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First maneuver in sumo is rigidly conventional. Both wrestlers crouch at opposite sides of the arena awaiting the charge. When one wrestler charges, his opponent, if unprepared, may say "matta!" (wait). For 300 years the rules permitted Japanese wrestlers thus to delay the beginning of their bouts as long as they pleased. Last year, for the first time, the period in which a contestant could demand a fresh start was limited to ten minutes.
Judo performers wear trousers and jackets. Sumo wrestlers in action wear only a loin cloth and, for bravado, bits of stiff rope. Since weight and girth with which to crowd an adversary out of the ring count for more than muscle, sumo performers eat gigantic meals and occasionally reach monstrous proportions. Biggest among current sumo celebrities is Dewagatake who, a pygmy compared to oldtime sumo giants, stands 6 ft. 8 in., weighs 350 lb. His girth is only 3½ ft. to Champion Tama-nishiki's 5.
Sumo matches are announced by an official in black silk who holds a fan in front of his nose while he squeaks the names of the contestants. When sumo champions retire they have their long hair cut, sit behind the four pillars that surround the ring, act as judges in disputes. Chief referee in all sumo championship matches is Okiaze Yoshida, whose position has been hereditary in his family for 23 generations.
At Tokyo fortnight ago 10.000 sumo addicts, including nobility, geisha, schoolboys, government officials, watched the matches on each of the ten days of the Kokugi-kan tournament. Outside the arena, thousands more bet on the matches, followed the results on score boards. Of the money spent for tickets, the performers got a trifling share. As stupid as they are immense, sumo performers are content with a maximum pay of $100 a month augmented only by gifts of swords, bottles of sake, new aprons from generous admirers. Four years ago, a sumo strike for better pay, shorter hours, cheaper seats, a mutual aid society, pensions, was a miserable failure.