Several things are being done to address the declining population issue...the robotics industry in Japan is developing robots to care for the elderly and new health initiatives are being launched by the government.
In addition, in an attempt to head off age related disorders and keep the older folks self-sufficient, Japanese employers are now measuring the waistlines of their employees. If the employee's waistline is outside of the accepted parameters, the employer (not the employee) can be fined by the government. Talk about pressure on the job! Even though, as far as I can tell, Japan is the land of the skinny, this still causes distress among workers. It probably explains the products that I see for sale in the pharmacy. There are all sorts of Jack Lalaine era "waistline reducing" sweat belts. There are also all sorts of herbal remedies which show the before and after waistline on the package. And, I just received a great brochure in the mail for a spa which seems to connect electrical devices to the waistline to zap the fat off. I think I'll try that one out.....
Now for the dichotomy. In Japanese society, if you happen to be a Sumo wrestler, you get to have a VERY big waistline...and a lot of status to go with it. Sumo wrestling matches take place during certain weeks of the year. They are busy eating and training during the rest of the year. It takes a lot of eating to maintain Sumo Size! I've been busy trying out all the food over here myself so I can identify with them.
A few weeks ago, I really needed someone to make me feel skinny for a change - who better than a Sumo wrestler!!! I had never been to Kokugikan, the Sumo wrestling ring, and wasn't quite sure how to find it. I took a train part way and then a taxi the rest of the way. The taxi driver immediately began asking about my favorite wrestlers...his was a European fellow called Baruto He also pointed out the restaurants where the wrestlers were chowing down before the matches.....
Ticket sales for the peons like me begin early in the morning. They have to be bought on site so it's first come, first serve. Of course I bought my ticket and went on in - not knowing that most people don't show up till later in the day when the top wrestlers begin their matches. But the good thing about being ignorant is that it gives one lots of room for being nosy and, if a person stumbles into the wrong place, they can just act dumb...so I decided to stumble around for a while....
The wrestling ring is set up like a square stadium with seats rising on all sides. The ring itself has a fancy canopy over the top with four giant tassels hanging in each of the four corners. The four corners depict the four directions ... and later during the matches the referee would refer to the winner by singing out the side he was standing on - Higashi (East) wins!!!
The best seats in the house are on the lower level, around the ring. This was one time when I was very glad to be in the upper level of "bad" seats. I had a nice comfortable, cushioned movie theater chair. The "good" seats were Japanese style - which means a cushion on the floor with no back. There were four cushions to a box -a box meaning four cushions surrounded by a little metal railing. Everyone in those seats had to sit "Indian-style" for hours. There is no room to stretch out your legs - just watching them made my knees hurt. They did get all sorts of perks - like drinks and food and bags of gifts - but it seemed to me that all that stuff gave them even less room for sitting.
Another bad thing about those "good" seats was that, once the wrestling started, a person could get squashed flat by flying Sumo wrestlers. The ring is slightly elevated and those 500 pounds guys would get thrown off into the crowd on a regular basis.
The first wrestlers up were the rookies. Only their mothers, girl friends, and buddies were there to cheer them on....but it did give me a chance to see, close up, what this was all about.
When a match starts, the two wrestlers climb up into the ring. They throw salt around to purify the ring. Of course, everyone has their special "salt-throwing" technique ... and there's always a salt-throwing show-off. Then they do some elaborate stomping exercises to squash any bad spirits. There are no bad spirits left after a Sumo stomps. In fact, there's nothing left after a Sumo stomps. The third ritual is to sip water. That is for purifying their bodies. All of these preparations build up to what is usually a very brief match. The two wrestlers charge each other like bulls. It becomes quickly apparent why they've got all that extra blubber. It protects their organs from the ferocious tackles. Once they engage, it is quite apparent that the Sumo wrestler is not all fat. Their legs are absolutely HUGE muscles. Their leg muscles are so huge that they are not able to walk like a regular person. They have one of those bow-legged, gun-fighter type waddles. Anyway, in under a minute, one of these giants has tossed or pushed the other down or out of the ring. I thought it would be quite boring but I found myself screaming along with everyone else.
SUMO FASHION SENSE
Sumo wrestlers have all sorts of perks. They have their own hairdressers to make sure their "topknots" are just so. They also get to wear really fancy "aprons" during their ceremonial entrances and exits. These aprons cost at least 2 million yen each - that's about $20,000 in US dollars. That price does not include the cost of the diamonds, pearls and other precious gems that are embroidered into the fabric with gold and silver thread. I LOVE the aprons. The designs and symbols are all quite colorful and wild. They range from attacking tigers to giant flowers, to tsunami waves.
The judges for the bouts sit on all four sides of the ring. They are dressed in basic black outfits....the male version of the kimono. My favorite person was the referee type person who introduced the wrestlers and helped to sing out the winner. These guys had fabulous silk outfits and great fans...by fans I don't mean spectators, I mean "fan your face when you're hot" fans. The fabric of their outfits had wild, huge geometric patterns, lots of giant polka-dots. These guys really belonged on a fashion runway. I want clothes out of their fabrics....someone, somewhere needs to design a line of clothes styled after the Sumo Season.
HOW DOES A SUMO WRESTLER GET FAT ON SOUP? ..... AND WATCH OUT FOR THE BEANS
When the crowds were not watching the wrestling bouts, they could sample the genuine Sumo Chanko soup. I decided it was a lunch that I could not pass up. Everyone sat together on long tables with metal chairs...just like in your old high school cafeteria. Each person received a bowl of the traditional stew eaten by the Sumo to build strength. Basically, it was a cabbage, vegetable soup with a small fatty piece of pork or chicken with skin. It was delicious. After that, if you're still hungry, there are stalls selling Sumo shaped chocolates... or bean-jam filled wafers shaped like the referee's fan....While we're talking about bean-jam, be warned. A lot of the dishes in Japan that look like they have chocolate in them actually are made with beans...those chocolate looking things in your ice cream are often beans ....
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