A Prime Night of Sumo

Last night the husband and I went to the final night of the November sumo tournament in Fukuoka. Our seats were in the nosebleed section, my favorite wrestler (Takami Sakari) left the mound in tears after miserably losing his match, Kotooshu (hubby's favorite) lost his bout, Asashoryu won the tournament (to my chagrin), and security said, "Return to your own seat (only in Japanese)," when I tried to briefly get closer to take a picture. But it was still a FANTASTIC night! Yes, that is how great a sport sumo is.

I got to watch my former student, Fukunaga Takeshi, win his match earlier in the day (he turned pro last April and is trying to work his way up the ranks), discovered Kotooshu will move up in rank to ozeki despite his loss, bought a plastic keychain doll of Takami Sakari (he's so cute!), and Koizumi (the Prime Minster) stopped by for a surprise visit (don't support a lot of his politics, but it was exciting to see Richard Gere's twin, just the same).

The picture above shows Koizumi presenting Asashoryu with the Emperor's cup. Of course, this is a picture taken by the press, not my own camera, as Koizumi was merely a gray spec from where I was sitting. However, I did managed to edit the pictures below into a decent quality. Enjoy.

My former student (facing) about to teach a lesson to his opponent.

Kotooshu (facing) getting ready to fight Kaio.

Takami Sakari--the cutest & most spirited sumo wrestler around.