Sumo is said to be Japan's national sport and is very popular. Sumo is a Japanese style of wrestling. Japanese Sumo Wrestling is one of the most previous martial arts in Japan. Sumo, Japan developed in ancient times as a show to entertain the Shinto gods. Sumo wrestling of Japan is enjoying a rising popularity just like basketball in North America or soccer in Europe.
Two sumo wrestlers who are also known as rikishi fight in a ring called dohyo. The basic rules of sumo Japan is that the one who first makes his opponent step outside of the ring or makes him touch the ground with any part of his body wins. The fights between two wrestlers usually last only a few seconds and in rare cases up to one minute or longer.
Each year six major sumo tournaments called Basho take place in Japan . They are as follows:
- Hatsu-basho (in January) at Tokyo
- Haru-basho (March) at Osaka Municipal Gymnasium,
- Natsu-basho (May) at Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan,
- Nagoya-bacho (July) at Nagoya Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium,
- Aki-basho (September) in Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan,
- Kyushu-basho (November) at Fukuoka Kokusai Center.
Few names of some Sumo artists in Japan should be mentioned who are famous for their outstanding sumo performances.
- Kunisada Utagawa (1786-1864)
- Kuniyoshi Utagawa (1797-1861)
- Kuniaki II Utagawa (1835-1888)
- Kunisada II Utagawa (1823-1880)
- Hironobu Kinoshita active ca (1851-72)
- Junichiro Sekino (1914-1988)
Most of the Japanese influential Sumo wrestlers are highly trained athletes and between 20 to 35 years old. The Sumo wrestlers of Japan eat large amounts of food and go to bed right after eating in order to gain mass.
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