NAME Okubo, Sumio INSTITUTION Kiso SHS
WORKSHOP No. Group-B
TOPIC Sumo-the national sport of Japan
Sumo is an ancient sport
dating back some 2000 years. It is almost as old as the country
itself. Its origins are religious and it is still associated with
the Shinto religion now.
Sumo culture is deeply rooted in the everyday life of Japanese
people. In order to really
enjoy the sport, you must get familiar with its background. I
also believe that with more
knowledge of sumo you will be better able to understand Japanese
culture and society.
My presentation will
include the following:
A. Origin and History
B. Rules and Techniques
C. Ceremonies
D. Trivia
E. From November Grand Sumo Tournament
※ I need to use a Tele-Video or Television + VCR.
Proceeding Report
The first half of the workshop was filled by Okubo Sumio's presentation on Sumo-uh, sumo wrestling.
This presentation was not argumentative, but rather was intended to introduce and illuminate this ancient
Japanese sport. Much of the time was spent watching a video he had prepared and considering a few detail
questions he sprung on us occasionally.
As we watched the various hippopotamus-like men charge, grapple and throw each other on the ground, we
learned several facts about the game. For instance, there are 800 professional wrestlers in Japan, seven of
whom are from Nagano Prefecture. These 800 are specially ranked in a kind of honorary, titular hierarchy
that you can read into yourself if you so desire. One point of interest ralated to these rankings is how they
affect the writing of banzuke, those intricately written programs handed out at the tournaments. In the
descriptions of the individual wrestlers, large print denotes the distinguished wrestlers. The smaller the print,
the less cool and ferocious the sumo man. For the very bottom-of-the-barrel wrestlers, the writing is often
illegible because if its puny size! Banzuke are quite interesting and make for great souvenirs that you can hang
on the wall of your bathroom.
No discussion of sumo would be complete without the skinny on the ritual and symbolic aspects of it all. For the
opening ceremony, the competitors enter with special decorative aprons, froming a circle around the ring.
Facing each other, they clap their hands once. Why? To show they carry no weapons, of course. This, however,
doesn't exclude the possibility of knives, handguns, or chopstick concealed somewhere in the loincloth. The salt
throwing at these events serve to purify the ring. It relates to a similar pratice found at Japanese funerals.
Speaking of purity, the roof which hangs over the ring replicates the roof of a Shinto shirine. Sumo, Mr.Okubo
observed, has a close relationship with Shinto. And finally, the slick hairstyle? It's supposed to resemble a kind
of helmet. All in all, this was a nice introduction to one of Japan's greatest and most famous traditions.