Nomi no Sukune ( 野見 宿禰 ) was a legendary figure in Japanese history, regarded as the founder of sumo wrestling. He was the founder of the Haji no Muraji clan.
120-505: Sumo ( Japanese : 相撲 , Hepburn : sumō , Japanese pronunciation: [ˈsɯmoː] , lit. ' striking one another ' ) is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a rikishi (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring ( dohyō ) or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by throwing, shoving or pushing him down). Sumo originated in Japan ,
240-545: A siesta -like nap after a large lunch. The most common type of lunch served is the traditional sumo meal of chankonabe , which consists of a simmering stew of various meat and vegetables cooked at the table, and usually eaten with rice. This regimen of no breakfast and a large lunch followed by a sleep is intended to help wrestlers put on a lot of weight so as to compete more effectively. Sumo wrestlers also drink large amounts of beer. Japanese language Japanese ( 日本語 , Nihongo , [ɲihoŋɡo] )
360-637: A benefit from the in-group to the out-group) means "[I/we] explained [it] to [him/her/them]". Such beneficiary auxiliary verbs thus serve a function comparable to that of pronouns and prepositions in Indo-European languages to indicate the actor and the recipient of an action. Japanese "pronouns" also function differently from most modern Indo-European pronouns (and more like nouns) in that they can take modifiers as any other noun may. For instance, one does not say in English: The amazed he ran down
480-528: A bout to be restarted, or leave the decision as given by the gyōji . Occasionally the shimpan will overrule the gyōji and give the bout to the other wrestler. On rare occasions the referee or judges may award the win to the wrestler who touched the ground first. This happens if both wrestlers touch the ground at nearly the same time and it is decided that the wrestler who touched the ground second had no chance of winning, his opponent's superior sumo having put him in an irrecoverable position. The losing wrestler
600-568: A bow for being victorious and he began dancing to show the war-lord his gratitude. Because sumo had become a nuisance due to wild fighting on the streets, particularly in Edo, sumo was temporarily banned in the city during the Edo period . In 1684, sumo was permitted to be held for charity events on the property of Shinto shrines, as was common in Kyoto and Osaka . The first sanctioned tournament took place in
720-414: A distinct language of its own that has absorbed various aspects from neighboring languages. Japanese has five vowels, and vowel length is phonemic, with each having both a short and a long version. Elongated vowels are usually denoted with a line over the vowel (a macron ) in rōmaji , a repeated vowel character in hiragana , or a chōonpu succeeding the vowel in katakana . /u/ ( listen )
840-439: A fight, which is similar to the ritual before entering a Shinto shrine. Additionally, before a match begins the two wrestlers perform and repeat a warm up routine called shikiri . The top division is given four minutes for shikiri , while the second division is given three, after which the timekeeping judge signals to the gyōji that time is up. Traditionally, sumo wrestlers are renowned for their great girth and body mass, which
960-457: A form of military combat training among samurai . By the Muromachi period , sumo had fully left the seclusion of the court and became a popular event for the masses, and among the daimyō it became common to sponsor wrestlers. Sumotori who successfully fought for a daimyō' s favor were given generous support and samurai status. Oda Nobunaga , a particularly avid fan of the sport, held
1080-601: A form of wooden sandal called geta . Wrestlers in the makushita and sandanme divisions can wear a form of traditional short overcoat over their yukata and are allowed to wear straw sandals, called zōri . The higher-ranked sekitori can wear silk robes of their own choice, and the quality of the garb is significantly improved. They also are expected to wear a more elaborate form of topknot called an ōichō (big ginkgo leaf) on formal occasions. Similar distinctions are made in stable life. The junior wrestlers must get up earliest, around 5 am, for training, whereas
1200-423: A giant Coca-Cola bottle. Promotion and relegation for the next tournament are determined by a wrestler's score over the 15 days. In the top division, the term kachikoshi means a score of 8–7 or better, as opposed to makekoshi , which indicates a score of 7–8 or worse. A wrestler who achieves kachikoshi almost always is promoted further up the ladder, the level of promotion being higher for better scores. See
1320-419: A glide /j/ and either the first part of a geminate consonant ( っ / ッ , represented as Q) or a moraic nasal in the coda ( ん / ン , represented as N). The nasal is sensitive to its phonetic environment and assimilates to the following phoneme, with pronunciations including [ɴ, m, n, ɲ, ŋ, ɰ̃] . Onset-glide clusters only occur at the start of syllables but clusters across syllables are allowed as long as
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#17327759950831440-462: A highly regimented way of life. The Sumo Association prescribes the behavior of its wrestlers in some detail. For example, the association prohibits wrestlers from driving cars, although this is partly out of necessity as many wrestlers are too big to fit behind a steering wheel. Breaking the rules can result in fines and/or suspension for both the offending wrestler and his stablemaster. On entering sumo, they are expected to grow their hair long to form
1560-533: A kick to the back as well. Until the Japanese Middle Ages, this unregulated form of wrestling was often fought to the death of one of the fighters. In the Kofun period (300–538), Haniwa of sumo wrestlers were made. The first historically attested sumo fights were held in 642 at the court of Empress Kōgyoku to entertain a Korean legation. In the centuries that followed, the popularity of sumo within
1680-484: A listener depending on the listener's relative social position and the degree of familiarity between the speaker and the listener. When used in different social relationships, the same word may have positive (intimate or respectful) or negative (distant or disrespectful) connotations. Japanese often use titles of the person referred to where pronouns would be used in English. For example, when speaking to one's teacher, it
1800-426: A lower-ranked wrestler, it is common and expected for audience members to throw their seat cushions into the ring (and onto the wrestlers), though this practice is technically prohibited. In contrast to the time in bout preparation, bouts are typically very short, usually less than a minute (most of the time only a few seconds). Extremely rarely, a bout can go on for several minutes. A professional sumo wrestler leads
