Shinto origins
Shinto is ‘the way of the gods’ and, just
as it is for many mortals, sumo wrestling
is a favourite pasttime. For nearly 2,000
years, sumo wrestlers have performed
their martial art, first in intimate shrines,
and then in stadiums before thousands
of spectators. At least as early as the 3rd
century AD, the wrestlers would perform
complex rituals to purify both their body
and their spirit, and then fight for the
entertainment of the gods during the
matsuri (religious festivals). It was a
sacred act of ritual, not a sport.
But what begins in the temple
often spreads to the court. The rulers
of Japan felt that they, too, should be
able to enjoy the spectacle: it was surely
wasted on the Shinto gods. Legend has
it that the Emperor Yuryaku (418-79)
ordered two naked women to sumo
wrestle before a particularly arrogant
carpenter who claimed to have never
made a mistake. Distracted by the
women (though whether it was by their
wrestling skills or their physiques,
we shall never know), the carpenter
blundered in what he was doing,
and was summarily executed by
the Emperor.
For the most part, though, sumo
was something to be enjoyed by all
involved – competitors and spectators.
From the Nara period (710-794) onwards,
wrestlers would be invited from across
Japan to pit their skills against one
another in competitions hosted at
the imperial court. The tournaments
normally coincided with important
festivals, and were accompanied by
banqueting, music, and dancing. The
sumo wrestlers were expected to join
in with these lively activities, too.
The sumo these earlier
wrestlers practiced would be almost
unrecognisable to their modern
counterparts. There were few rules,
wrestlers frequently drew blood, and
you could box your opponent as well
as wrestle him to the ground. In fact,
not all the wrestlers were men: one
particularly celebrated sumo wrestler
was a nun! With topless women pitted
against blind men, and prostitutes and
warriors fighting one another to settle42 HERITAGE