Origins of sumo

Sumo is a Japanese form of wrestling in which two competitors try to force each other out of a circular ring or make them touch the ground with anything but their feet. Its roots lie in Shinto ritual, with bouts held as offerings to the gods for a good harvest. The Nihon Shoki, an early chronicle, records a wrestling match in the seventh century, and later legends place the first bout much earlier. Under the imperial court in the Nara and Heian periods it became a courtly event, and during the Edo period professional sumo developed, with ranked wrestlers and organised tournaments. Today it is governed by the Japan Sumo Association, whose highest rank is yokozuna, and it keeps many Shinto rituals.

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