Figure 1.--Here we see Japanese boys involved in a Kyoto sumo ceremony. Notice the Shinto priest and that the boys' outfits are like uniforms.

Sumo is the indigenous Japanese style of wrestling. It is refeered to as the national sport. This is interesting. Americans call baseball the national sport, in part because everyone played it. But sumo is a sport for only a small group of highly trained and very heavy atheletes. The association with the Shinto religion probably explain why it came to be called the national sport. Summo is an ancient, highly ruitulized sport. Its origins seem as anient as Shino itself. The earliest known sumo wrestling was organized as performances to entertain the Shinto gods. The rituals associated with Shinto today are founded in these early Shinto performances. The ritual and decorum of sumo can be complicated, but the rules for the matches are quite simple. There are two ways to in. You either make your opponent touch the floor with something else than th sole of his feet or force him to leave the ring. The matches are generally very short, often only a few seconds. Only rarely do matches exceed one minute. Most elite wrestlers are highly trained and conditioned athletes, usually between 20 to 35 years old. It is especially important to gain bulk. Sumo wrestlers live in special sumo stables under very strict conditins. We notice boys engaging in sumo. I don't think this is a school activity. Perhaps it is a club activity or organized by local temples.

Wrestling

Sumo is the indigenous Japanese style of wrestling.

National Sport

Sumo is refeered to as the national sport. This is interesting. Americans call baseball the national sport, in part because everyone played it. But sumo is a sport for only a small group of highly trained and very heavy atheletes. The association with the Shinto, a kind of national, religion probably explain why it came to be called the national sport.

Shinto

Shinto is the one religion that has been a part of Japanese culture since recorded history. Shinto is known to have existed in Japan as early as 500 BC. It could well have existed even earlier. It is not an easy religion to describe because its beliefs are so amorphous. Shinto comnines religious beliefs that must have existed in prehistory, especially nature worship. Shinto also includes strands of fertility cults, divination, hero worship, and shamanism. Essentially Shinto is the pre-historic Japanese animistic beliefs that have been gradually organized into an actual religion by the influence of more organized religious thought from China--both Buddhism and Confuscianism. Shinto has been called more of a collection of ancient rituals and customs than a sytemized modern religion. The term "Shinto" appears to date from the 8th century AD. It seems to have come from the Chinese words "shin tao" meaning the "The Way of the Gods". About this time the Yamato dynasty extended its control over much of the Japanese Home Islands. As is common in dynastic rule, the Yamato claimed devine origins and began to employ Shinto as well as Buddhism as a state religion. Buddhism had by this time become largely intertwined with Shinto. This close relationship between Shinto and the Japanese state continued for more than a millenia and was not broken until Japan's defeat in World War II. General MacArthur as part of the American occupation dew up a new constitution separating religion and state. Emperor Hirohito was required to renounce his divinity (1946) and promote a new constitutional monarchy. Shinto is unusual in world religions as it is a national religion and there is no historical founder. Individuals play key roles in the other great religious traditions. In addition there are no ancient scriptures or body of religious law. Shinto instead has a rather informally organized priesthood. Shinto has three important compilations of basic beliefs and cistoms. Two of them were completed at the time that the Yamato established Shinto as the state religion. The Kojiki was completed in 712 and the Nihongi in 720. Two centuries later the Yengishiki was completed in the 10th century, completing the Shinto triad. An important Shinto being arte the Kami, supernatuaral and largely benign beings. The center of Shinto gradually became the sun goddess. The Yamato claimed descent from the sun goddess. Shinto priests wear traditional robes, although we have no information about them. We notice boys in red robes.

Origins

Summo is an ancient, highly ruitulized sport. Its origins seem as ancient as Shinto itself and are legendary rather than historical. A popular Japanese legend tells that the origin of the Japanese people actually depended on the outcome of a sumo match. The dominance of the Japanese people on the Home islands according to the legend was etermined when the god, Take-mikazuchi, emerged victorious in a sumo match with the leader of a rival tribe. There is historical evidence that sumo dates back at least 1500 years and may be even earlier. The origins are deeply connected with Shinto and religion in Japan. The first sumo matches were connected with ritual prayers to the gods for a fruitful harvest. They were part of larger ceremonies which included sacred dancing and dramas held wothin the shrine complexes. Early sumo wrestling might be seen as performances to entertain the gods, not as popular entertainment. The rituals associated with summo today are founded in these early Shinto events and rituals. There seems to be some similarities with the Greek Olympic games, but unlike the Greeks in Japan there was no cincept of individual development of his capabilities.

Ritual

The ritual and decorum of sumo is unique in the world of sport. Sumo has managed to survive to modern times with its highly formalized ritual and esquiste etiquette virtually intact. Each day of tournament bouts begin with the juryo performing a ceremony before the daily matches. Then comes the picturesque 'entering the ring' ceremony (doyo-iri). Down one aisle come the first team of competitors (maku-uchi rikishi). The order of entry is determined by ranking. The lower ranking rikishi come first and the more senior rikishi after them. The rikishi wear ceremonial aprons (kesho-mawashi). The rikishi then climb into the ring (dohyo) and carry out a a short ritual founded in ancient tradition. They then exit the dohyo and the opposing team enters down the opposite aisle and carry out the same ritual. The primary roles in the dohyo-iri are conducted by the ranling sumo masters (yokozuna). A yokozuna comes down the aisle after the lower ranking rikishi have entered. They are attended by a senior gyoji and two maku-uchi rikishi in kesho-mawashi. One is the sword bearer. Only after these ceremonies do the scheduled maku-uchi matches begin.

Costumes

The ritual and decorum of sumo is very formal and complex and involves elabotate costumes. We notice boys participating in summo at Shinto shirines. The ritual seem at least as important as the actual summo matches and costuming is an important part of the overall event. Mothers are there to help with the costumes. The actual summo matches involve very minimal clothing. Actual summo costumes, however, are much more elaborate. The boys wear shifts over the very elaborate costumeaprons. We are not sure whst the shifts are called. The principal item is the beautifully emroiderd silk apron (kesho-mawashi). They look very expensive for something a boy would wear for presumably rare occassions. They are made of silk, richly embroidered with different elaborate designs and hemmed with gold fringe. The ones worn by adult wresters can cost $4,000-$5,000. They are of course removed before the actual sumo wrestling matches. The kesho-mawashi worn by the boys on a team can be idebntical or at least coordinatred. The boys here have kesho-mawashi done in the same colors aand basic desigbn but with different embrodered animals. The uniform styling represents a summo club or team. Perhaps clubs have association with specific shrines. Hopefully our Japanrse readers will be able to provide some insight here. We are not sure if the boys involved are especially interested in summo or perhaps their parents are particularly devoted to Shinto.

Rules

The actual rules for the matches are quite simple. There are two ways to win. You either make your opponent touch the floor with something else than th sole of his feet or force him to leave the ring. The matches are generally very short, often only a few seconds. Only rarely do matches exceed one minute.

Training

Most elite wrestlers are highly trained and conditioned athletes, usually between 20 to 35 years old. It is especially important to gain bulk. Sumo wrestlers live in special sumo stables under very strict conditins. We notice boys engaging in sumo.

School Sports

We don't know to what extent sumo is practiced at Japanese schools. Most of the images we have found suggest that it was a club-type activity or perhaps organized around individual Shinton shrines where we see boys engaged in ritualized sumo tournaments. The venues seem to be primarily Shinto shrines with the youth events. We don't think that sumo is widely practiced at schools, although our information is very limited. This may be changing over time. We do note some images of summo wresling at school. We are not sure they show gym classes or after school events. Interestingly it is sumo without the highly ritualized ceremonies thst normally take place at sumo tournaments. Children don't wear the traditional loincloth or the elaborate ceremonial garments. They do compete barefoot and bare chested. These are probably intramural competitions. There may be matches between schools, but inter-scholastic sports are not very common in Japan. We are not yet sure about this.

Gender

Summo from its inception was an activity for males. This is not unusual. Sport has traditionally been an activity for males. (Ancient Greece was a rare exception.) Women have begun to participate in sports in modern Japan. But these sports are all Western imports. Sumo has ancient traditions making it much more impervious to change. The sumo costume is also somewhat of an impediment for reasons of modesty. But male-dominated Japan is changing. We notice a hsndfil of girls beginning to appear in sumo groups. As far we know this is just at the juvenile-level of the sport.

Created: 3:58 AM 4/27/2007
Last updated: 8:50 PM 3/22/2011