A few days before arriving in Osaka we had been told that a sumo tournament would be taking place during our visit, and so was top of our list of things to see. We arrived at our hostel at around midday and were welcomed by snow....again!!! After checking in we headed out to find the sumo gymnasium and hopefully get some tickets. Osaka however, was bigger than it appeared on the map and by the time we got there all the tickets had gone.

After wandering through the streets of Osaka and exploring the local shopping centre, we headed back to the hostel. Again the subways and streets of Osaka got the better of us and it took us a while to get back.

Making up for lost time we set out early on our second day and went straight to the gymnasium and managed to get tickets!! Sumo apparently is an all day thing and we could have watched it from 8.30am - 6pm!! So not wanting to be all sumoed out, we decided we would go back for the last couple of hours at the end of the day.

Osaka castle is set in pretty grounds and surrounded by an orchard of cherry trees....which were all blooming!! Also, it had a little market selling bonsai trees, which had blossom on as well (wish we could post one home!!) The castle itself was very impressive with bright green and gold decor, an elderly japanese chap took it upon himself to tell us the history and how the base was 500 years old but the actual castle was rebuilt and about as old as him (83). Before returning for the sumo, we passed another stall selling takoyaki (octopus balls). We decided we would go for a second taster....still not great though, we decided they were ok but not something we needed to eat again!

What can we say abouth the sumo?!! its certainly different to anything else we've seen before and very entertaining. Theres alot of in-depth slapping, salt throwing and general ritual preparation for each fight. And all of this seems to overshadow the fights themselves, some of which are over within 5 seconds. We got there in time to see the ring entrance, where all the sumos come into the ring in full somo dressage! The Yokozuna was also there, who is the current, highest ranked, wrestler and champion. He topped the bill and won his fight. Overall, very interesting and a definate worthwhile Japanese experience.