Nippon's Sumo year was inaugurated today with the annual spring national tournament. Early this morning the Kokugikan amphitheater in Ryogoku, Tokyo, became the setting of professional Sumo's greatest show to be continued for the next 15 days.
    As announced by the Dai Nippon Wrestling Association, the new line-up has Akinoumi, "yokozuna" or Grand Champion, heading the East Team, and the famed Futabayama, another "yokozuna" topping the West Team. And for the next two weeks, the fortune or misfortune of these giant grapplers of the opposing camps will be followed by the entire Nation

    Nor is that all. The tournament will draw capacity crowds. The Kokugikan built to accommodate 12,000 spectators will be sold out each day of the matches.
    Last May during the summer tournament, the East Team, which is the new West Team, was defeated. Today experts are saying that the tournament will be the closest in recent years. Besides Futabayama, the West Camp boast such formidables as Haguroyama, "yokozuna", Maedayama, "ozeki", Nayoroiwa, "haridashi ozeki", Saganohana, "sekiwake" and Futasegawa, "komusubi".
    Akinoumi's teammates include Terukuni, also "yokozuna", Dewaminato, "sekiwake", Toyoshima, "komusubi" and Sagamigawa, "haridashi komusubi".
    From the standpoint of interest, these sumo matches surpass any other athletic performances. For professional wrestling has never been so high in public favor at any time in its history as at present. With the growing popularity of the sport, Sumo has become recognized practically and scientifically by the average Japanese, particularly by the Imperial Army and Navy, students and industrial workers, as the effective medium for the proper spiritual and physical development of the race.
    Especially now, with the Japanese people returning to traditional national customs, Sumo more than draws the interest of the Japanese for its history is almost as old as the nation itself.

    Broadly speaking this ancient sport has undergone little change throughout the years. Seen today are many of the customs which prevailed during the feudal times. For example "dohyo-iri", or "Ring Rite" is traditional. This function, a religious service, is held in the ring on the day immediately before the opening of the Grand Tournament. Prayers are offered to the deities of heaven and earth and the four seasons for the divine blessing. This signifying that the formal Sumo tournament is a sort of religious festival.
    The again, contestants perform certain ceremony because the bout is of religious significance, being an offering to the deities instead of a mere matter of gaining victory. At the end of each match, the wrestlers stand on the east and west  side of the ring, each saluting the other as a token of of courtesy as he did before the bout. The etiquette is very important.
    The ring is a sacred place. It is the holy precinct of a religious festival. The real significance of Sumo lies in the fact that the wrestlers exert themselves to the utmost in this sacred ring, putting forth all their mental and physical resources into play, almost with the enthusiasms and ardor of men who are on a crusade for some nobel object. The greatest feature and significance of Japanese wrestling is the harmonious blending of the profound religious sense of courtesy with the whole-hearted struggle, the contests mobilizing all their mental and physical resources.
    As previously stated, Sumo is of very ancient origin. The first bout on record taking place as early as 23 B.C. It appears to have been a regular function at the Imperial Court. It also received great encouragement from the warrior classes, especially under of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
    In feudal times each daimyo kept his own band of wrestlers, who vied with one another in upholding the reputation of the daimiate, but with the abolition of feudalism the wrestlers were thrown upon their own resources. For a time the sport decayed, but it was revived about 1883.
    Today professional wrestlers are under the management of the Dai Nippon Wrestling Association. The Grand Tournament which are held twice a year, once in January and again in May, are the main events of the Association.
    In Sumo, there is no restriction on weight of contestants or any other respect such as there are in Western wrestling or boxing. After certain formalities and "get-set" the two antagonists spring up on the other for the battle. Once they become thus engaged in the actual contest, each must see to it no part of his body except the sole of his feet touches the ground throughtout the bout, for the slightest touch of the ground, or even a scratch of sand in the ring with the tip of the finger means defeat.
    Sumo matchs may seem quite simple at first sight, but in reality it is not so. The techinques of throwing an opponent in the ring or ousting him from it is many sided and complicated. However, there are three fundamental methods, namely "tuki", osi" and "yori". More than 200 different 'hands' or tricks have developed on these basic principles.
    Sumo may at times appear to be somewhat similar to boxing and Western wrestling. It is true that Sumo has passed through various stages of development, in which the method of competition was practically the same as boxing and wrestling. But it is now quite different from the Western spirit in the manner of starting the match, giving decision, and in all other details of the sport.