1920-405: A manner akin to a McMahon system tournament ; each wrestler in the top two divisions ( sekitori ) has one match per day, while the lower-ranked wrestlers compete in seven bouts, about one every two days. Each day is structured so that the highest-ranked contestants compete at the end of the day. Thus, wrestling starts in the morning with the jonokuchi wrestlers and ends at around six o'clock in
2040-525: A number of years and other high-profile wrestlers grabbing the public's attention. The spoken word sumō goes back to the verb sumau/sumafu , meaning 'compete' or 'fight'. The written word goes back to the expression sumai no sechi ( 相撲の節 ) , which was a wrestling competition at the imperial court during the Heian period . The characters from sumai , or sumō today, mean 'to strike each other'. There are instances of "sumo" alternatively being written with
2160-488: A reed", defeating Takeminakata and claiming Izumo. The Nihon Shoki , published in 720, dates the first sumo match between mortals to the year 23 BC, when a man named Nomi no Sukune fought against Taima no Kuehaya at the request of Emperor Suinin and eventually killed him, making him the mythological ancestor of sumo. According to the Nihon Shoki , Nomi broke a rib of Taima with one kick, and killed him with
2280-480: A row take the tournament. More complex systems for championship playoffs involving four or more wrestlers also exist, but these are usually only seen in determining the winner of one of the lower divisions. The matchups for each day of the tournament are determined by the sumo elders who are members of the judging division of the Japan Sumo Association . They meet every morning at 11 am and announce
2400-408: A sentence need not be stated and pronouns may be omitted if they can be inferred from context. In the example above, hana ga nagai would mean "[their] noses are long", while nagai by itself would mean "[they] are long." A single verb can be a complete sentence: Yatta! ( やった! ) "[I / we / they / etc] did [it]!". In addition, since adjectives can form the predicate in a Japanese sentence (below),
2520-428: A single adjective can be a complete sentence: Urayamashii! ( 羨ましい! ) "[I'm] jealous [about it]!". While the language has some words that are typically translated as pronouns, these are not used as frequently as pronouns in some Indo-European languages, and function differently. In some cases, Japanese relies on special verb forms and auxiliary verbs to indicate the direction of benefit of an action: "down" to indicate
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#17327759950832640-466: A topknot, or chonmage , similar to the samurai hairstyles of the Edo period. Furthermore, they are expected to wear the chonmage and traditional Japanese dress when in public, allowing them to be identified immediately as wrestlers. The type and quality of the dress depends on the wrestler's rank. Rikishi in jonidan and below are allowed to wear only a thin cotton robe called a yukata , even in winter. Furthermore, when outside, they must wear
2760-521: A tournament of 1,500 wrestlers in February 1578. Because several bouts were to be held simultaneously within Oda Nobunaga's castle, circular arenas were delimited to hasten the proceedings and to maintain the safety of the spectators. This event marks the invention of the dohyō , which would be developed into its current form up until the 18th century. The winner of Nobunaga's tournament was given
2880-497: A winner is still not found after another four minutes, the fight restarts from the tachi-ai after another mizu-iri . If this still does not result in a decision, the outcome is considered a hikiwake ( draw ). This is an extremely rare result, with the last such draw being called in September 1974. A special attraction of sumo is the variety of observed ceremonies and rituals, some of which have been cultivated in connection with
3000-478: A wrestler is highly regimented, with rules regulated by the Japan Sumo Association . Most sumo wrestlers are required to live in communal sumo training stables, known in Japanese as heya , where all aspects of their daily lives—from meals to their manner of dress—are dictated by strict kyara tradition. The lifestyle has a negative effect on their health, with sumo wrestlers having a much lower life expectancy than
3120-421: A wrestler's future rank. Rank is determined only by performance in grand sumo tournaments. The six divisions in sumo, in descending order of prestige, are: Wrestlers enter sumo in the lowest jonokuchi division and, ability permitting, work their way up to the top division. A broad demarcation in the sumo world can be seen between the wrestlers in the top two divisions known as sekitori ( 関取 ) and those in
3240-500: A wrestler's prior performance. For example, in the lower divisions, wrestlers with the same record in a tournament are generally matched up with each other and the last matchups often involve undefeated wrestlers competing against each other, even if they are from opposite ends of the division. In the top division, in the last few days, wrestlers with exceptional records often have matches against much more highly ranked opponents, including san'yaku wrestlers, especially if they are still in
3360-624: Is compressed rather than protruded , or simply unrounded. Some Japanese consonants have several allophones , which may give the impression of a larger inventory of sounds. However, some of these allophones have since become phonemic. For example, in the Japanese language up to and including the first half of the 20th century, the phonemic sequence /ti/ was palatalized and realized phonetically as [tɕi] , approximately chi ( listen ) ; however, now [ti] and [tɕi] are distinct, as evidenced by words like tī [tiː] "Western-style tea" and chii [tɕii] "social status". The "r" of
3480-421: Is topic–comment . Sentence-final particles are used to add emotional or emphatic impact, or form questions. Nouns have no grammatical number or gender , and there are no articles . Verbs are conjugated , primarily for tense and voice , but not person . Japanese adjectives are also conjugated. Japanese has a complex system of honorifics , with verb forms and vocabulary to indicate the relative status of
3600-400: Is also seen in o-medetō "congratulations", from medetaku ). Late Middle Japanese has the first loanwords from European languages – now-common words borrowed into Japanese in this period include pan ("bread") and tabako ("tobacco", now "cigarette"), both from Portuguese . Modern Japanese is considered to begin with the Edo period (which spanned from 1603 to 1867). Since Old Japanese,
