SUMO WRESTLING

Japan is a country deeply rooted in tradition, although western cultures in recent years has been invading, people still hold onto the values and beliefs of their ancestors. Festivals and ceremonies, some clothing, and other aspects of Japanese culture have been maintained in order to preserve the relics of Japanese society. In one place where this holds true even today is in the sport of sumo wrestling.
Sumo is a competitive full contact sport that involves the participation of two wrestlers. The sport takes place in a circular ring called a dohyō that measure out to 4.55 meters in diameter and 16.26 square meters in area. The dohyō is made rice-straw bales on top of a platform made of clay mixed with sand. At the center there are two white lines where the wrestlers position themselves at the beginning of the bout. Sumo although it is a modern form of competitive sports in Japan and a form of entertainment for those who attend, there is a deeper sense of tradition and ritual rooted in the sport.
Although Sumo wrestling did not really flourish as a spectator sport until the 1600’s, it has it can trace it roots all the way back to the beginning of the Shinto religion. Shinto is a native religion of Japan and is more a set of rituals and ceremonies than a system of beliefs or a definite code of ethics. The word itself means "way of the gods." Sumo as part of Shinto ritual dates as far back as the Tumulus period (250-552). Sumo was a form of ritual that was dedicated to the gods with prayers for a bountiful harvest and was performed in conjunction with sacred dancing and dramas within the precincts of the shrine. It was believed that these rituals would entertain and please the gods, who would in turn bless them with good luck. Some rituals would involve a human who was said to be wrestling a Shinto divine spirit (kami). In years following years, it soon found a new use in Japan that would encompass many from those in the Shrine to those in major provinces.
In addition to its religious beginnings, sumo wrestling was also used as a trial of strength in combat. Sumo’s popularity over the course of Japanese history has fluctuated up and down depending on the rulers and how they made use of sumo. Sumo wrestling was at times used as an important ritual at the imperial court, where representatives of each province were ordered to attend a contest at the court and fight. Also, during times of great civil strife, sumo wrestling was used as a form of training. Although sumo wrestling got its start as a ritual ceremony in the Shinto religion it would soon grow and flourish in the Edo Period.
Before and during the Edo Period there was a man who changed the concept of sumo by institutionalizing the way people see sumo today. In the 16th century, principal warlord at the time Oda Nobunaga organized a tournament that would lay the foundation that sumo stands on today. Although now, instead of loincloths, men wear mawashi (the belt that the wrestler wears during training or in competition) and men only wear kesho-mawashi (an ornate, embroidered silk apron) during pre-tournament rituals instead of wrestling in them. When first originated as said before, it was a form of appeasement to the gods and then later changed to a form of people to show their strength, but it was never truly a spectator sport. There was not a real objective or goal, so Nobunaga made them. Nobunaga made two distinct ways of winning without making it complicated. One way was for a man to win was to force his opponent out of the circular ring or dohyō. The other way of winning was the man to make his opponent touch the ground with anything other than the soles of his feet. In essence, one wants to dominate the circle forcing all opponents out or down. When Nobunaga started the tournament most of the participants were rōnin and then there were a few samurai. The reason most of the rōnin took up sumo was to find another source of income since because they had no master or lord to serve. Today’s sumo wrestlers may not be rōnin, but they still are men that hold onto a lot of ancient traditions that stem from the days when sumo was a form of entertainment for the gods.
