Approximately 20,000 rabid sumo fans packed the giant Kokugikan Bowl at Ryogoku, Tokyo, yesterday to see the curtain rise on the 15-day "spring" professional wrestling tournament, and by 2 o'clock in the morning even "standing-room only" signs had disappeared.
    The bouts of the first day actually started to 3 o'clock Thursday afternoon and the gates were opened two hours later to let in a fairly large impatient crowd, say the Domei.
    A series of renovations have been introduced in keeping with the new structure in the "spring" tournament. Part of it was a ceremony held between bouts on the ring at 4:40 o'clock in the afternoon.
    All in the amphitheater rose and sang the national anthem to the accompaniment of the Toyama School Military Band, which was followed by bowing in the direction of the Palace and silent prayer for the war dead and the success of the Imperial campaign in China.
    This over, Akinoumi, the wrestler who won the individual championship in the last tourney, returned the victory pennant to the Wrestling Association. President Admiral Isamu Takeshita made a short speech, followed by General Takashi Hishikari, president of the War Dead Commemoration Association, who thanked the Wrestling Association for donating the proceeds of the first day to his association.
    Kyushuzan, one of three professional wrestlers who recently returned from war service in China, made an address. A lecture by Colonel Kingoro Hashimoto, a manager of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, wound up the ceremony.