The audience shouted with joy—as if anthropologists had finally discovered a primitive Japanese man. Everybody looked wide-eyed at the extraordinary, ancient-looking wrestlers and welcomed them with applause. The bulky wrestlers were dressed in colorfully embroidered keshyo-mawashi† and all wore the same distinctive hairstyles. They moved slowly in single file and performed their mysterious ring-entrance rite on the dohyo. To tell the truth, I had never appreciated their old-fashioned appearance while I had lived in Japan. When I was small, I even mistook sumo wrestlers for big, tough women. The dour expressions on their faces made me think they were unhappy, as well. I was interested in championship matches between big-name wrestlers such as Taiho and Kashiwado as I grew up, but I had never been an eager sumo fan. However, in New York in 1985, the parade of sumo wrestlers represented a race and an ancient culture that greatly contrasted with the modern, Western surroundings.
What do You think about From A Town On The Hudson?
