One of the most picturesque characters who ever threatened an invasion of this country is Mr. Umegatani, the crack Japanese wrestler or Yokohama, whose portrait is reproduced herewith.
    Mr. Umegatani is a champion in his class, and is a real, bona-fide athlete - not a washerwoman on dress parade as he appears.
    He has met and defeated the best and fattest men in his class in the Mikado's land, and that decisively. Be it known excessive fatness is a benefit to a Japanese wrestler, and Mr. Umegatani’s assets become plain. He is depicted in condition.
    Japanese wrestling is of several sorts, the most familiar being the much-vaunted jiu-jitsu. This is hardly wrestling in the accepted sense, but rather a system of self-defense. Umegatani is an exponent of another school.
    At his game the contestants grab each other with their hands and each tries to shove the opponent over a mark. There are variations of it, but the salient features are the same. The fatter the wrestler is, the greasier, and the heavier. Hence his weight is to be cultivated. The American grappler tries to get rid or surplus adipose tissue. The Jap tries to develop it.
    Notwithstanding his corpulent build, Mr. Umegatani is said to be a very powerful man, and possessed of unusual endurance. He has performed many times before the Mikado, and always with credit. The Emperor of Japan is very enthusiastic about Umegatani’s type of wrestling.
    The Royal Yokohama Troupe of wrestlers is making bookings for a series of American dates this spring, and are expected by almost any steamer now. They will probably draw well on the Orpheum circuit if that prove their “lay.”