Paper short abstract:

This paper focus on religious space in Early Modern sumo wrestling by means of analyzing the triad of stage, venture, and that developed in Edo Japan laid out in printed matter, travelogues and diaries. It will show that sumo was able to expand reach through contraction in religiously framed spaces.

Paper long abstract:

Focusing on Early Modern accounts, this paper reflects on meaning of "religious space" as a crucial category for performance practice in Edo Period sumo wrestling. Throughout that era, different forms of grappling gained prominence and were practiced in wide areas. However, it is not until the late 1600s when the emergence of fund-raising tournaments for religious institutions, so-called kanjinzumo, opened new paths as mass entertainment. Then, opportunities to support large groups of sumo performers gave way to a flourishing urban culture. In opposition to alternative forms of sumo, space gained importance in this new form as a triad of performance stage, event venture, and itinerant lifestyle.

The first facet was the ring, dohyo. Introduced as response to bans put into effect after grappling events of the early 1600s often ended in brawls, the stage as "sacred space" was designed to limit accidental involvement and focus attention on rikishi. It is through the creation of these rings that bouts as well as wrestlers changed their looks and took on the form known today. The second space-related facet was that of the venture where the performance took place. Due to a restrictive licensing system, kanjinzumo events found their spaces mostly in territories belonging to temple and shrine grounds. These environments asked for a religious re-conception eventually leading to the introduction of sacral ceremonies roughly by the second half of the 1700s. At that time, the last facet, itinerancy, led to the expansion of sumo as specific urban culture in the archipelago. Independent from the on-stage performance, regional conditions determined the meaning of these grappling events. They often gained religious significance, or simply carried meaning as amusement for urban dwellers.

Against that background, this paper lays out a new reading for the development of interactions of "religious space" and sumo wrestling in history; and contribute to the broader understanding of entertainment in religion by taking into account interactions between all three facets. A reading summed up in the phrase expansion of reach by contraction of space.