In 2007 I was visiting Kyushu, the island, in southwestern Japan to visit two famous textile authors: Sade Torimaru and her daughter, Tomoko. After looking at textiles for a while we took off for the city of Fukuoka to see the International Sumo Wrestling Tournament. We sat high up in the stands. Turns out, they were big fans and this way they could show us things and still get to the tournament.
I found I became more interested in what they wore (or didn’t wear) than who won the matches!
Our friends took us under the stands—backstage-so-to-speak. Again, I eyed the costumes. I think I was too embarrassed to take pictures up close behind the men standing around waiting to go on—or come off, so here are some in their kimonos. Their hairdos interested me, too.
The sashes are woven in warp-face patterns especially for sumo wrestlers. We visited the place where they were woven, too. What fun it was to see these years old photos!