On 25 October, he allegedly attacked a younger wrestler in a bar and fractured the man's skull, provoking weeks of headlines and a police investigation. The case has cast a cloud over Japan's ancient national sport, and it's far from the first time. A decade ago, its reputation plunged when a year-old trainee died after his elders beat him with a beer bottle and a baseball bat.
In , an illegal betting ring with alleged links to Japan's yakuza gangsters struck another blow. Harumafuji's mentor, the great Mongolian champion Asashoryu, resigned the same year after a drunken brawl outside a Tokyo nightclub.
Then evidence of match-fixing emerged in sumo's second division. Are these signs that sumo is dying in its homeland, the discipline that once defined it in tatters? Or is it just that after 15 centuries, the dark side finally makes the papers? To answer those questions, it helps to look at where sumos come from - and the savage training regime that shapes them. Though sumo originated in Japanese temple rites performed some 1, to 2, years ago, the nation no longer dominates in the ring.
Until this week's departure, there were four sumo grand champions. Three of them, Harumafuji included, are Mongolian. Eastern Europe, Russia, Hawaii and Samoa all send promising wrestlers to the Japanese sumo "stables" - effectively a men's boarding house where "stable masters" drill surly teenagers in the arts that once thrilled the imperial courts.
In the land of the rising sun, sumo isn't just a sport - it's a ceremonial window on the past, steeped in tradition and what it means to be Japanese. Strict rituals set out the code of behaviour, and being born overseas is no excuse for slacking.
All sumos must wear traditional dress in public, including a Samurai-inspired topknot. At tournaments, triumph and disaster should be greeted with equal impassivity. In conversation, the wrestler must be a model of softly-spoken humility and behave with "hinkaku" - dignity. Their status is such that strangers will bow when they walk down the street. Each of the 45 stables can accept just one foreigner or "gaikokujin" at a time, by order of the highly conservative Japan Sumo Association.
And when they get there, often just 15 and no older than 23 - it's time to eat, speak, fight, dress and breathe Japanese. The stable is run under a strict hierarchy, with the stable master - a former wrestler - at the top. The only way to leave is to leave sumo. Ryogoku Takahashi Company Ryogoku, Sumida-ku, Tokyo is a small shop that specializes is sumo wrestling souvenirs. Located near the Kokugikan national sports arena, it sells bed-and bath accessories, cushion covers, chopstick holders, key chains, golf balls, pajamas, kitchen aprons, woodblock prints, and small plastic banksall featuring sumo wrestling scenes or likenesses of famous wrestlers.
After his retirement, Konoshiki became a major celebrity and Japan's most beloved pitchman. One rap from his album entitles Livin' Like Kings goes like this: Built to last like the Energizer Bunny Pushing ' and still makin' money Step in my Dojo, you're bound to get crowed, Thrown out the line or smashed to the ground.
I'm the biggest, ain't no rookie. Overweight lover and still known to boogie. Bring the house down when I hit the floor, And sing karaoke for an encore. He tried to keep the right to the name Konishiki but Japan Sumo Association said he couldn't use it.
Eventually they said that he could use the name if was written in English not Japanese. In and , Konishiki made more money from commercials than any other active or retired athlete in Japan. He plugged coffee, vacations in Hawaii, United Airlines, Suntory whiskey, a long-distance telephone service, a convenience store chain, and others.
In the ads he dressed in a pink bunny suit, shook his booty doing hip hop dances and sat in a tree with a puppet parrot, playing a ukelele. Konishiki has also made commercials for the Education Ministry, encouraging kids to study, and set up a foundation to help needy Hawaiian children. He regularly appears at fundraisers for other charities and shows up on kids television shows. Konishiki reached a peak weight of kilograms. By he was down to kilograms thanks to gastric bypass surgery and a strict diet.
Takamiyama The first non-Asian to find success in sumo was Takamiyama, a massive Hawaiian named Jesse Kuhaula who entered the sport in the s. He won a tournament, made it to the high rank of sekiwake, but never became an ozeki or yokozuna. His greatest achievement perhaps was his longevity. He competed in tournaments and had wins and losses over 20 years, retiring in , less than a month shy of his 40th birthday. Takamiyama set records for top division tournaments 97 , top-division bouts and most consecutive top-division bouts He now talks with a weak, strained voice, the result of years of having hands shoved into his throat.
