LATE EDO (1700 -1868)
With the advent of kanjin-zumo came the renewed interest of the daimyo, who once again began sponsoring wrestlers. Osaka and Kyoto especially experienced a boom in the popularity of sumo, with huge tournaments being held between wrestlers from various provincial areas of Japan. It was at this time that these two cities dominated the sumo scene, with the two grand tournaments being twice a year in 1740. Huge numbers of wrestlers came from all over Japan to participate in these tournaments, and it was due to this high turnover of different wrestlers each year that the ring-entering ceremony was introduced.
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The ceremony served as a means of introducing the wrestlers to the audience and to show off both their strength and the wealth of their sponsoring daimyo through the elaborate aprons, Mawashi, worn by the players. These aprons were initially worn by the wrestler during the match, but were later restricted to just the ring-entering ceremony by the end of the century due to their restrictive nature during the match. |
Edo's kanjin-zumo benefit tournaments were officially established in 1761, with the length of the tournaments set at eight to ten clear days. They were held on shrine precincts in huge open-air stadiums constructed temporarily for that purpose. They usually consisted of two tier stands surrounding the central ring and were capable of holding crowds of up to 3000 people. The ring consisted of a raised platform covered by a wooden roof supported by four pillars in the center of the stadium, which was divided off by huge gates at the entrance.
Between the late 1750's and about 1780, the Fukugawa Hachiman Shrine was the main temple at which sumo was held, but it was replaced by the Eko-in Temple in Ryogoku in the late 1780's. Most tournaments were held at Eko-in by the end of the 18th century, resulting in it being declared the official Hombasho, or home ground of sumo in 1833.
From the early 18th century, the structure of sumo organisation underwent a period of change, beginning with the ruling by Edo authorities in 1719 that only 'professional' organisers and wrestlers were permitted to partake in benefit sumo tournaments. This prompted the elders, who had been established in sumo since the early Edo period, to form their own training facilities for younger wrestlers, resulting in an exclusive group group of professional elders forming their own heya, or stables. Most of these stables are still running today in modern Tokyoand were established in the period between 1751 and 1781.
| The Gyoji, or referees position, was also concreted at this time, with their duties of judging matches being extended to include the role of surrogate Shinto priest for ring-entering ceremonies. The two families, the Yoshida and Gojo clans also firmly established their positions as exclusive controllers of the Gyoji permits, which has since restricted the job to being filled by only these two families, as it is inherited and ranked in order of seniority. The traditional ceremonial dresss of the samauri and the use of the Gunbai-Uchiwa, or War Fan, used to begin a match, were also adopted. |
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| With the 1780's came a period of political and economic upheaval which surprisingly had little effect on the merchant class at the time. In Edo, it was in actual fact a period of prosperity in both cultural and economic terms for the merchant class. The entertainment districts flourished, with huge revivals of interest in Kabuki theatre, art and sumo. For the first time in Jpanese history, the lives and values of the common people became the focus of art and literature, and with the development of printing techniques, became available to anyone. Ukiyo-e woodblock prints and books which dealt with the poular heroes of the time - sumo wrestlers, actors and courtesans - and the trials and tribulations of everyday life were widely read and enjoyed by all, and provde an important social commentary of the time. |
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It was during this decade that the position of Yokozuna was established. It was the result of the rivalry between the Yoshida and Gojo clans in their fight to to have control over the sumo world. In 1789, Yoshida Oikaze petitioned the authorities "for the offical recognition of his own power to issue what he called, for the first time, the Yokozuna Menkyo, or Yokozuna license."(Cuyler, 1985, pg 80)
The first ever ring-entering ceremony to be conducted by a Yokozuna was held at the Fukuyama Hachiman Shrine in 1789 by the grand champion and popular hero of the time, Tanikaze Kajinosuke, which officially established the power of the Yoshida clan in sumo circles. |
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Until the end of the 18th century, sumo had been enjoyed wide popularity and publicity, but in the "pleasure quarters" of the notorious "floating world", so in 1791 when the Shogun Ienari demanded to view a match between the legends Tanikaze and Onogawa, sumo's image received a major facelift. In honour of the occassion, the formal ceremonies and ritual associated with Shinto. were re-introduced and established as rules.
| The late 1700's saw what is often described as suno's "Golden Age", where wrestlers of amazing popularity and legendary skill graced the sumo arena.Tanikaze, grand champion and winner of 21 titles, and Onogawa, winner of only 8 titles, but posessed skilled, crowd-pleasing techniques, were two of the most legendary, shadowed only by Raiden Tameimon. |
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Raiden was "generally regarded as the greatest sumotori ever"(Sharnoff,1989, pg 42), with his massive size of 197cm and 170kg, and his amazing skill and strength. He won 26 titles in 21 years, losing only 10 bouts during his long and distinguished career.
These sumo heroes were responsible for the rise in popularity of sumo, which declined considerably when they retired, as no other wrestler met the standards set by these legends.
After Raiden's retirement in 1811, sumo authorities found they were once again forced to use billboards as advertising and various supplementary entertainments to attract crowds. The Tempo era (1833-44) saw a relatively quiet period for sumo, with a rapid decline popularity, which reflected the various government and social upheavals of the time, and caused grave financial difficulties for the sumo organisation.
The period ended in 1868 with the collapse of the Tokugawa regime, and with sumo in a huge slump.
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