The famous Kokugikan, or Wrestlers' Amphitheater, in Ryogoku, Tokyo, and its vicinity woke to great activity a week ago today as the annual 15-day spring "sumo" tournament was ushered in. From early morning eager crowds surged to and fro to get an advantageous seat in the huge amphitheater which has a seating capacity for about 25,000 spectators.
    Nearby, and standing practically on the edge of the Sumida River, is a large two storied Japanese structure, in outer aspects resembling an inn and yet with a home-like atmosphere about it. Through its portals come and go stalwart figures, all neatly in Japanese costume and most of them with their hair in the ancient style of Japan, that is, with topknots.
    It is the Dewanoumi Camp, or one of the buildings housing Japan's foremost wrestlers. A rising member of this abode is Kiichiro Ozaki, or Toyonishiki as he is more popularly known to wrestling fans throughout the country, first Nisei "sumo" wrestler to attain the "juryo" rank which is just a division below the top ranking or "makuuchi".

    "I would be in the makuuchi rank toady", Mr. Ozaki explained modestly, as he sat before a large brazier in his room, "had not the rules been changed recently restricting the number of eligible to this class to 24 instead of the former 26".
    Seven years ago Toyonishiki was still answering the roll call to the name Kiichiro Ozaki at a junior high school in Greelev, Colorado, where he lived with his parents and five brothers and sisters.
    During school days he was keenly interested in baseball, basketball and football, and in fact kept up his baseball until a couple of years ago when the wrestlers had their own baseball team. He was a pitcher and also a left fielder.
    In his youth, which had been spent in Fukuoka Prefecture, his father had been an enthusiastic wrestler himself, and it was due to parental suggestion and encouragement that young Ozaki decided to come to Japan to undergo training.
    "Guess it runs in the family", he remarked, as a ghost of a smile flitted across his bronzed face.
    But the five years of training before he reached his present position did more for him than he had expected, he continued soberly. "Besides my physique, it built up my character and morale too." he said. "I learned not only all the rudiments of Japanese wrestling but absolute obedience and fortitude.
    "you see," he went on, "a sumo apprentice, as you might call the aspirants, must lead the life of a man servant. In return for all that is taught him, an apprentice must look after every need of his assigned instructor, an older sumo wrestler. That is the inflexible rule of sumo life."
    "I cooked for my instructor, washed his clothes, gave him rubdowns, looked after his wardrobe, carried his baggage the length and breadth of the country while we were on exhibition tours, and was at his beck and call every minute of the day."

    "Now if that isn't good training for anyone, I'd like to know what is," he said with a smile, as he lighted a fresh cigaret from the stub of an old one. Thoughtfully flicking a bit of ash, he continued:
    "When I first started, I thought of sumo only as an interesting competitive sport. However, gradually I realized that to become a successful sumo wrestler I had first to build up my career.
    "When you come to seriously think about it, sumo is certainly a most impressive sport. It has a history as old as that of Japan herself. It's always been a national sport and most representative sport in Japan, and it is historically associated with the military arts.
    "Moreover, the fundamental object of the art of sumo is the training of the mind and heart, cultivation of a vigorous spirit and the developing of the body. In other words, to become a successful sumo wrestler you have to have physical endurance, indomitable courage, serenity of mind, and all the other things i used to hear about as being traditional attributes of the samurai.
    "Of course I don't pretend to posses all these attributes to any great degree yet, but I hope to someday. Anyway I've learned that it's something you just can't ape. You've got to really believe it and live it.
    "I'm not explaining this very well," he hastened to add, "but you know what I'm trying to drive at. It's that I've had to discard all superficialities and reach down to the fundamental. Most of us have it in us. It's just a case of discovering it and making use of it."

    Exhibition tours throughout the country take up a great deal of the wrestlers' time and are a source of great pleasure to Ozaki who enjoys traveling. In recent years these tours have extended to the Continent, when for the three months of June, July and August the wrestlers have gone on a combined comfort and exhibition trip to various parts of Chosen, Manchoukuo and China. Especially the people of Chosen, Mr. Ozaki stated, are great sumo enthusiasts.
    "In all, we're in Tokyo only about 100 days of the year." he said. "From the end of December through January, and then from the end of April through May. Our spring tournament takes place in January and the summer one in May. The rest of the time we are usually traveling about, either together to larger cities or in groups to the smaller places".
    Going back to the subject of sumo training, Mr. Ozaki explained that the average period of training before the juryo rank is attained is about five years. Haguroyama, one of the present champions, is said to have required only two and a half years, but he was an exceptional case. Most aspirants drop out after a year or so and only a small percentage persevere to the end of the training period.
    "All that is behind me now," he said. "Now I have my own apprentice to fetch and carry for me. Besides the daily practice of 30 minutes or so, during which I also help instruct the juniors. I am at leisure most of the time. Of course right now there's a big tournament, and that's a headache, but I try not to worry so much. After all, you can't do more than your level best."
    When reference was made to his 6 feet 3 inches of muscle, with not an ounce of superfluous flesh, Mr. Ozaki remarked.
    "I used to weigh around 205 pounds but recently I've managed to 'slim' down to 190 pounds. The minimum weight limit is 19 kan, or around 157 pounds, and minimum height is 5 feet 5 inches. There aren't any maximum limits. There have some sumo wrestlers over 7 feet tall while others have weighed 57 kan, or 470 pounds!
    "Some sumo men, like myself for instance, are all brawn, while others run to fat. Oh, I don't think I'll ever get fat." he protested.
    "Sure, I eat anything," he replied. "I've never bothered about diets. The only requirement is that we eat plenty of good, wholesome food as wrestling is hard work.
    "There are three other Nisei  boys here, one from Los Angeles and two from Honolulu, undergoing training. I hear there were four before me, but they returned to their homes for family reasons."
    Mr. Ozaki's one great regret is his inability to let his parents know of his success. "Anyway they will know that I'm doing my best. Maybe you'll think this is an exaggerated statement, but I'm struggling not only for my own sake, but for the honor of fellow Japanese abroad. That's why I hope I will make the makuuchi rank in the very near future."