3720-527: Is also used in a limited fashion (such as for imported acronyms) in Japanese writing. The numeral system uses mostly Arabic numerals , but also traditional Chinese numerals . Proto-Japonic , the common ancestor of the Japanese and Ryukyuan languages , is thought to have been brought to Japan by settlers coming from the Korean peninsula sometime in the early- to mid-4th century BC (the Yayoi period ), replacing
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3840-440: Is appropriate to use sensei ( 先生 , "teacher"), but inappropriate to use anata . This is because anata is used to refer to people of equal or lower status, and one's teacher has higher status. Japanese nouns have no grammatical number, gender or article aspect. The noun hon ( 本 ) may refer to a single book or several books; hito ( 人 ) can mean "person" or "people", and ki ( 木 ) can be "tree" or "trees". Where number
3960-701: Is associated with comedy (see Kansai dialect ). Dialects of Tōhoku and North Kantō are associated with typical farmers. The Ryūkyūan languages, spoken in Okinawa and the Amami Islands (administratively part of Kagoshima ), are distinct enough to be considered a separate branch of the Japonic family; not only is each language unintelligible to Japanese speakers, but most are unintelligible to those who speak other Ryūkyūan languages. However, in contrast to linguists, many ordinary Japanese people tend to consider
4080-466: Is better documentation of Late Middle Japanese phonology than for previous forms (for instance, the Arte da Lingoa de Iapam ). Among other sound changes, the sequence /au/ merges to /ɔː/ , in contrast with /oː/ ; /p/ is reintroduced from Chinese; and /we/ merges with /je/ . Some forms rather more familiar to Modern Japanese speakers begin to appear – the continuative ending - te begins to reduce onto
4200-509: Is correlated with the sex of the speaker and the social situation in which they are spoken: men and women alike in a formal situation generally refer to themselves as watashi ( 私 , literally "private") or watakushi (also 私 , hyper-polite form), while men in rougher or intimate conversation are much more likely to use the word ore ( 俺 "oneself", "myself") or boku . Similarly, different words such as anata , kimi , and omae ( お前 , more formally 御前 "the one before me") may refer to
4320-417: Is important, it can be indicated by providing a quantity (often with a counter word ) or (rarely) by adding a suffix, or sometimes by duplication (e.g. 人人 , hitobito , usually written with an iteration mark as 人々 ). Words for people are usually understood as singular. Thus Tanaka-san usually means Mx Tanaka . Words that refer to people and animals can be made to indicate a group of individuals through
4440-755: Is less common. In terms of mutual intelligibility , a survey in 1967 found that the four most unintelligible dialects (excluding Ryūkyūan languages and Tōhoku dialects ) to students from Greater Tokyo were the Kiso dialect (in the deep mountains of Nagano Prefecture ), the Himi dialect (in Toyama Prefecture ), the Kagoshima dialect and the Maniwa dialect (in Okayama Prefecture ). The survey
4560-409: Is often a winning factor in sumo. No weight divisions are used in professional sumo; a wrestler can sometimes face an opponent twice his own weight. However, with superior technique, smaller wrestlers can control and defeat much larger opponents. The average weight of top division wrestlers has continued to increase, from 125 kilograms (276 lb) in 1969 to over 150 kilograms (330 lb) by 1991, and
4680-420: Is often called a topic-prominent language , which means it has a strong tendency to indicate the topic separately from the subject, and that the two do not always coincide. The sentence Zō wa hana ga nagai ( 象は鼻が長い ) literally means, "As for elephant(s), (the) nose(s) (is/are) long". The topic is zō "elephant", and the subject is hana "nose". Japanese grammar tends toward brevity; the subject or object of
4800-498: Is preserved in words such as matsuge ("eyelash", lit. "hair of the eye"); modern mieru ("to be visible") and kikoeru ("to be audible") retain a mediopassive suffix - yu(ru) ( kikoyu → kikoyuru (the attributive form, which slowly replaced the plain form starting in the late Heian period) → kikoeru (all verbs with the shimo-nidan conjugation pattern underwent this same shift in Early Modern Japanese )); and
4920-415: Is referred to as being shini-tai ("dead body") in this case. The maximum length of a match varies depending on the division. In the top division, the limit is four minutes, although matches usually only last a few seconds. If the match has not yet ended after the allotted time has elapsed, a mizu-iri ( water break ) is taken, after which the wrestlers continue the fight from their previous positions. If
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5040-506: Is regarded as the creator of sumo. He was an ancestor of Sugawara no Michizane , great-grandfather to Haji no Mino and was the founder of the Haji clan after his creation of haniwa . A mural of him, removed from the old National Stadium in 2014, was put on display at the new stadium in 2019. This article relating to Shinto is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This biographical article related to sumo wrestling
5160-479: Is said to have lived during the reign of Emperor Suinin (29 BC – 70). Allegedly, in 23 B.C., the Emperor instructed Nomi no Sukune to deal with Taima no Kehaya ( 当麻蹴速 ) after he boasted that he was the strongest man " under the heavens ". Nomi no Sukune engaged Taima no Kehaya in hand-to-hand combat and broke his ribs with one kick and his back with another, killing Taima no Kehaya. It was not modern sumo, but he
5280-614: Is the principal language of the Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people . It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan , the only country where it is the national language , and within the Japanese diaspora worldwide. The Japonic family also includes the Ryukyuan languages and the variously classified Hachijō language . There have been many attempts to group the Japonic languages with other families such as
5400-402: Is the version of Japanese discussed in this article. Formerly, standard Japanese in writing ( 文語 , bungo , "literary language") was different from colloquial language ( 口語 , kōgo ) . The two systems have different rules of grammar and some variance in vocabulary. Bungo was the main method of writing Japanese until about 1900; since then kōgo gradually extended its influence and