Today there are many sumo traditions that are held onto dearly to show how much the sport has been able to hold onto old rituals and ceremonies. Most of the Shinto traditions that can be seen in sumo today occur symbolically. The first is the sand that covers the clay of the dohyō is itself a symbol of purity in the Shinto religion. The next tradition one sees is the canopy above the ring (yakata), which is made in the style of the roof of a Shinto shrine. The four tassels on each corner of the canopy represent the four seasons, the white one as autumn, black as winter, green as spring and red as summer. The purple bunting around the roof symbolizes the drifting of the clouds and the rotation of the seasons. The referee’s (gyoji) style of clothing resembles that of a Shinto priest in his traditional robe. Then during each day the tournament is held, a ring entering ceremony is held, wherein each wrestler's body and spirit undergoes purification. The high ranked sumo wrestlers are usually dressed in mawashi that have five white zigzag folded strips of paper on the front, which is the same as those found at the entrance of Shinto shrines. Also, attached to the front of all mawashi are sagari, which are fringes of twisted string tucked into the belt, and they represent the sacred ropes in front of shrines. The numbers of strings on a mawashi are odd, usually between seventeen and twenty-one, because they are considered to be lucky numbers in the Shinto tradition. And finally the last tradition that is most known among all is the salt that is tossed before each bout because it is an agent for purification. Even with all these traditions held on one has to still wonder how sumo wrestlers get as big as they do as because overeating could not be the only thing they do since they are pretty active.
The diet of a sumo wrestler is one that involves high caloric intake and although people look at sumo wrestlers and say man they must eat a lot that is not always true. They may eat more than a normal person, but they have a systematic and scientific matter of doing so.
Sumo wrestling has been around about 2000 years and even though some parts of the sport itself have changed, there are still things that have stayed relatively similar. The average daily intake of calories for a man is 3000-3500. A sumo wrestler consumes 20,000 calories a day, split between two very large meals of 10,000 calories each. Sumo wrestlers also sleep after each meal, so that the body processes the food slowly and stores it as fat. Another way of gaining weight for sumo wrestlers, which some people think is not smart if you’re trying to gain weight is to skip breakfast. Although most people think skipping a meal causes weight lose, it actually causes the opposite. Skipping breakfast in particular will increase the likelihood that one will overeat at a later meal as well as slow down the person’s metabolism. Sumo wrestlers also drink large quantities of beer within a week because they drink it with every meal. They use beer for its empty calories, because these get stored as fat when not used as well are a good source of energy as well. The last thing that sumo wrestlers do is have sociable meals, which after much research shows that someone in a social meal setting is likely to eat more than they usually do when they are alone. Now, it is shocking that sumo wrestlers can get that high of a caloric intake especially since 3,500 calories equal a pound of fat, but their meal is what determines this. Most sumo wrestlers eat a stew called Chankonabe, which is a Japanese stew that contains large quantities of protein from sources such as chicken, fish and tofu as well as masses of vegetables. The combination of this stew and the habits of sumo wrestler causes them to gain the weight and mass that they desire in order to be ready for competition, but who is behind the scenes of sumo wrestling’s organization today.
Sumo wrestling is a sport that is only practiced professionally in Japan. Although there are some amateur leagues internationally, only those in the professional league get much attention. The sumo wrestling world is ran by the Japan Sumo Association or JSA. The JSA has set rules and regulations in order to ensure the safety of all sumo wrestlers. One example is that after a sumo was involved in a driving accident, so the JSA informed all sumo wrestlers and their stables that they would no longer be allowed to drive, rather they would have to hire professional drivers. Also, they are expected to wear the traditional Japanese dress (chonmage) when in public, which allows people to identify them easily. The JSA is the organization that sets up events, makes sure all sumo wrestlers and stables follow the rules, and that the sport of sumo remains pure. The problem is within the past decade there have been many scandals that have involved the sumo wrestlers, stable masters, and the JSA.
