What is the name of the sport called "national sport" in Japan?

Sumo (すもう): A sport similar to wrestling, it was called Kakugo during the Qin and Han Dynasties, and Sumo during the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Southern Song Dynasty. It was introduced to Japan around the time of the Tang Dynasty and is now a popular wrestling sport in Japan.

Sumo wrestling (すもう), anciently known as Su-mai, originated in China during the Han Dynasty, when two Hercules warriors wrestled each other topless. It was not until the seventh century CE that a Chinese envoy was sent to Japan to perform sumo at the funeral of Emperor Yunkyo (453 CE), which is considered to be the first time that Chinese sumo was introduced to Japan, and it had a certain impact on the original sumo in Japan. Later, it became an international martial art, fighting sport and national sport of Japan. As a professional sport, it is known in Japan as Dai Sumo.

China and Japan both have sumo in history. According to some excavated artifacts, the image of kakugo in China during the Qin and Han Dynasties is very similar to the sumo that is now popular in Japan. At the latest in the early Western Jin Dynasty, China has the name of sumo. Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, sumo activities have been prevalent. It was only in the middle of the Qing Dynasty that the name of sumo gradually disappeared.

The Japanese book "The Beginning of Sumo" says that sumo first appeared in Japan in 23 BC. The Japanese Encyclopedia of Sports states, "Japanese sumo has interrelationships with Chinese kakugo and kenpo." Japanese historical archaeologist Ikeuchi Hiroshi and Umehara Sueji co-authored the book "Tongou", also said that Japanese sumo and China's Jilin Province, Juan County, unearthed from the 3rd to 5th century on the walls of the ancient tombs of the Kakuga figure very similar; and China's Tang and Song dynasties sumo tournament form and rules are also similar. From the 17th century onwards, professional sumo wrestling, known as "Dai Sumo", began to develop in Japan, and in the 18th century, modern sumo wrestling began to take shape. By the early 20th century, sumo was widely practiced as the "national sport" of Japan. To date, sumo tournaments are held six times a year in January, March, May, July, September and November, and have become one of the most popular sports in Japan. The following is an introduction to the technical requirements and rules of sumo wrestling, which is currently popular in Japan.

Sumo wrestlers not only need to have strength, but also skill, and skill is the key to winning or losing a match. Technique is roughly divided into push, fall, catch, pull, flash, press, trip and so on. Athletes mainly use their necks, shoulders, hands, arms, chests, stomachs, waists, knees, legs, feet and other parts of the body to attack each other with various techniques. Athletes (known as Rikishi in Japan) are categorized into 10 levels according to their performance: Seonokuchi, Seonodan, Sanodan, Makushita, Shoryo, Maotou, Kotoshi, Sekiwaki, Daikan, and Yokozuna. Yokozuna is the highest level title for athletes and is a lifetime honorary title. Athletes at level 6 above ten taels have a different quality of hairstyle and belt than those at the four levels below makuuchi. Athletes of rank 6 and above of the Shodo Ryu have an entrance ceremony and wear a make-up apron when competing. Sumo referees (called Gyoshi in Japan) are also divided into 10 grades according to their years of experience. The rank of a sumo referee is called "gekko" and "yokozuna gekko" is the highest rank of a referee. Their rank is indicated by the color of the tassel on their fan. The fan that the referee uses to direct the fight is called a "kunai" and the side to which the fan is pointed is the winner.

Sumo wrestling originated in Japan as a Shinto ritual. It was held at shrines to honor the god of the harvest in the hope of bringing in a good harvest. During the Nara and Heian periods, sumo was a spectator sport at court, and by the Kamakura Warring States period, sumo was part of samurai training. the 18th century saw the rise of professional sumo, which was very similar to today's sumo tournaments. Shinto rituals emphasize the sport of sumo, and the purpose of the stomping ritual (shiku) before a match is to drive away evil spirits from the field and also to relax the muscles. Salt is also sprinkled on the grounds for purification purposes, as Shinto doctrine holds that salt drives away demons. Sumo matches are held on a dais. The entire platform is square, with a circle in the middle, and its diameter is 4.55 meters. During the match, the two rikishi wear their hair in buns and tie a belt around their lower bodies, and they go on the stage almost naked. During the match, no part of the Lux except the palms of the feet may touch the surface of the platform, and at the same time may not go beyond the circle. The match is decided within a minute or two or even a few seconds. There are six judges*** in sumo. The main referee is the "Gyoshi", who holds a folding fan, and the other five are in the front, east, west, and the referee's chair. The highest rank of Hercules is "Yokozuna". Below them are the daikan, kanwaki, kojutsu, and maenoki, which are known as the "makuuchi," and belong to the upper echelon of the rikishi. The next four levels are the Shoryu and Makushita, and then there are the lower levels of the Sanshidan and Sequential Sanshidan. The lowest level was called Sequential Mouth. It takes a lot of effort for an ordinary rikishi to attain a higher rank; it is also impossible to attain the lowest rank without hard work.

