Grand Champion, or Grand Illusion?

(With apologies to Styx...)



Sumo is probably the only major spectator sport that is still considered uniquely Japanese. It was first established as an official institution by the Imperial Court during the Nara Period in the 8th century, but its origins are much older. It dates back at least to the 5th century, when it was known as "sumai" and was a Shinto ritual carried out by local shrines. Back then it bore little resemblance to what it is today. Until the Nara Period there were few rules; it was essentially unarmed combat, often to the death, fought as a form of ceremonial entertainment for the Shinto deities.

The Wikipedia entry about Sumo, which doesn't cite adequate background sources, makes a claim that the sport actually originated in China and was introduced to Japan in the 5th century by visiting Han Dynasty dignitaries. Not even the official Sumo website verifies this. It only mentions that, according to legend, the fate of the Japanese people was decided by a Sumo-like match fought between a deity and the leader of a rival tribe (though it does concur on the likely 5th century origin). I really wonder how most Japanese would react to hearing that their uniquely Japanese sport might not be Japanese after all.

In fact, along those same lines, I wonder how most Japanese feel about the fact that three of the last five Yokozuna (Grand Champion), including the current one, are non-Japanese! (In fact, I couldn't help but notice that detailed info on past Yokozuna on the official site ends with Asahifuji, the last one before Hawaiian Akebono was promoted to the rank in 1993!)

Now we are faced with a new controversy. Flash back to my first paragraph, in which I concluded by saying that Sumo was originally a form of ceremonial entertainment for the Shinto deities. It has long been said that politics play as much a role in Sumo as fighting skill. Well, according to a popular gossip tabloid, an insider claims that it's worse than that. Apparently Sumo is no more genuine a sport than so-called pro wrestling. Most people would probably say, "Gossip tabloid? Hah!" But a lot of people are taking this very seriously...enough for the Sumo Association to launch an official investigation.

The main complaint centers around current (Mongolian) Yokozuna, Asashoryu, who has seemed unstoppable...at least till now. The insider claims that during the November 2006 Kyushu basho (tournament) only four of Asashoryu's fifteen bouts were on the level. The rest were "obviously" fixed. That is certainly a matter of opinion, but one can't help but wonder how Asashoryu has been able to maintain such an invincible winning record. The fact is that he almost never trains between competitions anymore. Instead, he usually goes back to Mongolia to see to his rapidly-growing business empire, funded by his enormous Sumo winnings. In this vein, the bloated sums he is said to be using to buy off his opponents amount to only a very small and well-calculated business investment.

Interestingly, right after the investigation began, Asashoryu appeared in the most recent basho...and lost his first two matches in succession, the first time that has ever happened in his entire career. Even worse, trailing the winning rikishi by one victory till the end, Asashoryu won his last regular bout by pulling a cheap shot that Yokozuna are never supposed to use. Skilled strategy or a sneaky act of desperation? Well, the audience and judges were shocked by his apparent mockery of the honor that is supposed to accompany the Yokozuna rank. I'm sure many saw it as poetic justice when his opponent used a very similar low blow to defeat him in the playoff match. (In fact, the smile on Asashoryu's face would seem to indicate he felt the same way.)



Hmm...

It gets better though. It seems to be widely accepted here that match-fixing has always occurred in Sumo, but not to the extent of which Asashoryu is accused. As I've said before, politics has always played a role in the sport, but most still believe that most matches are on the level. The insider making the accusation doesn't seem to agree. He claims that a number of rikishi have been rigging the majority of their matches since entering the top divisions. Interestingly, many if not most of the rikishi on his "black list" are the non-Japanese ones.

Ever since Akebono became the first non-Japanese Yokozuna in 1993 a lot of people have whined that gaijin should be banned from the upper ranks if not from the upper division (if not from the sport!). Now a guy has just come out and given a "concrete"(?) reason for such a restriction. After all, if all the foreigners are winning by means of wealth rather than skill, they should be eliminated to preserve the integrity of the sport, right?

Makes sense to me!

So...are the Shinto deities entertained by all this?