Foreign Friday - Guest Post

Tokyo Sumo Stadium mural
Tokyo, Japan
April 2012

Sheila sent this week's photos after she saw this post.  She wrote, "In Tokyo, we walked by the Sumo stadium, and just as we were there, a bus load of Sumo wrestlers arrived to participate in a tournament. I wish we could have watched them perform!"     

These photos clearly show the traditional hair style for sumo wrestlers. These "top knots" are called chomage.

Researching this, it was interesting to learn that the sumo wrestlers rank is reflected in their hair style and that the Sumo Association hires a hair dresser, called a tokoyama, to prepare the wrestlers' hair in this style for tournaments. Some interesting information on sumo hair dressing can be found here.

I also learned that lower-ranked sumo wrestlers are required to wear kimono and geta when then are out in public from this site. The author gives detailed information on sumo wrestling in a previous post.

Thank you, Sheila for sharing your photos.

Want to see photos from inside the stadium? Check out Michael Weening's photos here, here, and here.