Sumo Art

[sekitori 492]

Sumo and music

Akinomaki has put up a great post of a music video with Harumafuji in it here:

http://www.sumoforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=32145&page=13#entry293218

I can't explain why, but John Coltrane's playing (2:39 to 4:20) on this video always makes me think of Harumafuji. Apologies to those who don't like semi-difficult jazz, or don't like jazz at all, but the whole piece is worth listening to. Miles Davis on trumpet, John Coltrane on tenor sax, Wynton kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums.

If Miles Davis = smooth = Hakuho,

Coltrane = high tension = Harumafuji

Wynton Kelly = understated = Kakuryu

Good comparisons. But for pure technical excellence, I would equate Hakuho more with Art Tatum. They're the best of the best. They both do things at a level that others can only dream about.

[hamcornheinz 839]

I guess Takamisakari would be Thelonious Monk then? Chiyonofuji would be Oscar Peterson? Mainoumi would be a sort of Stanley Jordan type.

[egparis18 621]

Sumo and music

Akinomaki has put up a great post of a music video with Harumafuji in it here:

http://www.sumoforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=32145&page=13#entry293218

I can't explain why, but John Coltrane's playing (2:39 to 4:20) on this video always makes me think of Harumafuji. Apologies to those who don't like semi-difficult jazz, or don't like jazz at all, but the whole piece is worth listening to. Miles Davis on trumpet, John Coltrane on tenor sax, Wynton kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums.

If Miles Davis = smooth = Hakuho,

Coltrane = high tension = Harumafuji

Wynton Kelly = understated = Kakuryu

Good comparisons. But for pure technical excellence, I would equate Hakuho more with Art Tatum. They're the best of the best. They both do things at a level that others can only dream about.

I reckon Art Blakey's more like it. Watch him hatakikomi that cymbal at 8:40

[egparis18 621]

Did you know that sumo has featured in a James Bond movie?

More information and more images here http://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2007/jul/02/japan.internationalnews including

and

and

Enjoy!

[egparis18 621]

Sumo and Kabuki

I found 5 plays which have rikishi as characters

1. Sekitori Senryô Nobori 関取千両幟

This is the actor Arashi Ganshô playing a rôle, and there's more information here http://www.kabuki21.com/gansho1.php

2. Dôchû Musume Kagagasa - I couldn't find the kanji

Kirishima Giemon I (above) and Nakamura Nakasuke I (below) playing the roles of Sajibei and Jirokichi in 1810.

More information here http://www.kabuki21.com/nakasuke.php

3. Futatsu Chôchô Kuruwa Nikki 双蝶々曲輪日記

Here's a playbill

More information and images (go to the bottom of the page and click) here http://kabuki21.com/fckn.php

4. Haru no nishiki datezome Soga 春錦伊達染曽我

Kabuki Playbill (Tsuji banzuke) for Haru no Nishiki Date-zome Soga at the Nakamura Theater http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/kabuki-playbill-tsuji-banzuke-for-haru-no-nishiki-date-zome-soga-at-the-nakamura-theater-224864

Matsumoto Koshiro IV as Sekitori Katsuragawa no Choemon

It's a diptych with another actor playing a rikishi portrayed on the other side. You can see it and get information here

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/publications/online_research_catalogues/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=787670&partid=1&numpages=10&output=Places/!!/OR/!!/42804/!/42804-2-11/!/Made+in+Edo/!//!!//!!!/&orig=/research/online_research_catalogues/russian_icons/catalogue_of_russian_icons/advanced_search.aspx&currentPage=23

5. Megumi no Kenka め組のけんか

This one's about a brawl between rikishi and firemen

http://www.myjapanesehanga.com/home/artists/utagawa-kunimasa-iv-1848-1920/kami-no-megumi-wago-no-torikumi

Another woodblock

and more about the play here

https://kabukilive.wordpress.com/2015/05/26/may-kabuki-megumi-no-kenka-%E3%82%81%E7%B5%84%E3%81%AE%E3%81%91%E3%82%93%E3%81%8B%EF%BC%89-waki-noboru-mizu-ni-koi-taki-koi-tsukami-%E3%82%8F%E3%81%8D%E3%81%AE%E3%81%BC%E3%82%8B%E3%81%BF/

I managed to find a video. It's 89:53 minutes long. It starts at 09:10 after ads and chit-chat. There's a break with more chit-chat from 27:39 to 31:17 and again from 60:15 to 61:35 and yet again from 72:03 to 74:00. The video quality's poor, but I watched the lot.

