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SOS - Shinjinrui on Sumo |
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Chris Gould
Wrapping up his look at increasing the popularity of sumo, Chris Gould caps a series the NSK would do well to refer to.
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Sumo Souvenirs |
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Mark Buckton
Souvenirs are a part of every sport and sumo is no different - or is
it? A look at collectibles and the downright trashy, the bona fide
versus the unproven.
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Rikishi of Old |
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Joe Kuroda
Joe Kuroda's latest look at times past focuses on former makunouchi man Dewagatake.
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Eric Evaluates |
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Eric Blair
Eric takes a no-nonsense look at the claims of fixed bouts in the Japanese media.
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Rikishi Diary |
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Mark Kent
Mark Kent - English pro-wrestler and amateur heavyweight sumotori -
takes us through the first month or so of his training and preparation
for the various European events lined up in in 2007.
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Heya Peek |
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Chris Gould
SFM's Chris Gould was in Japan for the Hatsu Basho and popped along to
the new Shikoroyama Beya to give SFM an online exclusive peek into
sumo's newest heya.
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SFM Interview |
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Mark Buckton
Mark interviews Mark - Buckton on Kent that is as Mark Kent, the UK's
only active heavyweight amateur answers a few questions on his own
recent entry into the sport.
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Photo Bonanzas |
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Sumo Forum stepped in to take the weight off the shoulders of SFM as
far as Hatsu went so we could sit back, relax, enjoy the sumo and take
a few more select pics you won't see anywhere else.
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Hatsu Basho Summary |
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Lon Howard
Lon wraps the Hatsu Basho and chucks in a few bits on the rush of henka
that threatens to sully the good name of at least one foreign ozeki.
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Sumo Menko |
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Ryan Laughton
Sumo cards of old brought to life by expert collector Ryan Laughton. None of your BBM here.
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Haru Ones To Watch |
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Carolyn Todd
Carolyn ponders and puts fingers to keys on the ones to watch come March and the Haru Basho.
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Kimarite Focus |
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Mikko Mattila
Mikko's latest look at sumo's kimarite offers unequalled analysis and in depth explanations.
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Amateur Angles |
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Howard Gilbert
Howard looks at the 'sumo factory' of lore - Nichidai.
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Kokugi Konnections |
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Todd Lambert
Click on Todd's bimonthly focus on three of the best the WWW has to offer.
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Fan Debate |
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Facilitator - Carolyn Todd
Moti Dichne comes back for more and takes on Bradley Sutton on the subject of 'Modernize the heya - yea or nay?'
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SFM Cartoons |
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Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson
In this issue's cartoon bonanza, sit back and sample Benny's artistic offerings.
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Sumo Odds & Ends |
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SFM's interactive elements - as always includes Henka Sightings, Elevator Rikishi and Eternal Banzuke!
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Let's Hear From You |
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What was it that made you a sumo fan? Ryan Laughton - sumo fan and menko expert reveals all.
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Readers' Letters |
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See what our readers had to say since we last hit your screens.
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Sumo Quiz |
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The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself a genuine banzuke.
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all.
I should stress that this is not the case. Some shinjinrui do watch,
but not enough. The composition of recent Tokyo tournament crowds
suggests that more shinjinrui are trying sumo out; but tune into a
football match or – if you can bear it – an evening tarento show like
Music Station, and you will find many more youngsters, especially
female, than ever could be spotted in a sumo hall.
On the plus side, there has been considerable growth in the number of
non-Japanese under-30s attending sumo tournaments. Some have obviously
been encouraged to come by Japanese friends, but others have been
attracted by a novel tourist authority campaign to market sumo as a
‘uniquely Japanese’ experience which should appear on every gaijin’s
must-see list. The marketing tactic would appear to be a wise one;
Japan’s foreign visitor numbers nigh-doubled between 1996 and 2006.1
A further positive is that the Kokugikan houses sparkling pieces of
evidence which suggest that maybe, just maybe, shinjinrui attitudes
towards sumo are beginning to change for the better. The young women
who lick their lips while photographing Kotooshu’s torso at ringside,
coupled with the emergence of Hanako Dosukoi’s book ‘Cute Sumo,’ would
appear to signify an unexpected revival of the concept of sumotori
sex-appeal. Meanwhile, several youthful men in the audience seem to
feel a sense of affinity with Asashoryu’s outgoing personality, and
view Takamisakari’s pre-match antics as those of a rather cool
comedian.
However, I remain less convinced
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than
the NSK that such developments are an expected giftfrom Mother Nature;
that sumo is somehow automatically due an upturn in popular support
after several years in the wilderness.
If sumo’s popularity ever did follow a cyclical trend, then this
ended somewhere in the early-1990s. For a number of years, the
diminution of sumo’s core support base was masked by the outreach
project launched by Waka and Taka, the media savvy-ness of which
strongly appealed to shinjinrui. Obscured by the Waka-Taka bubble,
though, was the undeniable fact that sumo’s most dedicated supporters
were becoming older, and – for a variety of reasons – unable to pass on
their love of sumodo to younger relatives. When the proliferation of
tabloid and tarento culture spotlighted youth, and the idea of feeling
young, as never before, sumo seemed to age very quickly, and suddenly
appeared desperately at odds with the values of the society surrounding
it. Sumo has become ostracised by the under-30s on an unprecedented
scale, drowned by the myriad of new sports, better communications
technology and previously-unparalleled consumerism which have entered
the consciousness of youth. If the resultant shift in young Japanese
attitudes is irreversible – and there is every indication that it is –
then it cannot possibly be treated as a cyclical phenomenon.
Rather, professional sumo is in danger of resembling an ailing,
traditionalist political party. It appears in denial that the
electorate’s worldview has moved on, that it can no longer win enough
support by preaching to the converted, simply because the
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converted have significantly diminished in number.
It has struggled to get to grips with the changing electorate, having
failed to recognise that its audience must be drawn from consumers who
shop around for the best deal, and not simply individuals who attach
their hearts to sumo with steel bolts. There may be individual things
that sumo says and does which strike a chord with the consumer
audience, but when the whole package is put up for popular approval, it
is usually rejected in favour of more modern-looking alternatives. The
fact remains that an average of 3,500 tickets remain unsold on each day
of a Tokyo basho (an average which rises in Fukuoka), and that
relations between the sumo community and shinjinrui are very far from
perfect.
I am delighted that sumo seeks to preserve the fascinating samurai
tradition, so that people of my generation can continue to glimpse, and
try to understand, a world which no longer exists on the street. Long
may this continue. But the sumo package clearly needs tinkering
with if the sport is to blossom in the 21st
century, and once again capture the hearts and minds of the Japanese.
The refrain of the reformer forever centres upon the theme: ‘The ends
must stay the same, but the means of achieving them need not.’ I hope
that this philosophy at least begins to permeate Japan’s national sport
in the coming years. As this trilogy of articles hopefully shows,
grounds for introspection certainly exist.
1 Source www.tourism.jp
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