Talking about Sumo Wrestling, you might associate bouts on the ring with two
naked giants wearing waist belts and head knots. Yes, that's right.
But the Japanese wrestling is not just fights to decide a man of power.
On the 4th of April, people more than 6000 enjoyed a ritual performance of Sumo at a famous shrine in Tokyo. (addmission free)
Understanding of its ritual backgrounds gives you an approach closer to the Japanese culture.
The day started with a Shinto style of ceremony on the ring early in the morning(9 am), when bottles of Sake, Japanese rice wine, were offered to the diety, and then some of them was poured on the ring to purify the place where bouts were going to be held.
Young wrestlers gathered at the ring and began their training matches up on the ring one by one in turns.
Then, Senior wrestles, ranked in the official list, showed up all together, greeting to the audience. Some introduced their new born babies. (You see babies held in their arms.)
A Grand Champion, wearing a sacred rice straw on the waist, offered the ritual prayer form. All who attended there gazed at him silently.
Setting the legs opened with the waist lowering, he bowed deeply with the arms stretched widely.
Then Sumo matches started on the ring.
A high-ranking refree wears a traditional style of cloths similar to those of top priests. He is the only person who is entitled to wear Japanese slippers on the sacred ring.(Take a close look at his feet. You'll see white socks, tabi, and slippers, zouri.)
Following is a shot of the final bout with two grand champions.
During intermission,
some wrestlers sang songs which were originated in the 17th century (at the Edo period). They arranged words of the songs so as to reflect situations in the current society and entertained the audience successfully.
In addition, they made a drum performance, traditionally used in their society since the Edo period, to let wrestlers know the time for training (maybe around 4 am) .
It was at around 3 pm that the whole performance and ceremony were finished.
People were leaving the shrine with another kind of drum sound that were seeing them off.
But the Japanese wrestling is not just fights to decide a man of power.
On the 4th of April, people more than 6000 enjoyed a ritual performance of Sumo at a famous shrine in Tokyo. (addmission free)
Understanding of its ritual backgrounds gives you an approach closer to the Japanese culture.
The day started with a Shinto style of ceremony on the ring early in the morning(9 am), when bottles of Sake, Japanese rice wine, were offered to the diety, and then some of them was poured on the ring to purify the place where bouts were going to be held.
Young wrestlers gathered at the ring and began their training matches up on the ring one by one in turns.
Then, Senior wrestles, ranked in the official list, showed up all together, greeting to the audience. Some introduced their new born babies. (You see babies held in their arms.)
A Grand Champion, wearing a sacred rice straw on the waist, offered the ritual prayer form. All who attended there gazed at him silently.
Setting the legs opened with the waist lowering, he bowed deeply with the arms stretched widely.
Then Sumo matches started on the ring.
A high-ranking refree wears a traditional style of cloths similar to those of top priests. He is the only person who is entitled to wear Japanese slippers on the sacred ring.(Take a close look at his feet. You'll see white socks, tabi, and slippers, zouri.)
Following is a shot of the final bout with two grand champions.
During intermission,
some wrestlers sang songs which were originated in the 17th century (at the Edo period). They arranged words of the songs so as to reflect situations in the current society and entertained the audience successfully.
In addition, they made a drum performance, traditionally used in their society since the Edo period, to let wrestlers know the time for training (maybe around 4 am) .
It was at around 3 pm that the whole performance and ceremony were finished.
People were leaving the shrine with another kind of drum sound that were seeing them off.
No comments:
Post a Comment