Summer can be a brutal season. The humidity is often uncomfortably heavy and relentless; intense thunderstorms and the hot, blinding sun make weeks on end unbearable. But it’s not all bad: Summer is also the season when the world comes most fully to life, the nourishment of rain and sun causing fields of large, tall sunflowers and even larger, even taller sumo wrestlers to sprout from the earth.
Sumo wrestler Katsuaki Nakahara has documented this seasonal phenomenon with a remarkable photo that shows 10 of his fellow titans standing in a sunflower field. Its caption explains that he “took this photo…in the sunflower field behind the Hiratani village government office,” which suggests that it was carefully planned and staged, but can easily be ignored for the better vision of him simply walking behind a building and unexpectedly playing witness to the incredible scene at hand.
It’s a simple, wholesome, and joyous photo. Large men—most of them smiling widely—pop out of the leaves and flowers like newborn Cabbage Patch Kids. Humanity and nature are in perfect harmony. Both the sunflowers and the wrestlers are sturdy, healthy, and very big.