Speaking of a synonym that best represents Japanese sports, what would you choose? Another answer, may not be the first impression of many people, but as long as you mention it, I believe many people will nod, this is sumo (Sumo).
sumo
Sumo has existed in Japan since the seventh century AD, although it is likely to have evolved from the Chinese Han Dynasty horn movement, but it was carried forward and promoted to the world, or from Japan, this thousand-year-old sport in Japan, and very early on by Japan as a "national skill", when receiving foreign envoys, sumo wrestling competitions are also performed.
Sumo on a Japanese tourist postcard
In modern times, Japan continues to carry forward sumo wrestling, and more professional and systematic, the Japanese Sumo Association will pay high-level sumo wrestlers generous salaries, such as the highest level of Yokozuna, the monthly basic salary of 3 million yen (about 200,000 yuan), the lowest level of "twelve" also has 1.1 million yen (about 73,300 yuan) per month, in Japan, such a basic, salary basically only depends on the length of service in the society, sumo is a fairly high income.
As a comparison, we also know that football, as the world's highest average income sport, and the average annual income of players in Japan's highest level football league (J-League) is 23 million yen, if you exclude foreign aid players such as Iniesta, Torres, Podolsky, who have a very high premium, in fact, the income of Japanese players is less than 20 million.
And if it can become the highest level yokozuna, it will also have a great off-field influence in Japan, which can also bring other benefits to sumo wrestlers. For example, the 68th generation of Yokozuna Chao qinglong Mingde, after retiring, smoothly transferred to the business world and became a billionaire.
Transverse belt
And with the spread of Japanese culture in the world, sumo wrestling has also been involved in many overseas people, so in 1993, there was the first foreign yokozuna in history, that is, the 64th generation yokozuna Aketaro, formerly known as Chad George Haseo Rowan, an American born in Hawaii, who was later naturalized as Japanese after retiring in 2001.
Another thing to explain is that Yokooka refers to the highest level of sumo wrestling, marked by the Yokozuna belt that weighs 20 kilograms at the waist, Yokozuna is in many ways the public face of sumo, it can be said that it is the existence of the national idol level, there are only 72 generations of Yokooka in Japanese history so far, starting from the 4th generation of Yokozunagi Kazeki Sukesuke with a clear battle record, that is, from 1789 to the present, a total of 69 Yokozuna has appeared in 230 years, and the status can be compared to the European Golden Globe Awards in the football world. Or the NBA regular season MVP in basketball.
Akebono Taro
Akebono became Yokozuna, which promoted the opening of a new era of Japanese sumo wrestling, foreign players began to enter the field of Japanese sumo wrestling, and in 1999 another foreign Yokozuna was born, which was Musashi Maru Mitsuyo from the South Pacific island nation of Samoa, with Portuguese, Tonga, German and Samoa multi-ethnic ancestry, originally known as Fiamalu Penitani, and later also became a Japanese citizen.
Aketaro and Musashi Maru Mitsuhiro belong to the same kind of first wave of strength to enter the Japanese sumo wrestling world, from the Pacific Islands, relatively close to Japan, and similar to Tonga, Samoa and other island countries, the indigenous people fish and hunt for a living, the general physique is relatively tall and strong, like the average weight of Tonga and Samoa, perennial in the world's top three, which for sumo wrestlers, can be said to be a natural advantage, so they became the first wave of external forces into the Japanese sumo world.
Musashi Maru Mitsuyo
However, relatively speaking, it has not yet formed a rule over the Japanese sumo community, and the second wave of foreign forces has become the mainstream of the Japanese sumo world, which is the Mongolian sumo wrestler.
Since 2003, the birth of the third foreign Yokozuna, the 68th generation of Yokozuna Chaoqinglong Mingde, real name Dolegel Sullen Dagva Dorji, Mongolian sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, born in a Mongolian wrestling family, at the age of 17 by the principal of Mingde Yishu High School, together with the sumo department coach to mongolia to explore talents is discovered, so was seen to drop out of school, began a sumo career, in 2002, became the first Mongolian-born Daguan Lux, in 2003 became the first Mongolian-born Yokozuna, in 2003 became the first Mongolian-born Yokozuna. Until decommissioning in 2010. From the time of his reign, as well as the number of wins, he is in the top ten of history.
Towards the Green Dragon Matilda
Of the 5 horizontal classes that began with the 68th generation of Yokozuna of Chaoqinglong Mingde, 4 were Mongols, including the holder of the Yokozuna record, the 69th Generation Yokozuna Bai Pengxiang, whose real name is Mangkovat Dawazargrad, is also a sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and is also a wrestling family, his father is the silver medalist of the middleweight (87 kg) of freestyle wrestling at the 1968 Olympic Games, he is 1 meter 92 tall and weighs 155 kilograms, and he has been a horizontal class since July 2007. To this day, he still maintains henggang, whether it is the time in office, or the number of wins in the position, 776 games, is the first in history, and this record is being refreshed every day, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is the first in the history of sumo wrestling.
Bai Pengxiang
Later, the 70th generation yokozuna Nima Fuji, also a sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, formerly known as Davanima Baima Dolgi, became yokozuna in 2012, with a height of 1 meter 86 and a weight of 137 kg, and then the 71st generation yokozuna, Tsuru Ryurizaburō, also from Mongolia, whose real name is Manaengagagaravan Anad, a native of Sukhbaatar province of Mongolia, is 1 meter 86 tall and weighs 155 kilograms, and won the yokozuna title in 2014, like Bai Pengxiang, is an active transverse. Up to this point, Japan's yokozuna had been "occupied" by the Mongols for four consecutive generations.
Although later in 2017, Hiroshi Nobuyuki won back a yokozuna for the Japanese native players, but he also retired in 2019, and he did not hide that the current situation of Mongolian players basically dominating the Japanese sumo world, especially considering the current situation in mongolia as a whole, there are only 3.27 million.
At present, Mongolia and the Japanese sumo wrestling community, but also formed an industrial cycle, the Mongolians themselves have wrestling customs, which is a great degree of migration for sumo wrestling, but the traditional Mongolian wrestling can not bring too much income to wrestlers, and in Mongolia, such a country is not rich, and the industry is relatively single, becoming a sumo wrestler, is undoubtedly a good opportunity to change the fate, and so far, all Mongolian yokozuna have entered the Japanese nationality, you can also see that the Japanese nationality is attractive to them, So Mongolia has formed an industry for Japan to send high-level sumo wrestlers, which is also an interesting, international "sports migration" phenomenon.