140303-0020 - Sumo Wrestlers

Sumo wrestling, ca. 1890s (Meiji 20s) Japanese sumo wrestlers and a referee at the garden of British engineer and photographer William Kinnimond Burton (1856-1899). This photograph was published in "Wrestlers and wrestling in Japan," published by K. Ogawa in 1895 (Meiji 28), the first comprehensive book to introduce sumo to a foreign audience. sumo to a foreign audience. In 1887 (Meiji 20) Burton was invited by the Japanese government to become a professor of sanitary engineering at Tokyo Imperial University. Burton also designed Japan's first skyscraper, Ryounkaku ( Burton also designed Japan's first skyscraper, Ryounkaku ( Ryounkaku ), located in Tokyo's Asakusa. From a series of glass slides published (but not photographed) by Scottish photographer George Washington Wilson (1823-1893). Wilson's firm was one of the largest publishers of photographic prints in the world. Photo by MeijiShowa/AFLO