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A brief history of sumo wrestling - Lee Thompson
A brief history of sumo wrestling - Lee Thompson
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0:07
In 1772, amateur sumo wrestlers in present-day Niigata
0:12
were performing to raise money for a local temple
0:15
when a pair of sumo pros crashed their event.
0:19
These wrestlers from the Tokyo sumo guild
0:22
claimed that only their guild had the right to charge audiences admission.
0:27
But when the pros tried making off with the ticket money,
0:30
one was killed and the other barely escaped alive.
0:35
Back in Tokyo, the guild took their case to a magistrate.
0:38
They argued that because they were the only guild
0:41
that adhered to sumo’s most “ancient practices,”
0:45
no other performers in the country were legitimate.
0:49
The magistrate accepted this claim.
0:51
But surprisingly,
0:52
these so-called “ancient practices” were actually recent inventions.
0:58
So, what were these fabricated traditions,
1:02
and how do they relate to sumo’s true history?
1:07
Our earliest reliable records of sumo come from the 8th century,
1:11
when performances were held as entertainment for annual court banquets.
1:15
During these events, wrestlers were summoned from across Japan
1:19
as a demonstration of the emperor's influence.
1:22
Initially, these wrestlers would punch, scratch, and grab their opponents,
1:26
claiming victory by forcing their hands or knees to the ground.
1:30
But eventually, matches began focusing on grappling and tripping techniques.
1:35
Over time, power shifted from the emperor and his court
1:39
to their hired soldiers, the samurai,
1:42
and official court sumo ended in 1174.
1:47
However, samurai leaders still had soldiers perform less formal sumo bouts
1:52
for exercise and entertainment.
1:54
Throughout imperial and samurai rule,
1:57
sumo was performed across Japan for sport, spectacle, and martial training.
2:02
But in the 1400s, it took on a new function: fundraising.
2:07
Shrines and temples began hosting performances
2:09
to raise money for construction and repairs.
2:12
And since skilled performers brought in more customers,
2:15
event promoters were eager to enlist the best wrestlers.
2:19
This led performers to create the first sumo guilds,
2:23
ensuring steady employment and improving their working conditions.
2:27
Once wrestlers could reliably make money through sumo,
2:30
they became eager to perform for as many paying customers as possible.
2:35
Enterprising young men put on rowdy street corner sumo performances,
2:39
hoping to attract the donations of passersby.
2:42
Lacking the organization of formal performances,
2:45
these bouts often resulted in fights and injuries
2:48
among both participants and spectators.
2:51
So it didn’t take long for samurai authorities to crack down,
2:55
periodically banning all forms of sumo in larger cities.
2:59
Wrestlers and organizers knew they needed to make changes to overcome these bans.
3:05
First, they established a boundary to separate spectators from participants.
3:10
This boundary took many forms,
3:11
but over the 17th century it morphed into a standard ring called the dohyō.
3:17
This ring outlined the field of play, introducing a pivotal new rule:
3:22
now matches could also be won by pushing one’s opponent out of the dohyō.
3:28
This innovation increased the advantage of heavier wrestlers,
3:31
whose weight already helped them topple their opponents.
3:35
But sumo’s journey to become a respectable sport really took off
3:39
when promoters began introducing rituals
3:42
to associate sumo with Japan’s ancient past.
3:46
Wrestlers threw salt in the ring
3:48
and rinsed their mouths with water before matches—
3:51
actions that evoked ancient religious ceremonies.
3:55
These invented traditions imbued the sport with cultural legitimacy,
4:00
convincing authorities that sumo was above board.
4:04
One notable ritual emerged in 1789,
4:07
when the Tokyo guild began having their top-ranked wrestlers
4:11
perform a ring-entering ceremony wearing a sacred rope called the yokozuna.
4:16
This innovation became so popular,
4:18
the shōgun himself summoned the troupe for a performance—
4:22
giving legitimacy not just to the Tokyo guild,
4:25
but specifically to their invented traditions.
4:29
After the shogunate was overthrown in 1868,
4:33
sumo was seen as a dated relic and briefly fell out of fashion.
4:38
But the sport gradually remade itself for the modern era,
4:41
and today, Japan holds six 15-day tournaments every year,
4:46
all of which are broadcast worldwide.
4:49
New technology has brought advantages like instant replays,
4:53
while other innovations were introduced to evoke the ancient past.
4:57
And over the last century,
4:59
the average body weight in the upper division
5:01
has increased by over 60 kilograms!
5:05
But throughout its changes,
5:07
sumo has sustained its status as a beloved form of entertainment,
5:12
a grand display of strength, and an ode to national traditions—
5:17
both real and invented.
