For my Golden Week vacation, we took a trip down south to volunteer on two farms: a natural farm in Haibara, Nara prefecture (south of Kyoto), and an organic farm in Ashimoro, Okayama prefecture (south west of Osaka). We also had a chance to spend some brief time with our friends, Seth and Haruna, in Osaka.
Joan had reviewed a book, Sowing Seeds in the Desert, by Masanobu Fukuoka, a farmer and philosopher who created a kind of agriculture called natural farming. Very similar to organic farming, it's main ideas are not tilling and trying to produce food more in cooperation with nature instead of controlling it. Joan has become very interested in it as she has been working on a more conventional organic farm where the soil is tilled into a fine brown mix - more of a growing medium for plants than true, healthy soil.
Last year on a trip to Nara, we had met a farmer, Kazuto-san, who had a natural farm where he grew vegetables, rice and tea. He had learned about natural farming from students/disciples of Fukuoka and had invited us to come visit when we could. So we when we were thinking of ideas and places for a Golden Week trip, it seemed a natural fit (sorry for the unintentional pun!) We also had enough time to continue south to re-visit Mita-san, an organic rice farmer we had visited last year.
We spent a great four days in the countryside of Haibara with Kazuto and his sister, Erina, learning about natural farming and helping on their farm: weeding under the tea bush rows, hoeing weeds , and other chores. We also had the best time staying at a nature center camp lodge, eating and drinking delicious homemade food and sake in the outdoor kitchen, all the time talking and laughing so hard our faces hurt - all in Japanese! A dream vacation, indeed. We will definitely go back for another visit.
After that, we headed south to Ashimori in the mountains of Okayama to stay for the weekend with Mita and his family. Last year's Golden Week work vacation with him had been great (photos here), and this one was no exception. With some other friends of his, we weeded carrot beds, prepared a field for vegetables, and turned over a massive compost pile. And again, the food, fun and friendship was fantastic - all in Japanese! Our bodies and our brains were happy but exhausted each night. We are very glad we were able to return to visit him and his family again. Hopefully, we can do it again!
Here is a link to an album of photos with captions from the trip:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/106977122165884064218/albums/5739221857853489153?authkey=CIeF3YCrtPPgvAE
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Information on Tokyo sumo tournament and tickets (Updated 2017)
Updated as of 2017!
We are huge sumo fans and have gone many times. As sumo is becoming more and more popular, especially with foreigners who can know order tickets online, the tournaments in Tokyo often sell out very quickly. Don't worry, though! There are 350 discount tickets available everyday on a first come, first serve basis. The cost is 2,200 yen. I believe the next cheapest tickets are 3,600 yen. These tickets are for the seats at the very top of the stadium. The view is really not that bad, and if you go on a non-busy day (not Day1, 8 or 15 [last]), you can usually move lower down. We have learned a lot about buying discount tickets and the schedule of the tournament.
We'd like to share that information so other people can have an enjoyable and stress-free experience. See the notes at the end for useful advice.
This information is only based on our experiences with the Tokyo tournament - we don't know if it is the same for the other locations in Japan.
Buying Discount tickets
The discount tickets go on sale at 7:45 AM. However, people start to line up much earlier! Recently, I went to the stadium on a Wednesday morning for the January 2017 tournament and arrived at 7:15. I was 185th in line at that point. One weekends or really important match days, there may be even more people. The later you are, the greater the chance you won't get a ticket.
To buy the 'day of' tickets, you will need to arrive early. Once you have the tickets, what do you do with the rest of the day? Here is our recommended plan:
1. Buy the tickets
2. Have late Japanese breakfast at Japanese fast food place - we recommend this place (menu with photos).
3. Go get a coffee and relax.
4. Go to the Edo Tokyo Museum next to sumo stadium. It is one of the best in Tokyo and highly recommended! You can arragne a free guide in your language, but you must do it in advance. At a minimum, visit the museum gift shop. It has many wonderful and beautiful gifts - some of the best in Japan.
5. Go have chanko nabe (traditional sumo food) for lunch - we recommend the 1050 yen lunch special at this restaurant. Chanko is a very famous sumo wrestler dish - a big, hot, soupy bowl of meat and veggies - delicious! We've have had it twice and enjoyed it both times.
6. Either walk around or go back to museum for awhile.
7. Go to convenience store to stock on on food and drink - you can take your own into the stadium. You can leave the stadium one time after you enter and then return if you need to restock supplies or run an errand. If you wait to buy food and drink at the stadium during the breaks, there will be very long lines.
