Twenty-one year old Terukuni, youngest of the long-haired wrestlers in the “makunouchi” or first ranking circle, stole the show Saturday in the third day of the 15-day professional Sumo tournament now going on at the Kokugikan bowl at Ryogoku by defeating Champion Mayedayama in a torrid bout.
    Another bright performer was Dewaminato, who won his third straight victory by outsmarting the strong Nayoroiwa of the East side. In the 13-day tournament last January, Dewaminato won the championship honors with nary a defeat.
    Akinoumi, who stopped Grand Champion Futabayama's winning streak over two and a half years last January at 69 victories, got off to a bad start in the current tourney by losing on Thursday and Friday, and to weaker wrestlers at that. But he began hitting his stride Saturday by defeating Kaneminato without trouble. No sooner had they stood up than Akinoumi had shoved Kaneminato out of the ring.

The results of the principal bouts were:
Jintozan defeated Genjiyama
Fujinosato defeated Kojimagawa
Kuganishiki defeated Yamatoiwa
Katsuragawa defeated Yamatonishiki
Shikainami defeated Komatsuyama
Komanosato defeated Matsuuragata
Hatasegawa defeated Dewanohana
Sakuranishiki defeated Tsurugamine
Kashimanada defeated Fujigatake
Banjaku defeated Taikyuzan
Oshio defeated Sagamiiwa
Asahigawa defeated Ryogoku
Kasagiyama defeated Saganohana
Itsutsushima defeated Onami
Ryuozan defeated Tatekabuto
Ayanobori defeated Aobayama
Tamanoumi defeated Ayawaka
Akinoumi defeated Kaneminato
Dewaminato defeated Nayoroiwa
Terukuni defeated Mayedayama
Haguroyama defeated Matsunosato
Minanogawa defeated Tomoegata
Futabayama defeated Hishuzan
 

    The biggest news within the last few days has undoubtedly been the movements of the political world, what with Premier General Nobuyuki Abe reported to have reached an important decision whether or not his Cabinate should continue in office, but the vernacular press has been giving more space to another event. Refer to the “Spring” season of the professional Sumo (Japanese wrestling) tournament which opened at the Kokugikan bowl at Ryogoku on the east side of the Sumida river, on Thursday for 15 days.
    If you doubt the popularity of this tourney, try and go to the Kokugikan today and get a ticket. Our advice is that if you haven't reserved seat, don't take the trouble of trying. Because you won't succeed. At any rate, the bowl, which has a seating capacity of some 20,000, will be a sell-out as early as 9 a.m. This is Sunday, you know. We tried to get some tickets for reserved seats some 10 days before the tournament opened but were told they were all sold out last Fall.
    The ticket system employed by the Japan Sumo Association makes it difficult for the average man to get any tickets. There is nothing like it in the country, and so some explanation is necessary. With the exception of the first day when it is a case of first come first served, at one price of 50 sen per admission, most of the tickets are distributed to the “ochaya,” literally tea-houses, which make their living out of the two annual tournaments, the other coming along in May  when the “Summer” championships are held. These tea-houses have their regular patrons year after year, and they naturally are looked after first.
    Then there are the terraced boxes in the pit, extending from the ringside back to the balcony on the second floor. These are sold so much per “masu” (a box), which accommodates six persons squatting in Japanese style. There are no chairs in the bowl except for a small section in the third floor gallery where also is the Imperial section. These boxes are generally sold for the entire season year after year to the same patrons, and so they are unavailable to the newly-rich from the wartime boom. The prices differ according to the distance and angle from the ring. The best boxes are those in the “shomen” on the side immediately facing the referee as he stations himself before the beginning of a bout. The wrestlers are crouched facing each other in the east and west sides of the ring, and the referee takes a position, facing them at the other edge of the ring, equidistant from them. The average price for a box is about Y300 with the advent of the 15-day season.
