2008年11月5日水曜日

7..Sumo Wrestling

'Sumo' ('Sumo' wrestling) is one of the major Japanese traditional sports and known as the national sport.
For more information about 'Sumo' check this site.

There are many foreign fans of 'Sumo', like my Mexican friend who is a fan of Takamizakari and Kitazakura (both are 'Sumo' wrestlers).
So, what makes people from overseas to be fasinated by this Japanese sport ?
This time, I picked up 'Sumo' as a topic and asked my friend why he likes sumo.
He said that 'Sumo' is very interesting because 'Sumo' is a sport in which strengthness, inteligence and ceremonial aspects are mixed together.
Actually, when you go to 'Sumo' games you will see some events before and after the match.
For example, the 'Sumo'wrestler is scattering salt in this photo.

Purging with salt the field and pray for his own safety, is one of the traditional rites in 'Sumo'.
Every wrestler shows an original performance when they scatter the salt, which is very interesting an funny. It is said that 45kg of salt is spended a day at this performance.



When one 'Sumo' match is over, both wrestlers bow. Through this bow the defeated seems to be accepting the strength of his rival.
My friend likes this scene because for him, it shows the sportsmanship which is inside 'Sumo'.

In addition, I found some interesting items . Look at photo at the right. These are 'Sumo' wrestler cards. There is the wrestler's picture in the front side of the cards and their profiles at the back side. It is interesting that the Japanese national sport, 'Sumo', is approaching people in such a unique way. In my opinion these cards helps to make people getting much more familiar with 'Sumo' and this could lead to increase the number of 'Sumo' fans.

1 件のコメント:

visual gonthros さんのコメント...

Sumo would be a good example for globalization as well as sports. Have you ever been to a sumo basho? How popular is sumo these days in Japan? What have been some recent problems with sumo? Lots of potential with this subject. Your post this week seems a little general as opposed to your previous work...