The hand-stamp assembly line is back in full force in these strangely soothing Twitter videos, featuring top-ranked sumo stars.
The path of a sumo wrestler is a grueling one indeed. Far from being all fun and games, wrestlers are expected to follow intense training regimens, abide by strict ring rules and occasionally, even perform in the sky. (Alright, that last one is pretty rare.)
The payoff for all this hard work is a tremendous amount of prestige and respect in Japanese society, to the extent that popular samurai have to sign stacks of autograph cards in advance when they make an appearance before their clamoring fans. But these are no ordinary autographs – rather than writing their name in a pen that would look comically miniaturized in their powerful fists, sumo use the palm of their hand itself to make an ink imprint on the card. The hand-printed cards are known as tegata, and are coveted by sumo enthusiasts far and wide.
As you might imagine, the process of stamping all those cards takes a lot of time. Which is why sumo have a streamlined stamping system set up: so they can slap a hand down, stamp a card with a hand-print, then have someone switch in a new card while another staff member stacks up the stamped cards. Sorted!
▼ [Winter Tour @Kurume City] Takuyasu stamping hand prints on shikishi (special square cards used for autographs)”
＜冬巡業＠久留米市＞色紙に手形を押す高安。#sumo #相撲 https://t.co/lrJkreEhM5
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日本相撲協会公式 (@sumokyokai) December 04, 2018
Pictured here is current ōzeki Takuyasu Akira. Ōzeki are the second-highest ranked fighters in the sumo circuit, and Takuyasu is the first wrestler born in the soon-to-end Heisei era to make the grade. There’s something charming and even a little bit jazzy about how he lays down his hand prints, only offset when his colleague doesn’t switch the card out in time.
Naturally, though, the people also want to see the king of syncopated hand stamps: Hakuho. Mongolian native Hakuho Sho is an active yokozuna, the highest sumo rank available, and has held this rank for a record-busting 67 tournaments. Clearly he could hold his own in a stamp rally, too:
＜冬巡業＠久留米市＞色紙に手形を押す白鵬。#sumo #相撲 https://t.co/wdWcWB2LmM
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日本相撲協会公式 (@sumokyokai) December 04, 2018
The videos have been a big hit on social media. Foreign fans in particular were delighted by the similarity to Street Fighter’s homegrown sumo fighter, E. Honda.
Meanwhile, Japanese fans peppered the videos with supportive comments like “super cute!” and “I’ll always be cheering for you!” Fingers crossed that one of these lucky commenters secures a signed card for themselves!
Source: Twitter/@sumokyokai (1,2)
Featured image: Twitter/@sumokyokai
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