5520-471: Is used for the present and the future. For verbs that represent an ongoing process, the -te iru form indicates a continuous (or progressive) aspect , similar to the suffix ing in English. For others that represent a change of state, the -te iru form indicates a perfect aspect. For example, kite iru means "They have come (and are still here)", but tabete iru means "They are eating". Questions (both with an interrogative pronoun and yes/no questions) have
5640-405: Is why some linguists do not classify Japanese "pronouns" as pronouns, but rather as referential nouns, much like Spanish usted (contracted from vuestra merced , "your ( majestic plural ) grace") or Portuguese você (from vossa mercê ). Japanese personal pronouns are generally used only in situations requiring special emphasis as to who is doing what to whom. The choice of words used as pronouns
5760-417: The makuuchi article for more details on promotion and relegation. A top-division wrestler who is not an ōzeki or yokozuna and who finishes the tournament with kachikoshi is also eligible to be considered for one of the three prizes awarded for "technique", "fighting spirit", and defeating the most yokozuna and ōzeki the "outstanding performance" prize. For more information see sanshō . For
5880-403: The mawashi (belt) and then forcing him out, a style called yotsu-zumō ( 四つ相撲 ) , or pushing the opponent out of the ring without a firm grip, a style called oshi-zumō ( 押し相撲 ) . The dohyō , which is constructed and maintained by the yobidashi , consists of a raised pedestal on which a circle 4.55 m (14.9 ft) in diameter is delimited by a series of rice-straw bales. In
6000-564: The Ainu , Austronesian , Koreanic , and the now-discredited Altaic , but none of these proposals have gained any widespread acceptance. Little is known of the language's prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from the 3rd century AD recorded a few Japanese words, but substantial Old Japanese texts did not appear until the 8th century. From the Heian period (794–1185), extensive waves of Sino-Japanese vocabulary entered
6120-468: The Japan Sumo Association is called ōzumō ( 大相撲 ) , or 'grand sumo'. Prehistoric wall paintings indicate that sumo originated from an agricultural ritual dance performed in prayer for a good harvest. The first mention of sumo can be found in a Kojiki manuscript dating back to 712, which describes how possession of the Japanese islands was decided in a wrestling match between the kami known as Takemikazuchi and Takeminakata . Takemikazuchi
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#17327759950836240-462: The Japonic language family, which also includes the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands . As these closely related languages are commonly treated as dialects of the same language, Japanese is sometimes called a language isolate . According to Martine Irma Robbeets , Japanese has been subject to more attempts to show its relation to other languages than any other language in
6360-679: The Kokugikan in Tokyo (January, May, and September), and one each in Osaka (March), Nagoya (July), and Fukuoka (November). Until the end of 1984, the Kokugikan was located in Kuramae , Tokyo, but moved in 1985 to the newly built venue at Ryōgoku . Each tournament begins on a Sunday and runs for 15 days, ending also on a Sunday, roughly in the middle of the month. The tournaments are organized in
6480-514: The Philippines , and various Pacific islands, locals in those countries learned Japanese as the language of the empire. As a result, many elderly people in these countries can still speak Japanese. Japanese emigrant communities (the largest of which are to be found in Brazil , with 1.4 million to 1.5 million Japanese immigrants and descendants, according to Brazilian IBGE data, more than
6600-493: The Tomioka Hachiman Shrine at this time. An official sumo organization was developed, consisting of professional wrestlers at the disposal of the Edo administration. Many elements date from this period, such as the dohyō-iri , the heya system, the gyōji and the mawashi . The 18th century brought forth several notable wrestlers such as Raiden Tameemon , Onogawa Kisaburō and Tanikaze Kajinosuke ,
6720-738: The United States (notably in Hawaii , where 16.7% of the population has Japanese ancestry, and California ), and the Philippines (particularly in Davao Region and the Province of Laguna ). Japanese has no official status in Japan, but is the de facto national language of the country. There is a form of the language considered standard : hyōjungo ( 標準語 ) , meaning "standard Japanese", or kyōtsūgo ( 共通語 ) , "common language", or even "Tokyo dialect" at times. The meanings of
6840-757: The de facto standard Japanese had been the Kansai dialect , especially that of Kyoto . However, during the Edo period, Edo (now Tokyo) developed into the largest city in Japan, and the Edo-area dialect became standard Japanese. Since the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in 1853, the flow of loanwords from European languages has increased significantly. The period since 1945 has seen many words borrowed from other languages—such as German, Portuguese and English. Many English loan words especially relate to technology—for example, pasokon (short for "personal computer"), intānetto ("internet"), and kamera ("camera"). Due to
6960-493: The kanji " 角力 ", as in the Nihon Shoki . Here, the first character means 'corner', but serves as a phonetic element as one reading of it is sumi , while the second character means 'force'. Sumō is also a general term for wrestling in Japanese. For example, udezumō ( 腕相撲 , 'arm sumō') means ' arm wrestling ', and yubizumō ( 指相撲 , 'finger sumō') means ' finger wrestling '. The professional sumo observed by
7080-443: The sekitori may start around 7 am. When the sekitori are training, the junior wrestlers may have chores to do, such as assisting in cooking lunch, cleaning, and preparing baths, holding a sekitori ' s towel, or wiping the sweat from him. The ranking hierarchy is preserved for the order of precedence in bathing after training, and in eating lunch. Wrestlers are not normally allowed to eat breakfast and are expected to have
7200-527: The 1.2 million of the United States ) sometimes employ Japanese as their primary language. Approximately 12% of Hawaii residents speak Japanese, with an estimated 12.6% of the population of Japanese ancestry in 2008. Japanese emigrants can also be found in Peru , Argentina , Australia (especially in the eastern states), Canada (especially in Vancouver , where 1.4% of the population has Japanese ancestry),
