Ozeki HAKUHOU won the summer grand sumo tournament. He is a Mongolian, and now there are many Mongolian sumo wrestlers. My feeling is complex.
Of course it's usual that stronger sumo wrestlers win, but the grand sumo tournament is the national sport of Japan. Why are there not so many strong Japanese sumo wrestlers now? Do they have no strong motivation?
Japan has become an economic power, but at the same time we have lost many things. They are saving, endurance, strong motivation and so on. I don't say that it's wrong.
It's change of the times. On the other hand the sumo society has been traditional and closed. Now Japanese young men don't like such a special society, and so if there will be no change of the sumo society, Japanese sumo wrestlers will decrease gradually.
Isn't it a crisis of sumo? It's inevitable that there are many foreign sumo wrestlers. But how will be the future of sumo? I feel somewhat out of place. Do only I have such feeling?
I too have wondered at this one. Sports are often dominated by a country and then after a time are taken on by another. Japan, as the creator of sumo still has the greates respresentation of sumo atheletes and that quite a feat is it not? For me, I am not strong and prefer table tennis and badminton, two sports in which the equipment manufacturing is dominated by high-quality Japanese products, but not as many Japanese players. Why is this? Of course, for me, I still prefer it if Sweden makes good rounds in the world cup of table tennis (and football of course).
It is interesting that non-Japanese are willing many of the tournaments, even though the number of non-Japanese allowed to compete in Sumo are limited.
But this is much like how in baseball, which was developed in America and is often considered as America's game, the best teams and players are not American. I guess as the world becomes more globalized, what we once took to be out country's property will become something of the world.