Sumo a Pocket Guide

by David Shapiro

"One of the finest compact books on sumo today."-Sumo WorldCompletely updated by the well known sumo authority David Shapiro, A Pocket Guide describes the history, rules, rituals and techniques of sumo, the wrestlers' training and even their diets. Covering such topics as "life in the stables," "psychological warfare," and the "spoils of victory,” this compact sumo guide brings to life this cultural pastime that is so much more than a sport. This volume also includes a list of stables and some of the best chanko–nabe restaurants in Tokyo.Shapiro brings to the updated edition many years of Japanese language, sumo research, and coverage. The result is a handy, up–to–date, and authoritative guide to sumo that provides everything one needs to understand, appreciate, and enjoy this fascinating sport.

Genres: Sports, Martial Arts, Japan, Nonfiction

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2012

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

A handy intro to sumo, although I would have liked a chart that depicts the different levels and rankings. The section listing the address and phone numbers of restaurants run by former rikishi seems like a weird inclusion since restaurants open and close all the time, and therefore the info is likely to be out of date.

Most frustrating were all the word errors in this particular ebook edition. Whatever program created this book was really terrible, with approximately 1 error per page. There were particular difficulties with words that had an "r", for example turning "corner" into "comer". This doesn't seriously impact the information in the book, everything is easily understandable, but it is jarring.

All in all a useful book.

[Amy M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is very out of date and I would love to see an updated version from this decade.
However if you are new to sumo and have started watching it on NHK, this is a great introduction into sumo.

[Matthew Gibb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great overview of this fast paced martial art that is a component of Shintoism.

[Sandrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise pocket guide to Sumo.

Given it has already some years on its back, the physical book has been digitised and unfortunately the reviewers didn’t catch all the spelling incongruities.