Monday, 26. November 2007
Sumo: Japan’s Big Sport

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A sumo tournament is as much ceremony as action. An extensive set of rituals based on centuries of religious, military, and court tradition culminates in brief, explosive bouts that may last only a few seconds. The sport has strong roots in Shinto rituals of purity, fertility, and harvest. The pillars and roof of the central arena suggest the architecture of a Shinto shrine, and the costumes of referees and officials resemble those of Shinto priests.

Wrestlers on opposing East and West sides position themselves for the ring entrance ceremony, wearing brocade aprons. At the left, the drum tower can be seen rising above the box seats.
Temple fund-raising events (kanjin) in the form of theater, dance, and sumo contests became common by about the fifteenth century. In some cases, audience members would challenge the champions. In the Edo period, the tendency of loosely organized benefit matches to devolve into brawls prompted strict government regulation.



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When wrestlers enter the ring (dohyo-iri), they perform a series of rituals for purification and to honor the gods. These rituals include rinsing the mouth with water, throwing salt into the ring, and stomping. Yokozuna, the top ranking wrestlers, wear a rope (shimenawa) and folded paper ribbons (shide), which are Shinto symbols of purity and demarcations of sacred space.


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From its legendary prehistoric beginnings until the present day, sumô wrestling has dominated the world of traditional Japanese sport. Like Kabuki actors and noted courtesans, wrestlers were idols of the urban popular culture of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and so appeared frequently in woodblock prints. "Sumo, Japan’s Big Sport" features not only portraits of famous wrestlers and scenes of their greatest bouts, but also views of wrestlers as celebrities in everyday life, legends and Kabuki plays featuring wrestlers as heroes, and fantasies in which animals or supernatural beings enjoy wrestling just as humans do.

Sumo: Japan's Big Sport by The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Category: Martial Arts & Combat |


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