8. Go to sumo tournament around 2:45 pm if you want to see the opening ceremony for the senior division. The last matches with the yokozuna (top position) end around 5:50 pm. Watch and enjoy. 9. Afterwards, go to Popeye's nearby, a bar with one of the largest selection of draft beers in all of Japan. It is expensive (about 1000 yen a beer), but you can try some Japanese craft beers you will find no where else.
Rental radio
You can rent a radio set from the stadium for 100 yen with a 2000 yen deposit. With it, you can listen to an English language commentary which really helps you understand what you are seeing. We recommend it highly.
Sumo schedule
The juniors ceremonial entrance is at 2:20 PM or so, where they wear their ceremonial kesho-mawashi (aprons). Their matches begin soon after.
The senior division has their ceremonial entrance around 3:45 PM. They begin sometime after 4 PM. Unless you are a die hard fan and want to watch four hours of sumo, we might recommend going for just the senior division around 3:45 PM.
More details can be found at www.sumo.or.jp/eng/index.html
Sumo on Youtube - this Youtube channel has all the matches available for the day.
If you have any questions, please post a comment!
We are huge sumo fans and have gone many times. As sumo is becoming more and more popular, especially with foreigners who can know order tickets online, the tournaments in Tokyo often sell out very quickly. Don't worry, though! There are 350 discount tickets available everyday on a first come, first serve basis. The cost is 2,200 yen. I believe the next cheapest tickets are 3,600 yen. These tickets are for the seats at the very top of the stadium. The view is really not that bad, and if you go on a non-busy day (not Day1, 8 or 15 [last]), you can usually move lower down. We have learned a lot about buying discount tickets and the schedule of the tournament.
We'd like to share that information so other people can have an enjoyable and stress-free experience. See the notes at the end for useful advice.
This information is only based on our experiences with the Tokyo tournament - we don't know if it is the same for the other locations in Japan.
Buying Discount tickets
The discount tickets go on sale at 7:45 AM. However, people start to line up much earlier! Recently, I went to the stadium on a Wednesday morning for the January 2017 tournament and arrived at 7:15. I was 185th in line at that point. One weekends or really important match days, there may be even more people. The later you are, the greater the chance you won't get a ticket.
To buy the 'day of' tickets, you will need to arrive early. Once you have the tickets, what do you do with the rest of the day? Here is our recommended plan:
2. Have late Japanese breakfast at Japanese fast food place - we recommend this place (menu with photos).
3. Go get a coffee and relax.
4. Go to the Edo Tokyo Museum next to sumo stadium. It is one of the best in Tokyo and highly recommended! You can arragne a free guide in your language, but you must do it in advance. At a minimum, visit the museum gift shop. It has many wonderful and beautiful gifts - some of the best in Japan.
5. Go have chanko nabe (traditional sumo food) for lunch - we recommend the 1050 yen lunch special at this restaurant. Chanko is a very famous sumo wrestler dish - a big, hot, soupy bowl of meat and veggies - delicious! We've have had it twice and enjoyed it both times.
6. Either walk around or go back to museum for awhile.
7. Go to convenience store to stock on on food and drink - you can take your own into the stadium. You can leave the stadium one time after you enter and then return if you need to restock supplies or run an errand. If you wait to buy food and drink at the stadium during the breaks, there will be very long lines.
8. Go to sumo tournament around 2:45 pm if you want to see the opening ceremony for the senior division. The last matches with the yokozuna (top position) end around 5:50 pm. Watch and enjoy. 9. Afterwards, go to Popeye's nearby, a bar with one of the largest selection of draft beers in all of Japan. It is expensive (about 1000 yen a beer), but you can try some Japanese craft beers you will find no where else.
Rental radio
You can rent a radio set from the stadium for 100 yen with a 2000 yen deposit. With it, you can listen to an English language commentary which really helps you understand what you are seeing. We recommend it highly.
Sumo schedule
The juniors ceremonial entrance is at 2:20 PM or so, where they wear their ceremonial kesho-mawashi (aprons). Their matches begin soon after.
The senior division has their ceremonial entrance around 3:45 PM. They begin sometime after 4 PM. Unless you are a die hard fan and want to watch four hours of sumo, we might recommend going for just the senior division around 3:45 PM.
More details can be found at www.sumo.or.jp/eng/index.html
Sumo on Youtube - this Youtube channel has all the matches available for the day.
If you have any questions, please post a comment!
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