Sumo #1: Sumo is a gift to the gods

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 Sumo is one of Japan's traditional martial arts and fighting techniques, and its origins lie in rituals and festivals at shrines.

The earliest record of sumo in Japan appears in the Kojiki, a book of Japanese mythology, and tells of a battle between the gods Takeminakata and Takemikazuchi.

It is written that sumo between human beings was held in 23 BC.
From the Nara period, there was also a sumo event called Sumahino-sechie, in which sumo was performed in the imperial court in front of the emperor.

Sumo only became a form of entertainment in the Edo period.

There are said to be three types of sumo: professional sumo, known as "osumo"; amateur sumo, which is performed by students and corporate teams; and sumo performed as an offering at shrines and festivals.
As all of these forms of sumo originated as Shinto rituals performed for the gods, they place more importance on etiquette and manners than other sports.

The ritual of the sumo wrestlers clapping their hands together, spreading their arms out and turning their palms over before a bout is called chirichōzu (dust hand-washing), and it means "I have no weapons, I will fight with my bare hands in a fair and square manner".

In Ena, Yura-cho, Wakayama Prefecture, there is a custom of children's sumo called "kobiki warabe sumo (children's sumo)".
It is said that this custom was thought up by two fishermen, Mosaku from Kobiki and Kiichi from Totsui, at the beginning of the Edo period in order to reconcile the two villages, which had been on bad terms with each other, and it is an important custom that continues to this day.

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