is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a (circular ring) or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by throwing, shoving or pushing him down).
Sumo originated in Japan, the only country where it is practised professionally and where it is considered the national sport. It is considered a , which refers to modern Japanese martial arts, but the sport has a history spanning many centuries. Many ancient traditions have been preserved in sumo, and even today the sport includes many ritual elements, such as the use of salt purification, from Shinto.
Life as a wrestler is highly regimented, with rules regulated by the Japan Sumo Association. Most sumo wrestlers are required to live in communal sumo training stables, known in Japanese as , where all aspects of their daily livesfrom meals to their manner of dressare dictated by strict tradition. The lifestyle has a negative effect on their health, with sumo wrestlers having a much lower life expectancy than the average Japanese man.
From 2008 to 2016, a number of high-profile controversies and scandals rocked the sumo world, with an associated effect on its reputation and ticket sales. These have also affected the sport's ability to attract recruits. Despite this setback, sumo's popularity and general attendance has rebounded due to having multiple (or grand champions) for the first time in a number of years and other high-profile wrestlers grabbing the public's attention.
Etymology The spoken word "" goes back to the verb "", meaning 'compete' or 'fight' in Japanese. The written word goes back to the expression , which was a wrestling competition at the imperial court during the Heian period. The characters from , or today, mean 'to strike each other'. There are instances of "sumo" alternatively being written with the kanji "", as in the Nihon Shoki. Here, the first character means 'corner', but serves as a phonetic element, as one reading of it is , while the second character means 'power'.
is also a general term for wrestling in Japanese. For example, means 'arm wrestling', and means 'finger wrestling'. The professional sumo observed by the Japan Sumo Association is called , or 'grand sumo'.
History Antiquity (pre-1185)
Prehistoric wall paintings indicate that sumo originated from an agricultural ritual dance performed in prayer for a good harvest. The first mention of sumo can be found in a manuscript dating back to 712, which describes how possession of the Japanese islands was decided in a wrestling match between the known as Takemikazuchi and Takeminakata.
Takemikazuchi was a god of thunder, swordsmanship, and conquest, created from the blood that was shed when Izanagi slew the fire-demon Kagu-tsuchi. Takeminakata was a god of water, wind, agriculture and hunting, and a distant descendant of the storm-god Susanoo. When Takemikazuchi sought to conquer the land of Izumo, Takeminakata challenged him in hand-to-hand combat. In their melee, Takemikazuchi grappled Takeminakata's arm and crushed it "like a reed", defeating Takeminakata and claiming Izumo.
The , published in 720, dates the first sumo match between mortals to the year 23 BC, when a man named Nomi no Sukune fought against Taima no Kuehaya at the request of Emperor Suinin and eventually killed him, making him the mythological ancestor of sumo. According to the Nihon Shoki, Nomi broke a rib of Taima with one kick, and killed him with a kick to the back as well. Until the Japanese Middle Ages, this unregulated form of wrestling was often fought to the death of one of the fighters. In the Kofun period (300–538), of sumo wrestlers were made. The first historically attested sumo fights were held in 642 at the court of Empress Kōgyoku to entertain a Korean legation. In the centuries that followed, the popularity of sumo within the court increased its ceremonial and religious significance. Regular events at the Emperor's court, the , and the establishment of the first set of rules for sumo fall into the cultural heyday of the Heian period.
Japanese Middle Ages (1185–1603) With the collapse of the Emperor's central authority, sumo lost its importance in the court; during the Kamakura period, sumo was repurposed from a ceremonial struggle to a form of military combat training among . By the Muromachi period, sumo had fully left the seclusion of the court and became a popular event for the masses, and among the it became common to sponsor wrestlers. who successfully fought for a favor were given generous support and status. Oda Nobunaga, a particularly avid fan of the sport, held a tournament of 1,500 wrestlers in February 1578. Because several bouts were to be held simultaneously within Oda Nobunaga's castle, circular arenas were delimited to hasten the proceedings and to maintain the safety of the spectators. This event marks the invention of the , which would be developed into its current form up until the 18th century. The winner of Nobunaga's tournament was given a bow for being victorious and he began dancing to show the war-lord his gratitude.
Edo period (1603–1867)
Because sumo had become a nuisance due to wild fighting on the streets, particularly in Edo, sumo was temporarily banned in the city during the Edo period. In 1684, sumo was permitted to be held for charity events on the property of Shinto shrines, as was common in Kyoto and Osaka. The first sanctioned tournament took place in the Tomioka Hachiman Shrine at this time. An official sumo organization was developed, consisting of professional wrestlers at the disposal of the Edo administration. Many elements date from this period, such as the , the system, the and the . The 18th century brought forth several notable wrestlers such as Raiden Tameemon, Onogawa Kisaburō and Tanikaze Kajinosuke, the first historical .
