The Origins Of Sumo

In this second entry, I will write the background or the origins of Sumo wrestling. Historian agree that the origins of sumo was date back 2000 years ago however, it never really flourished as a spectator sport until early 1600. Like any other social group in Japan, there are strict rules and traditions that are observed throughout the sport. Before Sumo sport are well-known with people, sumo has been associated with Shinto ritual and even certain shrines to carry out forms of ritual dance where a human to wrestle with a “kami”’ (a Shinto divine spirit). It was an important ritual at the imperial court. Representatives of each province were ordered to attend the contest at the court and fight and required to pay for their travels themselves. The contest was known as “sumai no sechie” or “sumai party”. The Shinto has historically been used as a means to express Japanese nationalism and ethnic identity to be a set of rituals and ceremonies. Most of the Shinto that we see in sumo occurs symbolically like the sand that covers the clay of the circular ring (dohyo) itself as a symbol of purify in the Shinto religion. 

Also, the canopy above the ring (yakata) is made in the style of the roof of a Shinto shrine. To begin with, the four tassels on each corner of the canopy represents the four seasons, the white one as autumn, black as winter, green as spring and red as summer. The referee (gyouji) resembles a Shinto priest in his traditional robe and kelp, cuttlefish and chestnuts are placed in the ring along with prayers for safety. During the Edo period, wrestlers would wear a fringed decorative apron called “kesho-mawashi” during the bout whereas today these apron are worn only in pre-tournament rituals. Furthermore, the original wrestler during Edo period is usually a samurai as their alternative income and then the first sumo tournaments began in the Tomioka Hachiman Shrine in 1684. After that, the tournaments were held in Osaka and continued to the end of Taisho period in 1926. Later on, the sumo wrestling is spreading and four tournaments were held a year in western Japan such as Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka. Then, from 1933 the tournaments are continuously held exclusively in the Ryogoku Kokugikan at Tokyo until the Americans occupation forces appropriated it and moved it to Meiji Shrine until the 1950s. Also in this period, the Sumo Association began expanding the tournaments to a better venue at western Japan again and reaching a total of six tournaments a year by 1953 and the Ryogoku Kokugikan was rebuild in 1984 and sumo tournaments in Tokyo have been held there ever since. This is the origins of Sumo wrestling and I think this sport is a tradition that all Japanese people will watch every year to show their respect and remember the part of the history of their country.