Sumo vs. Baseball

In Japan there are two big fascination; Sumo & Basaball. These are the two most famous sports around here. The interesting part of comparing them are the big contrast in their origins and their traditions.

In one hand, we have quite simply drawn, sumo pits two colossal men in a circular ring, the objective being to topple your opponent or expel him from the ring. What is the fascination with sumo? Understandably enough it's not the most approachable of sports; for one it is only practised professionally in Japan.Yet it is a tradition spanning back some 1,500 years; it's miraculous enough that such a niche sport is still practised with the same customary practices in the modern day. Everything from their hairstyle to their battle dressings, their communal training and feeding methods, these are men bred to the traditions of the past centuries in a highly industrialized country fit with all the conveniences of modern society. The simple fact of its survival and vibrance is cause for interest in itself.

It's true it takes some time for a bout to establish itself, and each bout can hardly last a few seconds to a minute, yet it's not the length of the contest that measures superiority, it's the craft.

Some people just find enjoyment in seeing abnormally large men colliding. If you're able to watch you can see the absolute joy of some spectators as their wrestlers labour their way to and from the ring.

Now in the other hand, Baseball is the most popular team sport in Japan, with high school, university, and professional games stirring the public and dominating the media during the spring and summer months.
Baseball was first played in Japan in 1873 at Kaisei Gakko, under the instruction of an American teacher, Horace Wilson. Around 1880 the first Japanese baseball team was organized at the Shimbashi Athletic Club, and several college teams were formed in Tokyo. During the period 1890 to 1902, a team from the First Higher School in Tokyo played and often defeated a team made up of American residents in Yokohama; the publicity for these games helped make baseball one of the most popular Western sports in Japan.

Watching a Japanese Baseball game is a completely unique expirience. Is fascinated how this passion in the japanese's heart had growth about this american sport. People cheering with their lifes, and it is even more interesting to noted how can a young sport, comparing with the sumo age, can had reach such a huge supporters in soo few time; and the most traditional sport in the country had lost soo many spectors long the years.