[sumo] No New Recruits

[Philip Sherman]

Well,
 I wonder if this is the writing on the wall, so to speak.
I hope the day never comes when sumo will be nothing but history.
 It sure looks like it is coming though.
I wonder how many young Japanese men tried out for baseball this year in Japan.
I would doubt that the number is no where near zero as it is in sumo.
 This is shameful IMHO.
By the way it is sure good to see the name Emmett on the posting list.

PHIL


-----Original Message-----
From: Emmett Wayne
Sent: Sunday, July 1, 2007 9:28 PM
To: 'Sumo Mailing List'
Subject: RE: [sumo] No New Recruits

The following is from Japan Today
(http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/411071):

SPORT
Sumo association gets no new applicants
Monday, July 2, 2007 at 07:00 EDT

NAGOYA - Sumo's status as Japan's national sport has been jeopardized
further as no one applied for the tests for new recruits for the first time
ever, sumo officials said Sunday. The Japan Sumo Association was forced to
cancel the tests scheduled for Monday after receiving no applications from
would-be professionals prior to the Sunday's deadline, a week before the
start of the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament. 

According to the JSA, it was the first time in sumo history that the
association had no applicants for such tests, which are conducted prior to
each of the six tournaments held a year. The JSA has had recruiting problems
since the popularity of sumo began to decline in the late 1990s and the
number of applicants has not reached 100 a year the last eight years, while
foreign wrestlers have grown in numbers and steadily made their marks.

Emmett Wayne
Torideyama
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