Keiso-Soken

I was assigned again to take three guests to the Sumo Arena to watch the special morning training event. The event is held once a year at the end of April before the May tournament. All of the high ranked wrestlers attend the event, so we can see several kinds of training sessions and bouts there. We can get a good seat on a first-come-first-served basis.

Today's hero is Kakuryu because he was promoted to Yokozuna recently after the committee recommended that he would be Yokozuna. He has to show strength, power and techniques to the members. Stronger wrestlers can appoint their opponents, so today Kakuryu can choose his opponent and beat him again and again. When they do Butsukarigeiko, pushing a wrestler out of the ring, a stronger wrestler is usually pushed by a low ranking wrestler. The sumo referee announces the names of both wrestlers.

For the ring entrance ceremony, the wrestlers wear a colorful apron, which shows their status, because only high ranked wrestlers can wear one. Sponsors give one to the wrestler when he is promoted. The design on the apron shows the sponsors related logos, so it is also used as an advertisement.

In the Sumo Museum, they display Yokozuna related things during the Samurai period such as woodblock prints of their portraits.

Kimono Dressing Class

They both looked so beautiful in their kimonos and they were so excited.

Origami

On the other hand, R was a person of Origami. She did quite well at first but she gradually became confused when we tried to fold a paper crane. Actually, we were tired and hungry in the last class of Origami. Anyway, I'm glad that they enjoyed it a lot. Probably they will visit my house again with Jade and other friends. Thanks to Jennie, I have taken the first step forward. 

Calligraphy Class

 

Two ladies from the U.S. and Canada visited my house yesterday. Another laday  couldn't come because of the stop of a train due to the heavy snow. I prepared three classes, Calligraphy, Kimono dressing and Origami. They tried it in real earnest. Please, look at their great effort and works.K was quite good at the calligraphy. R is left-handed so it seemed to be difficult for her.

An Australian Family

An Australian family enjoyed a Japanese cultural experience. After they learned calligraphy in the morning, they enjoyed the tea ceremony in their kimonos. The mother, who was a little bit shy, was excited at her and her daughter's beautiful kimono style. They looked so nice in their Furisode-kimonos and when they said "cheese" at the Shinto shrine!

All of us were fascinated with the tea master's elegant carriage and excellent explanation of the tea ceremony. The girl answered,"Kekko desu" in Japanese with a smile after she had drunk the tea.

It was heart-warming sight that the father took a photo of his wife and daughter from behind. They looked so happy and admired the beauty of ladies.

Working as the tea ceremony assistant was a little bit hard even though we started to put a kimono on each guest at 1p.m. and the tea ceremony ended at 3 p.m. I had to start putting a kimono on myself at home at 10 and leave my house for the facility at 11. After 30 minutes, I arrived at the facility and prepared many things about kimono dressing such as several strings and pillow-like items for making the shape of the Obi-sashes, Tabi-socks and Zori-footware. Putting on Kimonos needs a lot of strength and stamina because we tie many strings tightly. Walking in a kimono is quite hard work. Moreover, during the tea ceremony, I have to move sitting on the floor with my hands. I was surprised that the girl also moved in the same style. She was watching me carefully and copied me very well. 

A Smart Girl from France

A smart girl from France, who is studying six languages and is good at cooking, made three types of sushi in my kitchen with her aunt. She loves Japan and knew many things about Japan especially the cooking words. She studied all of them through the Internet by herself. I was very surprised when she shouted 'Tamagoyaki' as soon as I took a Japanese omelet out of my fridge. I hope she will be a good go-between for France and Japan in the future.

Sushi Making is Popular

Sushi might be an internationally popular food now. Foreign tourists are interested in not only eating sushi but also making sushi. After coming back to Japan from my travels in Europe, I have worked as a sushi instructor three times every ...other day. Actually, making a sushi roll and a rice ball is quite difficult for ordinary people. Japanese sushi chefs are said to spend 10 years to master them. We teach them traditional way as the chefs do and the easy way, using a kit, and give the kit as a souvenir. I hope my guests will make sushi in their home countries using the kit.

A Family from Iowa

They were well-educated children from Iowa. The two boys and their father were sitting on the floor without moving and watching the wrestlers carefully for two hours. I was surprised they understood everything, for example, who the stable m...aster was, what the coach advised the wrestlers, who was the strongest, and so on. After visiting the sumo stable, we visited the former Yasuda Garden, the Sumo Museum, and Eko-in Temple and we ate Chanko-nabe, the Sumo-wrestlers' staple food, at a restaurant together. I couldn't help hoping that their one-week trip to Tokyo would be wonderful when I said goodbye to them at Akihabara Station.

Four Boys from Chicago

Four boys from Chicago were very excited and well-behaved while they were watching the morning Sumo training. When the wrestlers started their final exercise, the coach suddenly called to the boys, "Hey, why don't you come here?" The surpri...sed boys entered the ring one after another and rushed against the wrestlers. Their parents cheered them on and they were busy taking a lot of pictures. Everybody looked so happy and enjoyed the brief contact together.

A Family from Californis

A family with very cute girls and their friend from California enjoyed making sushi in my house. The three-year-old and four-year-old girls also tried to make sushi without wasabi by themselves. They were so impressed how delicious the real wasabi was and I was so glad that all of my guests looked so satisfied.
 

A Family from Singgapore

Wearing a woman's kimono is quite difficult because it doesn't have any buttons or zippers and it is longer than the wearer's height. We use two strings and an Obi sash to fit it to us. I taught a Singaporean family, consisting of parents and a daughter, how to put on yukatas, simple cotton kimono for the summer season. After putting on their yukatas, we walked around a nearby Shinto shrine and park to take a lot of pictures. I was so glad to see them taking pictures with each other in high spirits.

 

Nice Couple from Oslo

My guests came from the capital city of Norway, Oslo. They tasted both real wasabi-horseradish and wasabi-paste in a tube, and realized the big difference between them. They have Asian markets in their town so they can buy sushi rice, rice vinegar, and Nori-laver there. However, it's difficult to buy real wasabi-horseradish in their country. They really wanted to take the real wasabi to Oslo as a souvenir. According to a reliable website, they can take it to Norway without any problems but it's impossible to take it to the U.S. I hope they will find wasabi at a nearby department store of their hotel and surprise their friends in Oslo.

A Nice French Couple

A nice French couple made sushi in my house. They bought a block of fresh tuna and wasabi-horse radish at Tsukiji Market and I prepared the other ingredients such as shrimp, scallop, salmon, mackerel, avocado and so on. I usually show my guests how to make sushi-rice, makizushi, nigiri and battleship shaped sushi. Many foreign guests have eaten sushi in their own countries but don't know how to ma...ke sushi-rice. They are very impressed with the delicious sushi rice which they make with me. I have also eaten sushi in several foreign countries and I was always disappointed with it. The most important thing to remember when making sushi-rice is not to mash the rice grains. I have several helpful hints for making good sushi-rice. If you want to know them, please visit my house. Let's make delicious sushi together!!

 

An Australian Couple at Oguruma-Beya

I guided an Australian couple to Oguruma-baya sumo stable. During the morning training, high ranking wrestlers called Sekitori wear white loincloths and the others wear black ones. When I visited that stable last summer, four wrestlers wearing white loincloths were practicing hard. Today, I found only two wrestlers wearing white loincloths. The two wrestlers had been demoted from the Makuuchi divi...sion to the Makushita class. It's a severe society. The next tournament will start on the 12th so another Sekitori wrestler from Mastugane-beya came to the stable and they practiced together, as both stables belong to the same group. There are 44 sumo stables now and each stable belongs to one of six groups. The stables in the same group usually cooperate with each other in things such as morning training and kind of roadshows. The word 'stable' sounds strange for English native speakers but we say 'sumo stable' because wrestlers live together like racehorses in a big building with a sumo ring.

