After my Nakasendo Way walk it was time for a quick day and a half in Osaka to see a Sumo tournament!
After doing quite a bit of research I found out that tickets are released just over a month before the tournament, and usually completely sell out in a matter of hours.
I would only be in Osaka for one afternoon and one day, which happened to be the 4th and 3rd last days of the tournament, and I was shooting a huge job the day tickets were released. So not only would I be trying to buy popular days, but I wouldn't be able to sit in front of a computer at the release time. Luckily I came across BuySumoTickets, a service that allows you to pre-register with them, and they will attempt to buy enough tickets to cover their registrations. It's not guaranteed, and you may not get the section or 1st preference date, but it was my only hope!
The process was pretty easy, and they had great communication to keep you informed. I ended up with a choice of worse tickets on my preferred day (full day in Osaka, 3rd last day of tournament), or better tickets on the day before (half day in Osaka). As I was there for photography, I chose the better tickets, although I would be cutting it fine with time!
On the day of the tournament, I left Magome to catch the first bus at around 6am or so, and caught 3 trains on a 4 hour trip to Osaka. When I arrived at the hotel, my luggage (which I sent from Tokyo four days earlier while I was on my hike) and sumo tickets were both waiting for me to collect. I stayed at Hotel Cordia which was a great little hotel, super comfortable and inexpensive. A shower, change, and gathering of gear, and off I went! I arrived at around 3pm, which is when the lower ranked matches take place, before the higher ranks start. This is apparently when most people arrive.
Seat choices at Edion Arena are pretty much divided into western style seats on the upper floors of the arena, or Japanese style floor mats on the lower levels of the arena. I chose the western style seating as it was quite a lot cheaper (the mats are sold assuming groups of 2 or 4), and I would be sitting for hours, and even though I have better hip flexibility than I used to - I'd be pushing it!
Lens envy.
Apparently it's completely ok to bring whatever camera gear you like, as long as you shoot from your seat, and not in the aisles.
To photograph the tournament, I brought my Sony 70-200m GM F2.8 lens, along with a 1.4x Sony teleconverter. I was shooting using my 60mp A7RIV, so also had the option of shooting it in APSC mode, for a cropped 26MP image. This meant that with my lens + teleconverter I could get to 280mm at F4. The APSC mode would then give me a crop equivalent to a 420mm (280mm x 1.5) image. The depth of field is still based on 280mm F4. This is a big and heavy lens, so it stayed in my luggage during my hikes, where I brought the lightweight Tamron 70-300.
I was quite nervous about shooting this event. I really wanted to get some amazing images. I knew I wanted my shutter speed to be reasonably high to freeze the action. I then wasn't sure if shooting just the lens at F2.8 and cropping, or shooting with the 1.4 TC and higher ISO would give me a better image. I kept swapping back and forth, but eventually settled on . I also used AI noise reduction in Lightroom Classic to clean up the final edited images, and they look fantastic. The flexibility of that larger sensor, quality and reach of the lens, and great noise reduction tech really allowed me to capture some stunning images from quite high up in the area (although it's not a huge arena). I took my tripod with me to use as a monopod due to the weight of the camera and lens, and even though the seats were cramped, it worked well.
Most of the close up images were taken with the 1.4 TC at around 270mm, with 2500 ISO F 5.0, 1/500 shutter speed. They were processed in Lightroom with Enhanced Noise Reduction.
Going to the tournament was a really cool experience. The early rounds were reasonably quiet, but it got louder the closer we got to the final bouts. When the local favourite was competing the atmosphere was electric with locals cheering him on.
This is definitely something I'd love to do again, but getting even closer to the action so I could really fill the frame with those wonderful expressions.
Osaka
After such a busy day getting from Magome Chaya to Osaka and then to the Sumo, I was looking forward to a more relaxed day. I only had one full day in Osaka before heading off for my next hike on the Kumano Kodo.
Shinsekai
One of the places I've wanted to go back to since my last trip to Japan is Shinsekai.
From Wikipedia : Shinsekai (新世界, lit. New World) is an old neighbourhood located next to south Osaka City's downtown "Minami" area. The neighbourhood was created in 1912 with New York ... as a model for its southern half and Paris for its northern half ... The centrepiece of the neighbourhood was Tsutenkaku Tower (the "tower reaching to heaven").
I love the feel of the area, it has a great sense of retro futurism. A vision of the future that never came to be, and now feels a little run down and tarnished.
I look back at some of the shots I took on a brief walk through the area, and really really wanted to go back and spend some good time there. I was caching up with two friends from Singapore at Osaka Castle for lunch, so I gave myself a couple of hours in the morning around 9am after the sun had risen enough to peer over the buildings.
The image to the left was taken in 2016.
This is the shot that's been in my head for years. I wanted to photograph the area again without so many people, capturing people out and about early in the morning. Unfortunately the blow fish was gone!! But I still got some great shots. I really enjoy shots in iconic locations like this with one or two people walking past in the foreground. The light was spilling horizontally across the scene, creating a great little light well to highlight the early morning locals. Before too long a group of 5 or 6 people turned up carrying garbage bags full out outfits. The were there for at least half an hour, changing clothes and taking each other's pics and videos RIGHT in the spot that everyone else was trying to shoot. So annoying!
After shooting this scene I wandered around the area finding little scenes. I was quite early so many of the stores were still closed. Even though the sun was out, it was bitterly cold, and I had to go to uniqlo to buy some ultra warm under layers!
After a great lunch and walk around Osaka Castle (no pictures as I was focusing on my friends!) I spent the afternoon looking at the Osaka Station area and then the evening walking around Dontonburri.
Dontonburri is a huge shopping and eating area in Osaka. It has crazy restaurant signs towering over the main street, and covered arcades that go on for kilometres. There were soooo many people crammed into the streets here that it felt far busier than most places in Tokyo.
I was there in before sunset, and the light spilling over the streets was just magical. I was using the gorgeous side light to capture the crowds, signs streets and canals.
The Glico sign is one of the most famous landmarks in Osaka, and there must be millions of images of it out on the internet, and I really wanted to give it my own take. I had read about a balcony in the area that allowed for an elevated view. I found it on the first or second floor of a pharmacy over the road from the busy intersection crowded with tourists. This allowed you to shoot right over the top and capture the sign as part of a wider scene.
While I was up there watching the area, I saw taxis pushing their way through the crowded streets and the image that I was searching for popped straight into my head. A shot of the Glico sign, but reflected in the window of a passing taxi, two icons combined!
I left the pharmacy and crossed to the other side of the street. I then found the exact position where the reflection of the sign would be in the window of the passing taxis. I then spent AGES experimenting with auto vs manual focus, focal length, shutter speed, exposure, and which type of taxi would give the best reflection. As each taxi passed I would shoot into the window with a medium continual burst, hoping to get a clear image of the sign and taxi window. I was on ISO 4000, F4.0 (widest that lens would go), at 1000th of second. I had to get my shutter as fast as possible to eliminate the movement of the taxi, but was quite challenged given how dark it was. I think I was there for around an hour trying to land on the perfect shot. I finally landed on a few that matched what was in my mind.
Once the sun had set, the neon came to life and the artificial lights gave the area a completely different feel.
