The Camera Magazine, March 1950 Pages (63-66)

Japanese Wrestling

    Don Nibbelink made these unusual shots from the first row of seats in Tokyo's Kokugikan amphitheater, with 16,000 shoeless spectators seated cross-legged on ascending tiers of straw mats, and in the two balconies. In Japanese wrestling there is but one fall to a match. Bone-crushing, limb twisting, and kicking are fouls, as are blows with the fists, or anything causing pain to an opponent. There are three classes of wrestlers, their standing depending on individual records rather than weight. However, sheer weight often is the deciding factor in a bout and most of the champions have been huge men. Elaborate "hair-dos" are worn by the firstclass wrestlers. Apparently, they are lacquered in place.
 
    At the upper left and right are two pictures showing contestants warming up at the edge of the ring in Tokyo's Kokugikan Amphitheater before the beginning of their bouts. The umpire is distinguished by his dazzling robe, which was of green silk, while the ceremonial sword bearers are identified by those instruments, held upright in both pictures. The contestants align themselves in the east and west sides of the ring, while the umpire is at the south - to afford the emperor a good view from his northside, reserved box. His attendance is but theoretical; indeed, he has not been present since 1919 - but the bowings toward the north go on just as though he were there. At the bottom left is a wrestler going through his warm-up exercise. His ceremonial loin cloth is one of his proudest possessions. It is made of silk and embroidered with gold wire, and is said to have cost in the neighborhood of $1,000. At the lower right are two third-class wrestlers awaiting their turn to wrestle. They are sitting on either side of one of the black-robed judges. Note the straw mats used as "chairs."
 
    Top left: with their loin cloth decorations bristling fiercely, these two wrestlers are about to spring at each other. This business of reciprocal glaring usually goes on for several minutes until the umpire gives the contestants the signal with his "war fan" to spring into action. Top right: a tense moment in a bout, photographed just before one wrestler pushed his opponent outside the ring. Bottom left: like the picture above it, this shows the "square-off" before the bout gets under way, and also reveals, somewhat graphically, the embonpoint of one of the wrestlers, the best of whom are usually tremendous men, horizontally, as well as vertically. The upraised fan of the umpire may be seen in the extreme right hand corner. Lower right: this illustrates the "clinch," which is as common in Japanese wrestling as our own Occidental boxing. These fellows are getting their breath after a brief scuffle, and are sparring about for a new hold. At Sumo matches, the spectators never applaud. Most outbursts of enthusiasm are considered exceedingly bad manners.
 
    SIKO! This part of the wrestling preliminaries traces its origin to the time when the victor trampled his fallen opponent to death. Just a fraction of a second after this remarkable photograph was taken, the wrestler brought his foot crashing down on the dirt floor of the ring with all his might, while the crowd savagely yelled "Siko!"
 
    The wrestler facing the camera is about to be pushed outside of the ring, and this will lose him the bout. One of the other ways to lose is to touch the floor with any part of the body except the feet. Most of the wrestlers are huge fellows, some weighing 300 Ibs., and towering to a height of 6 ft. 8 in.