Marines get big lesson in Japan’s culture

CAMP SCHWAB, Okinawa — They were young U.S. Marines who survive and thrive on their service’s tough physical conditioning — and their opponents, to a man, looked as if they defined the axis of evil as Dr. Atkins, Weight Watchers and the South Beach Diet.

Several of the 20 Marines, climbing into the ring (dohyo) to go face to face with visiting Japanese sumo wrestlers said they thought they could take their opponent.

Then they thought again.

It’s the sixth year Camp Schwab has hosted the wrestlers, in spring training in nearby Henoko. At the invitation of Col. Drew Bennett, Schwab’s commanding officer, 20 wrestlers and students from Tokyo’s Toyo University put on an exhibition of Japan’s national sport for about 200 Marines, sailors and others at the camp’s athletic center on Thursday.

Sumo wrestlers eat special, calorie- and nutrient-dense diets, heavy on the rice, to bulk up, for a simple reason: The winner, they explained, is the first wrestler to force any or all of an opponent out of the ring, or to make any part of his body but the soles of his feet touch the mat.

Lance Cpl. Michael Landeres, 4th Marine Headquarters Company, gets a good grip on sumo wrestler and coach Shintani Mashahi. Mashahi won the match. (Mark Rankin/Stars and Stripes)

Marines from Camp Schwab, including the one above, squared off face to face against a sumo wrestler. (Mark Rankin/Stars and Stripes)

The heavier the fighter, said Masashi Shintani, 20 — a 6-foot-2-inch sumo wrestler and Toyo team coach — the lower the fighter’s center of gravity and therefore the harder it is to push or toss him from the ring.

Then there’s the sumo psych-out: So much of the sport is mental warfare, Shintani said, that wrestlers often will stare at each other at length, trying to gain the advantage before any actual physical contact. Even so, when push literally comes to shove, the matches last on average seven seconds.

1st Lt. Paul Alvarado lasted two.

Alvarado, from the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines, was the first to jump from the bleachers when the wrestling team offered audience members the opportunity to go one-on-one. “I may get beat but I’ll try it,” Alvarado said, preparing to face Shingo Inada, 20.

Inada out-weighed Alvarado by 150 pounds.

“I’ll get him next time,” said Alvarado.

“Next,” the announcer called.

The Marines finally held their own against one of the smaller team members — but the next 12 matches were a repeat of the first.

“I wanted to use my speed to beat him,” said Lance Cpl. Michael Landres, 4th Marine Headquarters company. “But he was too big.” Still, Landres said, “That was a blast!”

“I really thought I was going to win,” said Cpl. Paul Estrada, who then displayed a firm grasp of the fine art of understatement. “It’s not as easy as it seems.”

“We’re glad to have the sumo wrestlers here,” Bennett said. The visit not only entertained the servicemembers, he said, but gave them an opportunity to experience Japanese culture.

Lance Cpl. Brad Flanagan, 20, said his mother has been urging him to take more tours, see more sights and explore Japan’s cultural heritage. “My mother is going to flip when she finds out I saw real sumo wrestlers,” he said.

Shintani, who said he took up the sport to continue a family tradition — his father was a great wrestler — said he enjoyed presenting the Camp Schwab demonstration.

Said Inada: “We appreciate them letting us come and share our heritage.”

Said Bennett, who presented the Japanese team with a plaque, “It’s a rare sight on Okinawa to view sumo wrestling and it’s definitely rare to see sumo wrestlers take on Marines.

“Marines are physically fit, but sumo wrestlers are big,” he said. “You win, sumo wrestlers.”