Perry In Japan

Do You Like Sumo? [Scroll 9]

Shou Kuan, The University of Tokyo (Spring 2009)

[Sumo]

It is difficult to imagine how people from different cultures see things that belong to a different culture. Every so often, misunderstandings come up because of cultural differences. Commodore Perry's first visit to Japan was one of such examples. In the image "Sumo," both Japanese and Americans are watching the Japanese sumo wrestlers fighting with each other. At that time, sumo was considered to be the most popular sport and is liked by many people in Japan. However, in this drawing it seems Americans are not enjoying sumo at all. They not only could not understand the value of sumo, but also started to despise Japanese as people who liked such a brutal sport.

In the image "Sumo," a scene of both Japanese and Americans watching sumo is depicted. Surrounded by curtains that are much higher than people (thus they cannot see what is going on inside from outside and vice versa), two Japanese sumo wrestlers are fighting in the sumo ring and there is a referee judging the match. Outside the ring, another wrestler is waiting for the next fight and seven American soldiers and a child are huddled in a corner. On the right side of the ring, there is a wooden house, and in the room, a wall facing the direction of the sumo ring is eliminated so that people inside can see outside without going out. In the room, there are four Japanese officers and an American soldier. Three of the Japanese are sitting and others are standing, all watching outside. In the background, an American is touching the back of a wrestler, accompanied by a Japanese officer, and there are three Americans around them.

In the drawing, there are some things that reflect how the Japanese and Americans saw sumo differently. The first thing is that even though the sumo ring was quite big, most American soldiers are huddled in a corner, as if they are not eager to get any closer to the wrestlers and want to leave that place as soon as possible. If they liked sumo as much as the Japanese did, they would have spread around the ring and observed the match more closely. On the other hand, three Japanese officials are watching the match, sitting and concentrating on the match. Also, in the background, a Japanese officer is asking an American to touch the body of a wrestler. The American seems reluctant, because if he was interested in or was eager to touch the wrestler's body, he would not use only his index-finger, but his palm to touch the body, which would enable him to sense the muscles better.

As Commodore Perry's visit was the first time for the Americans and Japanese to get in contact with each other, it was quite natural for Americans to see things that belonged to a different culture differently from what they really were. Although sumo was very popular among the Japanese, as Perry reports it did not necessarily attract American interests. It seems that the Japanese intention of showing sumo failed.

I think there are two main reasons why Japanese chose sumo as a show for Americans. Firstly, considering the popularity of sumo in Japan, Japanese government might have thought that it would be good to show Americans what Japanese liked, which is a very natural instinct for people who are going to introduce their country to foreigners. Secondly, as it was said in the Japanese reports of Commodore Perry's visit, many Japanese were scared of Americans because of their huge body size and their appearance--blond hair and white skin, which most Japanese had never seen before--and their huge ships which were loaded with powerful weapons. In order to have a talk with Americans in an equal position, Japanese government must have wanted to hide their fear. Perhaps they showed Americans the huge sumo wrestlers with enormous muscles to suggest that they were not weak and make Americans not to underestimate them.

However, the American reaction seemed to have been far from what the Japanese had expected. The Japanese must have expected Americans to be astonished by the huge Japanese wrestlers. Sumo would, in their mind, make Americans realize Japanese strength and respect them, so that Japan could stand on an equal position with Americans to negotiate with each other. However, Americans did not think that way. Americans not only did not appreciate the sumo performance at all, but also thought sumo was a "brutal performance" with people who looked like "fierce bulls," and considered their own exhibitions of railroad and telegraph technology as "triumphs of civilization." From this attitude, it is possible to say that Americans completely misunderstood the effect of sumo and might have even begun to underestimate the Japanese more than ever.

This opinion of mine can be supported by another drawing in this scroll. In the image "Rice," a scene of Americans watching many Japanese sumo wrestlers carrying rice sacks to the American boats is depicted. In the shore there are many rice sacks piled like a small mountain and the Japanese wrestlers are carrying them to the boat waiting in the sea with an American national flag. Some wrestlers are playing some tricks, as if the rice sacks were not at all heavy for them. On the boat, many American soldiers are huddled and a few of them are holding a rice sack. A short distance away from the Japanese wrestlers, there are nine American soldiers. Some are watching the wrestlers, others are looking at different directions. On the beach there are Japanese officers watching the entire procedure.

This picture is said to represent the occasion when Americans were leaving. The rice was a gift from the Japanese government. What is interesting here is that the Americans watching the wrestlers do not seem to be thankful at all. From their attitude, we can say that they did not want to help the Japanese wrestlers carry the rice sacks at all (and actually they did not), and their attitudes are like those of people who are watching something unpleasant before them. Apparently, what made the Americans unpleasant was the sumo wrestlers (what Americans described as "fierce bulls"), --it seems that the Americans on the boat did not want to get any closer to the wrestlers.

As the images are depicted quite precisely, I think they are depicted quite objectively. Thus what is depicted may be what really took place and it seems that Americans really did not appreciate sumo and looked down on Japanese. As a consequence, feeling as if they are confronting someone who is much less powerful and civilized, Americans could negotiate with Japanese with a strong feeling of confidence in order to make things advantageous for America.