Sumo follow-up

Today was the final day of the Kyushu Grand Sumo tournament. This has been a pretty exciting tournament for us, being able to attend everyday. There were still box seats left during the week so we upgraded on Thursday and Saturday, too. On all three days, we were sitting beneath the camera, about 9 rows up from the dohyo and center ring. It put us about twice the height of the dohyo from the floor and made for spectacular viewing.

The box seats had the added benefit of being more Locutus-friendly. We found that he would stay put and watch sumo for longer sitting in the box than in a seat, because he could roam a little within the box and chat in his way with our neighbours. On Saturday, we had families with children in the boxes on either side of us, so he was well entertained and we were free to enjoy the penultimate day of sumo.

And what a day of sumo! If you're a sumo fan, you'll know what I'm talking about. And if you're not a sumo fan, you won't care. So I'll leave it at that. But some highlights...

• I think we were featured on NHK on Thursday. We were rather enthusiastic cheering on Shohozan (a new favorite). Jenn noticed the mobile camera folks pointing our direction and talking.

• Tonight we were part of a cheering section for Yoshikaze. The guys behind us had signs and everything, so we turned our section into the Yoshikaze fan club. And then he won! The crowd went wild.

• It turns out everyone loves Shohozan! The last few days, regular chants of SHO-HO-ZAN would emerge from the crowd. Normally, sumo fans are rather complacent, so this was awesome and we joined in heartily. He won the Fighting Spirit prize!

• Ikioi beat Chiyotairyu on the final day. More insult to injury!

• I gave a smile and nod to Kotoyuki as we passed in the hallway. And I ran into Jean Luc Shimpan in the foyer while walking my son around. And Hakuho is massive up close.

• All of the staff knew us by the end of the tournament. Or, I guess more accurately, knew us as those people carrying around the adorable Locutus. But they were very friendly and quite accommodating as our son walked us around the stadium, day in and day out, for hours at a time.