7320-538: The JSA stated that they would no longer accept aspiring wrestlers who surgically enhanced their height, citing health concerns. In 2019, The Japan Times reported that the height requirement was 167 cm (5 ft 6 in), and the weight requirement was 67 kg (148 lb), although they also claimed that a "blind eye" is turned for those "just shy" of the minimums. In 2023 the Sumo Association loosened
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#17327759950837440-503: The Japanese Sumo Association required that all sumo wrestlers be a minimum 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) in height. This prompted 16-year-old Takeji Harada of Japan (who had failed six previous eligibility tests) to have four separate cosmetic surgeries over a period of 12 months to add an extra 15 cm (6 in) of silicone to his scalp, which created a large, protruding bulge on his head. In response to this,
7560-486: The Japanese language is of particular interest, ranging between an apical central tap and a lateral approximant . The "g" is also notable; unless it starts a sentence, it may be pronounced [ ŋ ] , in the Kanto prestige dialect and in other eastern dialects. The phonotactics of Japanese are relatively simple. The syllable structure is (C)(G)V(C), that is, a core vowel surrounded by an optional onset consonant,
7680-736: The Old Japanese sections are written in Man'yōgana , which uses kanji for their phonetic as well as semantic values. Based on the Man'yōgana system, Old Japanese can be reconstructed as having 88 distinct morae . Texts written with Man'yōgana use two different sets of kanji for each of the morae now pronounced き (ki), ひ (hi), み (mi), け (ke), へ (he), め (me), こ (ko), そ (so), と (to), の (no), も (mo), よ (yo) and ろ (ro). (The Kojiki has 88, but all later texts have 87. The distinction between mo 1 and mo 2 apparently
7800-488: The Ryūkyūan languages as dialects of Japanese. The imperial court also seems to have spoken an unusual variant of the Japanese of the time, most likely the spoken form of Classical Japanese , a writing style that was prevalent during the Heian period , but began to decline during the late Meiji period . The Ryūkyūan languages are classified by UNESCO as 'endangered', as young people mostly use Japanese and cannot understand
7920-543: The addition of a collective suffix (a noun suffix that indicates a group), such as -tachi , but this is not a true plural: the meaning is closer to the English phrase "and company". A group described as Tanaka-san-tachi may include people not named Tanaka. Some Japanese nouns are effectively plural, such as hitobito "people" and wareware "we/us", while the word tomodachi "friend" is considered singular, although plural in form. Verbs are conjugated to show tenses, of which there are two: past and present (or non-past) which
8040-407: The average Japanese man. From 2008 to 2016, a number of high-profile controversies and scandals rocked the sumo world, with an associated effect on its reputation and ticket sales. These have also affected the sport's ability to attract recruits. Despite this setback, sumo's popularity and general attendance has rebounded due to having multiple yokozuna (or grand champions) for the first time in
8160-408: The bout, the referee must immediately designate his decision by pointing his gunbai or war-fan towards the winning side. The winning technique ( kimarite ) used by the winner would then be announced to the audience. The wrestlers then return to their starting positions and bow to each other before retiring. The referee's decision is not final and may be disputed by the five judges seated around
8280-425: The central association. The popularity of sumo was restored when Emperor Meiji organized a tournament in 1884; his example would make sumo a national symbol and contribute to nationalist sentiment following military successes against Korea and China. The Japan Sumo Association reunited on 28 December 1925 and increased the number of annual tournaments from two to four, and then to six in 1958. The length of tournaments
8400-467: The court increased its ceremonial and religious significance. Regular events at the Emperor's court, the sumai no sechie , and the establishment of the first set of rules for sumo fall into the cultural heyday of the Heian period . With the collapse of the Emperor's central authority, sumo lost its importance in the court; during the Kamakura period , sumo was repurposed from a ceremonial struggle to
8520-495: The culmination of the tournament echoes the words of the playwright Zeami to represent the excitement of the decisive bouts and the celebration of the victor. The Emperor's Cup is presented to the wrestler who wins the top-division makuuchi championship. Numerous other (mostly sponsored) prizes are also awarded to him. These prizes are often rather elaborate, ornate gifts, such as giant cups, decorative plates, and statuettes. Others are quite commercial, such as one trophy shaped like
8640-467: The effect of changing Japanese into a mora-timed language. Late Middle Japanese covers the years from 1185 to 1600, and is normally divided into two sections, roughly equivalent to the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period , respectively. The later forms of Late Middle Japanese are the first to be described by non-native sources, in this case the Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries; and thus there
8760-419: The evening with bouts involving the yokozuna . The wrestler who wins the most matches over the 15 days wins the tournament championship ( yūshō ) for his division. If two wrestlers are tied for the top, they wrestle each other and the winner takes the title. Three-way ties for a championship are rare, at least in the top division. In these cases, the three wrestle each other in pairs with the first to win two in
8880-483: The first historical yokozuna . When Matthew Perry was shown sumo wrestling during his 1853 expedition to Japan, he found it distasteful and arranged a military showcase to display the merits of Western organization. The Meiji Restoration of 1868 brought about the end of the feudal system, and with it the wealthy daimyō as sponsors. Due to a new fixation on Western culture , sumo had come to be seen as an embarrassing and backward relic, and internal disputes split
9000-455: The flow of loanwords from European languages increased significantly, and words from English roots have proliferated. Japanese is an agglutinative , mora -timed language with relatively simple phonotactics , a pure vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length, and a lexically significant pitch-accent . Word order is normally subject–object–verb with particles marking the grammatical function of words, and sentence structure
