The Joy of Sumo: A Fan's Notes

by David Benjamin

Throwing away the rituals, this book takes a humorous look at sumo as a sport—from locker room drama to the farce of the 'sumo interview.'

Genres: Japan

293 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1900

About the author

David Benjamin became, at least in his own mind, prose laureate of Wisconsin with the publication of his Random House memoir, The Life and Times of the Last Kid Picked.
Raised in Tomah, educated in Madison and Beloit, Benjamin paid his dues as a writer, journalist, essayist and author in regions as far flung as Paris and Tokyo, Brooklyn, New York and Mansfield, Massachusetts.
Last Kid Books, an imprint initially devoted to publishing his works, is the voice of David Benjamin, a voice rich with stories that entertain, amuse, surprise and — now and then — get under your skin.
The first three Last Kid Books, officially published on 1 April 2019, are Almost Killed by a Train of Thought, a collection of Benjamin’s essays, and two novels, Summer of ’68 and Skulduggery in the Latin Quarter.

Reviews

[Logan · Rating 2 out of 5]

“The Joy of Sumo,” written by an American journalist who lived in Japan and became a sumo fan, is a book my aunt bought for me in Japan for ¥1097 (about $10) when I was a pre-teen. I remember, back then, twice starting to read the book, getting fifty or so pages in, and then getting distracted. But this time I committed myself to reading a book that has been in my life longer than almost all of my non-familial relationships. The book serves as a slightly humorous guide to an objectively humorous sport. Two grown adults, shaped like no other athletes in the world, have what amounts to a schoolyard shoving match. David Benjamin explains how to be a fan of sumo, while making a point not to write about the sport as a revered part of Japanese culture…because that’s only how historians—not fans—think about it. His disdain for the sport’s ruling body, the Sumo Association, is obvious. He’s sometimes more honest than you’d expect him to be, before you remember than this book was written in the ‘90s. But he doesn’t reserve his criticisms for the bigwigs. He also frequently insults the wrestlers. Maybe constantly calling the fighters “pigs” or “ugly” or referring so often to their enormity or stupidity is the author’s way of expressing his love, but it doesn’t seem like something an author writing today would do. It’s actually distracting how often this language pops up. It gets in the way of what might have been an interesting book about a sport I knew extremely little about. I learned some things, but the author’s prejudices were something I had to overcome to do so. Then, just when you think he couldn’t hate the Sumo Association more, he writes a chapter basically forgiving them for fixing important matches (a common occurrence, apparently). And then, in his wrap-up, his sheer admiration for the sport basically clouds everything in emotion. I wanted this to live up to the hype it’s gathered after sitting on my shelf collecting dust for decades, but I was disappointed.

4/10

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting and at times funny. The author is irreverent fan of sumo; he likes to include funny and affectionately disparaging descriptions of the wrestlers he describes. The book is a bit dated though--all of the wrestler profiles are from the early 90s.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated the new point of view provided by this book. I believe that someone will need a basic understanding of sumo to really get most of the information, but having followed it for a couple years, it really helped me see some aspects of the sport differently. I got a better feeling for many of the undertones and how the rikishi see things.

I could have done without the chapter discussing data and the rating system the author designed, it really added nothing to my understanding of sumo.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1991 so not sure why I got a message that this book has not yet been published. The author, title, and cover art all match.

A lively and entertaining book about, as it says, a gaijin fan's view of the sport of Sumo.

I would have loved more info about a Sumo wrestler's life in a sumo stable. Diet, accomodations, etc.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

A 2.5 if ever there was one.

[Ken Mitten · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book frustrated me as the author describes himself as a fan but is very disoaraging of his subject matter. It is a disjointed and oddly dated read. one thing I would recomnend is flipping through the book and enjoying the comical drawings of sumo wrestlers. Easily the best part of this book

[R Fontaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Irreverent (with REI -respect) look into Japan's national sport.
The humor makes the seemingly odd and ritualistic elements of sumo more accessible to those new to its unique and revered traditions.
Gambarimasu.

[Wade]

A book written for fans of Japanese sumo wrestling (Ozumo) as a sport, with complete disregard to the cultural and religious ceremonial overtones. A good introduction for those just getting into sumo, especially from a western sports mindset. He recommends assigning nicknames to wrestlers and to notice their personalities. A definitely de-emphasis of learning the all of the attendant japanese vocabular and names. For example, his classification of wrestlers into basic types by body shape, or the irreverent chariactures of wrestlers throughout. Published as "The Joy of Sumo: A Fan's Notes"/"The Joy of Sumo: A Fan's Guide"

[Sumo Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is packed with factual errors... basic factual errors... meaning that however well Benjamin may write and however funny he may seem... it's not very good. A number of sumo experts have condemned it for lack of appropriate research.