Re: (sumo literature)First English Sumo Book

["Erland Gelow" <e.gelow@telia.com>]

David Aspinwall wrote:

>> A co-worker of mine  has brought in what looks like the first english sumo
>> book which was published in 1959.
>> It's called "Sumo the sport and the tradition" by J.A Sargeant.

>A Library of Congress search (http://catalog.loc.gov/) shows one from
>1946:
>                     Wrestlers and wrestling in Japan, by
>                     W. K. Burton; with a historical and
>                    descriptive account by J. Inouye.
>                   Tokyo, K. Ogawa [1946?]
>                   18 p. 13 plates (part col.) 39 cm.

There is an even earlier english language book.
I know it's written by the then sumo guru Kozo Hikoyama as part of a large series of books written as guides to Japan.
It's written in 1940 and about 80 pages and includes most of the basics. I found it in the royal library of Stockholm. What one most notices is how little sumo have changed in the last 60 years, but I suppose this is true about a lot of sports. 

Stefan Gelow aka Yubiquitoyama