Sumo

There are not many countries who manage to create an identity as strong as Japan. Sakura means Japan, comics means Japan, sushi means Japan, not even mentioning all their famous brands.

Sumo – a tactical game of strength and concentration- is one of their strongest identity. Although currently almost half of the sumo wrestlers are foreigners and 3 of the 5 best sumo wrestlers are Mongolians, sumo is still Japan and Japan is still sumo.

There are 6 major sumo tournaments every year, and this time the host is Osaka, only an hour trip from where I live. So last Sunday I woke up really early and went to Osaka to watch almost-naked, overweight men did full body to body contact to each other. The ticket price is from 2000 yen- no seats-, up to 50,000 yen -where drinks, lunch, souvenirs and other services included, and your seat is as close to the arena that you actually got the chance of a sumo wrestler fell on you.

Sumo wrestlers are called Rikishi. A tournament lasts for 15 days where everyday a rikishi fights against other rikishi in their own rank. And basically the rikishi with the best wins over losses (out of those 15 matches) is awarded the Emperor’s cup.

There are 6 ranks in sumo, each rikishi’s ranks are determined by their past records:

1. Makuuchi
2. Juryo
3. Makushita
4. Sandanme
5. Jonidan
6. Jonokuchi

All professional athletes have a strict way of living, however, most probably, sumo has the most controlled regulations. Here, the Japanese way of discipline and their respect to seniority is obviously showed.

Rikishi have to wear the traditional Japanese clothing in public, complete with the wooden Japanese sandals (geta), their hairs must be long enough to be made into a knot, they are not allowed to drive, they practice everyday from early morning – yes, it’s not easy to be overweight, fast and flexible at the same time- and they have chores to do inside the common house, and, believe it or not, their diets are watched*.

Life is even tougher for the lower ranks; While the first two ranks (Makuuchi and Juryo) receive salary of 1 – 3 million Yen -plus bonuses – a month, the lower ranks only receive allowances, wear thinner clothes (yukata) even on winter (!), and have to live together in a common house, waking up even earlier and serve the upper ranks.

Other things about sumo represents religion and ritual honorary. The ceremonies have barely changed for thousands of years, rikishi must start at the west and east positions, and salt and water are used to purify the arena.

The fighting arena is called dohyo. It is made out of special clay and sands, with a long religious ritual to build it, and apparently a special technique of keeping them intact and strong enough to hold two 130kg wrestlers on top of it. Above the arena, a rooftop resembling the rooftops of a Shinto shrine is hung.

The match starts at 9 am with the higher ranks performing on the afternoon. As the sun is setting and the best wrestlers are on stage, you can feel the tense and excitement increasing. Spectators are screaming out the name of their favorite rikishi and by the end of the match, when the yokozuna (last year’s champion) lost, seat cushions are being thrown into the ring, as if by command. I asked if they were angry of the result or anything (which is weird since it is only the first day), but they said it is just an expression of surprise.

Sadly, beyond all greatness of sumo, the sanctity of Sumo is being challenged by stories of corruption, the involvement of yakuza and even cheating (read: freakonomics).

Even tons of salt can not handle that.

 

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On particular matches, these flags are shown to the audiences. Each flag is a sponsor and it represents a gift of money (around 50,000 yen each flag) for the winner of that match. The match with a rikishi with lots of fans usually get more sponsors than other matches.

T

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*The heavier the rikishi, the lower his center of gravity, thus more difficult to push him out of the ring. Yet, their bodies have been studied to contain the so called healthy-fat.