Onto the subway - no crowds, so personal space wasn't an issue.
At Shinjuku Station we navigated our way to the West Exit - sounds easy enough to do but in reality is akin to swimming against raging rapids while trying to comprehend cryptic signage.
We were very excited to find our way to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, where we headed up to the Observatory on the 45th floor.
Wow! The views were spectacular! Tokyo's buildings stretched as far as the eye could see. Incredible!
We browsed the 'conveniently located' shops before deciding on brunch at the restaurant, with views over Tokyo City as we ate.
From the viewing area we were able to locate the hotel that was our meeting place for the Sumo Wrestling Tour, which made it very simple to get ourselves to the hotel lobby on time!
With the tour group we caught two trains to take us to the Kokugikan Sumo Stadium.
Sumo is Japan's national sport and our visit to tokyo coincided with one of the six annual sumo tournaments held in Japan. Crowds of people joined us to watch the afternoon bouts of sumo wrestling, involving the current sumo champions - higher ranking bouts commence from 4.00 pm.
It was fabulous! A bout often only lasts for a few seconds, but the crowd loved it. As the champions confronted each other, the crowd went crazy, throwing the cushions off their seats when their hero won.
After the tournament, we were swept up in the sea of people that flowed back to the train station to head back to Shinjuku and back to the hotel.
Sumo- what a spectacle & so much fun. So glad you enjoyed it. You'll never experience that anywhere else! Love reading about your exploits. Enjoy!
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