Take My Money!
It's not normal when you are actively trying to part with your money but failing, and yet a few weeks ago David Viktor and myself had just that - not that we were complaining!
The first chapter of this weekend took us to the National Film Centre Museum, to see the Film History in Posters Part 3: Science Fiction and Monster Films exhibit. This had been advertised around the dorm, and we figured it would be kind of cool - there was a discount for university students as well which was all good! However when we got there, we learnt Tokyo University students get in for free (!), so that was even better!
The exhibit showcased Japanese movie posters for Japanese and foreign sci fi films, from Godzilla to Star Wars - unfortunately most of the exhibit was off limits for photography, though I did sneak one of the full Star Wars ensemble (excluding the new trilogy and stand alone films) A highlight was the (legitimately taken) photo of a poster of the first anniversary of the original Star Wars movie, signed by the main cast and director - very cool!
I had been told by my friend Claire (follow her far better written (and consistent) blog here ) of a fish and chips restaurant that was opening, and had a promotion where the first 500 people on Saturday and Sunday would get a free meal. As a New Zealander this very much appealed to me, so along David Viktor and I went. Being early, we were within the first 50 on the Sunday, and we were not disappointed! My experience of fish and chips in Japan has been fairly mediocre thus far, and while this was still not NZ tier, it was easily the best I've had here! And, if a free meal wasn't enough, being part of the promotion we all got a free badge that entitles us to a free soft drink every time we come back - the whole dining experience was incredibly good value for (no) money!
Following on from this, we had some spare time to burn before our next (free) activity, so we meandered through Harajuku. It's becoming a common theme, but everytime I go to Harajuku with someone who doesn't know, I take them to the CookieTime shop. There we were given a (free) cookie as a sample, and after buying a couple of (not free) cookies, I learnt that there is a karaoke set up there. If you sing a song, you get a free cookie! So naturally David, Viktor and I had to give that a go, singing Avril Lavinge's Sk8ter boi and Blink 182's All the Small Things. Free cookies in hand, we continued along our adventures, with the highlight still to come!
The third and final free activity of the day was easily a highlight of my trip so far - sumo wrestling! While not strictly free, we had paid 1000 yen a month earlier for a ticket and lunch, which all up was worth 6000 yen, so we considered it free given how cheap and long ago it was! There are two sumo tournaments a year in Tokyo, and we were there for the last day of the first tournament of the year.
Being at the National Ryokoku Stadium, we had seats very high up, but thanks to the considerable optics I have with my camera, I was able to view the matches very close up!
The bouts were fairly short, with the only goal being making a wrestler touch the ground with anything but their feet, or to push them out of the circle. There was a huge range of techniques, from lifting, pushing, slapping, and in a few cases, dodging a lunging wrestler as a bullfighter would a bull - the latter causing some spectacular falls (couldn't help but feel for the wrestler in that case!)
The winner of the tournament was Tochinoshin, a Georgian born sumo wrestler (real name Levan Gorgadze), an absolute titan of a man at 177kg. His bout was very long compared to the others, with the referee getting caught up in the chaos, barely scrambling out of the way. It ended with Tochinoshin throwing his opponent out of the ring, crashing into the spectators with front row seats.
The wrestling continued with a few more bouts, and then the awards ceremony began, with one winner doing some elaborate dance with a ceremonial bow (or something that looks like it), and then Tochinoshin getting a trophy that took two normal people to carry. Lots of ooos and ahhhs followed for both of these ceremonies - the normally reserved Japanese getting quite rowdy!
All in all, it was a huge weekend of great (and free) things, but especially in the case of the sumo wrestling, I would have been prepared to pay quite a lot of money to go! In all the times I've been to Japan I had not yet been to a sumo match, so I felt this was a very significant thing to cross off of the list!
Looking through my photo reserves, there is still at least two more that I can see, and possibly a third (five in a couple days, boy oh boy!) Keep your eyes peeled ;)
Troy
The first chapter of this weekend took us to the National Film Centre Museum, to see the Film History in Posters Part 3: Science Fiction and Monster Films exhibit. This had been advertised around the dorm, and we figured it would be kind of cool - there was a discount for university students as well which was all good! However when we got there, we learnt Tokyo University students get in for free (!), so that was even better!
