Sumo grapples with slimmer intake
CNN.com (Financial Times) Nov. 2, 2012--- A dearth of new recruits is thinning the ranks of sumo wrestlers, threatening the future of the celebrated but scandal-plagued ancient Japanese sport.
Only 56 hefty young trainees have applied to join sumo stables this year, about half standard recruitment levels in the early years of the century and far too few to make up for the 115 wrestlers who left the sport last year, according to the Japan Sumo Association.
The declining enthusiasm for the tough but potentially glamorous life of a sumo wrestler comes as Japan's national sport -- which boasts a mythical past and semi-religious pretensions -- struggles to rebuild a reputation battered by revelations of bout-fixing, trainee bullying and underworld links.
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