This study aims to clarify the formation of the concept of sumo as an everyday word and focuses the change in the meaning of sumo in Japanese dictionaries published since the modern age.
The word "sumo" has been represented as the reconstructed Japanese culture since the modern age. The process of reconstruction overlaps with that of the aimed production of the modern Japan. Both these processes were devices for the creation of national culture needed in the modern nation.
The modern meaning of sumo has been produced since this word first appeared in Genkai (1889). In Genkai, two meanings are showed: (a) "sumai-no-sechie" (the ritual in imperial sumo wrestling) in ancient times; and (b) "O-zumo," implied by "kanjin-zumo," carried out to collect donations toward the construction or repair of shrines, temples, bridges, and other public works in the Edo era. Sumai-no-sechie guaranteed legitimacy on the basis of historical facts. On the other hand, the evaluation of O-zumo was affected by the historical background. These two different understandings of the concept were inherited to early dictionaries of the Showa era.
The evaluation of O-zumo was transformed into the dictionary of Jien (1935) and incorporated in the genealogy of sumo from part of the mythology. Therefore, the formation of the "sumo" concept as an everyday word is clarified in this study.
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