The Japanese art of sumo wrestling is exactly the kind of sound-rich, cultural feature the Only A Game staff likes to bring to the airwaves. Unfortunately, sending Bill Littlefield on a trip to Japan hasn’t quite made it into the budget…yet. In the meantime, Only A Game listener Jessica McWade visited the country and offered to whet the appetite of our listeners with a photo gallery. Here’s what Ms. McWade said about her visit:

“It’s just not something that many westerners do here. Maybe that explained the look of astonishment on the face of my white-gloved cab driver when I asked to be taken to the Kokugikan Hall, Tokyo’s fabled venue for sumo wrestling. I had to admit that the sight of obese men slapping each other silly contrasted sharply with my class that same morning in ikebana, or Japanese flower arranging.

‘You like sumo?’ my cabbie asked in English that was not so broken as to hide his puzzlement. ‘Americans no like sumo,’ he intoned. Well, this American was certainly going to find out by spending three days at the Grand Sumo Basho.”