Beginning of Sumoö

Beginning of Sumo — a subject drawing from Japan's ancient martial and ceremonial tradition of ritual wrestling. Sumo's origins lie in Shinto ritual, and its ceremonial aspects — the ring-entering ceremony, the purification with salt, the stamping of feet to drive away evil spirits — were as important as the athletic contest. Hanko's Meiji-era depiction of sumo may emphasize these ceremonial dimensions, depicting wrestlers in their distinctive mawashi in the formal context of ritual initiation rather than competitive action.