Lords of the Ring(harpers.org)
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Lords of the Ring
https://harpers.org/archive/2026/03/lords-of-the-ring-joshua-hunt-cultural-politics-sumo-wrestling/
3 comments
If you’re interested in watching some sumo, NHK put up English-commentated 30 minute ad-free round-up videos on YouTube for each day of each fifteen-day-long basho. They take each video down after a week or so, so you need to be watching at the time. The next basho is held in Ōsaka and starts March 8th (see https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/sumo/basho-schedule/).
When I visited Japan, I went to a Spring basho in Tokyo.
The sumo matches were much more entertaining than I had expected, as the strategies employed by the fighters were varied and the sumo rules ensure that a winner is decided in a relatively short time.
The sumo matches were much more entertaining than I had expected, as the strategies employed by the fighters were varied and the sumo rules ensure that a winner is decided in a relatively short time.
> The cultural politics of sumo wrestling
https://archive.ph/2026.02.20-235711/https://harpers.org/arc...
https://archive.ph/2026.02.20-235711/https://harpers.org/arc...