It was a very early start to the day at 7am with roughly a 30 min drive to the Sumo "stables". A "stable" is the name given to the Sumo club workout facility. Stacked next to the the entry was the daily/weekly recycling which included at least 10 cases of empty 500mL bottles of Asahi beer. Inside they have a little viewing area next to the Sumo ring. The wrestlers started off with warmups which involved a balance exercise where they lift one leg sideways and hold it in the air for several seconds. Then they practiced lunging at a wooden post in a move similar to what you see at football practices. The real fun started when they started wrestling. It was a lot better than watching the official competition because they don't do all of the ceremonial stuff in practice. Another highlight was when one of the other visitors asked Max if he was a retired sumo wrestler...Max got a good laugh out of that!
After the sumo practice, we swapped the car for the motorbike and Max and I took off for a ride to Karatsu. It was overcast, but the rain never came (fortunately). We took a tour of the pine forest that lies between Karatsu and the sea (as a breakwater). Tucked into the forest is a famous burger joint called Karatsu burger. The "specialty burger" is a hamburger patty, fried egg, and slice of ham topped with lettuce, tomato, and bbq sauce on a toasted bun. It was a very good burger. Then we rode past the Karatsu Castle and went to a "famous" noodle shop. I'm not sure what made it famous, but the noodle dish was good and stacked very high with fresh veggies. I liked the burger over the noodles though. We then rode up to the top of the mountain where they had a good look-out spot to see the entire city. It was a fun-filled day.
Photos from Sumo Practice and Karatsu...
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