On May 2 there was a grand wrestling match on the open plain in front of the Hiogo Custom House, called the "foreign concessions." A dais had been built, two feet high and twenty feet square, a post at each of its corners sustained a light bamboo roof, the edges of which were draped with a broad band of blue cotton cloth, ornamented with Japanese characters. A crowd of men, women and children from the surrounding villages had gathered rapidly, and stands and booths for the sale of rice-cakes, boiled bamboo roots, and other dainties, were at once extemporized. The verandah of the custom house was assigned to foreigners, and here ship captains, merchants and naval officers to the number of sixty, took their seats, and were regaled by some of the Japanese officials with tea, cake, oranges and champagne wine. Games of wrestling are very popular here, and trained athletes travel from one town to another, receiving both money and prizes for their exhibitions. Some of them are retainers of the Daimios, whose pride is flattered by having such fellows among their satellites.
    Our entertainment opened with a trial of strength among boys from six to sixteen years of age. They were stripped, with the exception of that long white band which the Japanese always wear about the loins, and immediately a little champion leaped forward into the dais with an air of defiance. A competitor soon appears to answer his challenge. With a shout they commence the match, each striving for the mastery until some one be pronounced victor. The boys having finished the men now appeared, and displayed a fine muscular development. Their struggles were more earnest and determined than those of the boys, and after a while one would be hurled of the dais, while the other would strike a splendid attitude, and throwing up his head with a shout of triumph claim from the assemblage the name of conqueror. Sometimes in the confusion of their writhing both would tumble off the dais and come rolling amid the crowd, but however great might be the excitement of the moment they never used their fists. Every fall was followed by shouts; the foreigners grew excited, and bets were made on favorites, but the Japanese looked on with philosophic coolness, and ate their rice cakes and bamboo root in quiet enjoyment. The nice points in the contest were settled by two umpires, who are always chosen on such occasions. They appear on the dais in a costume not unlike that of the clown in a circus, having loose knee-breeches, fancy leggings, and a figured sacque, and carrying the indispensable fan. The matches continued all the afternoon, and toward evening the excitement increased, for the great contest of the occasion was then to come off. The antagonistic athletes came in the dais in elegant robes of rich brocades, with heavy tassels and figures of barbaric gold. These were prizes won at previous exhibitions; they extended from the waist to the feet, with an end thrown up from behind, which fell gracefully in front over the left shoulder. The wrestlers formed a circle, kneeling, with a boy in the centre, who extended his hands and seemed to be invoking the assistance of some patron deity. The whole scene reminded me forcibly of the description of the ancient Greek games as given by VIRGIL and other authors. It was thoroughly classic, and all its surroundings such as the customs and religion of the people, the boats on the beach, the naked wrestlers, and the umpires bellowing the names of the victims, bore me back to the graphic picture presented in the school-boy's pages. The contest was prolonged another day, and the conquerors then took their prizes and departed to win renown in some other field.