Ready for this?

Japanese professional wrestling promoters Zero One Max will hold pro wrestling matches at the Yasukuni Shrine (yes, that Yasukuni Shrine) on April 10 in an oblational service to the gods.

The event, dubbed the Yamato Kamisu Strength Festival, is being conducted to help bring back the good old days of professional wrestling in Japan. The shrine’s sumo ring will be arranged to enable the installation of a special wrestling ring for 2,000 spectators. The shrine’s sumo ring is located near an excellent spot for viewing cherry blossoms, so fans can enjoy the refined delights of an o-hanami while cheering on the choke holds. Children of junior high school age and younger will be admitted free of charge. The promoters say they hope to convey the passion of pro wrestling to the divinities.

Ready for another one?

This is not the first time pro wrestlers have fought at Yasukuni Shrine. The most recent occasion was April 23, 1961, when Japanese wrestling legend Rikidozan presided over a card that featured youngsters Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki, who would become stars in their own right. (Inoki also would later form his own political party and win election to a seat in the Upper House.) The event attracted 15,000 people.

The maiden event was in March 1921, when American wrestling legend Ad Sentel took on several Japanese judo practitioners from the Kodokan dojo, including Reijiro Nagata, and won all his matches. There is an interesting background to these matches. Sentel took on judo fighter Tokugoro Ito in 1914 and beat him. Ito had publicized himself as a “Japanese judo champion”, so after his victory, Sentel claimed that he was the “World Judo Champion” (proving that professional wrestlers haven’t changed much in the past century.) This was embarrassing for the head of the Kodokan dojo, who lined up the matches with Sentel at Yasukuni. The American’s victories popularized what some call “submission wrestling” in Japan.

Holding wrestling matches for the divinities at a Shinto shrine is not as outlandish as it may seem. There is a very long tradition in Japan of festivals with competitive events at Shinto shrines. (One example is the boat race in last week’s festival roundup.) In addition to sumo, which has close ties to Shinto, competitive events at shrines include archery, tug-of-war, and, according to my reference, even cock-fighting. The idea is that the divinities will favor the more deserving competitor, and the victors in these events will have good fortune in the year ahead.

You can read about the Strength Festival in Japanese here and here.