Throwing A Wobbler

As a hardcore soccer fan, sumo wrestling left me lost in translation. To the uninitiated, it appears to be little more than two fat blokes in loincloths throwing salt at each other until they get upset enough to start shoving one another around a small, elevated ring. Sumo: proof of the law of physics that says two bodies can’t occupy the same space at the same time. So when I found myself in the Land of the Rising Sun, I decided to undergo a temporary cultural transition in an attempt to understand a sport with no off-side rules or “golden goals,” adjudicated by a kimono-clad ref wielding a fan instead of a whistle.

The best place to unravel the mysteries of sumo is the Tokyo neighborhood of Ryogoku, home to the sumo stables and Japan’s answer to Wembley Stadium, the revered Kokugikan Arena.

Arriving in Rokogu is quite the cultural experience. This is sumo town. While seemingly like any other established Tokyo neighborhood, with a busy array of restaurants and shops, it is the presence of the wrestlers - scores of big fellows with coiffured topknots, dressed in kimonos and stomping along in wooden flip-flops - that makes it decidedly different. Passing them on the street, you can’t help but wonder if you’ve just rubbed shoulders with sumo’s answer to Maradona.

Adjacent to the subway station, the Kokugikan Arena opens at 8:30am with a drum roll, announcing that another day of grand sumo is about to commence. There are six grand tournaments a year (three in Tokyo and one each in Osaka, Nagoya and Kyushu), each lasting 15 days. Being a lone “gaijin,” and without a Japanese minder to explain what is going on, I collect as much of the available literature as possible and settle into a ringside seat to observe the spectacle.

Sumo dates back almost 2,000 years. According to legend, it was established when the god Take-mikazuchi, representing the Japanese, won a bout against a leader of a rival tribe, thereby confirming the supremacy of the Japanese people. Early sumo was a no-holds-barred affair, combining boxing and wrestling techniques. Under the patronage of the imperial court in the eighth century, rules were developed and ceremonies were formalized with sacred prayers and dancing, often held within the precincts of important Shinto shrines. Professional sumo arose during the 1700s and has changed little since.

At 9am the drums stop and the preliminary bouts begin. These are matches between the new sumo trainees, followed by the junior divisions (jonokuchi to makushita). The bouts gradually increase in seniority until midday when the fully ranked professional wrestlers – the sekitori - enter the ring.

They belong to sumo’s first division (juryo), and can be identified by their colorful, embroidered and tasseled aprons. In the lower-grade classifications there are some relatively lean rikishis (registered wrestlers) – the 300lb-500lb heavyweights arrive with the higher classes. But as there are no weight limits, such as in boxing or western wrestling, it is possible for a rikishi to find himself pitted against an opponent twice his own weight.