Sumo

Off on a non-related subject...

Sumo is the national sport of Japan.  It may seem odd that watching two naked men as large as small elephants wrestle together is entertaining but the sport grows on you.  Whereas I will not stay in the same room when Tetsu is watching pro-wrestling or boxing, I can watch sumo with no problem and enjoy the rituals and traditions associated with it.  I have actually never been to a sumo match but I wouldn't mind going...

Though sumo is originally a Japanese sport/tradition, there are quite a few foreign sumo wrestlers in Japan now.  The first and most famous international sumo wrestler was Takamiyama who was from Hawaii.  In recent years wrestlers from Mongolia have made a huge claim to the sumo grand champion titles and there are a few wrestlers from Europe and I think one wrestler from the middle east.

The rules for sumo are rather simple.  The full contact wrestling is done in a dirt ring that is raised from the spectator seats.  The object is to force the opponent from the ring or to have any part of the opponent's body other than the soles of the feet touch the ground in the ring.  The obi belt which is wrapped around and around the athletes' waist, makes for a good grip hold and the match is usually over in a few seconds.  One try, one victory, one day's work completed.  A daily competition for 30 or 40 wrestlers extends over two weeks.

The obi is traditional.  The sumo hairstyle is traditional, being long and waxed and then tied into a "tail" that is set on the top of the head.  No rubber-bands or hairpins used by the way!  There is a special hairstylist that grooms the wrestlers but when they aren't wrestling they have a more relaxed "tail" upon their head.

Before a match, purifying sake is presented in a square wooden cup from the last victor to the next competitor (I think.... I'm getting fuzzy here) and the two wrestlers in the ring will glare at each other and pose and stomp their feet and purify themselves by throwing large handfuls of salt into the air.  When one athlete is left in the dust (literally) the competitors will go to their opposite sides of the ring and bow politely to each other.  No display of emotion or pain is allowed.

All these rituals have their origins from Shintoism the national religion of Japan.  The long hair, the sake giving and the salt throwing.  There is another ritual/decree/tradition which says females are not allowed into the sumo ring and it is this decree that has been causing a lot of hub-bub the past couple of days in Japan.

It is true that there are a few things in Japan that are off limits to women...  I can't really think of many...  Certain religious festivals can only have male participants... This sumo edict of no women in the sumo ring has a long history and is followed strictly.  Something about being impure...  Although as many women as men attend sumo competitions, although there are women on the sumo board of directors, women are not allowed in the ring.  A couple of years ago some female mayor was supposed to give an award at a presentation ceremony as her male predecessors had done before, but she was refused participation... because she was female.  

A couple of days ago, at another sumo competition, the mayor of some city (male mayor) suddenly collapsed from a stroke in the middle of the sumo ring.  People rushed to the raised ring to help him and this included two women paramedics who happened to be attending the sumo competition for their own entertainment.  The two women performed CPR on the man until the official paramedics arrived and transported the mayor to a hospital where he had surgery and is expected to live.

So here these women paramedics are saving this man's life and yet the announcement over the loudspeaker asks all women to leave the ring.  No females allowed.  They are tainting the ring and angering the gods. 

That has not gone over well with Japan... men AND women.  And even the sumo board of directors have publicly apologized saying the time and circumstances made the announcement inappropriate.

(Photo from the Internet)

The traditional and the modern often butt heads in Japan...  Just like the sumo wrestlers.