| Follow us on Twitter |
From its legendary prehistoric beginnings until the present day, sumō wrestling has dominated the
world of traditional Japanese sport.
Like Kabuki actors and noted courtesans, wrestlers were idols of the urban popular culture of the 18th and 19th centuries, and so appeared frequently in woodblock prints.
This exhibition features not only portraits of famous wrestlers and scenes of their greatest bouts, but also depictions of wrestlers as celebrities in everyday life, as characters in legends and Kabuki plays, and as animals or supernatural beings in fantasies, in which they enjoy wrestling just as humans do.
The picture shows 'Yokozuna Grand Champion Sumō Wrestler Hidenoyama Raigorō Entering the Ring, with Tachibana Tomigorō and Akitsukaze Kumoemon, about 1843-1847, Utagawa Kunisada I'. -- www.mfa.org
Posted October 8th, 2007 by ruzik_tuzik
