Illustrated Japanese Culture
相撲
Sumo is a wrestling sport in which each competitor tries to make the other touch the ground outside the ring, or touch it inside with something other than the soles of the feet. Professional ōzumō combines these contests with ranked tournaments and ceremonial practices; amateur and women’s sumo have their own competitions.
01
A wrestler normally loses by touching the ground outside the ring first, or by touching inside with a body part other than the soles. Simply leaning beyond the edge is not the same as touching outside. Referees judge close finishes and exceptional situations at the boundary.
The professional dohyō is a clay platform with a thin layer of sand on its surface. Partly buried rice-straw bales, tawara, define a circle 4.55 metres across. A foot on a bale has not necessarily touched the ground outside it.
Open-handed pushes are allowed, while closed-fist punching, hair pulling, eye poking, throat grabbing and kicking the chest or abdomen are among the prohibited actions. Winning requires an allowed technique as well as forcing the decisive contact.
Oshidashi pushes an opponent out with the hands against the chest or under the arms. Yorikiri forces the opponent out through close body contact. Uwatenage is a throw made with an outside grip on the mawashi. The official list distinguishes 82 winning techniques from five non-technique outcomes.
02
For a bout, a wrestler wears a long mawashi wrapped around the waist and between the legs. The decorated keshō-mawashi belongs to ring-entering ceremonies, not the match itself. A yokozuna also wears a thick ceremonial rope for a separate ring entrance.
During shikiri, the wrestlers face one another and prepare to start. Lowering their fists and coordinating the tachiai brings them into the bout. Shiko leg-stamping and salt scattering are part of the surrounding practice and ceremony; they do not earn points.
The gyōji conducts the bout and indicates the winner with a gunbai fan. Ringside judges can call a monoii conference, reverse the decision or order a rematch. Yobidashi announce wrestlers and help build and maintain the ring; tokoyama dress the wrestlers’ hair.
03
From lowest to highest, the divisions are jonokuchi, jonidan, sandanme, makushita, jūryō and makuuchi. Yokozuna, ōzeki, sekiwake, komusubi and maegashira are ranks within makuuchi. Wrestlers in jūryō and makuuchi are called sekitori. Professional ōzumō has no weight classes.
The January, May and September honbasho take place in Tokyo; March is in Osaka, July in Nagoya and November in Fukuoka. Each lasts 15 days. The upper two divisions normally wrestle daily, while wrestlers in the lower four usually have seven bouts. Results help determine the next banzuke ranking sheet.
Jungyō tours bring sumo to regional audiences outside the six honbasho. They offer demonstrations and opportunities to see the wrestlers, rather than forming another ranking tournament in the same annual series.
04
A heya, or stable, is a base for wrestlers’ training and daily life. Musashigawa stable’s routine includes shiko leg-stamping, sliding-foot practice, winner-stays-on bouts called mōshiai, and attacking-and-receiving drills called butsukari. The schedule varies by stable. Chanko means food prepared by wrestlers, including dishes other than hotpot.
05
The Kojiki of 712 and Nihon Shoki of 720 preserve stories of contests of strength, including the legendary match between Nomi no Sukune and Taima no Kehaya. Nara- and Heian-period courts held sumai no sechie events. These accounts concern earlier contests whose practices differed from the present professional sport.
From the Kamakura through the Warring States periods, warriors practised sumo as training, while lords sponsored contests. Oda Nobunaga gathered wrestlers from different regions for bouts held before him, including at Azuchi Castle.
Professional wrestling and kanjin sumo fundraising events developed during the Edo period. Regular events became established, and Ekōin in Edo served as a fixed venue from 1833. Hiroshige’s view from around 1847–1852 shows the crowded viewing areas and temporary arena.
06
The association was founded in 1925, and the Tokyo and Osaka organisations merged in 1927. Shikiri time limits and starting lines were introduced in 1928. These changes helped shape the organisation of the modern professional bout.
The first Ryōgoku Kokugikan opened in 1909. In 1931 the ring expanded from 13 to 15 shaku, the present 4.55-metre diameter, and its double bale boundary became a single row. In 1952 the four supporting posts were replaced by a suspended roof and coloured tassels. The Kuramae arena opened in 1954; the present Ryōgoku Kokugikan followed in 1985.
07
Women’s sumo includes weight-class competitions, with a mawashi worn over sports clothing. Japan’s women’s federation dates its first national tournament in Osaka to 1997. Its rules and participation show why the professional men’s system does not describe every form of sumo.
No. Ground contact and the circumstances of the finish matter.
Partly buried rice-straw bales called tawara.
No. Closed-fist punching is prohibited, unlike allowed open-handed pushing.
No. It is ceremonial clothing for ring entrances.
The ringside judges, through a monoii conference.
No. They are ranks within the top makuuchi division.
Usually seven bouts over the tournament.
Honbasho are the six major ranking tournaments; jungyō are regional tours.
No. Its current 4.55-metre diameter dates from the 1931 enlargement.
No. Professional ōzumō does, but amateur competitions, including women’s sumo, can use weight classes.