Posts Tagged ‘Sport In Japan’
Baseball in Japan
In recent years, the arrival in the United States of players like Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui has enlightened Americans about the popularity of the sport in Japan. But most Americans don’t know that Japan has almost as long a baseball history as the United States.
The exact date that baseball was introduced in Japan is not known, but it is attributed to American professor Horace Wilson sometime between 1867 and 1912. The Japanese people were immediately intrigued by western baseball, seeing psychological similarities between baseball and their native sports of sumo and martial arts.
In the 1930s, a team of famous American baseball players including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig toured Japan and played games against Japanese college players. Even though the Americans won every game they played, the series helped build interest in baseball throughout Japan. The first Japanese professional team was formed in 1934.
During the years of World War II, as more men joined the military, baseball fell into disfavor and many baseball fields were turned into ammunition dumps or used to grow food crops. However, after Japan was defeated, Allied commanders assisting in the rebuilding of Japan turned to baseball to boost morale and build stronger ties with the west.
Discussing the Business of Sumo Wrestling
Sumo Wrestling is a popular competitive contact sport in Japan where a wrestler attempts to force his opponent either out of a circular ring, called the “dohyo”, or to touch the ground inside the “dohyo” with anything other than the soles of the feet. Japan is the only country where the sport is practiced professionally because Sumo is essentially a sport of deep and ancient Japanese traditions, where there are many rituals and rules that need to be strictly followed and obeyed.
Beyond its strict traditions, Sumo Wrestling is still a sport just like American football, where professionals can make a living from. Here, we’ll take a closer look at the business of the sport, specifically how it is organized, how profits are made through events and competitions, and how much money professional sumo wrestlers are making.
Organization
Also known as the Nihon Sumo Kyokai, the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) serves as the governing body of professional sumo wrestling. The members of JSA are former wrestlers, and they are the only people allowed to train new wrestlers. Wrestlers from foreign countries are very much welcomed to compete, but all professional competitions must take place only in Japanese soil.