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Sumo (Japanese: 相撲, Hepburn: sumō, Japanese pronunciation:, lit. ' striking one another ') [1] is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a rikishi (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by throwing, shoving or pushing him down).
Shinto ritual continues to pervade every aspect of sumo. Before a tournament, two gyōji functioning as Shinto priests enact a ritual to consecrate the newly constructed dohyō. Each day of the tournament the dohyō-iri, or ring-entering ceremonies performed by the top divisions before the start of their wrestling day are derived from sumo ...
In sumo wrestling, a kanreki dohyō-iri (Japanese: 還暦土俵入り) is a ring-entering ceremony performed by a former yokozuna in celebration of his 60th birthday (called kanreki in Japanese). If he is a toshiyori (a sumo elder), the ceremony is usually held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan , the main sumo hall in Tokyo .
A dohyō (土俵, Japanese pronunciation:) is the space in which a sumo wrestling bout occurs. A typical dohyō is a circle made of partially buried rice- straw bales 4.55 meters in diameter. In official professional tournaments ( honbasho ), it is mounted on a square platform of clay 66 cm high and 6.7m wide on each side.
One of the many rituals preceding a sumo bout, in which the wrestlers throw handfuls of salt before entering the dohyō. According to Shinto beliefs, salt possesses purifying properties; as they cast salt into the ring, the wrestlers would then be cleansing the dohyō of bad energy and possibly protecting themselves from injury.
The specific customs and traditions of each festival vary by location, but the main focus of every festival is a ritualistic prayer for the good health of each baby and a competition between infants held in a sumo wrestling ring. [4] A Shinto priest opens each festival with rituals to pray for the healthy growth of each baby.
A variation of the shimenawa are worn in sumo wrestling by yokozuna (grand champions), during the entrance ceremony to debut as grand champion rank. In this instance, shimenawa used by yokozuna are seen as being living yorishiro (a vessel capable of housing a spirit, known as shintai when inhabited by a spirit), and are therefore visually ...
The hand-to-hand bout between the two deities is considered the mythical origin of sumo wrestling. [12] The Nihon Shoki names a different partner for Takemikazuchi in the task of conquering lands of the Middle Country. That partner is Futsunushi (a god who goes unmentioned in the Kojiki in the gods' birth episode [4] as well as this episode ...