Awake: 5:53am Cloudy Overnight @ Nagoya, Japan
6:30 breakfast. We hangout in the Café for 2.0 hrs & discuss the wedding
memories of yesterday with our gang.
Later, Kathy & I take a 2.0 hr stroll with the Foote’s down the
Fushim-Dori Street to the Higashi Betsuin Temple, then down Otsu-Dori
Street where we pass Don & Josie also taking their walk.
Our group of 11.5 meet @ 12:30pm in the lobby, then take the subway Meijo
Line to Meijo Koen stop which we thought would get us close to the Nagoya
Castle. No sooner did we get off our train when we spotted a sign: “for
Nagoya Castle, get off @ Shiyakusho(city hall).” Oh....so we take the
next subway train & go back one stop….sure enough, it’s only a short walk
to the North gate from here.
The Nagoya Castle was built in 1612 for the 620,000 members of the Koku
Owari Tokugawa family & it symbolized Nagoya’s pride & power at that time.
After paying our 500 yen ( about $5.00), I am reading the brochure while
walking toward the Castle & realize that this huge castle in front of us
was bombed & burned completely to the ground in 1945 during WW-II. This
was disappointing to me & my brother…it’s a rebuild & not the real thing.
We did climb all 7 stories however, but spend little time inside…it
appeared a little too modern.
About 10 yrs ago, I had taken a tour with some Japanese pals who took me
through the Osaka Castle. It was exciting because it was the original &
had been well preserved.
From the castle, we stroll out the North gate of the castle grounds & walk
over toward the arena & follow the crowd lining up to get into the huge
stadium where the championship sumo wrestling is taking place today. Mrs.
Yasuko Togari had purchased tickets many months ago for us to be able to
see this special event. With a little help from the inside ticket masters,
we find our way to our reserved seats with a great view of the sumo ring.
Not only great seats but this huge stadium has good air conditioning.
When the 1st wrestlers entered the ring, I expected the bout to begin
right away. Instead they spent maybe 5 minutes or more tossing salt on the
mound & squatting in order to tip their bodies to one side & raise a leg
high in the air before slamming it down. From time to time they crouched,
glowering into each other’s eyes, but just when I thought they were going
to charge, one would stand & stroll away to scoop up another handful of
salt. Finally, when I wasn’t expecting it, it happened. They slammed into
each other, grabbing @ loincloths; but within an instant, one had shoved
the other off balance & the match was over. This competition scenario
repeated itself for hrs with the crowd applauding or booing. The pomp &
circumstance procedure of this ritual was as fascinating as the bout
itself and certainly lasted longer!
We had been watching the wresting for about an hr when Nick & Eriko joined
our group with their reserved tickets.
Katrina sat near a young girl who had spent a few yrs @ Michigan State
University, spoke fairly good English & was able to answer our questions
about “what’s happening now” during many of these wrestling events. We
were thankful to Mrs. Togari for her thoughtful planning.
Nick & Eriko had other plans for the evening so our group heads for the
subway & we find our way to the Hard Rock Café in Nagoya. This was an
exciting meal for my sister Mary Jo: American food which she has been
missing. Most of us had the Hard Rock Café’s BIG burgers. We walk back to
the subway around 7:00pm & easily find our train route back to our Cypress
Gardens Hotel.
Another exciting day for us, especially seeing those BIG Sumo wrestlers
wrestle each other inside that little tiny ring.
Lights out: 9:47pm
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