I attended Japan Fest today, which was held in Mississauga (a city about 20 minutes outside of Toronto).
My reason for going was because, two weeks ago I was shocked to see a reddit post claiming the 69th yokozuna Hakuho was scheduled to appear at the event.
After feeling relatively assured that this was real, my wife and I made plans to attend today's event. But I didn't spring for the $350-a-head meal with the legend or the $50 meet and great (it was sold out by the time I learned about it).
Instead, I got to see him give a speech at the opening ceremony and then lead a demonstration involving a pair of Miyagino members and some guys from a local sumo club.
Here's Hakuho's speech, which was mostly translated for us non Japanese speakers. Apologies for the shoddy camera work and the placement of that mic stand.
In his speech Hakuho gave an overview of sumo’s history and highlighted international aspects of both its past and present. He also discussed his own journey into sumo and eventual retirement (and said he hoped we liked his haircut). He also stated how he is now energized by training the next wave of champions, namely Hakuoho and Hokuseiho.
It was wonderful to see the man talk. However, Japan Fest suffered from some poor planning and promotion. Finding out, by chance, that Hakuho was coming to Canada with little time to plan wasn't great.
Hakuho's appearance on the main stage was also delayed by almost an hour, while we waited for other dignitaries (city councilors, MPs and a cabinet minister) to arrive. Hakuho was punctual, though, waiting off to the side while the hosts did their best to fill time (which included nauseating and repetitive tales of trips to Japan and some basic and cliche opinions on sumo and Hakuho's reputation).
The two day festival had plenty of vendors and food stalls with authentic Japanese fare. However, there wasn't a sumo merch table… so my hopes of getting a tegata were dashed.
All in all, I give the event a thumbs down, but it was such a rare opportunity to see such an incredible athlete in the flesh, that I had to get there. And I'm glad I did.
Despite not getting that close to the man, you could feel an aura around him. He was both stoic and charming and it was a little surreal seeing someone I've spent so much time watching and reading about hanging out at Celebration Square, outside of one of the biggest and busiest shopping malls we have in Ontario.
It felt like there were a few people who attended just for the sumo content. Hopefully there was enough of us there to convince this annual event to feature sumo (and bring over more guests) each year.
That's awesome; and they should definitely repeat that. Imagine Chairman Hakkaku Oyakata, and what he could tell people about being a Yokozuna-turned-shisho-turned Kyokai boss, and standing in the presence of foreign dignitaries and two Emperors.
Or Tate-Gyoji Shikimori Inosuke (health permitting), and what he could say about refereeing legendary matches.
Amazing!!!