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LIVING LIBRARY
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Sumo Wrestling Books from myfoodcount.com
Sumo, is a competition contact sport where two wrestlers or rikishi face off in a circular area. The sport is of Japanese origin and is surrounded by ceremony and ritual. The Japanese consider Sumo a gendai budÅ: a modern Japanese martial art, even though the sport has a history spanning many centuries.
The Sumo tradition is very ancient, and even today the sport includes many ritual elements, such as the use of salt for purification, from the days Sumo was used in the Shinto religion.
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Testimonials and Descriptions |
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Joy of Sumo: A Fan's Guide
by David Benjamin, Greg Holfeld (Illustrator)
Sumo is one of those sports that it is difficult to take seriously at first by gaijin. Unless you are into shinto, you will have great difficulty understading all of the symbolism etc. in a sumo tournament. You will probably turn to one of the authoritative guides to the Sport, a big mistake, because those authors take the sport much more seriously than you will be able to.
Turn instead to the Joy of Sumo. Written by an American journalist who lives in Japan, this book treats the sport from a fan's perspective. It makes Sumo fun to watch, and still will answer most of your questions.
What is that ref doing? Why is he yelling? Why don't they squash him?
Why do Sumo wrestlers throw matches?
What are the different winning moves?
Why are they so fa-at?
This book still makes me laugh after 10 years of reading it!
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Gaijin Yokozuna: A Biography of Chad Rowan
by Mark Panek
At the age of eighteen, Chad Rowan left his home in rural Hawai‘i for Tokyo with visions of becoming a star athlete in Japan’s national sport, sumo. But upon his arrival he was shocked less by the city crowds and the winter cold than by having to scrub toilets and answer to fifteen-year-olds who had preceded him at the sumo beya. Rowan spoke no Japanese. Of Japanese culture, he knew only what little his father, a former tour bus driver in Hawai‘i, had been able to tell him as they drove to the airport. And he had never before set foot in a sumo ring.
Five years later, against the backdrop of rising U.S.-Japan economic tension, Rowan became the first gaijin (non-Japanese) to advance to sumo’s top rank, yokozuna. His historic promotion was more a cultural accomplishment than an athletic one, since yokozuna are expected to embody highly prized Japanese values such as hard work, patience, strength, and hinkaku, a special kind of dignity thought to be available only to Japanese. He was promoted ahead of his two main rivals, the brothers Koji and Masaru Hanada, who had been raised in the sumo beya run by their father, the former sumo great Takanohana I. Perhaps the defining moment of the gaijin’s unique success occurred at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, when Rowan, chosen to personify "Japanese" to one of the largest television audiences in history, performed a sacred sumo ritual at the opening ceremony.
Gaijin Yokozuna chronicles the events leading to that improbable scene at Nagano and beyond, tracing Rowan’s life from his Hawai‘i upbringing to his 2001 retirement ceremony. Along the way it briefly examines the careers of two Hawai‘i-born sumotori who paved the way for Rowan, Jesse Kuhaulua (Takamiyama) and Salevaa Atisanoe (Konishiki). The author shares stories from family members, coaches, friends, fellow sumo competitors, and of course Rowan himself, whom he accompanied on three Japan-wide exhibition tours. The work is further informed by volumes of secondary source material on sumo, Japanese culture, and local Hawai‘i culture.
Mark Panek’s interest in sumo began in 1992, when an increasing number of foreign athletes attaining high ranks sparked interest in the sport at home and abroad. He returned to Japan six years later to follow Japan Sumo Association exhibition tours, attend major tournaments and daily practices, interview many of the main figures that appear in this book, and write. He is currently assistant professor of English at the University of Hawai‘i, Hilo.
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Sumo
by Makoto Kubota
Sumo wrestling is part religious ritual, part popular entertainment, and Japan's most unique contribution to the world of sport. Though sumo has long fascinated the West, its complex system of rituals and etiquette has made it difficult for outsiders to penetrate. Wrestlers undergo years of strenuous training—and some pretty serious eating—in order to compete in bouts that last minutes or sometimes seconds; the sweaty clash of huge bodies is but the final act in a prolonged contest of intimidation and concentration. In well over 100 rare and luminous photographs, Sumo offers an unrivaled close-up view of wrestlers in practice and in competition, complete with a brief history of the sport and an explanation of the various stages of a typical match. Photographers are seldom allowed such intimate access to the wrestlers, making this book a truly unprecedented document of the world of sumo. Japanophiles, sumo fans, and photography buffs alike will relish this rare glimpse of the inner circle where ritual, power, and bodies collide.
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The Big Book of Sumo: History, Practice, Ritual, Fight
by Mina Hall
Whimsical line drawings make The Big Book of Sumo the most user-friendly sumo guide available. Super sumo fan Mina Hall covers all aspects of the sport, including its history, traditions, training methods, stable life, rankings, fighting holds, and judging. Designed as an introduction to sumo, the book contains charts, photographs, and diagrams that will be of interest to aficionados as well. Featured are maps to the training stables plus information on how to be a spectator and where to eat and stay near the main sumo arena in Japan.
Mina Hall befriended many sumo wrestlers in Japan and is a regular visitor to the sumo training stables. She lives in Las Vegas.
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Dynamic Sumo (Bushido--The Way of the Warrior)
by Clyde Newton, Gerald J. Toff (Photographer)
Finally, a down-to-earth introduction to sumo that also provides the kind of intriguing little-known facts sure to satisfy the most demanding enthusiast. Each chapter contains a wealth of practical information on the sport as we know it today and insights into its history.
It is all here starting from the basics, including the rules of competition, daily life in a sumo stable, and the rituals that mark each transition point in a wrestler's career, from the welcoming ceremony for new recruits through the emotional hair-cutting that celebrates the retirement of those who have reached sumo's highest rank, yokozuna.
And there's much more--a concise history of every stable, an in-depth look at refereeing as a career, details on just how the ring is constructed, explanations of each of the seventy techniques that may be used to win a match. Sumo's history is treated in depth, as is the rise of several of today's most prominent wrestlers. Language students will also welcome the comprehensive glossary of sumo-related terms at the back.
Striking full-color photographs illustrate the text throughout and are a pleasure in themselves. They offer close-up views of the action in the ring and rare glimpses into the stables.
Whether you're a die-hard fan or an armchair spectator, Dynamic Sumo delivers a world of pageantry and color, and leaves you richer for the experience.
Clyde Newton is co-author, with Andy Adams, of the popular volume Sumo (Paul Hamlyn, 1989). Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Newton was raised in Japan from the age of six, and received a bachelor's degree in political science from Sophia University in 1978. He has served as associate editor of the magazine Sumo World for over ten years and regularly provides guest commentary on NHK's English broadcasts of sumo.
The late Gerald Toff photographed sumo extensively for twenty years. His photographs and articles appeared in Sumo World for over fifteen years. He wrote on the sport in Japanese for various major Japanese journals. A native of London, Toff taught comparative culture at the Nagoya Institute of Technology and served as a guest commentator on NHK's English broadcasts of sumo. He died at age sixty-three in October 1995.
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Sumo: A Pocket Guide
by David Shapiro (Editor)
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