Figure 1.--Here we see boys engaged in sumo wrestling at what looks like a school. They are not wearing ceremonial garb. It may be an after school sctivity. A gym class wiuld not normally have a referee. |
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We don't know to what extent sumo is practiced at Japanese schools. Most of the images we have found suggest that it was a club-type activity or perhaps organized around individual Shinton shrines where we see boys engaged in ritualized sumo tournaments. The venues seem to be primarily Shinto shrines with the youth events. We don't think that sumo is widely practiced at schools, although our information is very limited. This may be changing over time. We do note some images of summo wresling at school. We are not sure they show gym classes or after school events. Interestingly it is sumo without the highly ritualized ceremonies thst normally take place at sumo tournaments. Children don't wear the traditional loincloth or the elaborate ceremonial garments. They do compete barefoot and bare chested. These are probably intramural competitions. There may be matches between schools, but inter-scholastic sports are not very common in Japan. We are not yet sure about this.
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