Suzuyama Sumo, a tournament held in Shimofukumoto, Kagoshima, for more than 300 years since the Edo period, will be held for the last time next year. Residents who have kept the tradition alive made the decision because depopulation and an aging population have left them unable to find successors.
The event is said to have begun in the early Edo period, when miners at a tin mine found nearby dedicated bouts at a shrine to pray for their safety and to test their strength. Locals kept it going after the mine closed.
In 1962 the yokozuna Kashiwado performed a ring-entering ceremony there. Several wrestlers from Kagoshima who competed in the tournament as high school students went on to the top ranks, among them the former ozeki Wakashimazu.
The 350th edition, in 2007, invited the Kagoshima-born former Michinoku, a former ozeki and the first Kirishima, along with wrestlers from his stable. Children took on the wrestlers, and a hairdresser demonstrated tying a wrestler's topknot.
The Japan Sumo Association sent handprints and autographs from popular wrestlers of the day, including the yokozuna Hakuho. They are still displayed with a photograph of Kashiwado at the community hall next to the ring.
Holding the local tournament is becoming difficult as the area's population shrinks. The final edition will be held next year.