RE: Further info on tegatana and hand gestures after winning a bout (long)

["Joshua A. Reyer" <jreyer@grn.mmtr.or.jp>]

> Yeah, I will take the word of someone who was in sumo oppose to someone on
> an ML, sorry, you are wrong on this one.  The hand gesture is kokoro, ask
> any sumotori/sekitori you know, it is a four stroke gesture, stroke order
> aside, heck I learned it from Ozora, when he was in sumo as Akebono's
> tsukebito, 7 years ago.

Okay.  First, I quote from Ozumo no Jiten (Grand Sumo Dictionary), written
by Isshi Sawada and published 1995.

tegatana wo kiru - On a bout where prize money is offered, the action the
winning rikishi does when accepting the envelope on top of the gyoji's
outstretched gunbai.  The middle is Ame-no-minakanushi-no-kami, the front of
the dohyo (shoumen) is Takamimusubi-no-kami, the opposite side is
Kamimusubi-no-kami.  The cuts represent thanking these three gods of
competition.  Old custom dictated that when on the east side, the order is
middle-right-left, and when on the west side, middle-left-right.  However,
for the July basho of 1966, then Chairman Tokitsukaze (former Yokozuna
Futabayama) decreed that the order would be left, right, middle, and so it
is done today.

Since this is my translation from the Japanese, just to be safe, I'll
include the Japanese as well.

tegatana wo kiru - kenshou no kakatta torikumi no kachi rikishi ga, kachi
nanori wo ukeru toki, gyouji ga gunbai ni nosete sashidasu kenshou no
noshibukuro wo ukeru kiwa no sakuhou no koto.  Mannaka ga
amenominakanushinokami, shoumen ga takamimusubinokami, ura shoumen ga
kamimusubinokami de, kono shoubu no sankami ni kansha suru to iu imi de kiru
mono to sareru.  Higashi no baai wa , mannaka, migi, hidari no jun, nishi no
baai wa, mannaka, hidari, migi no junn de fukuro no ue de tegatana wo kiru
no ga kojitsu no sakuhou da ga, shouwa 41 nen (1966) nanagatsu basho de,
touji no Tokitsukaze rijichou (moto yokozuna Futabayama) ga kokuchi shita
tegatana no kirikata no jun wa, migi, hidari, chuuo de ari, genzai wa kono
sakuhou de okonowararete iru.

Next, I quote from Grand Sumo Fully Illustrated, written by Seigoro Kitade
and translated by Deborah Iwabuchi, published in 1998.  From the leaf of the
book, it says about Mr. Kitade; "Kitade began announcing sumo events for
radio in 1952, switching to television with the first televised sumo in 1953
and continuing for the next 37 years.  He has been called "a living
encyclopedia of sumo," and the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) has twice
awarded him commendations for his services to the sport."

"When a rikishi wins an incentive award, the gyoji passes it to him on his
gunbai.  The rikishi takes it after making three cutting motions in the air
with his hand, called tegatana or "hand sword".  The tegatana is a sing of
thanks to the three gods of victory."  There is a footnote labeled
"Haridashi Information": "When a rikishi performs a "hand sword" (tegatana)
motion as a form of thanks, the three gods being appeased are
Ame-no-Minakanushi, Takami-musubi, and Kami-musubi."

> Regarding the chomage matter, I was wrong and I quoted Doreen,
> not Yamato on that one.

Next, I use Dave Melton's handy sumo archive to show a particular message:
-------------------------------
Kawika said:
> >I have spoken to an ex-sekitori regarding the chomage.
> >You need to have one to stay in sumo.  I was wrong.  Earlier I stated
that
> >hair is not a must, just a nice carry over from the Edo-jidai.  Actually
it
> >is a must, you can't make a chomage, you must retire.

To which Stefan Gelow asked:
>Are you really sure about this? As I recall, the reason that you came to
>the conlcusion that chonmage wasn't needed was the expert opinions of
>Masumi Abe and Doreen Simmons. Furthermore there are NO examples of rikishi
>who have had to quit sumo because of too little har to do a chonmage. How
>did this former sekitori know this? I don't think it's stated in black and
>white anywhere. Masumi Abe have earlier given an example of the rikishi
>with the (because of lack of hair)most ridiculous looking mage (Onobori??).

To which Kawika responded:
I am positive.  My soure is my neighbor, ex-sekitori, Yamato.  He is the
person I use to confirm things when I am not sure.  He was in sumo, I figure
he should know.
--------------------------------
This message can be easily found searching Dave Melton's archive with the
words, "chon-mage, Yamato".

For those not on the list at that time, it was later found that, as Doreen
and Abe-san suggested (and as Kawika believed at first), chon-mage are not
required for sumo.  Searching the archive simply with "chon-mage" will turn
up messages attesting to that fact.