9120-434: The following day's matchups around 12 pm. An exception are the final day 15 matchups, which are announced much later on day 14. Each wrestler only competes against a selection of opponents from the same division, though small overlaps can occur between two divisions. The first bouts of a tournament tend to be between wrestlers who are within a few ranks of each other. Afterwards, the selection of opponents takes into account
9240-421: The four lower divisions, known commonly by the more generic term rikishi ( 力士 ) . The ranks receive different levels of compensation, privileges, and status. The topmost makuuchi division receives the most attention from fans and has the most complex hierarchy. The majority of wrestlers are maegashira ( 前頭 ) and are ranked from the highest level 1 down to about 16 or 17. In each rank are two wrestlers;
9360-609: The genitive particle ga remains in intentionally archaic speech. Early Middle Japanese is the Japanese of the Heian period , from 794 to 1185. It formed the basis for the literary standard of Classical Japanese , which remained in common use until the early 20th century. During this time, Japanese underwent numerous phonological developments, in many cases instigated by an influx of Chinese loanwords . These included phonemic length distinction for both consonants and vowels , palatal consonants (e.g. kya ) and labial consonant clusters (e.g. kwa ), and closed syllables . This had
9480-443: The height and weight requirements, announcing that prospective recruits not meeting the minimums could still enter sumo by passing a physical fitness exam . All sumo wrestlers take wrestling names called shikona ( 四股名 ) , which may or may not be related to their real names. Often, wrestlers have little choice in their names, which are given to them by their stablemasters, or by a supporter or family member who encouraged them into
9600-412: The higher rank is designated as "east" and the lower as "west", so the list goes #1 east, #1 west, #2 east, #2 west, etc. Above the maegashira are the three champion or titleholder ranks, called the san'yaku , which are only numbered if the number of wrestlers in each rank exceeds two. These are, in ascending order, komusubi ( 小結 ) , sekiwake ( 関脇 ) , and ōzeki ( 大関 ) . At the pinnacle of
9720-449: The highest ranks. In the 10 years since January 2009, five of the nine wrestlers promoted to ōzeki have been foreign-born, and a Japanese had not been named yokozuna from 1998 until the promotion of Kisenosato Yutaka in 2017. This and other issues eventually led the Sumo Association to limit the number of foreigners allowed to one in each stable. Women are not allowed to compete in professional sumo. They are also not allowed to enter
9840-430: The language, affecting the phonology of Early Middle Japanese . Late Middle Japanese (1185–1600) saw extensive grammatical changes and the first appearance of European loanwords . The basis of the standard dialect moved from the Kansai region to the Edo region (modern Tokyo ) in the Early Modern Japanese period (early 17th century–mid 19th century). Following the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in 1853,
9960-458: The languages of the original Jōmon inhabitants, including the ancestor of the modern Ainu language . Because writing had yet to be introduced from China, there is no direct evidence, and anything that can be discerned about this period must be based on internal reconstruction from Old Japanese , or comparison with the Ryukyuan languages and Japanese dialects . The Chinese writing system
10080-449: The languages. Okinawan Japanese is a variant of Standard Japanese influenced by the Ryūkyūan languages, and is the primary dialect spoken among young people in the Ryukyu Islands . Modern Japanese has become prevalent nationwide (including the Ryūkyū islands) due to education , mass media , and an increase in mobility within Japan, as well as economic integration. Japanese is a member of
10200-427: The large quantity of English loanwords, modern Japanese has developed a distinction between [tɕi] and [ti] , and [dʑi] and [di] , with the latter in each pair only found in loanwords. Although Japanese is spoken almost exclusively in Japan, it has also been spoken outside of the country. Before and during World War II , through Japanese annexation of Taiwan and Korea , as well as partial occupation of China ,
10320-404: The last five days or so of the tournament (depending on the number of top-ranked wrestlers competing). Traditionally, on the final day, the last three bouts of the tournament are between the top six ranked wrestlers, with the top two competing in the final matchup, unless injuries during the tournament prevent this. Certain match-ups are prohibited in regular tournament play. Wrestlers who are from
10440-413: The list of upper divisions champions since 1909, refer to the list of top division champions and the list of second division champions . At the initial charge, both wrestlers must jump up from the crouch simultaneously after touching the surface of the ring with two fists at the start of the bout. The referee ( gyōji ) can restart the bout if this simultaneous touch does not occur. Upon completion of
10560-410: The middle of the circle there are two starting lines ( shikiri-sen ), behind which the wrestlers line up for the tachi-ai , the synchronized charge that initiates the match. The direction of the match is incumbent on the gyōji , a referee who is supported by five shimpan (judges). In some situations, a review of the gyōji ' s decision may be needed. The shimpan may convene a conference in
10680-433: The middle of the ring, called a mono-ii . This is done if the judges decide that the decision over who won the bout needs to be reviewed; for example, if both wrestlers appear to touch the ground or step out of the ring at the same time. In these cases, sometimes video is reviewed to see what happened. Once a decision is made, the chief judge will announce the decision to the spectators and the wrestlers alike. They may order
10800-411: The only country where it is practised professionally and where it is considered the national sport . It is considered a gendai budō , which refers to modern Japanese martial arts , but the sport has a history spanning many centuries. Many ancient traditions have been preserved in sumo, and even today the sport includes many ritual elements, such as the use of salt purification, from Shinto . Life as
10920-425: The only strict rule of word order is that the verb must be placed at the end of a sentence (possibly followed by sentence-end particles). This is because Japanese sentence elements are marked with particles that identify their grammatical functions. The basic sentence structure is topic–comment . For example, Kochira wa Tanaka-san desu ( こちらは田中さんです ). kochira ("this") is the topic of the sentence, indicated by
