Shibuya and Sumo

September 15

On Tuesday, after breakfast, we headed to probably the most famous district in Tokyo – Shibuya. First, we went to Starbucks to enjoy some trendy tea drinks. Isis' "coffee" was more of a sweet potato smoothie. From there, we could observe the famous Shibuya crossing, considered one of the busiest intersections in the world. During a green light phase, up to 3,000 people cross the street here. However, on a Tuesday morning at 10 am, there weren’t quite that many.

Afterwards, we went to the Shibuya Scramble Square, from whose observation platform we could view the city from 230 meters high. Unfortunately, the weather was rather mediocre, so we weren't allowed all the way up to the open observation deck. One floor below, however, there was a gallery from which we still had a nice view. We could also see the crossing well from up there.

Only from this perspective did the dimensions of this metropolis really hit us: 14 million inhabitants in the Tokyo prefecture and around 37 million in the entire metropolitan area. A gray mass of buildings as far as the eye could see. 

Next, we joined a guided walking tour. Two students, who spoke quite good English, showed us some popular spots in the district. We visited completely crazy shops where you could practically buy any manga and even perfume that supposedly smelled like your favorite anime character. Other stores were filled with things that blinked, glowed, or made various sounds. It was a true sensory overload.

We also went to a typical izakaya for dinner and ended the tour at an arcade. There, you could compete against each other in various video games for a small fee. Of course, we didn’t miss out on this opportunity.

Afterwards, however, we were pretty wiped out. Somehow, the jet lag was still noticeable and all the walking took its toll. So, we headed close to our next event location and recharged our energy in a nice café. Because the next event was going to demand quite a bit from us.

We were going to see sumo.

Unfortunately, we couldn't get tickets for the ongoing autumn tournament. The organizer we booked with, however, provided delicious food, and during that time, two former sumo wrestlers explained the most important aspects of this traditional sport to us with the help of a translator.

Though it was set up as quite a fun event, the two were actually former professional athletes who had just ended their careers earlier this year. There was even the opportunity to fight against the wrestlers. However, to do so, you had to wear extremely embarrassing costumes. They primarily served the practical purpose of preventing you from getting sand from the ring all over yourself.

We definitely had a lot of fun. And I, of course, won my fight against the 180 kg (397 lbs) wrestler Ryu from Mongolia. Even if I have a sneaky suspicion that he let me win to look good in front of Isi…

I consider that unlikely, and I was able to sleep well that night.