Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 3.djvu/90

Rh that no one could stand against him, and his truculent, quarrelsome disposition made him universally hated. It is characteristic of the methods of early Japanese sovereigns, that, although this man was an object of dread to all the courtiers, and although his daily deeds of violence made him a general terror, no way of getting rid of him presented itself except to seek some one who might overmatch him. The custom of that time was to summon the strongest men in the country to be the sovereign's guards. Tayema had been one of such a levy. A second summons subsequently brought a batch of recruits, among whom was Nomi no Sukune. He challenged Tayema. The encounter took place in the presence of the Emperor and the Court nobles, and Nomi threw Tayema and kicked him to death. It is thus evident that there were authorised displays of wrestling in those days, but nothing is known as to the science of the practice, and its ferocious nature cannot have recommended it to a nation which has never shown a love for sports so deadly as those formerly popular among the Romans and the Spaniards. Nomi no Sukune is said to have modified the art, reduced its methods to a recognised system, and deprived it of its deadly character. Such action would have been consistent with his traditional conduct in other matters, but the annals of Japan are doubtful evidence when they deal with incidents twenty centuries old.