The exhibit showcased Japanese movie posters for Japanese and foreign sci fi films, from Godzilla to Star Wars - unfortunately most of the exhibit was off limits for photography, though I did sneak one of the full Star Wars ensemble (excluding the new trilogy and stand alone films) A highlight was the (legitimately taken) photo of a poster of the first anniversary of the original Star Wars movie, signed by the main cast and director - very cool!
 |
| This was signed by everyone who was anyone in the original Star Wars |
 |
| An illicit Star Wars photo! |
I had been told by my friend Claire (follow her far better written (and consistent) blog here ) of a fish and chips restaurant that was opening, and had a promotion where the first 500 people on Saturday and Sunday would get a free meal. As a New Zealander this very much appealed to me, so along David Viktor and I went. Being early, we were within the first 50 on the Sunday, and we were not disappointed! My experience of fish and chips in Japan has been fairly mediocre thus far, and while this was still not NZ tier, it was easily the best I've had here! And, if a free meal wasn't enough, being part of the promotion we all got a free badge that entitles us to a free soft drink every time we come back - the whole dining experience was incredibly good value for (no) money!
Following on from this, we had some spare time to burn before our next (free) activity, so we meandered through Harajuku. It's becoming a common theme, but everytime I go to Harajuku with someone who doesn't know, I take them to the CookieTime shop. There we were given a (free) cookie as a sample, and after buying a couple of (not free) cookies, I learnt that there is a karaoke set up there. If you sing a song, you get a free cookie! So naturally David, Viktor and I had to give that a go, singing Avril Lavinge's Sk8ter boi and Blink 182's All the Small Things. Free cookies in hand, we continued along our adventures, with the highlight still to come!
The third and final free activity of the day was easily a highlight of my trip so far - sumo wrestling! While not strictly free, we had paid 1000 yen a month earlier for a ticket and lunch, which all up was worth 6000 yen, so we considered it free given how cheap and long ago it was! There are two sumo tournaments a year in Tokyo, and we were there for the last day of the first tournament of the year.
Being at the National Ryokoku Stadium, we had seats very high up, but thanks to the considerable optics I have with my camera, I was able to view the matches very close up!
 |
| Handprints of some sumo champions - needless to say my hands were tiny in comparison |
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| The view of the ring and surrounding seats |
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| Examples of awards and trophies for the top sumo |
The bouts were fairly short, with the only goal being making a wrestler touch the ground with anything but their feet, or to push them out of the circle. There was a huge range of techniques, from lifting, pushing, slapping, and in a few cases, dodging a lunging wrestler as a bullfighter would a bull - the latter causing some spectacular falls (couldn't help but feel for the wrestler in that case!)
The winner of the tournament was Tochinoshin, a Georgian born sumo wrestler (real name Levan Gorgadze), an absolute titan of a man at 177kg. His bout was very long compared to the others, with the referee getting caught up in the chaos, barely scrambling out of the way. It ended with Tochinoshin throwing his opponent out of the ring, crashing into the spectators with front row seats.
 |
| People appear to pay a huge premium for the risk of having a sumo wrestler fall onto them |
The wrestling continued with a few more bouts, and then the awards ceremony began, with one winner doing some elaborate dance with a ceremonial bow (or something that looks like it), and then Tochinoshin getting a trophy that took two normal people to carry. Lots of ooos and ahhhs followed for both of these ceremonies - the normally reserved Japanese getting quite rowdy!
 |
| Naturally I had to pretend I was being held up by a sumo whilst I wore a kimono |
All in all, it was a huge weekend of great (and free) things, but especially in the case of the sumo wrestling, I would have been prepared to pay quite a lot of money to go! In all the times I've been to Japan I had not yet been to a sumo match, so I felt this was a very significant thing to cross off of the list!
Looking through my photo reserves, there is still at least two more that I can see, and possibly a third (five in a couple days, boy oh boy!) Keep your eyes peeled ;)
Troy
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