$500–$4,000. Common prints: $500–$1,500. Key value factors: Hanko's refined nihonga-style prints bridge traditional painting and modern printmaking. His early death at 47 limits available works.
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.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Beginning of Sumoö was created by Kajita Hanko (梶田半古).
Beginning of Sumoö depicts sumo.
![Untitled [Two women] by Kajita Hanko](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/135758.jpg)
