TOKYO Sumo may be as Japanese as samurai and sushi, but foreign-born wrestlers have entered the ring to steal the show in the 2,000-year-old national sport.

Sumo hasn't had a home-grown champion in more than three years, and in the latest national tournament more than one third of competitors were foreigners, including the Mongolian who won the title.

As fewer young Japanese sign up for the harsh life of the sumo stable, the sport's 700-strong elite now include men from China, South Korea, Eastern Europe and as far away as Brazil and the Pacific island state of Tonga.

The presence of foreigners has also opened the secretive world of sumo to rare scrutiny, and details are emerging of just how tough it can be.

Many Japanese were shocked by the 2007 case of a stable master who ordered the “hazing” of a 17-year-old wrestler, who died after being beaten with a beer bottle and baseball bat.

A study by the Japan Sumo Association found that 90 per cent of stables allowed violent beatings of trainees, and punishments such as forcing salt or sand into their mouths.

The stable master who ordered the deadly beating was imprisoned last month, but the scandal has further tarnished the prestige of the sport, already hurt by allegations of bout-fixing and a series of marijuana arrests.

As sports such as baseball and football have gained ground, the number of Japanese sumo recruits has more than halved since its peak in 1992 of 223 local wrestlers.

Mongolian star Harumafuji, 25, who was signed up to a Tokyo stable nine years ago, in May became the eighth foreigner since 1972 to win the top “makuuchi” division.

The 6.1-feet wrestler, a relative lightweight at 126 kilograms, could reach the top rank of grand champion if he wins the next tournament in July, a title now held by his countryman Hakuho.

“I entered the sumo stable when I couldn't afford to eat,” Harumafuji said after a recent morning training session. “I came from far away Mongolia so I could do nothing but my best.”

Harumafuji embarked on a diet that comes to about 10,000 calories a day.

When he vomited from eating vast amounts of fish and meat hotpot, his fellow wrestlers forced even more food down his throat, he said.

Traditionally, young wrestlers were recruited from farming and fishing communities in the remote north and south, said Doreen Simmons, a veteran English-language sumo commentator for national broadcaster NHK.

Simmons, who has lived in Japan for more than three decades, said only the toughest survive life in the sumo stable, where roll call is at 3am, daily workouts are gruelling, and juniors cook and clean for their elders - and even wash their hard-to-reach body parts.

“Too many Japanese school boys (are) ... only exercising their thumbs on computer games, and they have more options,” she said.

“But the Mongolians, they have what the Japanese call a hungry spirit. If they can earn even a modest sum in Japan, take it back to Mongolia, it's worth at least ten times as much.”

'Foreigners must to do it the Japanese way'

Most sumo bouts are over in seconds. A wrestler wins by forcing his opponent out of the ring or making him touch the ground with any part of his body but the soles of his feet.

Shrouded in Shinto ritual and first performed at shrines to appeal for a good harvest, sumo evolved into a professional sport in the 17th century.

Japanese love the ritualistic, male-only sport, regarding it as a slice of life from ancient Japan where the contestants wear white loincloths and toss salt to purify the ring.

Sumo opened its doors to foreigners decades ago, and spectators still delight when “gaijin” wrestlers exhibit what are seen by many as the essential Japanese characteristics of modesty, endurance and diligence.

American wrestlers came before World War II, and a fresh wave in the early 1970s was dubbed the “kurofune” or “black ships” - a reference to the fleet of US Commodore Matthew Perry who forced Japan to open its doors in 1854.

In the 1990s, two Argentines arrived, followed by what has been branded the “second Mongol invasion” after Genghis Khan's failed 13th century attempt to conquer Japan. Mongolians remain the strongest outside force.

European wrestlers debuted in 2004, paving the way for wrestlers from Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Russia.

A recent newcomer is 21-year-old Georgian Levan Gorgadze.

“It was really hard when I first entered in a lot of ways,” he said, sitting in a loincloth on the steps of his stable, his hair in a traditional topknot.

“The hardest thing was learning Japanese, since I didn't have a clue. When I first arrived I was homesick,” he said.

Some sumo purists would like to see the foreigners go, and the influx prompted sports authorities in 2002 to impose a limit of one foreigner per stable.

“There's been a very great mix. But there is resentment, especially among the old men who always resent foreigners,” Simmons said.

“Now there is pressure on a successful foreigner to take Japanese citizenship. They will make room for another foreigner.”

The presence of foreigners will not lead to the internationalisation of the sport, she said, as the newcomers must assimilate, learn Japanese and adapt to the local diet, dress, customs and training regime.“Any foreigner who succeeds in sumo must do it the Japanese way.”—AFP