Japan Tour 2018 - Blog #6

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Today has been another enriching day for our athletes as they’ve been able to experience more traditional Japanese customs.  We had a nice (and difficult) morning workout followed by breakfast in the dorm.  The mother of one of the recent world champions from Shigakkan was helping the house mother prepare food.  As I’ve said previously, it’s humbling to be served by these great champions.  Seriously, who are we that we should be served by anyone let alone individuals with such incredible stature.  We’re just a group of high school girls from the US.

After practice Coach Shouta took us to a Japanese spa for a sauna and steam room.  The men and women were separated, so I can’t speak to much of the girls’ experience.  We took some relaxing time in the sauna, steam and hot tubs.  One of the hot tubs was accompanied with little pulsating shocks of “electricity.”  Following the spa, Shouta treated us to sushi.  It wasn’t of the same quality as the sushi that Sakae provided for Morgan and I a few days ago, but none of us could tell the difference.  Regardless of the quality, it was a lot better than the sushi available at Family Fresh in River Falls.  We placed our order on an iPad and the orders arrived on little remote control trains above the conveyor belt that paraded pre-made sushi.  I was willing to try whatever was on the menu.  The girls, on the other hand, quickly found the mochi, ice cream and cake and ate more sweets than raw fish.

I’ve had my fair share of American-made sushi.  Some very expensive nigiri and rolls at fancy sushi restaurants and some cheap grocery store options, so there wasn’t much that surprised me on the menu.  Everything is dressed up more in the States.  I was a little taken back by the beef and bacon options, though.  Those were nice surprises.  A few days ago, I even tried horse.  Otherwise, it was the predictable tuna, salmon, octopus, squid, red snapper, etc.  All very fresh and very tasty according to my pallet.  Not a fan of natto rolls.

Next up for us is another mat practice.  Shouta said it will be a little over two hours of wrestling.  Our girls are doing the best they can to keep up with these superstars.  Obviously, they haven’t been privy to tangling with the gold medalists in the room, however, they’re moving along right next to them and the rest of the room provides plenty of quality partners.