1936 Sumo Wrestling Stadium Set - S361: 1936 Kokugikan Color Set

This is one set I have been excited to scan for a while as it is one of the early S-Series sumo wrestling card sets out there.  Why was I excited?  Well, this set contains the earliest color card with an actual picture (not a cartoon drawing like on the R-Series rikishi) of legendary Yokozuna Futabayama.  And sprinkled throughout are other wrestlers that have only appeared in this set as far as I can tell.  Maegashira Bochozan....never heard of him until today and he only spent 5 tournaments at the very bottom portion of the top division.  Same with Maegashira Oyashima...6 tournaments barely scraping by in the top division.

These S-Series sets were sold at the Kokugikan as souvenirs with the intent of taking them home and using them as visual reference as fans listened to the tournaments over the radio as that was a popular way way to catch the tournament without actually going to the stadium.  As you can imagine, these sets had to have survived the fire-bombings of World War 2 as well as the test of time and to be able to land and catalogue one of these sets is a real honor!  Cards are somewhat small at 1.75" x 2.75" and usually come 32 cards to the set.

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend and stays safe!  Sayonara!

Not Quite a Postcard - New Set / 1936 Large Bromides (BB362)

It was common in the 1920s and 1930s to issue pictures of sumo wrestlers on postcards.  Someday my collecting will focus on these postcard sets, but the sheer number of these postcards has kept me from diving into them head first.  With the advent of radio in the 1920s and 1930s, sumo wrestling matches were broadcast around Japan.  The Sumo Association needed a way to enable the listeners out in rural Japan, who couldn't make the tournaments in person, to visualize the wrestlers as they were absorbed with the broadcasts.  Thus, numerous sets of wrestlers were issued in the 1920s and 1930s to help.  Most of these are blanked back and are categorized under the Stadium, or S-Series, of cards.  This new set might very well go under that category someday, but for now I have classified it as a Black and White Bromide, or BB-series.  It is from 1936 and so far there are only three cards I have been able to unearth....Yokozuna Minanogawa, Maegashira Kasagiyama, and Maegashira Tamanoura.  These measure about 3.5" x 5.5" and are printed on a thin, paper or photographic stock.  I'm always still amazed that stuff like this was able to survive the war.