PHOTO ESSAY/Pingtung celebrates 25 years of tuna fest with sumo wrestlers

Taipei, June 9 (CNA) Sumo wrestlers from Japan on Monday tried their hand at fun games, such as guessing the weight of a bluefin tuna, at Donggang Fishery Port in Pingtung County, southern Taiwan, where the catch is at the heart of a 25-year-old seasonal tourism event.

On the second day of their visit to Pingtung, 13 sumo wrestlers from the Shikoroyama Stable in Japan and Master Shikoroyama Tsuneyuki went to Donggang Auction Ground by the fishing port, from where 80 percent of the catch is shipped to Japan, according to the local fishermen's association.

The sumo wrestlers were asked to guess the weight of a bluefin tuna, a major catch from April to June, for which the local government has organized the Pingtung Bluefin Tuna Cultural Festival since 2001.

The sight of sumo wrestlers in their wrestling outfits trying to weigh the bluefin tuna hung up by its tail attracted crowds at the port on a Monday morning.

The bluefin tuna which has a length similar to the height of an adult human weighed 224 kilograms, and the wrestlers' guess was 220 kg.

Then 20-year-old Mikazuchiyama, whose real name is Tomoya Miyata, competed against Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) in a race to see who could drag a fish from the port to the nearby seafood market the fastest.

Mikazuchiyama won the race and the visitors from Japan were then treated with tuna sashimi at the seafood market where 400 stands sell cooked and raw food prepared from the catch at the port.

Mineyaiba Kishamaru, the 26-year-old wrestler whose real name is Chikashi Ito, told reporters that the fish was much bigger than he expected and very slippery.

He said the trip to the port was his favorite event in the two-day visit to Pingtung organized by the Pingtung Tourism Association.

In two days, the wrestlers have tried water activities in Kenting, and visited Wanluan, home to famous braised pork knuckle, Pingtung Cocoa Park and Taiwan's oldest church -- Wanjin Catholic Basilica -- during their first visit to Taiwan.

They also visited Luo Shan Feng Recreation Area and the newly opened Pingtung King Boat Cultural Museum, as the county is home to three of the most renowned "King Boat" religious events in Taiwan.