[sumo] Briefly How Did It Start?

[Joe Kuroda <joe_kuroda@yahoo.com>]

When you start talking about sumo, you begin to lose
the dividing line between myth and facts but generally
Nara is considered to be the birth place of sumo as
described in one of the oldest "historical" books ever
found in Japan, "Nihon Shoki". 

According to the book, there was what can only be
described as "Sumaou" (must be Nara dialect  match
took place between a local and original Beasty Boy
named Taima No Kehaya. He was nasty enough that then
emperor, 11th Emperor Suinin the wise and old looked
far and wide to finally get this potter from Izumo
named Nomi No Sukune. Actually in case you are
wondering about the current emperor, he is 125th
counting from Jinmu who lived from 660 B.C. to 585
B.C. Emperor Suinin died on August 6 70 AD, he was 99
years old.

Anyway the match took place in the seventh year of his
era, seventh day of seventh month which is still
celebrated as Sumo Festival Day in some places
(actually in Japan this day is celebrated widely as
Tanabata festival, a romantic lore of prince and
princess in the sky to go eloping once a year.) This
happened at a place in Nara's Sakurai-City where there
is the Sumo Jinja Shriine. This is the first recorded
Emperor Sumo Tournament. 

Leaving out the gory details of their death match,
Nomi won and Taima died. Taima's resting place can be
still found in Taima Temple under "Five Ring Tower",
about 1 km from Kintetsu Minami Osaka line Taima
Station. 

The winner Nomi did not go back to Izumo and stayed
and continued his pottery business. Since then the
locally made pottery are very well known and they can
be found at souvenir shops around the area. Actually
it is said that until Nomi showed up, whenever an
emperor's family member died, they had human
sacrifices. Nomi came up with an idea that instead of
human, they could do with these pottery dolls. For
obvious reasons, these dolls became a sensational hit
among peasants and others likely to be nominated as
potential human sacrifice candidates. Nomi was long
loved by the locals until his death. 

For some reason Nomi's resting place is not reverred
at some shrine but in the middle of fields between
Yamato Asakura Station and Hasedera Station on
Kintetsu Osaka line. If anyone get there, I'd
appreciate the pic of the place as I've never seen it. 

=====
.....Jonosuke 
  <  Heart  Technique  Physique      &#24515;&#12288;&#25216;&#12288;&#20307;&#12288;>

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[EndPost by Joe Kuroda <joe_kuroda@yahoo.com>]