    The saying that a wrestler lives in the term that he works but 20 days a year no longer holds. The semi-annual tourneys used to last but 10 days each. Beginning with the Manchurian Incident in 1931, interest was revived in the sport  which had hit a low ebb. Within a few years, it was necessary to extend the season by a day, and then to another two days. Still this was not necessary and the tournament was lengthened to 15 days beginning with the May tourney last year.
    Of course, the tickets and tips are not the only source of income to the tea-houses. These establishments, lined up on the right side of the main entrance to the bowl, also serve refreshments, particularly sushi and sake. It is natural that their prices are somewhat higher than at dyed-in-the wool eating houses.
    You might ask whence comes the need for refreshments. Well, the average Japanese Sumo fan considers eating a part of the day's program at the tournament. And then he likes to sip his sake and look at the bouts. On top of this, it is a practice with many of the fans to have geisha to entertain them. In the eyes of many Japanese, the height of luxury is to own one of these boxes, sit comfortably in them with geisha, eat sushi and drink sake, and to see the wrestlers in action, to the envy of those in the galleries with opera glasses.
    Besides, these tea-houses, there are refreshment booths within the bowl, and they do a thriving business, considering that the bouts get started as early as 6 a.m. daily and the final bout is not over past 6 p.m. On the opening day last Thursday, the first bout got under way at 2 a.m. and the last match was not over until near 9 p.m. Just imagine the endurance of those fans who waited for hours in a long queue and entered the bowl at 5 p.m. The preceding day. And they included a large number of women.
    The question is self-suggestive: - Just how many bouts are there in a day? An average of 286 bouts are held daily, which means competition by 572 wrestlers. The bouts start with those lowest in the ranks and progress in the ascending order until one of the grand champions appears in the day's closing match.
    About 2:30 p.m. daily there is the “dohyoiri” or ceremony of formal entrance into the ring by the grand champions. This must be seen once to a appreciate its significance of a grand champion making his bow before the spectators, and displaying his strength as “invincible” champion in this universe upon which the sun shines. After this ceremony (Grand Champions Futabayama and Minanogawa go through it separately with their retinues in the current tourney), the principal bouts of the “makunouchi” or first ranking wrestlers are held. They usually number 24 matches.
    Each of these principal bouts is allowed a maximum time of 10 minutes for the contestants to get spiritually united to stand and do battle. There is no such thing as a starting gong such as used in boxing. This process of getting started is called the “shikiri.” To the experts, it is considered a vital part of the bout because it reveals the frame of mind of the contestants, and to a certain extent their strategy. But it is a pain in the neck to the average spectator, who thinks it nonsensical for the wrestlers to crouch, then to stand up and leave for their corners, rinse their mouths with water, wipe them with paper and throw salt to purify the bout, then to crouch again and repeat the procedure again and again. In the old days, it is said that some of wrestlers used to take almost an hour in getting started. This perhaps is exaggeration but the “shikiri” must have been had because the moguls had to install a time limit of 10 minutes. When the time limit is up, the referee gives the wrestlers notice and they rush at each other. The layman then thinks why isn't this done at the first instance, and then the bouts would be over much earlier and spectators be able to get home in time for supper.
    The papers are making quite a bit of hullabaloo over the fact that the East versus West system has been revived after a nine year interval. In other words, it means that there are two teams fighting for the championship honors. The system up to last May was on an individual basis, with wrestlers of one training house meeting those of all other houses. Under the East versus West system, a number of these houses are on the same side. Grand Champions Futabayama Minanogawa are captains of the East and West sides respectively.
    One more vital factor needs mention in this cursory article. In the Japanese style of wrestling, the moment a wrestler's body other than his feet (from the ankle down) touches the sand, even the fingertip, it means defeat. Or if he is pushed outside of the ring, marked by a circle made of straw, he is defeated.
    And why do the wrestlers wear their hair long as in the feudal days? It must be purely from traditional consideration and to provide colo to the sport.