Biggest Mayor

Recently the citizens of Tokyo chose famed swordsman-fencer Hiromichi Nishikubo as their Mayor. Last week he stepped upon a pair of scales to determine whether his now sedentary life has affected his weight. It has not. Mayor Nishikubo still weighs 238 pounds.

Even so he is but a pygmy beside the gigantic sumos (wrestlers) of Japan, men who weigh up to 400 pounds, mountains of fat and muscle who boast that they eat ten times the daily ration of the ordinary Japanese. Anciently sumo (literally "horn power") was a contest of strength between trained bulls. Today 1,200 professional wrestlers, divided into teams, "The East" and "The West," perform at two great championship bouts of ten days' length twice yearly. Each tries to force or throw his individual opponent out of a ring; each has practiced to perfection the "twelve throws, twelve lifts, twelve twists and twelve throws over the back." Occidentals present at these matches are typically:

1) Shocked, because the sumos wear no garments except a loin cloth and a belt by grasping which they strive to throw each other;

2) Bored, because, although the ceremonials of each match average ten minutes, the average, wrestling time is about 80 seconds; 3) Astonished at the mad leaps and dartings of the gyoji (umpire) who controls the bout by the movements of his gumbai (fan).

Though even Royalty honors great sumos with medals and decorations, Mayor Nishikubo of Tokyo ranks, as an exponent of Kenjutsu (fencing), above the most renowned wrestlers and on a par with the most honored ju-jutsuists.