Sumo wrestler vs karaoke star

It has been a very Japanese 24 hours. This time last night I was doing ninth floor karaoke. Then I slept in a capsule bed (aka a wooden box) and was woken to go to a sumo match. Two classic forms of Japanese entertainment back to back. Both delightful and different in their own peculiar ways...

The karaoke took place in a skyscraper with a golden castle on the roof. Ten floors and over 100 rooms devoted entirely to singing along to music videos. Claustrophobic, smokey, poky rooms with sticky tables and chairs and flashing lights. Sumo on the other hand takes place in a dedicated stadium with a single spotlit ring in the centre. A ring with a sand surface encircled by sandbags. A ring that is raked and watered with care and attention. Both venues sacred and carefully attuned to their purpose.

Similar attention is paid to dress in sumo. Or lack of it. A padded girdle with dangly sticks does the job along with a decorated jewel encrusted sponsorship apron for show at the beginning of the match. Waxed topknots are carefully chosen and maintained to suit the hair of each sumo wrestler. Whereas for karaoke, you just go as you are. Jeans and baseball caps are popular. A similar gulf is apparent in the preparation required for both sports. Sumo wrestlers have stable masters and live a life of strict diet, ritual and practice to achieve the best on the big day. The only preparation that karaoke stars make is to down a few beers to loosen the vocal chords. In spite of the huge quantities of food that sumos are allowed to eat, I still prefer the karaoke regime.

Drinking is an important part of karaoke. Beer helps the karaoke star build strength and confidence. Sumo wrestlers prefer to sip water before a game, to purify the body, and draw on the audience for their inner strength. The sumo crowds are only too willing to help, bellowing the name of their favourite wrestler loudly from the rafters. In karaoke your companions also egg you on, swaying along when you sing and clapping politely even when your rendition of Lionel Ritchie`s "All Night Long" is wildly off key. To accompany the drinks, karaoke stars order salty snacks. Sumo wrestlers use salt to throw on the floor and purify the ring.

The music is, of course, different. Karaoke is the predictable mix of eighties, nineties and noughties hits with a good mix of Japanese and Korean favourites, and I was delighted to see that the Forest of Dean's own EMF still make the karaoke hit parade in Tokyo. The only music in sumo is a chanted verse sung by the referee as he waves his fan accompanied by the banging together of two sticks and the sound of wrestlers slapping their thighs.

A risk assessment of both pastimes would favour karaoke. After singing solidly for a whole hour (my Japanese friends were so impressed by my skills that I wasn't allowed to put the microphone down) I only came away with a sore throat and husky voice (or is it a cold?). The sumo wrestlers however were covered in support bandages, especially on their knees. I suppose carrying 100kg of blubber on a delicate ball and socket joint does take its toll. Spectators are also at risk, as wrestlers are regularly thrown out of the ring into the seated crowd below.

Two very enjoyable and very Japanese pastimes. I may not have the belly for sumo wrestling, but I was a hit with the karaoke. My Japanese friends enjoyed my soulful rendition of Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to Do With It" so much that they requested, and were rewarded with, an encore. Japan is such fun!