night at sea the night to there.  

The days at sea leading up to Japan were rough but the late-night hours just before our arrival were just plain frightening.  Many people had nightstands thrown across the cabin, a few televisions came crashing down and almost everything on the walls ended up strewn onto their cabin floors.  It was impossible to get a good night’s sleep from the drawers in our cabin constantly slamming open and closed, in addition to the rocking and crashing that made me think we were doomed.  I’ve never experienced seas that rough.

Captain Jeremy did an amazing job of not only getting us in safe and sound but also right on time.  As we were piloted into the port a marching band, complete with flag twirlers, greeted us in a grand fashion.   It was a wonderful sight that had our entire shipboard community lining the top decks and beaming with anticipation.  Once we cleared the ship and Japanese immigration, a process that took a few hours, Kelly and I were off to Tokyo to go and see the Nihon Sumo Kyokai. 

We found our way to the Yokohama train station and managed to figure out the right way to get to the arena.  It was a 45 minute ride, including switching trains, but not too difficult despite the language barrier.  The Japanese train system is amazing.  It’s very modern and super clean and the atmosphere is very tranquil.  The compartment we were in started off somewhat empty but ended up being packed full of people by the time we reached Tokyo around 3 p.m.  The entire time it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop and we were the only Westerners onboard.   I really wish we had something like that back home in the States.

When we reached Ryagoku Kokugikan arena the area was swarming with people.   It was the final day of the two-week tournament and a hot ticket event.  We were lucky enough to get tickets before sailing so our only worry was meeting back up with our group of eight other SASers at the arena.  Since we were so late getting off the ship we were alone and just went in to start watching the matches.  The matches run from about 10 AM to around 6 PM but most Japanese don’t get there until the heavyweight matches around 3:30.  Kelly and I found our seats and settled in for a big dish of action and culture.

Thanks to the recommendation of a lovely British woman sitting next to us we rented a radio and headset to hear the broadcast in English and allow us to have a better understanding of the matches.  Our seats were in the third level but it gave us a great view of the dohyo and the spectators around it.  The sights and sounds were awesome.   The crowd cheered for the popular wrestlers and the smacking sounds of the two bulls in the ring colliding echoed throughout the arena.  Surprisingly many of the most successful sumos now hail from Eastern Europe and Mongolia.  The grand champion, finishing 15-0 over the tournament, was a Mongol named Harumafuji.  He was awarded a treasure trove of prizes including a giant trophy that made the Stanley Cup look like a kid’s toy.

After the event we sought out a place to get some food.  Doesn’t sound too difficult but being that none of us speak Japanese it ended up being a lot of wondering and having people pointing us in all different directions.  Our group broke up to eat and three of us decided on a place that is sort of the Japanese version of fast-food, Matsuya.  When you go into the shop you must pick your dish from a vending machine, again a simple process that is complicated by the language barrier.  Fortunately Kelly, Craig and I were perfectly okay with seeing something that looked tasty and just going with it.  The entire process is really very efficient.  Put money in the machine, pick your item, grab the ticket have a seat at the counter and give the guy behind the counter your ticket.  A minute later your food is presented to you complete with a cup of tea.  All three of us really enjoyed our dishes and while we were eating one of the Sumo wrestlers came in to eat letting us know we picked a great local place.

After eating Kelly and I made our way back to the ship in Yokohama to get some rest since neither of us slept well the night before.  It was a great first day in Japan and something we will remember for the rest of our lives.  Kon ban wa (good evening) for now.