Sumo may be as Japanese as samurai and sushi, but foreign-born wrestlers have entered the ring to steal the show in the 2,000-year-old national sport.
Sumo hasn’t had a home-grown champion in more than three years, and in the latest national tournament more than one-third of competitors were foreigners.
As fewer young Japanese sign up for the harsh life of the sumo stable, the sport’s 700-strong elite now include men from China, South Korea, Eastern Europe and as far away as Brazil and the Pacific island state of Tonga.
As sports such as baseball and soccer have gained ground, the number of Japanese sumo recruits has more than halved since its peak in 1992 of 223 local wrestlers.
Traditionally, young wrestlers were recruited from farming and fishing communities in the remote north and south, said Doreen Simmons, a veteran English-language sumo commentator for national broadcaster NHK.
Sumo opened its doors to foreigners decades ago, and spectators still delight when gaijin wrestlers exhibit what are seen by many as the essential Japanese characteristics of modesty, endurance and diligence.
The presence of foreigners will not lead to the internationalization of the sport, Simmons said, as the newcomers must assimilate, learn Japanese and adapt to the local diet, dress, customs and training regime.
“Any foreigner who succeeds in sumo must do it the Japanese way,” she said.
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