Over the decade, there have been many incidents that involve scandals that are happening in the sumo wrestling community. They range from match-fixing, hazing, and gambling. Hazing in stables is well-known and accepted in the sumo community because it is engaged in a systematic manner and its sole purpose is to toughen the young sumo wrestlers up. Stable masters often use a shinai or a wooden Japanese kendo sword to beat sumo wrestlers when they have made mistakes and the punishment is also usually carried out by the younger’s superiors. Superiors in this case are not based on age, but rather they are based on a hierarchy system that the sumo wrestling community uses to rank a person based on their performance at tournaments. In 2007, however, this system of hazing was widely criticized when it came to light that a 17 year-old-sumo trainee named Takashi Saito from the Tokitsukaze stable had died after a serious bullying incident involving his stablemaster, Junichi Yamamoto. Yamamoto hit the boy in the head with a large beer bottle and then his fellow wrestlers were then ordered to physically abuse him. The stablemaster and three other wrestlers who were involved were arrested in February 2008, after which Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda demanded the Sumo Association take steps to ensure such an incident never happens again. In May 2009, Yamamoto was sentenced to six years in jail. Although hazing is a huge issue, especially in an age where bullying is finally being dealt or looked at, there are many other scandals that are shocking to find in such a sport.
Another problem that has been plaguing the sumo community recently is issues involving gambling and the yakuza or Japanese organized crime syndicate. On July 4, 2010, the JSA announced its decision to dismiss the sumo wrestler, Kotomitsuki and the stable master Ōtake for betting on baseball games in a gambling ring run by the Yakuza. Also, two stable masters were demoted and 18 wrestlers banned from the July 2010 tournament. Two months before JSA’s announcement, Japan's largest yakuza group, Yamaguchi-gumi, bought 50 prized seats during a tournament so that gangsters were prominently visible during the national broadcast of the match. Although there have always been alleged ties between sumo and the yakuza, it has never been so evident as it is today. The sport has is currently struggling due to waning public interest and sponsorships during the economic recession, which people are starting to think is the reason sumo stables and wrestlers are looking at the yakuza for financial support. The yakuza have allegedly been involved in many ways that have never truly been proven, but the will of a sumo wrestler is something that they can only compromise by making the decision to throw a fight.
The match-fixing scandal cannot be pinpointed to certain wrestlers and not others because there is so much money that is being exchanged that one cannot tell if a person is being paid to throw a bout. However, this scandal has come to the light only recently. In February 2011, Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and National Police Agency announced that an investigation into allegations of sports gambling by sumo wrestlers and officials would be underway. They have discovered cell phone text messages indicating that some matches had been fixed. So far 14 wrestlers and stablemasters are allegedly involved. Three wrestlers, Chiyohakuhō, Kasuganishiki, and Enatsukasa, reportedly admitted to throwing or fixing bouts. As a result of the independent investigation, the board of directors of the Japan Sumo Association decided to cancel the March 2011 tournament in Osaka. A regional exhibition tournament in Akita Prefecture on August 8, 2011 has also been cancelled. The last time a Grand Tournament was canceled was in 1946, when repairs to the old Ryogoku Kokugikan, which had been extensively damaged in World War II, and were not completed in time. One association executive has implied that the association will expel the 14 wrestlers if they are proven to have been involved in match-fixing. Even with all the scandals that are becoming more apparent in the sumo community I still feel intrigued by the history behind and the culture of sumo all together. There are a few ways for me to quench my curiosity of sumo by going to a big sumo wrestling event, but the problem is that there are only 6 grand tournaments held each year, which makes them expensive. It is highly recommended that people who want to see these events by them well in advance in order to get good seats. Tickets are usually sold out by about a month beforehand, but there are also times when tickets are available the day of for purchase. There are also special boxed areas that are near the sumo ring, but it is advised that it is required for those in that section to sit Japanese style. Ringside seats usually cost about 14,300 yen plus tax, which would cost about 200 dollars. Although these seats may seem cheap, one must realize that the arena in which these are held are fairly big. The ticket prices I am also looking at are those for a tournament at Fukoka Kokusai Center in November, which is seems far away. The center is located east of Nagasaki. There are many other tournaments that will be going on this year even due to those cancelled by the scandals taking place. Japan is a country that is recognized for being deeply rooted in its tradition and culture, but it also has the sport of sumo that has carried a tradition over the course to 2000 years to bring to the world today some modern-day warriors known as sumo wrestlers.