11040-402: The opponent. The Japan Sumo Association currently distinguishes 82 kimarite (winning techniques), some of which come from judo . Illegal moves are called kinjite , which include strangulation, hair-pulling, bending fingers, gripping the crotch area, kicking, poking eyes, punching and simultaneously striking both the opponent's ears. The most common basic forms are grabbing the opponent by
11160-470: The out-group gives a benefit to the in-group, and "up" to indicate the in-group gives a benefit to the out-group. Here, the in-group includes the speaker and the out-group does not, and their boundary depends on context. For example, oshiete moratta ( 教えてもらった ) (literally, "explaining got" with a benefit from the out-group to the in-group) means "[he/she/they] explained [it] to [me/us]". Similarly, oshiete ageta ( 教えてあげた ) (literally, "explaining gave" with
11280-415: The particle wa . The verb desu is a copula , commonly translated as "to be" or "it is" (though there are other verbs that can be translated as "to be"), though technically it holds no meaning and is used to give a sentence 'politeness'. As a phrase, Tanaka-san desu is the comment. This sentence literally translates to "As for this person, (it) is Mx Tanaka." Thus Japanese, like many other Asian languages,
11400-481: The proposed larger Altaic family, or to various Southeast Asian languages , especially Austronesian . None of these proposals have gained wide acceptance (and the Altaic family itself is now considered controversial). As it stands, only the link to Ryukyuan has wide support. Other theories view the Japanese language as an early creole language formed through inputs from at least two distinct language groups, or as
11520-428: The rank of yokozuna at the same time. In antiquity, sumo was solely a Japanese sport. Since the 1900s, however, the number of foreign-born sumo wrestlers has gradually increased. In the beginning of this period, these few foreign wrestlers were listed as Japanese, but particularly since the 1960s, a number of high-profile foreign-born wrestlers became well-known, and in more recent years have even come to dominate in
11640-444: The ranking system is the rank of yokozuna ( 横綱 ) . Yokozuna , or grand champions, are generally expected to compete for and to win the top division tournament title on a regular basis, hence the promotion criteria for yokozuna are very strict. In general, an ōzeki must win the championship for two consecutive tournaments or an "equivalent performance" to be considered for promotion to yokozuna . More than one wrestler can hold
11760-402: The ring. If this happens, they meet in the center of the ring to hold a mono-ii (a talk about things). After reaching a consensus, they can uphold or reverse the referee's decision or order a rematch, known as a torinaoshi . A winning wrestler in the top division may receive additional prize money in envelopes from the referee if the matchup has been sponsored. If a yokozuna is defeated by
11880-408: The running for the top division championship. Similarly, more highly ranked wrestlers with very poor records may find themselves fighting wrestlers much further down the division. For the yokozuna and ōzeki , the first week and a half of the tournament tends to be taken up with bouts against the top maegashira , komusubi , and sekiwake , with the bouts within these ranks being concentrated into
12000-459: The same structure as affirmative sentences, but with intonation rising at the end. In the formal register, the question particle -ka is added. For example, ii desu ( いいです ) "It is OK" becomes ii desu-ka ( いいですか。 ) "Is it OK?". In a more informal tone sometimes the particle -no ( の ) is added instead to show a personal interest of the speaker: Dōshite konai-no? "Why aren't (you) coming?". Some simple queries are formed simply by mentioning
12120-411: The same training stable cannot compete against each other, nor can wrestlers who are brothers, even if they join different stables. The one exception to this rule is that training stable partners and brothers can face each other in a championship-deciding playoff match. The last day of the tournament is called senshūraku , which literally means "the pleasure of a thousand autumns". This colorful name for
12240-439: The speaker, the listener, and persons mentioned. The Japanese writing system combines Chinese characters , known as kanji ( 漢字 , ' Han characters') , with two unique syllabaries (or moraic scripts) derived by the Japanese from the more complex Chinese characters: hiragana ( ひらがな or 平仮名 , 'simple characters') and katakana ( カタカナ or 片仮名 , 'partial characters'). Latin script ( rōmaji ローマ字 )
12360-411: The sport and unchanged for centuries. These include the ring-entering ceremonies ( dohyō-iri ) at the beginning of each tournament day, in which the wrestlers appear in the ring in elaborate kesho-mawashi , but also such details as the tossing of salt into the ring by the wrestlers, which serves as a symbolic cleansing of the ring, and rinsing the mouth with chikara-mizu ( 力水 , power water) before
12480-428: The sport. This is particularly true of foreign-born wrestlers. A wrestler may change his wrestling name during his career, with some changing theirs several times. Professional sumo wrestling has a strict hierarchy based on sporting merit. The wrestlers are ranked according to a system that dates back to the Edo period. They are promoted or demoted according to their performance in six official tournaments held throughout
12600-817: The state as at the time the constitution was written, many of the elders participating in the process had been educated in Japanese during the South Seas Mandate over the island shown by the 1958 census of the Trust Territory of the Pacific that found that 89% of Palauans born between 1914 and 1933 could speak and read Japanese, but as of the 2005 Palau census there were no residents of Angaur that spoke Japanese at home. Japanese dialects typically differ in terms of pitch accent , inflectional morphology , vocabulary , and particle usage. Some even differ in vowel and consonant inventories, although this
12720-481: The street. (grammatically incorrect insertion of a pronoun) But one can grammatically say essentially the same thing in Japanese: 驚いた彼は道を走っていった。 Transliteration: Odoroita kare wa michi o hashitte itta. (grammatically correct) This is partly because these words evolved from regular nouns, such as kimi "you" ( 君 "lord"), anata "you" ( あなた "that side, yonder"), and boku "I" ( 僕 "servant"). This
