Saturday at Mount Takao
A sunny Saturday, finally ! I jumped on the Chuo-line (from Shinjuku station, 45 minutes by express train to Takaosanguchi station) and had the best walk ever to the top of Takaosan !
To reach the trail, I just had to sit in a nice "lift" chair and fly above the trees ! Soooo great and relaxing !
Takao-san nature : green, sculptural roots, and amazing flowers that even don't look real...
Pont suspenduuuu
Takao Top !
And on the way back...
I feel rejuvenated ! Go and have a walk before the rainy season...
Saveur d'ici
Kuromitsu & macha ice-cream... French crepe !!
Restaurant Le Bretagne - Kagurazaka
Heavy Monday
Last Monday, I went to see a sumo fight for the first time at Ryogoku. As many Westerners, I had always been a bit disturbed by the aesthetics of this wrestling sport - naked, huge bodies and inscrutable faces. But it was the perfect opportunity to try to understand more about it, and so I did.
A rikishi (wrestler - in Japanese, "professional of strengh") on the ring... The clash is coming !
First, the place : Ryogoku Kokugikan, in the Eastern area of Tokyo. At the entrance, colourful banners welcome the visitors. Inside, the atmosphere is lively - people drink and eat, shout the name of their favorite rikishi and loudly comment the fights.
The dohyo (figting ring)
The dohyo iri (wrestlers presentation)
Even the cleaning of the dohyo looks like a choregraphy
For your information, us women are not allowed to walk on the dohyo, even when nobody's around. And even nowadays. We are such impure creatures. Jeeeeez.
Sumo champion showing-off
The gyoji (referee)
The rikishi throw salt on the ring before fighting, to purify it.
This world-wide famous gesture is for chasing away the bad spirits
Fists on the ground to accept the fight
The tachi-ai (clash) - trust me, they are surprisingly fast !!
The sumo fight is all about make you opponent walk/touch/fly the area outside the ring. This is why the wrestlers have to be so heavy. Still, there is no weight categories like in boxing, so the two rekishi's weight can be 100 kilos different ! Ouch, my spinal column... They say that 150 kilos may be the best for a wrestler : heavy enough not to fly too much, but offering a minimum of flexibility.
The rikishi have to follow a very strict physical discipline to maintain their body in the right shape - a bit like classical dancers in Europe. They wake up at 5am, train themselves all day long and eat carefully - mostly boiled vegetable and meat (nabe). Being a sumo fighter requires a permanent body and mind controle.
This rikishi is Bulgarian-born. More and more foreigners (especially Mongols) try to make a career in sumo, so the Japanese Sumo Association had to restrain the number of non-Japanese to one new member per year. Not so bad. Among the Japanese, the number of candidates is decreasing. A rikishi life doesn't make people dream anymore...
What do the sumo rikishi fight for ? To please the gods. For sun, for rain, for harvest and for long life.
Thank you for your heavy prayers, guys !
Sakura Nostalgy
Spring is over ! No more pink sakura on the trees... Time to remember how beautiful it was again this year !
Miyajima, Hiroshima - the Floating World
Hiroshima: my second home in Japan. I hadn't visited Miyajima since 2007, and I found the place as majestuous and peaceful as I remembered.
Deers, pine trees, stones and red wood reflecting in the water.
The Floating World
Mysteries of the Forest
Miyajima Aquarium immersion
Japanese fish discipline...
Nemo Time !
Always a lot of emotion getting close to Hiroshima Dome, the ruin kept in memory of August 1945's bombing. I wish no country had the power to do that again, but looking at the shadows of Hiroshima, we know that it could happen again.
Hiroshima Dome
Before closing the post, I have to share about the night bus. Cheaper than shinkansen (13 000yen go and back), it only requires to be in good shape and mood because it takes alsmot 10 hours from Tokyo to Hiroshima. But after Tohoku, I'm not afraid of the night bus experience anymore, especially with these amazing Willer Bus Relax Seat :
So great !! A large reclining seat, with an adaptable pillow (can position it exactly behind your head), a blanket and a hood !! And a plug for your mobile phone ! And it's pink !! I like !!
Atmosphere...
