TOKYO >> Japan’s lengthy summer vacation is in full swing. Despite the heat, the energetic voices of children playing outside are likely echoing throughout neighborhoods.

The Japan Sumo Association captures some of that energy by holding an annual summer event, “open sumo stable,” which gives elementary and junior high students a chance to experience the sport.

The event is geared to show the positive aspects of sumo wrestling, not only to the children who have been involved in the sport through school club activities, but to those who have no experience at all.

Kasugano, the late stablemaster who left his mark on the sport as legendary yokozuna Tochinishiki during the Showa era (1926-1989), came up with the idea for the event during his tenure as president of the JSA.

The event, which has a history of more than 40 years, was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic but returned in 2023 for the first time in four years. This year, children donning mawashi belts are participating in the event at four stables.

It is tradition for elementary students from Keio Yochisha Elementary School in Shibuya ward, Tokyo, to participate in the annual event at the Kasugano stable in Ryogoku, Tokyo.

Former sekiwake Tochiozan, now master Kiyomigata, serves as an instructor aloing with two wrestlers from the stable. They offer the children tips on the basics of sumo training. This includes the “shiko” ritual, rocking to each side and alternately raising and stomping the right and left feet, and “suriashi,” the sliding of the feet.

The event includes a tournament featuring the young participants. The children can also feel firsthand how large actual sumo wrestlers are by crashing into them.

On the last day of the event, the children are served chanko stew, a special dish made by the stable. The young participants are usually so energetic that they have large appetites, and they go back for seconds or thirds, according to the stable.

In recent years, the number of young people aspiring to become sumo wrestlers has been declining rapidly. This event, however, is designed to improve children’s physical fitness and draw new fans rather than recruit wrestlers.

Some of the elementary school participants said they now felt like cheering on the wrestlers at an official sumo tournament, and many of them went to Ryogoku Kokugikan sumo arena to watch bouts.

“The experience of putting on the mawashi will be a good memory from their summer vacation,” said a Kasugano stable official.