March Grand Sumo Tournament

The latest Sumo wrestling Grand Tournament (or "basho") is taking place right now in Osaka, Japan. This is known as the Spring basho and is the second of the six grand tournaments held each year at two-monthly intervals. Three of the basho are held in Tokyo, while the other tournaments are in Osaka, Nagoya (July) and Kyushu (November).

Only the top-ranked wrestlers – or, rikishi -- in the sport are invited to attend the grand tournaments. There are usually between 39 and 42 competitors, the exact number being determined by how many yokozuna (grand champions, never more than two and often only one) and ozeki (the second highest rank, usually two, three or, rarely, four) are taking part. A basho lasts 15 days, each rikishi fighting once every day with a different opponent. Eight wins by a wrestler equals a winning tournament, while eight losses signals a less successful outcome. The winner of each tournament -- the wrestler winning the most bouts -- wins The Emperor's Cup.

The strictly hierarchical ranking of the wrestlers is determined by their success or failure at the previous basho: a winning tournament pushes you up the ranks, and a losing tournament does the opposite. A low ranking rikishi who continues to lose tournaments will quickly be relegated to a lower level of the sport, his place in the top ranks being taken by a wrestler who has succeeded at the tournaments in the lower level. The ranks of the wresters taking part in the major basho are therefore continually refreshed by up-and-comers and veterans bouncing back from a losing streak.http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/index.html

It is claimed that top rikishi can earn more than $1 million a year with prize money, salary and endorsements.

The Spring basho began on Sunday March 14th and ends on March 28th, 2010. It is taking place in Osaka, Japan.http://www.sumo.or.jp/eng/index.html

This is the first tournament since the enforced resignation from the sport of the Mongolian superstar yokozuna Asashoryu, just two months after he won his 25th Emperor's Cup. Always "the bad boy" of this deeply traditional sport, Asashoryu was pushed out for a drunken night on the town. That leaves his Mongolian compatriot Hakuho as the sole yokozuna.http://n.yam.com/funday/garden/201002/20100210122526.html//ref>

Hakuho will be the short-odds favorite to win his 13th Cup. However, two ozeki, the Mongolian Haramafuji and the Bulgarian Kotooshu, will be challenging him strongly. Another potential winner is Baruto, an Estonian seeking promotion to ozeki.

The history of sumo stretches back perhaps 2,000 years and, as a spectator sport, can be documented from the 17th century. Sumo was originally an incarnation of certain shinto religious ceremonies and, even to this day, each tournament, and each bout within each tournament, is surrounded by a complex web of sights, sounds and movements imbued with Shintoism.

In the early 20th century, there were only two basho a year. As sumo's popularity grew, the number of major tournaments increased to four basho a year and then, in 1958, the current six-basho-a-year format was established.http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/index.html