A religious rite, origin of Japan's national sport
Japan's national sport has very ancient roots. It appears in the myth of the transfer of the earth ( kuni-yuzuri ) of the Kojiki (712) as a competition of strength between divinities. The Nihon Shoki (720) tells that Nomi no Sukune, a pioneer of sumo wrestlers, fought against others in the presence of the eleventh emperor Suinin and won the match. In the Nara (710-794) and Heian (794-1185) periods, tenran sumo (sumo witnessed by emperors) became a court ceremony; It was not a simple entertainment, but a ritual to predict whether the harvest would be good or bad depending on the winner.
The leg-raising and leg-dropping movement that wrestlers use when entering the ring and in training, called shiko , comes from the steps of a dance performed by onmyōji fortune-telling officials during the Heian period. When emperors and aristocrats went out into the streets, they stomped their feet while reciting spells to drive away evil spirits that dwell within the earth. Although the shiko has lost its meaning as a religious dance, it still signals that the ring is a sacred place where the gods come.
With the rise of the warrior class led by the Genpei clans at the end of the Heian period, sumo acquired a more martial art feel. In the Edo period (1603-1868), when peace reigned in the country, it became popular as a spectacle. Tournaments were organized throughout the territory, which were the predecessors of today's ōzumō , aimed at raising funds to restore temples and shrines.
Today, sumo and ōzumō tournaments continue to celebrate dōhyō matsuri , a ceremony in which offerings of sake, rice, kombu seaweed, dried squid, and kaya nuts are placed in a hole in the center of the ring, and with which is prayed for the safety of the competition, the peace of the country and good harvests. Sumo has not only been passed down as a national sport and mass entertainment, but also as a Shinto ritual. Below, we present three festivals that preserve powerful vestiges of that facet of the discipline.
The Ōyamazumi Shrine on Ōmi Island in the Seto Inland Sea is home to a peculiar form of sumo called hitori-zumō ('one-person sumo'). Although it is unknown when or how it originated, its existence is documented in a text from 1364. It is celebrated twice a year: at the Otaue festival (rice planting festival) in early summer, and at the Nukiho festival (rice planting festival). of the harvest), in autumn.
In hitori-zumō , only one wrestler, called ichirikizan , enters the ring and faces an invisible opponent who pushes him, shakes him, and throws him to the ground. The spectacle is somewhat comical, but the fight between the ichirikizan and the rice spirit serves to predict how the harvest will go. It is a three-round fight. The first is won by the spirit with a tsukidashi . The second goes to the fighter, who manages to stay inside the ring. The third is a disputed sumo match that ends with the spirit throwing the rikishi into the air with an uwate-nage and proclaiming himself the winner.
After the votive sumo match, the island girls go to the sacred rice field ( saiden ) to grow rice in the planting ceremony and harvest it at the Nukiho festival. There they thank the spirit of the rice plant, which is in a good mood after winning the fight and promises them a generous harvest.
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