Time, February 10th 1947 (Page 41-44)
WHILE REFEREE STANDS BY, A "SUMO" WRESTLER (RIGHT) GRABS OPPONENT'S SASH TO TOPPLE HIM OVER. GRASS AT WAISTS SIGNIFIES CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

JAPANESE WRESTLERS

They still grunt for their daily rice, but food shortages have made them thin

    To the average Western wrestling fan the out-sized athletes shown above would not seem to be suffering from malnutrition. But the acute rice shortage in Japan has shrunk the nation's wrestlers so much that some of them now weigh only about 250 pounds.
    Japanese wrestlers have to be big and placid. Their sport, which they call sumo, dates back to 73 B.C. and is characterized mainly by brute strength. Contestants start a match crouching and staring at each other until each senses that the other is ready. This takes as much as seven minutes. When they finally lunge at each other, each tries to dump the other on the floor. One usually succeeds in 15 seconds, and the match is over. This sport had a revival during the war and became one of the most popular in Japan. But now that the Japanese are starting to copy the West again, sumo is gradually being replaced by American Baseball.

WRESTLER'S LUNCH dwarfs average Japanese lunch (left). Fans donate some of their share to wrestlers.
LEFT: PURIFYING THEMSELVES for fair play, Japanese wrestlers rub sand under their arms before match begins. Another ritual is purifying floor of ring with salt.
RIGHT: FORE AND AFT views of champion wrestler's ceremonial apron show patron's name in silk across the bottom (left), rope denoting sumo rank.
COURTLY CALL is paid by wrestler, who makes ceremonial steps before Meiji Shrine. He does this to please Meiji's spirit on late emperor's birthday.
 
    LEFT: WRESTLING ARENA in Tokyo is built on location of prewar arena that was bombed by B-29s and is called "Memorial Hall" for U.S. athletes killed in war. Ring's canopy is supported by posts named after four seasons of the year.
    RIGHT: END OF MATCH comes as wrestler falls. He is defeated as soon as any part of his body except his feet touches the floor of the ring. Sumo has 48 well defined holds, but American tricks of slugging, pinching and jujitsu are illegal.