The rikishi come on at 66:40, after a spectacular scene change. Here are some images;

From the first site mentioned above

Screenshots

I found the video on three sites

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzM5MDU0MDUy.html

and

http://www.pideo.net/video/youku/4760ed837006c887/

and

https://www.zhuatieba.com/video/XMzM5MDU0MDUy

This is a great site for kabuki fans http://www.kabuki21.com/index.htm

Here's an interview with kabuki star Ebizō Ichikawa XI. https://next.ft.com/content/e9a81d94-c9b5-11e5-be0b-b7ece4e953a0

(He knows Hakuho.)

Here's a video from YouTube about Ennosuke III. No sumo rôles, but very interesting.

Edited May 26, 2016 by egparis18

[egparis18 621]

Speaking of sumo and kabuki;

Anyone who wants to be a yokozuna

or a great kabuki actor

I didn't know these things are called 'comic foregrounds'. There's a series of them here http://mcha-jp.com/6998

and no prizes for guessing which real rikishi features in it.

Here's the first one (I think), arted-up a bit https://www.eyeem.com/p/72832012

Enjoy

Edited June 1, 2016 by egparis18

[egparis18 621]

It wasn't just Asashoryu ...

Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Woodblock print, Sekigahara Station from 'The 69 Stations of the Kisokaido'. The rival wrestlers Hanaregoma Chokichi and Nuregami Chogoro in a street-brawl amongst rubble. 1852

Found here http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3277713&partId=1

Edited June 6, 2016 by egparis18

[egparis18 621]

Sumo and bunraku

I got the first image from Pinterest https://fr.pinterest.com/sacotakata/japanpuppet-theater-bunraku-/

I tried to find the original source, but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. There are a lot of images of bunraku puppets on the same page.

I got the second image here http://ameblo.jp/yobikuni/entry-11473457893.html It's a very interesting blog, especially if you can read kanji. Even if you can't, like me, Google Translate helps a bit, and there are some other very good images.

Wikipedia gave me this image

And plenty of information https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunraku

I couldn't find a video of a sumo sequence anywhere - not by copy-and-pasting kanji nor anything, but this video from YouTube shows how well bunraku can deliver dramatic action.

The play I found the first two images from is called Sekitori Senryo Nobori (The Pride of a Sumo Wrestler or The Sekitori's Banner). There's a synopsis and plenty of information about bunraku here

http://www.ntj.jac.go.jp/schedule/bunraku/2015/4838.html?lan=e

and another synopsis here, which says the courtesan's name is Nishikigi (?!)

http://bunraku.panthorstudios.com/play/the-sumo-wrestlers-banner/

More information from YouTube about bunraku

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dziy1mEBoiQ&list=WL&index=32

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dziy1mEBoiQ&list=WL&index=32

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdZNK6lW8mc

I've been bingewatching kabuki and bunraku since doing this research.

Edited June 12, 2016 by egparis18

[egparis18 621]

Hokusai did some sumo themed woodcuts.

Akinomaki has already uploaded a small version of this image in one of his Pics Overview posts. Here's a bigger one and a link to a page where you can order; prints, greetings cards, pillows, bags and even a shower curtain with the image on it.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/hokusai-sumo-granger.html

Wikipedia has an example. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukiyo-e

Here's another http://www.kunstkopie.de/a/hokusai-katsushika/studiesofgesturesandpostu-1.html

Here's a book https://futoiyatsu.wordpress.com/articles-in-english/the-grandmother-of-all-manga/

And his teacher, Katsukawa Shunshō (1726?～1792), was a pioneer in sumo-e.

http://www.ukiyoe-ota-muse.jp/exhibition-eng/2015_katsukawashunsho_en

Edited June 20, 2016 by egparis18

[808morgan 791]

2016

ooosirobosiooo

Edited June 22, 2016 by 808morgan

[Asojima 2,835]

ooosirobosiooo

I almost skipped the link. (Clapping wildly...) (Clapping wildly...)