The first guy came, the second guy Takamiyama was recruited in Maui in Hawaii and became a sumo wrestler in at the age of 19 and competed in a bright orange belt. In July , Takamiyama became the first foreign-born sumo wrestler to win the Emperor's Cup.
The victory was marked during the award ceremony with the reading of a congratulatory letter from U. President Richard Nixon, the first time English was spoken at a sumo tournament. Takamiyama never made it to ozeki in part because of prejudice towards him as foreigner.
He received hate mail and death threats as he was rising through the ranks in the s. Takamiyama became a Japanese citizen in , partly so he could open his own stable. After he retired he opened a stable under the name Azumazeki. Azumazeki retired from sumo in after 45 years in the sport. After he retired Azumazeki was hailed by the U. Akebono Akebono is the second heaviest kilograms, pounds and tallest centimeters wrestler in sumo.
The first non-Japanese to attain the rank of yokozuna, he is a former basketball player from Hawaiian named Chad Rowan. In April , he became a naturalized Japanese citizen under the name Taro Akebono so that he could open his own stable when he retired. He was one of the main figures in the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Nagano. Akebono watched sumo on television when he was growing up. Hawaii was one of the few places outside of Japan that sumo was broadcast.
He was "discovered" in Honolulu by a local sumo enthusiast in and joined the Tokyo stable of Azumazeki the wrestler Takamiyama in while still a teenager. After entering competition he scored a majority of wins in a 18 consecutive tournaments March to March Overcoming knee injuries, drunken rowdiness, prejudice, injuries and language and cultural barriers, Akebono became the best sumo wrestler in Japan in the early s.
He was named an ozeki after just 27 tournaments and was named the 64th yokozuna in at the age of 23 after only 30 tournaments. Akebono won two bashos in and one each in and He a number of famous battles with Takanohana and Wakanohana. Akebono, Takanohana and Musashimaru Akebono's success was partly the result of good timing. Three dominant wrestlers retired about the same time that Akebono was reaching his peak, and the Japan Sumo Association had to promote someone to grand champion.
When Akebono achieved the rank of yokozuna it was the top story in every Japanese newspaper and television news report. Learning from Konishiki's mistake, Akebono's remained stoic and respectful even when it seemed he was treated unfairly. In , Akebono announced he was considering marrying Noriko Usui, a year-old former model.
Note that a few countries have copyright terms longer than 70 years: Mexico has years, Jamaica has 95 years, Colombia has 80 years, and Guatemala and Samoa have 75 years. This image may not be in the public domain in these countries, which moreover do not implement the rule of the shorter term. From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. File information. Structured data. Captions English Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents. Summary [ edit ] Description Black sumo wrestler in 17th century.
This is a possible artwork depicting Yasuke, but unconfirmed. And then, at last, the breathless eruption of violence. Because, unlike any other mainstream sport in Japan , sumo wrestling remains deeply wedded to its roots. How exactly sumo started, historians are unsure. But links have been made to harvest rituals associated with the Shinto religion.
That legacy can be seen in the use of salt purification and the stylised, shrine-like roof which covers the ring. In many ways, sumo is more than just a sporting spectacle. The sport has a mandate as a social and culture treasure that needs to be protected, preserved and carried forward — hence why the Japanese government [the Ministry of Education] supports the Sumo Association. No last-minute transfers, no loans. Waking up at around 6am, wrestlers will spend hours each day perfecting moves and grapples.
Driving is not permitted — a status symbol and out of necessity, given their size. Younger apprentices are required to clean, cook and perform endless tasks for their elders.
About 97 per cent of fighters are not paid, although accommodation and food is provided. Even mobile phones and girlfriends are technically banned below divisions 1 and 2, the sekitori ranks, though some leniency is creeping in.
The scandals have come thick and fast over the years.
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