J Program Field Trip to Nara and O-zumo at Osaka [4月 11,2012 ]

On March 12 we held a field trip of watching O-zumo (Grand Sumo Tournament) in Nara and Osaka. It was a joint event with Nara University of Education and thirty-seven students of Osaka University and eleven of Nara University of Education participated in it.
First we visited ‘Kehaya-za,’ the Sumo museum of Katsuragi city, Nara prefecture, and heard a brief lecture by a staff member of the museum about Sumo’s history. Students saw various exhibits there and some did an imitation of Sumo on the ‘Dohyo’ (Sumo ring) installed in the museum.
Next we walked to the Taima-dera temple close to the museum to see the national treasure main hall, a famous Mandara and various statues.
In the afternoon we enjoyed watching Sumo matches of March Grand Sumo Tournament held at Osaka city. Many students expressed an opinion in the questionnaires collected after the event that watching real Sumo matches was an unforgettable experience.