[808morgan 791]

I forget where I got this

[inhashi 2,363]

Yokozuna Toyonoshima? ;)

[egparis18 621]

I forget where I got this

http://www.redbubble.com/fr/people/wanderingflame?ref=artist_title_name

and

http://www.redbubble.com/fr/people/wanderingflame/shop/r%C3%A9cents+hoodies?ref=portfolio_product_refinement

Wandering Flame, from Scarborough in Yorkshire, UK

[egparis18 621]

More Hokusai

The complete works here, and you can order copies. http://www.katsushikahokusai.org/The-Sumo-wrestlers-Uzugafuchi-Kandayu-and-Takasaki.html

From this page http://www.hum2.pref.yamaguchi.lg.jp/sk2/book/manga11.htm in kanji. There's plenty more there.

The Met

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/37189

and

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/37190

Honolulu Museum of Art - the right hand page hasn't been posted yet, I think.

http://honolulumuseum.org/art/exhibitions/11623-oh_sumo/

From a very good blog; http://thecribsheet-isabelinho.blogspot.fr/2009/02/katsushika-hokusais-fugaku-hyakkei-coda.html

And an excellent blog; http://poulwebb.blogspot.fr/2014/10/katsushika-hokusai-part-8.html

There's a selection of prints here http://www.repro-tableaux.com/a/katsushika-hokusai.html&mpos=999

and here http://www.zazzle.com/sumo+wrestler+art

and if you want to make a fashion statement http://www.zazzle.com/hokusai_sumo_wrestlers_neck_tie-151237296512299035

Edited June 29, 2016 by egparis18

[egparis18 621]

Seven feet tall and it moves.

I found the image here on Tumblr http://ouidaccord7.tumblr.com/post/631546437/%E7%9B%B8%E6%92%B2%E7%94%9F%E4%BA%BA%E5%BD%A2-%E5%AE%89%E6%9C%AC%E4%BA%80%E5%85%AB-kamehachi-yasumoto

It's an iki-ningyo

There's a brief explanation of what they are on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iki-ningy%C5%8D

and a much more detailed one, with spectacular images here http://antiquejapanesedolls.com./pub_artinfocus/pub_iki/iki.html

It's by Kamehachi Yasumoto I. He made it for an exhibition, but it wasn't finished on time, and went to a temple, then to a curio shop, then to the Detroit Museum of Art and finally back to Japan It's now at the Kumamoto City Museum of Modern Art. Kumamoto is Kamehachi Yasumoto I's birthplace.

Get more details here. It's best to scroll on the page - if you use the scrollbar it jumps too far. https://books.google.fr/books?id=6QXQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA209&lpg=PA209&dq=Kamehachi+Yasumoto+I&source=bl&ots=ToI_KPMLUH&sig=cOF7HHVdppC_Tt8Fh_Jfgu2BGOQ&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi59baGit_NAhUHPhQKHUwxDFsQ6AEIXzAJ#v=onepage&q=Kamehachi%20Yasumoto%20I&f=false

Dismantled for transport. more images and information here. http://bid.igavelauctions.com/Bidding.taf?_function=detail&Auction_uid1=572455

Edited July 6, 2016 by egparis18

[hamcornheinz 839]

the word "creepy" comes to mind.

[Akinomaki 34,822]

This pair is often used to depict the fight to the death of Nomi-no-Sukune with Taima-no-Kehaya.

Edited July 6, 2016 by Akinomaki

[Manekineko 200]

Fascinating. Now I wanna go to Kumamoto.

[egparis18 621]

It was part of an exhibition at the museum.

http://www.camk.or.jp/english/exhibition/ikiningyou02/index.html#event_another

Edited July 6, 2016 by egparis18

[egparis18 621]

By Sam Green http://sams-place.net/Japan-relief-poster

[Jakusotsu 4,884]

When you see planks sticking in a guy's buttocks, it must be art.

[egparis18 621]

When you see planks sticking in a guy's buttocks, it must be art.

It's a fundamental principle.

[808morgan 791]

First one looks like Yoshikaze

Edited July 24, 2016 by 808morgan

[inhashi 2,363]

Fist one looks like Yoshikaze

I'm gonna guess Tokushoryu and Hidenoumi.