Sumo, one of Japan’s oldest sports, is lacking young, heavy talent so severely that it has started accepting lightweight wrestlers. Why are youth shying away from a tradition that was once Japan’s quasi-welfare state and gave its protagonists a divine status? To uncover the roots of the sumo crisis, I visited sumo stalls, competitions and met with sociologists as well as some of the rare children that still desire to become this sport’s next big star.
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© Jeremie Souteyrat / DER SPIEGEL
© Jeremie Souteyrat / DER SPIEGEL
Sumo, one of Japan’s oldest sports, is lacking young, heavy talent so severely that it has started accepting lightweight wrestlers. Why are youth shying away from a tradition that was once Japan’s quasi-welfare state and gave its protagonists a divine status? To uncover the roots of the sumo crisis, I visited sumo stalls, competitions and met with sociologists as well as some of the rare children that still desire to become this sport’s next big star.
Read the story as published in: