Japanese Sumo History: The bible of sumo history research republished

The author, Tadamasa Sakai, was born as the second son of Masahiro Abe, the last lord of the Fukuyama Domain in Bingo, and was adopted into the Sakai family, the former lords of Himeji Domain. While he was a politician, having served as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and Vice-President of the House of Peers before the war, he had been a fan of sumo since he was a child.

His collection of sumo materials, which began with postcards, expanded to include nishiki-e, rankings, match records, books, magazines, and more. As the head of a former feudal lord family and a count, he was known as the "Lord of Sumo," and due to his deep insight into sumo, he was appointed the first chairman of the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee. He also used the materials he collected to study the history of sumo, and wrote this book, which is still considered the bible of sumo research.

The museum contains a number of valuable materials, carefully selected from Tadamasa Sakai's vast collection, which is said to exceed 10,000 items, including outstanding nishiki-e prints, a portrait of Futabayama by Sakai that will be on public display for the first time, and handwritten manuscripts.

Click here for the event report of the talk show with Oyakata Shibatayama, held to commemorate the publication of this book.