Sumo: fat men in g-strings

When I learned I would be in Tokyo at precisely the time that a sumo wrestling tournament would take place, I was ecstatic! They take place only about 3 times a year. How could I have gotten so lucky?! There was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to be a spectator of the national sport of Japan. 
This is a big deal to the Japanese. 
I decided to attend the last day of the 15 day tournament, that way I could see the final winning match. 

Now, the only way to get a reservation for the remaining seats was to join a tour. So, I forked over a lot of cash and found myself with a comfy seat in the sports arena. Our guide, Taki, was very informative and I was glad I paid for a tour to have access to his wealth of information, if anything. 
From the comfort of my box seat, I watched as 20 different fat men charged at each other and attempted to throw each other out of the ring. 
The rules are simple: 
1. If any part of your body, besides the soles of your feet, touch the mat inside the ring, you lose. 
2. If the soles of your feet, or any other body part touches the outside of the ring, you lose. 
3. No hair pulling, biting, choking, eye gouging or cheap crotch shots. 

Buns of steel

Before entering the ring, each sumo wrestler grabs a handful of salt and tosses it ritually onto the floor of the ring. Salt symbolizes purity. 
They raise their trunks for legs high up in the air and dramatically stomp it on the ground. I'm sure if I had a closer seat I'd be able to feel the ground shake. This is to ward off evil spirits. I snickered as I watched their pudgy legs jiggle from the impact. Their g-string uniforms left their butt cheeks audaciously exposed. Next, they squat and put their hands in the air to show they have no weapons. 
Here, I demonstrate the move:

do not attempt in a mini skirt

I was surprised to learn that not all the wrestlers were Japanese. There were other nationalities such as Hawaiian, Mongolian, Russian, Estonia, Brazilian, Georgian and even Egyptian. However, the Japanese predominated the event.
The obese sumo's all had their hair pulled into a tied ponytail on top of their heads. Our guide told us that they have a special hairdresser that does their hair for tournaments. They can't be bothered for such a thing, you know ;)

It was such a unique experience to be a witness to the oldest sport of Japan and allowed me to gain insight to Japanese customs. I watched the Japanese as they really got into it all.
Eating and drinking is allowed inside the stadium. This includes alcohol. So you could yell wildly at the match with a mouthful of popcorn and wash it down with a draft beer. It was like a baseball game!

Excitement grew as the last 2 wrestlers stood face to face for the final showdown. I was on the edge of my seat. A Japanese vs a Mongolian. I know how tough the Mongolians are, so I had a hunch that the Mongol would be the victor.  It took only a few seconds for the winner to throw his opponent on the ground. The crowd went wild! The 37 year-old Mongolian was the champion!!
What's the prize for all this blubber bouncing, you might wonder? The winner gets $100,000. On top of that, the average monthly salary for a sumo wrestler is $5,000. Which I thought was pretty shabby for living in Japan. 

The only thing I regret about the day was forgetting to bring my camera with a good zoom. So, my apologies for the crappy photography. 
Here's the video of the last match, when the Mongolian trumped over the Japanese: