R: [sumo] Sumo Kyokai

[Lon Howard]

On Dec 29, 2007, at 1:38 AM, Paolo Viel wrote:

> To Joe Petrow (see following message) :
>
> I agree with most of what you say, but I think that not necessarily  
> the
> product would be so different from the sumo of today. The  
> management can
> also keep a good sensitivity towards Sumo's main goals without  
> destroying
> its substance.
> Here again it depends on who the managers are...

To further express how complex this issue really is, I'll offer that  
it also depends on what one believes sumo's main goal(s) is.  I would  
expect that if you were to ask an oyakata, a teacher, a housewife, a  
construction worker and a cartoonist (all Japanese) what they thought  
the main goal of sumo is, you would get five different answers.  In  
fact, I would go so far as to say that you might get at least three  
different answers if you asked five oyakata the same question.  The  
answers would range from aspects such as cultural, educational,  
authoritative, entertainment, financial, religious, etc. etc.

So the personal views of the 'manager(s)' would play a huge part in  
what the sumo that you see looks like.  Each manager would emphasize   
his or her own partiality in constructing a management plan.  So I do  
agree with Joe, in that the 'larger' question is whether it's worth  
risking what sumo looks like, in order to bring it into the modern  
age, so to speak.

One thing I've always liked about sumo is that it looks and feels  
ancient...primitive and yet regal at the same time.  Accomplishing  
this is daunting, but it's been done and done well for a long time.   
I would be very hesitant about doing anything that would risk  
upsetting this delicate balance.

For those promoting large changes, I would just ask that if you are a  
sumo fan, you must like what you see when you watch it, otherwise you  
wouldn't be a fan to begin with.  Sumo looks the way it does because  
of the way of thinking of the 'incompetent oafs' who run it.  I'm the  
first to admit they aren't perfect, the they must have done something  
right or we wouldn't be so addicted to it.

Lon Howard
Shomishuu