Yukari Iwatani Kane provides A Novice’s Guide to Watching Sumo — in the Wall Street Journal. That’s what initially got my eye.
I haven’t watched sumo in a while — since the mid-1990s really:
Thanks to the 1990s-era popularity of two talented young wrestlers, the brothers Takanohana and Wakanohana — and fascinating scandals involving their family — the sport has become more popular with mainstream Japanese, especially among women. And a number of strong foreign athletes, primarily from Mongolia and the Pacific Islands, have made competitions more interesting and added global appeal.
In that era, many of the big stars — pun fully intended — were from Hawaii, and since then many Mongolian wrestlers have entered the sport. I had no idea though that one of the most popular wrestlers was European:
Even sumo novices will know they’re in the presence of someone special when a star like Kotooshu, a towering, handsome Bulgarian, enters the ring.Foreigners increasingly make up the top sumo ranks, but Kotooshu, a former Greco-Roman wrestler and the first European to win the Emperor’s Cup, is particularly beloved among fans for his dark and handsome looks. He’s often called the David Beckham of sumo.
The second-to-last bout during our visit starred Hakuho, a Mongolian who was the fourth non-Japanese to be promoted to the top rank of yokozuna last year. After clinching the match by throwing his opponent to the ground, Hakuho extended his arm to help him up. The audience approved: we heard women around us say, “Yasashii (he’s so kind)!” as they sighed in admiration.
In the final bout of the day, we watched Asashoryu, the bad boy of the sumo world and the first Mongolian to become yokozuna, take on Ama, another Mongolian wrestler.