FoREIGNERS seeing sumo for the first time are likely to be shocked by the sight of giant wrestlers competing against wrestlers only half their size. It just does not seem fair. The foreigner, after all, is used to Olympic-style wrestling, where wrestlers are divided into weight classes. In this Greek wrestling tradition, where the object is to pin one's opponent's shoulders to the ground, size makes a big difference. But in sumo the object is entirely different. Sumo
takes place on a square mound of dirt elevated about a half meter. On top of this mound is a
circle 4.5 meters in diameter. The object in sumo is to push or carry one's opponent out of
the ring or to throw him down inside it. In sumo a smaller, more agile wrestler will often outmaneuver larger, clumsier opponents. The techniques of sumo are naturally somewhat different from those of Olympic-style wrestling. First the two sumo wrestlers face each other
like two football linebackers and charge each other on cue. Then they slap and push, grab
their opponent's belt and lift, trip, or use fancy footwork to put him off balance. After a
takedown in Olympic-style wrestling, if neither wrestler can pin his opponent, the match continues for nine minutes. Sumo matches generally last only a few seconds or even less.
Professional all-star wrestling from America is also popular in Japan. Here one can see choking, hair-pulling, kicking, and finger-twisting. In interviews the wrestlers act half-crazed, and after losing a match they are likely to pursue their opponents with folding chairs. The foreigner may thus be surprised to see sumo wrestlers show no more emotion when they win
than when they lose. When they are interviewed, the wrestlers are traditionally tightlipped,
and the interviewer has to do almost all the talking himself.
Unlike sports in the West, sumo has a great deal of ritual tied to it. Before the day's top level matches begin, the wrestlers parade into the ring wearing magnificently embroidered
aprons that hang down to their ankles. But when they actually wrestle they wear nothing
but a long piece of cloth, wrapped so that it forms a thick belt and a scanty loincloth. The
foreigner might worry that this attire could slip off easily. According to the record, however,
only one wrestler has ever lost his sash during a match-which he then forfeited automatically.
Before each match the two wrestlers perform elaborate rituals of tossing salt to purify
the ring, squatting across from each other, and going through a series of standardized motions
and glaring at each other. A foreigner who thinks this ritual detracts from the action may prefer to watch an edited replay of the matches on television later. Japanese sumo fans, however,
enjoy sitting on zabuton in the gymnasium all afternoon long, drinking beer or sake while watching the matches.
A sumo wrestler has to go through rigorous training. There are matches every two months, all year around. Between these matches, the wrestlers live and train together in stables,
where a hierarchy is rigidly observed. The new, younger members are responsible for chores like preparing chanko, a fish, meat, vegetable, and tofu stew eaten by the wrestlers. While Western wrestlers work hard at keeping their weight down, the sumo wrestlers' training is designed to put as much weight on them as possible. Seeing a few of these enormous men for the first time walking down the street together, a foreigner might wonder if they really are Japanese, huge as they are.
1 yobidashi: announcer 15 tawara:straw bag
2 tattsuke-bakama: tapered hakama pants 16 dohyo: sumo ring
3 tsuna: white rope for waist of yokozuna 17 shikirisen: marking line
4 tsuri-yane: roof above sumo ring 18 suna-kaburi: ringside seat
5 mizuhiki-maku: narrow curtain for roof 19 masuseki: box seat
6 fusa: decorative tassles for roof 20 gunbai uchiwa: referee's ceremonial fan
7 dohyo-iri: ring-entering ceremony 21 eboshi: headgear worn by referee
8 tate-gyoji: a sumo referee 22hitatare : referee's ceremonial garmen t
9 tachi-mochi: sword bearer for yokozuna 23 hakama: ceremonial sk irt- trousers
10 yokozuna: sumo grand ch ampion 24 uwazori: indoor sandals for top gyoji
11 tsuyu-harai: wrestler entering ring before yokozuna 25 rikishi: a sumo wrestler
12 kesho-mawashi: emobroidered apron for wresters 26 mage : topknot hairstyle
13 mizuoki: wooden pail for rinsing mouth 27 mawashi: long loincloth and be lt for wrestlers
14 shio:salt 28 sagari: stringed apron
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