I Could Be Wrong - Blog Posts

twentiethbeef

3 weeks ago

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Arashio-beya

The quickest way to witness some sumo wrestling is probably to watch a morning practice session in a stable (though we'd probably use the word "club" in Europe). Arashio-beya in Tôkyô is one such stable, with the nearly-daily practice watchable from the street.

On some days, wrestlers may come out to meet the spectators and pose for some photos. This happened on the day I was there.

While researching for this post, it appeared that these two wrestlers may be among the stable's most successful. Arashio-beya was founded in 2002, and has had four wrestlers reach the top division as sekitori. Their first one is retired and now manages the stable, and their second was Wakatakakage, who won their first major tournament in March 2022 - and who probably is pictured left (I'm confident it is him based on other photos, but I'm couching it slightly just in case I'm wrong). Wakatakakage is the youngest of three brothers who all wrestle for Arashio-beya, and one of his brothers is the third sekitori from the stable. The fourth and most recent is Kôtokuzan, probably pictured right.

For someone who knows absolutely nothing about sumo, looking back at that morning, it's neat to think I was in the presence of people who would fulfill their ambitions.