National Sport in Japan

Sumo, japanese traditional style of wrestling, is considered japanese national sport. Sumo originated in ancient Japan. Even today, there's a lot of colorful pageantry and ceremony at the sumo matches. There's one professional organization. It holds six fifteen-day tournaments each year - three in Tokyo and on each in Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka. They're televised nationally.

Sumo is practiced at colleges and universities as a sport. And children like to play at it. But outside of this, there isn't much amateur sumo. For most people, sumo is a spectator sport.

Two huge wrestlers in traditional-style loincloths grapple in a circular ring 15 feet in diameter. The bout can end in seconds, when any part of a wrestler's body except the soles of his feet touches the ground, or when he's pushed out of the ring.