Sumo (sumo) is known as the national sport of Japan, and is also known as jousting and jousting. Sumo originated in China. In the Book of Rites - Monthly Orders, "The Son of Heaven ordered the generals and commanders to teach martial arts and to practice archery and jousting." Later, it was introduced to Japan. It was introduced to Japan in the Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan). It flourished after the Nara period, and in 719 (the third year of the Pension Period), the court established the Battoji (later Sangpuji). In the Heian period, a sumo festival was held in July every year. After the Kamakura period, it became popular among the samurai as a martial art, and at the end of the 17th century, professional sumo wrestling was organized for profit. In the Edo period, professional sumo was popular, and Edo became the center of sumo in Japan. During the Meiji Restoration, the sport declined. At the beginning of the Showa period, sumo was revitalized due to the rise of nationalism. After the war, there were sumo stadiums in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Nagoya. Sumo wrestling is still practiced today as a popular sport in many parts of the world.

Sumo is the only form of Japanese wrestling. It has a long history, as does Japanese Shintoism. Many traditional rituals still exist. The basic rule of sumo is that a player loses if he touches the ground before his opponent or more times than his opponent in a round. The tussle between competitors often lasts a few seconds, sometimes up to a minute or more. Six sumo tournaments are held in Japan each year. Each is 15 days long. Three are held in Tokyo and the rest in Osaka, Fukuoka and Nagoya. Highest level of sumo: Yokozuna is the highest level of sumo. Once a player reaches the Yokozuna rank, he can no longer lose. If his results start to deteriorate, he is expected to retire.

According to archaeological data, the earliest bareback sumo fighting techniques may have come from the Hu people, a horse-riding people of the Ordos Steppe. Since reaching the Western Jin Dynasty, after the five hu moved southward in large numbers to the farming plains, the Han people began to have the name of sumo wrestling. However, today there is no longer such a name, if you want to find traces of bareback sumo, perhaps today's Shanxi Dingxiang, Yuanping area of the Hu pasture, there are still bareback "touching the mud earth wrestling" and "scratching the sheep race" tradition, perhaps some traces of the remaining nomadic, horseback-riding people sumo! Perhaps some traces of nomadism, horseback riding, and ethnic sumo wrestling remain! According to archaeological data, the earliest bare-knuckle sumo wrestling of the Yamato people, an agricultural island nation, may have come from the Goguryeo people, a horseback-riding people of the Korean Peninsula, and was introduced from the Korean Peninsula around the time of King Gwangkaeo of Joseon, after the Western Jin Dynasty, and after that time. After more than ten centuries, it has developed into a national sport with its own characteristics.

Sumo wrestling began in Japan in 695 AD. In 728 A.D., sumo wrestling entered the lives of the Japanese nobility, and a "Sumo Festival" was set up at the court, which was held regularly every year with rules for the tournament. The festival lasted for more than 400 years, but as the power of the imperial family declined, it began to be popularized among the people, and became associated with the worship of gods, exorcisms, celebrations of good harvests, and divinations of good luck in the production of goods. From the 17th century, "professional sumo" emerged, and at the beginning of the 20th century, it was widely practiced as the national sport of Japan. In 1909, a national sports hall was built in Tokyo for sumo tournaments, and in 1941, it was included as an official subject in school sports. The status of sumo as a national sport was further recognized in Japan. Professional sumo is considered to be a noble profession, and sumo wrestlers are highly respected wherever they go. It is said that this has a lot to do with the Japanese people's traditional concept of the emperor and the monarch, because in ancient times, sumo wrestlers could only perform for the emperor in front of the emperor, and at that time, the "Sumo Festival" was one of the most important ceremonies in the palace, and it was considered to be a lifelong honor for a sumo wrestler to be on the field, and people regarded him as a hero. The sumo wrestlers were honored for the privilege of competing in the matches, and were regarded as heroes. As a result of this practice, they were still respected in the hearts of the people in the Shogunate era, when the samurai were in power, and even today. The sumo wrestlers of the contemporary professional sumo tournaments are required to go through the training classes organized by the Sumo Association, and they undergo rigorous training, including the study of ideology, diet, sumo techniques, sports medicine, physiology, and Chinese poetry.