Q 01/05

During a sumo bout, which part of a wrestler's body alone may touch the ground?

A) The palms of his hands

B) The soles of his feet

C) The tips of his toes

D) The backs of his knees

Answer · why

B) The soles of his feet

The soles of his feet. One rare exception is the 'dead body' rule: a wrestler who touches down first can still win if his opponent was already falling...

Q 02/05

What is a sumo wrestler called in Japanese?

A) Sensei

B) Rikishi

C) Torikumi

D) Tachi-ai

Answer · why

B) Rikishi

Rikishi combines the characters for 'strength' and 'warrior', but most of them earn no salary: only the senior ones, called sekitori, are paid, and th...

Q 03/05

Most professional sumo bouts are over within what span of time?

A) A few seconds

B) A few minutes

C) A quarter of an hour

D) A full hour

Answer · why

A) A few seconds

A few seconds. A bout is a single burst that ends the moment someone steps out or touches down, yet top-division wrestlers get four minutes of ritual ...

Q 04/05

What do wrestlers throw into the ring before a bout as a symbolic purification?

A) Rice

B) Salt

C) Sand

D) Water

Answer · why

B) Salt

Salt. The toss is a symbolic cleansing borrowed from Shinto, and wrestlers also rinse their mouths with 'power water', much as worshippers wash before...

Q 05/05

What must both sumo wrestlers do just before they charge at the start of a bout?

A) Bow to the head judge

B) Shake each other's hand

C) Wait for a starting gong

D) Touch both fists to the ground

Answer · why

D) Touch both fists to the ground

Touch both fists to the ground. The two men must then charge at the same instant, and the rule was so widely ignored by the 1970s that the Sumo Associ...