Bad news Sumo fans, seems that it’s now going to be even more difficult for foreigners to become part of the wonderful world of sumo thanks to some new laws thrown down by the Japanese Sumo Association. Your dreams of becoming a Sumo god are through!
The new laws call for a maximum of one foreign born Sumo wrestler per Sumo Stable. Currently there is one slot per stable limit for foreigner Sumo wrestlers. What this ruling means is that if for some reason a foreigner sumo wrester gets Japanese citizenship, another foreigner can not come in and take the one “foreigner” slot again.
This move is to stem the tide of non-Japanese invading the Sumo system. From the article…
“You get the impression it is a severe measure but if the brakes are not applied somewhere, there will be more and more stables overrun with foreign wrestlers, so it can’t be helped,” said one stable master.
In recent years, the number of foreign wrestlers has been on the rise, as the existing loophole leaves a vacancy once someone from a respective stable gains Japanese citizenship.
With only 60 foreign born Sumo wrestlers in the system, you wouldn’t think that there was any odd invasion going on. I guess you’ll all have to try even harder to get in some the sweet Sumo world.
(Via breitbart)

February 28, 2010 11:00 AM | by
