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the podcasts. Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast, episode 243 heavyweights.

Today we tackle an institution with a long history.

It's one of the first things most Westerners think of when they think of Japan, but something most Westerners also know very little about.

Some call it a sport, to others its religious ritual.

I refer, of course, to the ancient art of Sumo.

Sumo's origins are mysterious. We actually don't know how far back it goes.

Sometimes its origins are traced back to the mythic past.

We've talked once or twice about the Kojiki,

Japan's first written quote-unquote history, though it's far more accurate to label it

...