Last week there was a cultural holiday in Japan and our language teacher invited us to visit the Tokyo Edo Museum. Beside the museum was the arena for the sumo wrestling tournaments. For the sumo enthusiast, this facility is considered the "Rupp Arena" for sumo events. These two wrestlers were students and just beginning their careers. They will train under the more experienced until they have developed the skills and the size that it takes to compete. The grand champion is 6' 6" and weighs well over 300 pounds; these guys have a long way to go!

The flags seen in this picture are mounted outside the arena entrance and represent the individual "rikishi" wrestlers that will be competing in the tournament. The larger the print on the banner, the higher the wrestler is in the ranking. The wrestlers are sponsored by a "stable", which is the equivalent of a professional team. One stable could have up to 30 wrestlers on their roster. The tournaments are held in Tokyo on the odd numbered months; other prefectures on the even months.

This week we decided to buy tickets and experience a session. There were 20 matches on the card and they progressed from the lowest ranked participants to the highest. The last six matches of the night were those wrestlers with the best overall tournment record; contenders to become the grand champion. Since sumo is more like the sport of boxing, where the athlete is continually defending his ranking; tournaments are held throughout the year.

At the beginning of each match,the wrestlers perform a ritual that goes back to the 18th century, with much of the formalities based on the Shinto religion. The wrestlers will move to the center of the ring and raise their leg high in the air and stomp; to drive away unwanted spirits. They then drop to a "squat" position, and the staring at their opponent begins. They move to the white lines in the center of the ring, touch the line, go back to their corners, gather some salt in their hands and throw it on the floor for spiritual purification; this is repeated four times.

The colorfully dressed man between the wrestlers is the referee. As the wrestlers go through their rituals of staring and purification, he holds a fan to his side. When he turns, faces the wrestlers, and displays the fan in a flat position, that's the wrestlers cue; it's time for battle! When the physical contact begins, the match might only last for seconds; the time it takes to be pushed out of the ring or thrown on the floor. It was very colorful, exciting and a great cultural experience!

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Last week-end, the entire Tokyo team had a retreat near the Japanese Alps. It is about two hours northwest of where we live. I had my doubts about their title, but I was not disappointed. The snowcapped peak on the right is near where we were headed. That peak is Mt. Asama, an active volcano that we were able to see steam coming from its peak. It was amazing to watch the skiers come down the steep slopes; it was not for beginners. This area was also used during the 1998 Olympics for the curling event.

In the middle of the picture you will see a green and white wind sock. This is to let drivers know the direction and force of the wind. The closer you get to the mountians, the more dangerous the crosswind becomes; especially during a snow storm.


The Megumi Chalet is a Christian conference center that is an off-spring from one that was established in the mid-1880's. It is located in the town of Karuizawa which is noted for being where the present emperor and his wife met. It is reported that John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent time here as well because Yoko's parents had a summer cottage in the area. The town has a Winter Festival that lasts until February, so many of the Christmas decorations and lights were still up.




Our room was a typical Japanese tatami style hotel room. You can see in the closet the futons,pads, and blankets that would be laid out at night for sleeping. It was really quite comfortable. It certainly costs less to furnish a room this way. The room also had a wooden fold out table and cushions that could be placed on the tatami floor during the non-sleeping hours. Each room had a private bathroom with a sink and toilet; the shower was located in a community shower room, which is typical. Bathrooms in Japan normally are not heated, so the toilet seat has electric coils that keep it warm; as is in our apartment.

One morning we were treated to a family of snow monkeys. They would go through the leaves looking for something to eat- not sure what, but I did see them putting something in their mouth. They would climb in the trees and on the roof tops. One of the employees came out to scare them away because the monkeys have a tenedency to carry off the shoes that were on the outside of the door. (Yes, even at the conference we took our shoes off before going indoors, and there were slippers provided for the guests to wear on the inside.)

One purpose of the retreat was to get to know other IMB missionaries serving in the Tokyo area; and we did that one afternoon by going bowling as a group. Our bowling partners in this picture have been in Tokyo for over 20 years. Their ministry is with the homeless in the Tokyo area.

2010- the year of the Tiger! Japan also follows the Chinese calendar. Some calendars instead of having the year, 2010,they note how many years the current emperor has been on the throne- 22 years. Christmas decorations came down on Dec. 26th; and up went the new decorations welcoming in the new year.




















Most of the decorations have some sort of natural roping, greenery, and stalks of grain. The sole purpose of the Japanese new year decorations is to honor cultural beliefs, and customs; that it will usher in prosperity for the new year.


Like many cultures, food is associated with special holidays. A Japanese friend took Martin to a supermarket to show him the items his family would eat on New Year's Eve. The market had several sample stations so he was able to try most all the customary foods. He said of the different foods he sampled, the most tasty was steamed and pickled octopus; with the least desireable being compressed cod eggs.

These are rice cakes made from processed rice. We watched them take the rice and pound it into a dough ball about the size of a mixing bowl. It was then put into a divided tray where you have this result.
We bought a package and tried eating them as is, only to find that they were very hard and not very tasty. This morning we asked our language teacher about them and she showed us that we were to bake them until toasted, then dip them into soy sauce and eat. (She laughed when we told her we had tried to eat them - she said it would be like eating a candle!) Somehow, by browning, the heat made the cakes soft and palatable.


Another food preferred for New Year's is dried squid. We purchsed this squid and had good intentions of eating, but when we opened the package, we changed our minds!!

Martin took me back to the supermarket and I had the opportunity to sample the pickled octopus and cod eggs. I agreed with Martin, the pickled octopus wasn't too bad; the jury is still out on the eggs.