Page:Sketches of Tokyo Life (1895).djvu/58

34 reaction has set in and Japanese clothes have returned to favour on account of their more graceful appearance and greater comfort in Japanese houses. The European dress craze, which had thus seized almost all classes and both sexes, did not in the least affect the wrestler, who retained throughout his usual garments. This was not difficult for him as on the only occasion of his public appearance, that is, on the arena, his costume is conspicuous by its absence, and he is reduced to the last verge of decency, having nothing but a belt and a loin-cloth to hide his nakedness. In private life he always wears Japanese clothes which appear to be ill-fitting from his great size, for the Japanese wrestler is selected for his stature and becomes from his practice on the ring extremely obese and remarkable for his huge paunch. He still retains his queue, and his clogs are also noticeable for their size.

Wrestling is in Japan, as in most other countries, of great antiquity. The earliest wrestling match on record took place in 23, when Nomi-no-Sukune, a powerful athlete, wrestled in the Imperial Palace with one Kehaya who prided himself on his great strength, and threw him down with such force that he died on the spot. Sukune, who was thereon highly honoured by the Emperor, was, after his death, deified and is worshipped to this day as the patron of wrestlers. Seven and a half centuries later, in the seventh moon of 726, Emperor Shomu summoned all the knights in the capital to wrestle in the palace-grounds; and from that time annual court matches were held in that moon. Every spring, wrestlers were brought for the purpose from all parts of the country and, after they had given diversion by their bouts, set to guard the palace. Nobles of high rank also often wrestled with each other. Emperor Junna (824–834) even established a special department for palestral affairs; and so important grew this art that in 859, the succession to the throne was decided by a contest between the champions of the rival claimants. Wrestling