17 April, 2010: Street Performers in Minatomirai (Yokohama)
Calf is feeling better and I am able to walk around a bit better now. After lounging around the place all morning, we decided to head out for a day of doing nothing, and ended up going to Minatomirai area to look for shoes.
Didn’t find any shoes, but walking through the area, we were handed maps displaying times/locations for a weekend of street performance. At key locations throughout the Minatomirai area there were performers scheduled to perform for the crowds that are expected to celebrate the opening of 109 Minatomirai (sister mall to the famous Shibuya 109 department store), the new Collette Mare shopping complex, and the beginning of warm spring weather that usually accompanies the end of cherry blossom season.
Unfortunately, this year, as soon as it begins to warm up, we have seen cold front after cold front roll through. Today was no different. Cold and windy. We stopped by to watch a couple of the performers, but as late afternoon started to roll around it started to get colder and we left early to warm up at home.
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30 January, 2010: Musicians in Yoyogi Park
Went with my wife and daughter to Yoyogi Park in Tokyo to see if there were any musicians and/or performers out in the nice weather we are currently having.
Yoyogi is one of the largest parks in Tokyo and is pretty easy to get to, as it is right next to Harajuku Station (There is also a Yoyogi station, but it is a longer walk to get to the park from there than it is from Harajuku).
Historically, the first successful powered aircraft flight in Japan occurred on the grounds where the park currently sits (December 19 1910, by Captain Yoshitoshi Tokugawa) and during the occupation after World War II it was the site of the Washington Heights residence for U.S. officers.
Now, the park is a popular spot for younger people on weekends and during a walk around the park you will usually see groups of people playing music, singing, performing martial arts, dancing, and holding small open air flea markets; as well as numerous families picnicking.
There are also used to be several large homeless/day-laborer camps around the park’s periphery, but now those areas are roped off, patrolled, and, while there are some homeless dotted around the park, the communities appear to be gone.
In the early 2000s there were several hundred (estimates range from 200-350) people living in semi-permanent encampments in Yoyogi Park, but, starting around 2007, the municipal government began a campaign clear out these encampments. As Yoyogi Park was designated as the site of a new 100,000 seat stadium if Tokyo was to win the 2016 Olympic games bid, and is also the site of the Yoyogi National Gymnasium from the 1964 Olympics, most feel that the efforts to clean up the park have been directly related to that bid.
As Tokyo has lost the bid for the Olympics, it will be interesting to see if the efforts to keep the encampments away will continue or whether the homeless will be allowed to move back into the park.
These are not homeless, but just some random people enjoying the day and playing music on the park benches:
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24 January, 2010: Tokyo Sumo Tournament Finals
Received 2 tickets to the 2010 January Grand Sumo Tournament finals on Sunday when a co-worker had a trip to Okinawa come up suddenly. This was my first time going to one of the national tournaments (I had seen local and high school tournaments before) and it was a blast.
The origins of Sumo are religious and the linkages to Shinto can still be readily seen from the design of the stadium, entrance of the wrestlers, and conductance of each match.
Most of the Shinto rites that you see in sumo are symbolic – from the sand that covers the clay of the dohyo (ring) symbolizing purity to the yakata (roof above the ring) being made in the style of a traditional Shinto shrine. Additionally, even the gyoji (referee) himself resembles a Shinto priest in his traditional robes.
Each day of the basho (tournament), a ring entering ceremony is held, wherein each wrestler’s body and spirit undergoes purification. For the pre-fight ceremony the rikishi (sumo wrestler) are organized into two groups—East and West—and each group takes a turn entering the ring.
The lowest-ranked rikishi enter first and walk a complete circle around the dohyo followed by the other rikishi in ascending order according the rank. Once the last in the group has been introduced, the rikishi, who are facing the spectators, turn inward and face each other around the dohyo. After clapping their hands, in unison, they raise their right hand, lift their kesho-mawashi (decorative aprons), and then raise both hands in unison. This is a symbolic gesture that historically was done to show each other that they are unarmed before wrestling.
The Yokozuna (highest ranked rikishi) are notably absent from the main groups as they must perform their own individual ceremonies. When a Yokozuna performs his pre-fight ceremony (see picture below), he will wear a white tsuna, or zuna (braided rope with five zig-zag strips hanging from the front ), around his waist to signify his rank.
Once the actual bouts begin, the two rikishi spend several minutes before their match lifting their legs high in the air and stomping them down, to scare away any demons and throw several handfuls of salt into the dohyo, to purify it before they fight.
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