Popularity of Sumo wrestling in Japan hits new low Over the season, a mere 55 people have applied to become wrestlers, the lowest since the Japan Sumo Association established the six-tournament system in 1958. Last year, 60 people took the tests required to be accepted as a sumo trainee. The sport - which not long ago had ambitions of being accepted into the Olympic Games - has been on a downward slide for a number of years, with fewer spectators attending "bashos" and television coverage curtailed. Followers of the sport also tend to be older, which has proved a turn-off to potential new recruits, while young people also appear to be dissuaded from a career in the ring because of the discipline expected of wrestlers and the strenuous training they undergo. "Sumo is a strict sport," Harumafuji, the newly promoted grand champion, told Kyodo News. I understand that there are people who feel like they need not necessarily to through painful experiences in this time of convenience. "But that is why it is great to succeed, once you have made efforts and undergone those hardships," he said. Recognising that the sport is in crisis, the JSA has this year relaxed its requirements on physical standards for new recruits, but the effort has failed to have the anticipated results. Sumo is also struggling with an image crisis, with exposes in tabloid newspapers of wrestlers illegally gambling on the outcome of baseball matches, the use of marijuana in stables and junior wrestlers being bullied. More seriously, the sport was tarnished last year by wrestlers confessing to throwing bouts, accepting bribes and running up huge gambling debts with underworld groups.