A French Couple and their Daughters

A nice French family came to my house to make sushi after walking around Tsukiji Fish Market with an excellent French speaking guide. All of them really enjoyed traveling around Hiroshima, Hakone and Tokyo. They told us that they would visit Japan someday in autumn to enjoy the beautiful colored leaves. After the sushi party, I guided them to the top floor of my condo to see the view of Tokyo and the Hello-Kitty shop near my house. They are going to back to their country with a lot of nice memories of Japan.

Kokonoe-Beya with My British Teacher

Kokonoe-beya is a sumo stable run by a former popular and strong Yokozuna, Chiyonofuji. I visited the stable with my British English teacher, her American husband and their friend from South Africa. The stable building is quite modern and about 15 other people including children were watching the training. Today, Kokonoe's stable master and the other coach were absent so the wrestlers seemed to be relaxing; still, the matches between the Sekitori wrestlers were very exciting. — at Kokonoe-beya Sumo Stable.

Keiko-Soken with a Couple from Australia

The Yokozuna Promotion Committee is the most important sumo-related board which recommends a strong sumo wrestler to become a Yokozuna, the highest rank of sumo wrestlers. Before a tournament held in Tokyo, high ranking wrestlers called Sekitori do their morning training in front of the members of the Committee, which is called Keiko-Soken in Japanese. Sometimes it is open to the public. I guided a nice Australian couple to this event in Kokugikan Arena. Luckily, we could get a box seat near the ring. My guests and I really enjoyed their exciting matches. — at Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena.

An American Couple from Texas

A nice American couple from Texas visited my house to make sushi. The husband was really good at cooking and I learned how to dice an avocado in my hand, not on a cutting board. After the sushi party, I guided them to Ikebukuro Station through the busy Sunshine City shopping center and shopping mall. They were so interested in the many stores and crowds. Near the station there is a big specialty store selling beautiful Japanese paper with colored patterns. The wife got so excited at the many kinds of sheets of paper.

the Tokyo National Museum and Kyoto

I worked as one of the guides who took care of over 800 employees of an international company. Our guests attended the meeting held in Tokyo and a Japanese travel agent provided many kinds of optional tours in Tokyo and Kyoto. I guided my guests around the Tokyo National Museum twice and on a one-day tour in central Kyoto, where we walked from Yasaka Shrine to Higashiyama Street through Nene-no-Michi and Ishibei-koji in the morning and enjoyed making sushi at a local cooking school near Nishiki-ichiba. In the Tokyo National Museum, they enjoyed a tea ceremony in a Japanese garden behind the museum at first and then appreciated the Japanese art exhibition in the Honkan gallery.

Sushi-making with an American Family, Arashio-Beya in Ningyo-Cho, and Kasugano-Beya

I worked as a sushi instructor and guide for three days in a row.

On the first day, a family with three daughters from California visited my house after they had bought a block of tuna and wasabi horseradish with my excellent coworker. Though my kitchen was a little bit small for seven people, I had a wonderful time making sushi with them.

On the second day I guided an American couple to Arashio-beya sumo stable in Hama-cho. It was raining so hard and there was a line of foreign people in front of the stable. The sumo tournament ended about ten days ago and it was also a period of a kind of road-show so only a few stables were doing their morning training on that day. Only several visitors can enter the training room at one time and the others usually watch the training through the window facing a narrow road. Unfortunately, it was raining so the window was clouded with moisture. The visitors were allowed to enter in turn so my guests could enter and enjoy watching the training. After that I took them Amazake-yokocho, an old shopping mall. The couple was really interested in the Japanese confectionery, so they took many pictures of beautiful sweets, which depict the spring season, and they bought some traditional sweets.

On the third day, I guided a German gentleman to Kasugano-beya. After their hard training my favorite wrestler, Tochinoshin, allowed us to take pictures with him and I could touch his muscular arm.