Written by Oscar Holland, CNN
In one of photographer David Sharabani’s stunning images, two sumo wrestlers face each other under a roof that resembles a Shinto shrine. Another photo shows participants throwing salt high in the air to clean the ring; a third shows them with their hands raised, a custom meant to prove that no one carries arms.
Sumo wrestling, which has remained virtually unchanged since it became a professional sport in early 17th-century Japan, is defined by ritual and tradition. And as Sharabani discovered when he first started filming in Tokyo’s “beya” — a collection of stables around the city where wrestlers sleep, eat, and train — it’s also a world shrouded in secrecy.
“I think I spent 90% of my time getting access and 10% taking photos,” said Sharabani, who publishes his work under the name Lord K2, in a video interview from Tokyo. “That was a real challenge.
“They take their training very, very seriously,” he added. “So when I showed up, I was often turned down. But sometimes they allowed me to enter. When they did, I was assigned a seat on the floor and told not to move from that position and to be very, very still.”
Wrestlers participate in a practice session at their “beya,” a stable where the athletes live and train. Credit: Mr K2
His persistence paid off. The resulting images offer a rare glimpse of wrestlers stretching, fighting in practice matches (known as sanban geiko), and even being disciplined by superiors in the hierarchical stables. Other behind-the-scenes photos capture quieter moments: an unseen athlete’s hair being oiled and tied back, or a row of ‘mawashi’ – the heavy loincloths worn by all sumos – hung out to dry. Bruises, abrasions and scrapes speak to the unforgiving nature of this sport, where more serious injuries are common.
Almost 100 of the images appear in the British photographer’s newly published book Sumo. Unlike conventional sports photography, Sharabani was more concerned with the culture surrounding sumo wrestling than the bouts themselves. Even footage captured during the tournament at Tokyo’s 11,000-seat Kokugikan Arena draws viewers’ eyes to the crowd and the venue, not just the fights in the ring.
“A sports photographer mainly captures the action… but for me it’s more about capturing the essence of the sport,” said Sharabani.
“Sometimes it’s good to witness the action, but I want the reader to feel like they’re in the stadiums and stables and capture the whole setting, including the crowd, the feelings and emotions surrounding the events and the little nuances which you often don’t notice.”
Tradition meets modernity
The rules of sumo wrestling are simple: contestants win by forcing their opponent out of the “dohyo,” a sand-covered circle on which bouts take place. Sharabani first encountered the sport when it was aired, albeit briefly, on a major UK television network in the late 1980s.
“I was really fascinated by all the mysticism surrounding the costumes and customs,” says the photographer, who also produced a series on another martial art, Muay Thai.
Since beginning his project in 2017, Sharabani has often spent his time hanging out in Tokyo’s Ryogoku district, the historical heart of the sport and where many of the city’s sumo stables are still located. “If you spend the day there, you see an average of 10 to 15 sumo wrestlers just walking around,” he said.
Sharabani says it’s not uncommon to see the wrestlers wearing “mawashi,” a type of loincloth, near their stables after practice. Credit: Mr K2
As it is forbidden to express feelings during fights, sumos are expected to behave with humility even in public. They are also forbidden from wearing modern clothing. As such, some of Sharabani’s most striking photos show the wrestlers going about their daily lives – visiting grocery stores or ordering food from McDonalds – in kimonos or loincloths, their hair tied in a topknot (a style they all wear until their hair is done) . solemnly cut off at retirement).
This visual contrast between modernity and tradition embodies the role of sumo wrestling in contemporary Japan. The sport’s fixation on ritual has in many ways hampered its ability to modernize; Women, for example, are forbidden to take part in major tournaments or even enter the stables. Sharabani also said the sport has resisted attempts to make events faster by reducing the time for various rituals.
“They don’t want to change, but that could be the strength of[the sport],” he added. “Sumo wrestling is very, very different from a lot of Western sports, which are all action and not a lot of waiting. But I think if you wait that long to see every fight, you appreciate it more.”
decline and revival
The popularity of sumo wrestling has waned in modern times – a decline attributed in part to a growing interest in baseball and soccer. But it’s seen something of a revival in recent years, Sharabani said.
According to an annual survey by Japanese data company Central Research Services (CRS), about one in five Japanese people currently cite sumo wrestling as their favorite professional sport – up from about 15% in 2011. Sharabani attributes this to effective public relations campaigns and, as he explains in the foreword of his book writes, a “backlash against increasingly postmodern lifestyles”. 
A wrestler on the floor during a punishing form of collision training known as “butsukari-geiko”. Credit: Mr K2
Sharabani’s images show the many ways sumo is still woven into the fabric of Japanese society, from street murals to a TV showing the sport in the back of a barbecue restaurant. He also turned his lens to the future of the profession: the aspiring young wrestlers of the stables, some of whom started training at the age of 5.
“The kids were in the stables because they had decided, or partly with their parents, to become professional sumo wrestlers,” he said. “And it was very serious. They train hard, although only a small percentage will actually[make it]as a wrestler, no matter how good the technique.”
Published by Ammonite Press, Sumo is available now in the UK and worldwide from March 2023.
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