Ozumo ya okonomiyaki ya tanjoobi

Today was Michelle's birthday, and since nothing says "Happy Birthday" like large, sweaty men hitting each other, I took her to watch sumo. We met a friend from Osaka U., Norbert-san, and went to the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium to watch day ten of the March Grand Sumo Tournament (I took some pictures). It was a lot of fun; we got there while the lower ranks were still battling, so the seats were only about 20% full. These bouts went pretty fast, as there was little time allowed for stomping and posturing (and no salt throwing), but the fighting was pretty spirited. The fighting got even better through juryo division, and by the time makuuchi started, the crowd was bigger and really getting into the action. In the notable bouts, Hakuho downed his opponent to remain unbeaten and tied for the lead, helping his chances for promotion to ozeki; Kotooshu, fighting a knee injury, beat fellow ozeki and native son Kaio to improve to 7-2; Tochiazuma won to improve his chances at making yokozuna; and yokozuna Asashoryu handily dispatched his opponent to remain unbeaten. Our seats were pretty good, not within spitting distance (which is good), but not in the nosebleed section. It was a lot of fun to see all of the rituals and crowd reactions in person.

After sumo we went out for okonomiyaki with Norbert, his wife Hitomi and their 9-month-old daughter Erika. This was apparently the best okonomiyaki ("grilled stuff the way you like it") place in Osaka, and for Michelle's first experience, it was a success. It was also much better than any okonomiyaki Eric's had before as well.