Sumo Wrestling

When we first started planning our trip to Japan we were disappointed that our dates did not coincide with one of the six Grand Sumo Tournaments held each year across Japan.  We therefore landed having already resigned ourselves to the fact that we would not see Japan's national sport.  On our first day in Tokyo though I became inspired to seek out a sumo match when we chanced upon three sumo wrestlers around Tokyo’s main Sumo Arena.  Walking out of a museum we were nearly ploughed down by a fat man in a brightly coloured dressing gown hurtling along the pavement on a tiny bicycle.  We realised however that it was not a fat man on a bike but a highly tuned athlete heading into Tokyo’s sumo Arena for training.  This was quickly followed by another meeting with a sumo at lunchtime.  Desperately wanting something affordable that did not involve noodles and fish I am ashamed to admit we headed across the road to McDonald’s for lunch where, having ordered, we turned around to see another sumo dressed in his robe.  Not knowing quite how to react to the irony of seeing a sumo wrestler eating fast-food I began to silently cry with laughter, to which Hannah grew slightly fearful that I was about to have my life ended.  After our close encounter it seemed fate was calling and after a little research we discovered that it was possible to attend one of the sumo warm up events in the nearby city of Kawasaki the following day- £100 and a 2 hour journey later and we were attending our first ever Sumo event.

The opening ceremony parade for the top division rikishi 

According to Japanese legend the origin of the Japanese race depended on the victory of a god, Takemikazuchi, winning a sumo match against a rival tribe to ensure the superiority of the Japanese people.  The sport dates back nearly 2000 years and despite the obvious amusement and confusion it provokes outside of Japan (where else do you see 300 pound men in diapers wrestling?) it is deeply steeped in the Shinto religion and the word itself means ‘way of the gods’.  It quickly becomes apparent that the majority of the event is not taken up with wrestling but is taken up by the pre-wrestle ceremonies that last considerably longer and are a huge part of a sport that was originally created to entertain the gods.  Everything from the dohyo (sumo ring) to the suspended hangings above it are symbolic with the pre wrestle ritual carried out by each rikishi (wrestler) becoming almost a religious dance.  Previously there were no rules but gradually a code of conduct has developed and no punching, eye gauging and chocking are allowed.  During the contest if any part of the rikishi’s body touches the floor or he is forced outside of the ring he loses the bout.  If a rikishi manages to win 2 of the Grand Tournaments back to back (whoever wins the most of his 15 matches in the tournament is awarded the Emperor Cup) he becomes the highest rank of wrestler – a yokozuna – although there have only been 70 of these in the history of the sport highlighting how competitive the field is.

The yokozuna performs the ritual

To the less trained eye however the sight of groups of men weighing more than is medically prescribed whilst walking about in bright thongs was more than a little comical as we arrived at the arena.  As it was a family day the first few hours were spent watching the rikishi warm up and wrestle children before the lower division wrestlers started their bouts.  As there are no weight categories in sumo some of these were slightly one sided and were generally (although not exclusively) won by the rikishi with the bigger waist line. The real fun began later in the day when the upper division ring ceremony began and a group of wrestlers walked onto the dohyo and began to sing whilst wearing their beautifully designed silk aprons.  Although we did not see a yokozuna fight we saw the ritual he performs at the start of the event as he came out and had a giant hemp rope tied around his waist by the lower rikishi.  The rope is a religious symbol and is normally found hanging in Shinto shrines rather than acting as a sweat band for a behemoth but again it illustrated the history and prestige of sumo in Japan.  As he stamped up and down in the dohyo, driving the evil spirits away, the anticipation in the audience increased and I cracked open a bottle of saké to enjoy the show.

The spectacle was without doubt one of the best of our trip and by the end it seemed perfectly normal for two men to be performing an aggressive truffle shuffle before wrestling in diapers (this may have also been a contribution of the saké).  We were lucky to meet Jimmy and Alex who were sat with us during the event and the four of us were kept highly entertained for what amounted to 5 hours of wrestling.  Although the bouts lasted for less than a minute (often less than 20 seconds) the whole performance and ritual made the occasion a really special event to have seen.  As the better wrestlers fought it became apparent that there were more techniques than the standard contest that consisted of some ceremonial salt throwing, an initial charge followed by a lift via a wedgie and a final dumping of the loser outside of the circle (apparently there are some 70 recognised sumo moves!).  To the novice fan the contests often just looked like two obese men slapping each other’s moobs and butting like rhinos, thus causing a hypnotic rippling effect across their bodies.  I think this probably does a disservice to the skill involved in each match up though!  After the final bout a ‘bow dance’ was performed by a specially picked rikishi who twirled the ceremonial bow above his head, marking the end of the event.  Despite the obvious comical (and strange) elements of the event to an outsider it was the insight into traditional Japanese culture more than anything that made the day such a great experience and definitely a highlight of our year so far.