The New York Public Library digitized rare images of sumo wrestlers

[808morgan 812]

The New York Public Library recently digitized rare images of sumo wrestlers, believed to have been taken in the late 1800s in Japan. Practice of the sport dates back to at least the 8th century.

Sumo’s ties to Japan go much deeper than merely being the country’s de facto national sport. Legend has it that the Japanese people established themselves on the island nation after a wrestling fight between the gods Takemikazuchi and Takeminakata.

Practice of the sport dates back to at least the 8th century and was once regarded as a performance to entertain the gods of the Shinto religion, an indigenous Japanese faith.

Sumo remains one of the most popular spectator sports in Japan, where six 15-day tournaments are held across the country every year.

Sumo is a grueling sport. To win a fight, a wrestler, or rikishi, must push, slap or body-throw until his opponent out of the ring. Alternatively, part of his opponent’s body — that aren’t the soles of his feet — must touch the ground or leave the ring.

Many rikishi pack on the pounds so that they can’t be pushed around easily. Wrestlers tend to weigh 220 to 440 pounds, according to Japan’s national tourism association. Professional rikishi typically live in sumo stables, or beya, where they must follow strict training, eating and sleeping schedules. A typical schedule involves hours of training in the early morning, followed by a high-calorie brunch and a nap to ensure slow digestion. The large body, slicked back topknot and loin cloth of a sumo wrestler is instantly recognizable.

The New York Public Library recently digitized some rare photographs of sumo wrestlers believed to be taken in the late 19th century. Take a look and marvel at some more of those photographs below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sumo-wrestler-rare-photos-new-york-public-library_us_56fc09d5e4b0daf53aee5d2a?utm_hp_ref=world

[orandashoho 720]

Thank you for these.

That's a very young (wampaku?) gyoji there... the first gyoji, samurai-style, looks like a daimyo, when was the winged vest tradition stopped? It looks impractical....

Sagari look shorter and more numerous (and not starched)...

Interesting pictures!

[Kuroyama 715]

Thank you for these.

That's a very young (wampaku?) gyoji there... the first gyoji, samurai-style, looks like a daimyo, when was the winged vest tradition stopped? It looks impractical....

Sagari look shorter and more numerous (and not starched)...

Interesting pictures!

The "winged vest" is called a kataginu, the upper half of an outfit called a kamishimo, which was simply the formal wear of the samurai class during the Edo period. It was selected not for practicality, but because it was proper clothing for public events when sumo first turned professional. The present gyoji costume is a much older style adopted around the beginning of the 20th century to add a bit to the spectacle. It's not terribly practical either, the only concession to practicality being that they keep their sleeves tied at the wrist rather than hanging loose as was more common when such clothing was fashionable.

Edited April 1, 2016 by Kuroyama

[Chiyotasuke 300]

I came across a digitized version of a book published in 1886 that features biographies of popular rikishi from the period. Alongside the biographies, there are illustrated portraits of the rikishi that look to have been referenced from the photos above. This was useful for identifying most of the people pictured.

I labeled the photos in the OP:

On 01/04/2016 at 07:19, 808morgan said:

Keyamura (ja.wiki)

No info

Hiodoshi

No info

No info

No info. His shikona was probably Komidori

Odate

Kidomaru on the left. He's portrayed in this ukiyo-e painting

Ichinoya

Tomonohira

Nakatsuyama (him?)

Ryumon (him?)

Umegatani

No info

Tsurugizan

Ageshio

Not shown in the HuffPost article:

Takamiyama

[RabidJohn 1,829]

It's not only the clothing styles that've changed. When did the oicho-mage acquire the sculpted flare to the end of the top knot seen today?

Most of the rikisihi pictured here are wearing oicho-mage with the back shaped like a ginkgo leaf, but the top knot is flat like a chon-mage.