Sumo so much fun

I arrived in Fukuoka on Thursday afternoon , this is the largest city on Japan’s South Island it’s a city of about 1.6 million and  is a harbour city that is actually closer to Seol South Korea than it is to Tokyo. It’s is not Tokyo busy but a lot more laid back. The reason for my stop here was to see the grand final sumo tournament. This is the final tournament of the year and is a big deal, no different than the Stanley cup playoffs, TV trucks and media were out and the sumo groupies age 60 plus waited outside the Kokusai centre to see their sumo hero’s. The tournament runs about 10 days and wraps up on Sunday. So the importance of theses matches effects the rankings of the wrestlers and a champion is declared on Sunday. The tournament starts at about 9:00 am with the amateur divisions and works it way to the senior division that wraps up at about 6:00pm. Lots of vendors selling souvenirs and food trucks and food displays, you can have a bento box and  a beverage while you watch.

I arrived at about 11:30 and the venue was very quiet  as the amateurs are really high on the sumo radar here, put over the afternoon the crowds arrived and the place was packed. I sat next to guy who was a sumo fan from Japan he spoke no English and me knowing limited Japanese I bought him a beer and using the Google translator-Ap, we had a halting conversation about sumo and our lives in different countries. beer is usually a great icebreaker and we both had a good time.

After the match I headed out a local Ramen shop for famous Fukuoka Ramen and freshly made Gyoza's it didn’t disappoint. It seems that the train station area is where everything is happening at, at Hakata station in Fukuoka the station is huge, 9 stories tall and hundred of shops and restaurants. They had a big Christmas event on out side and the lights and entertainment and vendors was really cool.
I.m heading to Hiroshima today and will visit some museums and see the sights around there.