Sumo -Japanese traditional wrestling-

Dear my friend,

 

How are things with you? It's very cold here in winter.

If I remember right, you want to enjoy sport in my country, Japan. I recommend Japanese traditional wrestling “Sumo” as the sport you should see in Japan. In strained silence, wrestlers, called “Rikishi”, bump into one another with ripping through it, and in most cases, the match settles in a moment. I think this is a very entertaining sport that you will enjoy.

Sumo is Japan’s national sport. It has been practiced as a part of the Shinto ritual since olden times. Once you look at Sumo, you’ll realize it's more than a sport. If you want to see Sumo live, you should go to arenas during the period of the grand sumo tournament in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka. Especially, three tournaments take place Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena (Tokyo) in a year. You can buy tickets over the Internet or at the wicket of the arena. However, the tickets of the final day always get sold out immediately.

A lot of wrestlers go in for the tournament. My favorite wrestler is Hisashi Mitakeumi. He was born in Agematsu town, Nagano prefecture, so he is massively popular in Nagano.

I hope to see Sumo with you when next time we meet!

Best wishes,

Azumi Yanagida

Being brave

The bravest decision of mine for 30 years was making a trip alone to Leipzig to attend the 12th congress of World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) in 2010. It had been 23 years since I traveled abroad visiting friends in UK in 1987. WAIMH is a NPO for scientific and educational professionals promoting the mental wellbeing and healthy development of infants throughout the world, considering cultural, regional, and environmental variations, and to generate and disseminate scientific knowledge.

The information struck me that WAIMH is the one I should join. It was only 2 months before the congress was held but I could manage to organize everything to attend the congress and even planed an extra trip to Berlin after the congress. The atmosphere of the congress was very friendly, and I could make friends with participants from different countries, enjoyed the program and learned a lot. In Berlin I visited a kindergarten in woods to see how the outdoor nursery work well. I visited the East Site Gallery and other monuments for WW2, which were very impressive. They made me realize how silly human was to start the war and how brave the citizens to destroy the walls. 

I felt like that I had restored a balance between mind and body through the 10 days travel. An adventurous open-minded character was brought back to me.

Posted for Kyoko

Who do you want to meet?

If I could time travel, I would like to meet Mr. Naoki Matsuda who was a player of football team “Matsumoto Yamaga F.C.”. He had joined Matsumoto Yamaga F.C. in 2011 to promote the team to J-League category J1, but he collapsed from a heart attack on Aug. 02, 2011 and then died two days later. If I could have dinner with him, firstly I will report him in detail what 10 years the team spent.

I have many pleasant memories and a few painful memories for 10 years. I want to tell him my most pleasant game against Avispa Fukuoka which gained the J1 promotion in 2014 and my most painful game against Fagiano Okayama which was a play-off in 2016 and lost a point about 4 min before the game finishes. And, I will tell him that with his death as a start, AED was set widely.

In 2021, the team dropped to J-League category J3. I knew by the demotion that there are a given number of supporters who get hung on the outcome of games and must be back to category J2 though there are supporters who want to support the team whatever the team is categorized. I have a big concern that the supporters go into pieces because it will take much time to cheer for the team due to COVID-19.

I want to get advice from him in order to survive the team in the future. What goal should the team have? What should the supporters do?

 

A memo of three-day trip to London

First day: Go to the Big Ben. It’s the first time for me to visit to London. So, I think I should go the famous place. Don’t forget to take a photo in front of the Big Ben!!

At lunch time, I’ll have fish and chips at a famous restaurant around the area. (Before trip I must research good place.) At the dinner time, I go to pub😊

Second day: I visit the Windsor Castle where the Queen Elizabeth II stays at the weekends. There are some historical buildings. Especially I want to go inside of St. George’s Chapel.

I shouldn’t miss the castle town. There are also many historical places too. I enjoy sightseeing at the castle town. I’ll book nice hotel and stay there. At the night, I go to watch a play at theatre.

Third day: Going to Harrods to buy some souvenirs. I want to buy some tea, unfortunately I I’m not familiar with tea, so let’s ask shopper for the recommended. I wish to have teatime with scone before my flight if possible.  

During staying at UK, I’ll use ride a Red bus, Black taxi and the Tube for traveling as much as possible.