These posts make more sense when read in order.
Please click here for the first article in this series.
On winning the January 2009 tournament—his 23rd championship—dai yokozuna (great champion) Asashōryū raised his two fists in the air to celebrate his victory and he got in trouble for it. Celebratory gestures are not allowed in sumo. At the 2022 World Games tournament in Birmingham, Alabama, on winning the title for the men’s lightweight championship, the Egyptian contender yelled out in celebration and did a backflip. The judges disqualified his win for unsportsman-like conduct, which caused his coach to throw a fit, while the contender refused to exit the ring. The audience sided with the coach. It took five policemen to calm things down.
Of course many people disagreed with this, especially the Americans and Egyptians, but from a sumo and Japanese perspective, it was completely justified.
The coach was a former upper-division rikishi in Japan with the ring name Ōsunaarashi (Great Sandstorm). He was the first rikishi from the continent of Africa and had three gold stars for defeating a yokozuna (grand champion). He was active from 2012 to 2018. As a former rikishi, he should have known better. All judges’ decisions are final and disrespect is definitely not allowed.
Rikishi are expected to maintain dignity. What Asashōryū did when raising his fists in the air is nothing compared to the victory dances of American football and basketball players, and the Egyptian’s behavior was not much different. That’s pretty much expected in other sports. Even professional golfers often thrust a fist in the air, but that’s a big no-no in sumo.
Overall, rikishi always remain calm, polite, and dignified. The rikishi are expected to follow the written and unwritten rules. This, along with the emphasis on tradition, rituals, and honor, make this sport a mirror of Japanese society itself.
This doesn’t apply to the crowd. They loudly cheer and yell out encouragement to their favorite rikishi, while shaking their banners and signs. If a fan favorite has an impressive win, there’s an upset, or when someone wins the championship, they jump to their feet, cheering, yelling, and waving their arms. It’s one of the few times the normally quiet and reserved Japanese people go wild.
Occasionally the spectators throw their zabutons (seat cushions) into the dohyō (ring) or at a rikishi. This is a 300-year tradition that can be either congratulatory on a great win, or it can be out of disappointment and frustration when a yokozuna or ōzeki (the second highest rank) underperforms or loses, generally to much lower ranking opponent. This is unusual behavior for the Japanese, and it is discouraged, but people still do it. The rikishi, on the other hand, must remain professional and set a good example.
Click here for the next article in this series:
If you'd like further information, I recommend the following:
NHK, Japan's public broadcasting TV channel, streams the half-hour highlights shows here https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/latest/ before they do on other sumo pages of their site. There are up to four one-hour shows that were recorded live usually on Day 1, Day 8, Day 14, and Day15 of each basho (tournament) that are found here https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/sumolive/. They also have information about the rikishi and the excellent short Sumopedia videos. This is your required first stop.
If
you'd rather watch the full day live in Japanese, you'll find it
showing on various YouTube channels, but you'll have to wait until it
starts at around 8:30 a.m. Japan time to search for them. And remember,
they're a day earlier if you're not on the early side of the
International Date Line. The matches run to about 6 p.m., with the top
division starting around 4 p.m.
The Japan Sumo Association's official site https://www.sumo.or.jp/En/ also contains some excellent information.
Since I’m interested in analysis and statistics, I also highly recommend Michael’s Ozeki Analytics blog at https://ozekianalytics.substack.com/. You can skip signing up to check it out. It can be a bit technical for some people.
For first-rate information on the individual rikishi, their abilities, and the techniques they use, you have to check out Tim Bissell’s Sumo Stomp! at https://sumostomp.substack.com/. Again you can hit “No thanks” for signing up in order to read his posts, but then go back and sign up.
Then enjoy! Sumo really is the ultimate sport.
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