Sushi and Sumo

May 17, 2014

Another busy busy day! 

As always, my day started with breakfast (this time, however, I was admittedly less brave and I ended up going for the shameful western breakfast option).

Following breakfast, the group met up and headed to the subway to see more of the city. We ended up hanging out at the subway station for some time, which is when I encountered my four favorite human beings. Just outside of the subway, four young locals were chanting, cheering, dancing, and smiling all in sync, raising money for a relief fund for earthquake victims. I’m telling you, this is a nation of happy, adorable people! Every time someone dropped money in their can, they would all squeal in high-pitched unison and fall into lunges with their hands in the air, thumbs up. Of course I gave them some change and got a picture with them. In the entire half hour or so that I watched them, their smiles never faded in the slightest. Ear to ear. I actually cannot think about them without smiling. Japanese people are unreal adorable. It’s the truth. 

Sad as I was to leave my new friends, I was thrilled to be on my way to our next stop: sushi-making class!
I love sushi. I love it so much. And I love working in the kitchen! So this was the perfect activity for me! First we learned how to make thin rolls, and then we each made a crab hand-roll. Having made sushi rolls before and being a quarter Japanese, I expected my rolls to be the best. However, I seemed to have trouble gauging how much rice was necessary, and some of my creations were too stuffed while others were apparently too skinny. I say “apparently” because, to me, they were all pretty darn good! But, based off the laughter and gestures of the chef who assisted my table, I’ve since learned otherwise. 
One thing that I hadn’t done before, and didn’t think that I’d even do today, was gut a fish! We were each given a mackerel and a knife and shown how to clean the fish. Guys. Fish have far more guts that you may realize. And gutting a fish requires getting your hands dirty; there’s no getting around it. 
But those who were able to get past their squeamishness (I was fine once the head was out of my sight) had a ton of fun with this. How many people can say that cleaned a fish, stuck it on some rice, and ate it in one sitting? Pretty cool experience!
Making the nigiri was much easier for me than making the rolls. And eating my creations was easiest of all! Definitely something I’d do again. 

Bellies full, we left the sushi-making class behind and headed to the Imperial Palace.

What a gorgeous day it was! We have been so blessed by the weather the past few days. Outside of the Imperial Palace is a gorgeous park, full of bonsai trees, where we hung out for a bit as our guide gave us a lesson on Japanese history, specifically talking about samurai and how Tokyo became the capital after Kyoto. 

The Imperial Palace itself is slightly underwhelming; you can’t get very close to it. But I didn’t mind at all! It was a beautiful day and I really just wanted to walk around anyway! 

We left the Imperial Palace and the park behind and headed to yet another amazingly cool experience... a sumo wrestling tournament. 

Before we left, our guide explained a few things about how sumo works and about some of the athletes we’d see at the tournament, so that we’d enjoy it more. 
I learned that, at the tournament, one match in particular was anticipated to be the highlight. This was the match in which Endo- a fan favorite- and the reigning Grand Champion would face off. Our guide practically swooned when she spoke about Endo. I didn’t realize how celebrated these wrestlers are! I thought that the practice of sumo wrestling was respected as an ancient tradition; while that’s true, it’s also revered as an entertaining and popularly watched sport! 
I also learned that many sumo traditions are similar to Shinto practices. For example, before the wrestlers lay a hand on each other, they go through the a very similar purification routine to the one we did the other day. The rinse their mouths with water and throw salt on the arena. It was interesting to see a popular sport like that so rooted in religious traditions. 
The actual wrestling lasts for a very brief amount of time. The two men meet in the middle of a ring and try to either push the other out of it or get the other to touch his hands to the ground. It usually lasts about ten seconds. 
Between each match there is a long time where the wrestlers come out, stretch, squat, throw salt, and the like. I found myself really getting into the matches once the fights actually got going, mentally trying to predict who might win and sitting on the edge of my seat, but the long lulls between matches can get a little boring. 
Still, I had a lot of fun and am really glad that I went! Tokyo is such a unique city in that it has a rich history, going back to ancient days, but is also the hub of modern technology and culture. Sumo, for me, perfectly summarizes that marriage of the ancient and modern. Here we saw the wrestlers practicing century-old rituals while in a gigantic stadium with state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems. Such a cool picture of what makes Tokyo so fun! 

I <3 Endo 

After a packed-tight subway ride (all part of the authentic Tokyo experience!) and a quick stop at the hotel, we ended another full day with a fun “hot pot” dinner. Hot pot, or “nabe” in Japanese, is a lot like fondue in the states. A big pot, full of boiling broth, was set in the middle of our table along with plates of veggies and thinly sliced beef and pork. Unlike the fondue I’ve done at home, this process is very quick. You take your meat with your chopsticks, swirl it around in the hot water a few times, take it out, dip it in whatever sauce you like (I mostly used sesame sauce), and enjoy. The veggies take longer; you dump those in the water and then pick them out with your chopsticks as they get ready. It’s a really fun activity and makes for a delicious meal!
Along with my nabe dinner, I had my first glass of sake! I got the plum sake which tastes like fruit punch. The Japanese seem to have a major sweet tooth... perhaps I can attribute mine to my heritage! 

We didn’t get back until dinner until late, so I crashed pretty soon after arriving back at the Keio Plaza Hotel. I am loving Tokyo and am so so sad that this is my last night until the end of the trip! I could spend a lot more time here.