12840-543: The topic with an interrogative intonation to call for the hearer's attention: Kore wa? "(What about) this?"; O-namae wa? ( お名前は？ ) "(What's your) name?". Negatives are formed by inflecting the verb. For example, Pan o taberu ( パンを食べる。 ) "I will eat bread" or "I eat bread" becomes Pan o tabenai ( パンを食べない。 ) "I will not eat bread" or "I do not eat bread". Plain negative forms are i -adjectives (see below) and inflect as such, e.g. Pan o tabenakatta ( パンを食べなかった。 ) "I did not eat bread". Nomi no Sukune Sukune
12960-419: The two consonants are the moraic nasal followed by a homorganic consonant. Japanese also includes a pitch accent , which is not represented in moraic writing; for example [haꜜ.ɕi] ("chopsticks") and [ha.ɕiꜜ] ("bridge") are both spelled はし ( hashi ) , and are only differentiated by the tone contour. Japanese word order is classified as subject–object–verb . Unlike many Indo-European languages ,
13080-577: The two methods were both used in writing until the 1940s. Bungo still has some relevance for historians, literary scholars, and lawyers (many Japanese laws that survived World War II are still written in bungo , although there are ongoing efforts to modernize their language). Kōgo is the dominant method of both speaking and writing Japanese today, although bungo grammar and vocabulary are occasionally used in modern Japanese for effect. The 1982 state constitution of Angaur , Palau , names Japanese along with Palauan and English as an official language of
13200-480: The two terms (''hyōjungo'' and ''kyōtsūgo'') are almost the same. Hyōjungo or kyōtsūgo is a conception that forms the counterpart of dialect. This normative language was born after the Meiji Restoration ( 明治維新 , meiji ishin , 1868) from the language spoken in the higher-class areas of Tokyo (see Yamanote ). Hyōjungo is taught in schools and used on television and in official communications. It
13320-407: The verb (e.g. yonde for earlier yomite ), the -k- in the final mora of adjectives drops out ( shiroi for earlier shiroki ); and some forms exist where modern standard Japanese has retained the earlier form (e.g. hayaku > hayau > hayɔɔ , where modern Japanese just has hayaku , though the alternative form is preserved in the standard greeting o-hayō gozaimasu "good morning"; this ending
13440-548: The world. Since Japanese first gained the consideration of linguists in the late 19th century, attempts have been made to show its genealogical relation to languages or language families such as Ainu , Korean , Chinese , Tibeto-Burman , Uralic , Altaic (or Ural-Altaic ), Austroasiatic , Austronesian and Dravidian . At the fringe, some linguists have even suggested a link to Indo-European languages , including Greek , or to Sumerian . Main modern theories try to link Japanese either to northern Asian languages, like Korean or
13560-568: The wrestling ring ( dohyō ), a tradition stemming from Shinto and Buddhist beliefs that women are "impure" because of menstrual blood . A form of female sumo ( 女相撲 , onnazumo ) existed in some parts of Japan before professional sumo was established. The 2018 film The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine depicts female sumo wrestlers at the time of civil unrest following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake . Since 1958, six Grand Sumo tournaments or honbasho have been held each year: three at
13680-442: The year, which are called honbasho . A carefully prepared banzuke listing the full hierarchy is published two weeks prior to each sumo tournament. In addition to the professional tournaments, exhibition competitions are held at regular intervals every year in Japan, and roughly once every two years, the top-ranked wrestlers visit a foreign country for such exhibitions. None of these displays are taken into account in determining
13800-443: Was a god of thunder, swordsmanship, and conquest, created from the blood that was shed when Izanagi slew the fire-demon Kagu-tsuchi . Takeminakata was a god of water, wind, agriculture and hunting, and a distant descendant of the storm-god Susanoo . When Takemikazuchi sought to conquer the land of Izumo , Takeminakata challenged him in hand-to-hand combat. In their melee, Takemikazuchi grappled Takeminakata's arm and crushed it "like
13920-631: Was a record 166 kilograms (366 lb) as of January 2019. Professional sumo is organized by the Japan Sumo Association . The members of the association, called oyakata , are all former wrestlers, and are the only people entitled to train new wrestlers. All professional wrestlers must be a member of a training stable (or heya ) run by one of the oyakata , who is the stablemaster for the wrestlers under him. In 2007, 43 training stables hosted 660 wrestlers. To turn professional, wrestlers must have completed at least nine years of compulsory education and meet minimum height and weight requirements. In 1994,
14040-539: Was based on 12- to 20-second-long recordings of 135 to 244 phonemes , which 42 students listened to and translated word-for-word. The listeners were all Keio University students who grew up in the Kanto region . There are some language islands in mountain villages or isolated islands such as Hachijō-jima island , whose dialects are descended from Eastern Old Japanese . Dialects of the Kansai region are spoken or known by many Japanese, and Osaka dialect in particular
14160-460: Was extended from ten to fifteen days in 1949. The elementary principle of sumo is that a match is decided by a fighter first either being forced out of the circular dohyō (ring) (not necessarily having to touch the ground outside the ring with any part of the body), or touching the ground inside the ring with any part of the body other than the soles of the feet. The wrestlers try to achieve this by pushing, tossing, striking and often by outwitting
14280-735: Was imported to Japan from Baekje around the start of the fifth century, alongside Buddhism. The earliest texts were written in Classical Chinese , although some of these were likely intended to be read as Japanese using the kanbun method, and show influences of Japanese grammar such as Japanese word order. The earliest text, the Kojiki , dates to the early eighth century, and was written entirely in Chinese characters, which are used to represent, at different times, Chinese, kanbun , and Old Japanese. As in other texts from this period,
14400-474: Was lost immediately following its composition.) This set of morae shrank to 67 in Early Middle Japanese , though some were added through Chinese influence. Man'yōgana also has a symbol for /je/ , which merges with /e/ before the end of the period. Several fossilizations of Old Japanese grammatical elements remain in the modern language – the genitive particle tsu (superseded by modern no )
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