Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament starts

Hello. The other day, some of the readers of this mail magazine asked me to write about Sumo, so I have decided to write on this topic from now on. There are 6 Grand Tournaments a year: 3 at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in January, May and September, 1 in Osaka in March, 1 in Nagoya in July and 1 in Fukuoka in November. Each tournament lasts 15 days and the ranking of the wrestlers (except Yokozuna & Ozeki) for the next tournament is decided by the record of the previous one. It is only 5 minutes drive from our office to Ryogoku where the Kokugikan is and 2 train stops away. There are a few Sumo stables around here and I sometimes see young wrestlers doing grocery shopping at a nearby supermarket.
A new tournament has just started this Sunday here in Tokyo. They had a few troubles just before the tournament: they were arguing if some of the wrestlers from foreign countries were smoking cannabis or not, which ended when Kitanoumi, the chairman of Japan Sumo Association took responsibility and quit his position. We were all anxious if the tournament itself might be cancelled. However, it started anyway, a big relief for Sumo fans.

The one to watch this season is Toyonoshima, a small (1.65m) 25-year-old new Sekiwake rank wrestler, one of my favourites too. On the 4.55m diameter ring, the bigger wrestlers have great advantage. The distance between the partition lines where two wrestlers get ready to fight is only 70cm. When the referee declares the game, the wrestlers get closer to each other. Sometimes, “Being small does not always mean a disadvantage” and a small wrestler can surprise and excite the audience. That is what Toyonoshima is. He was too short to qualify at the first selection process (minimum height 1.73m & minimum weight 75Kg) but passed at the second process set up for smaller wrestlers (1.67m & 67Kg) who have high athletic performance. He only just made it. Out of the successful candidates from the second process, he became the first ranking wrestler.

For instance, he bravely faced against Ozeki Kotooshu, who is taller than 2m and won by throwing. Although against Yokozunas, he only won once each from Asashoryu and Hakuho, he has won 15 matches against the 4 Ozekis. “If I can get my arms under opponent’s’, I think I can win. If I get scared, that is it. I have to be mentally strong. Nothing feels better than when I beat a big wrestler,” he said at an interview.

He has a distinctive style: crossing both arms in front of himself, he puts his arm under an opponent’s arms; using his fatty stomach, he moves closer, wraps his arm under the opponent’s arms and quickly throws him. With strong back muscle and good balance, he does not give up easily. His favourite vocabulary is “training aiming 3 years ahead”. He is a person of an inquiring turn of mind and studies hard reviewing his matches with old videos when he has time.

So please keep your attention on him!

Also if you are an avid Sumo fan, check the Japan Sumo Association’s website.
http://www.sumo.or.jp/eng/index.html


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