When Matthew C. Perry was shown sumo wrestling during his 1853 expedition to Japan, he found it distasteful and arranged a military showcase to display the merits of Western organization.
Since 1868
The Meiji Restoration of 1868 brought about the end of the feudal system, and with it the wealthy as sponsors. Due to a new fixation on Western culture, sumo had come to be seen as an embarrassing and backward relic, and internal disputes split the central association. The popularity of sumo was restored when Emperor Meiji organized a tournament in 1884; his example would make sumo a national symbol and contribute to nationalist sentiment following military successes against Korea and China. The Japan Sumo Association reunited on 28 December 1925 and increased the number of annual tournaments from two to four, and then to six in 1958. The length of tournaments was extended from ten to fifteen days in 1949.
Although exceptionally large wrestlers had long been celebratedmost famously the late-Edo Raiden Tameemon (1767–1825), who reportedly stood and weighed such physiques were unusual rather than typical, and woodblock prints from the pre-regulation era depict opponents of comparatively lean build. The institutional expectation that all professional wrestlers should be heavy emerged only in the late Meiji era. Around 1903, the influential Dewanoumi stablethen home to the 19th Hitachiyama Taniemonwas inundated with new recruits and replaced individually prepared meals with communal hot pot dishes (), both for kitchen efficiency and to support rapid weight gain. The practice spread rapidly to other stables, and over the 20th century the systematic pursuit of bulk became central to sumo training, accelerating particularly after World War II as Japanese diets shifted toward greater protein and caloric density. Reflecting this shift, the average weight of top division wrestlers continued to increase, from in 1969 to over by 1991, reaching a record as of January 2019.
Rules and customs
The elementary principle of sumo is that a match is decided by a fighter first either being forced out of the circular (ring) (not necessarily having to touch the ground outside the ring with any part of the body; see Shini-tai), or touching the ground inside the ring with any part of the body other than the soles of the feet. The wrestlers try to achieve this by pushing, tossing, striking and often by outwitting the opponent. The Japan Sumo Association currently distinguishes 82 (winning techniques), some of which come from judo. The most common basic forms are grabbing the opponent by the (belt) and then forcing him out, a style called , or pushing the opponent out of the ring without a firm grip, a style called . Illegal moves are called , which include strangulation, hair-pulling, bending fingers, gripping the crotch area, kicking, poking eyes, punching and simultaneously striking both the opponent's ears.
The , which is constructed and maintained by the (ring attendant), consists of a raised pedestal on which a circle 15 (unit of distance equivalent to in diameter) is delimited by a series of rice-straw bales. In the middle of the circle there are two starting lines (), behind which the wrestlers line up for the (the synchronized charge that initiates the match). The direction of the match is incumbent on the , a referee who is supported by five (judges). In some situations, a review of the s decision may be needed. The may convene a conference in the middle of the ring, called a . This is done if the judges decide that the decision over who won the bout needs to be reviewed; for example, if both wrestlers appear to touch the ground or step out of the ring at the same time. In these cases, sometimes video is reviewed to see what happened. Once a decision is made, the chief judge will announce the decision to the spectators and the wrestlers alike. They may order a bout to be restarted, or leave the decision as given by the . Occasionally the will overrule the and give the bout to the other wrestler. On rare occasions the referee or judges may award the win to the wrestler who touched the ground first. This happens if both wrestlers touch the ground at nearly the same time and it is decided that the wrestler who touched the ground second had no chance of winning, his opponent's superior sumo having put him in an irrecoverable position. The losing wrestler is referred to as being (dead body) in this case.
The maximum length of a match varies depending on the division. In the top division, the limit is four minutes, although matches usually only last a few seconds. If the match has not yet ended after the allotted time has elapsed, a (water break) is taken, after which the wrestlers continue the fight from their previous positions. If a winner is still not found after another four minutes, the fight restarts from the after another . If this still does not result in a decision, the outcome is considered a (draw). This is an extremely rare result, with the last such draw being called in September 1974.
A special attraction of sumo is the variety of observed ceremonies and rituals, some of which have been cultivated in connection with the sport and unchanged for centuries. These include the ring-entering ceremonies () at the beginning of each tournament day, in which the wrestlers appear in the ring in elaborate (ceremonial dress), but also such details as the tossing of salt into the ring by the wrestlers, which serves as a symbolic cleansing of the ring, and rinsing the mouth with before a fight, which is similar to the ritual before entering a Shinto shrine. Additionally, before a match begins the two wrestlers perform and repeat a warm up routine called . The top division is given four minutes for , while the second division is given three, after which the timekeeping judge signals to the that time is up.