I just realised something... something spooky as fuck.

You know how sumo is derived from some ancient rituals? How it was performed in shrines, to appease the kami, to ensure prosperity? It was only later professionalised, and is now performed on a national level by salaried wrestlers, but there are still many religious elements, from how the ring is consecrated by a priest before each tournament, yokozuna entering the ring with that big white rope around his belt, to wrestlers actually throwing salt into the ring before each bout as a means of consecration. It is a deeply religious ritual, somehow performed to appease the kami for the entire nation of Japan. Kinda like how the ancient Olympic Games were performed on temple grounds, and were a form of vitalist worship of Greek gods.

You know when's the last time sumo wasn't performed as scheduled? March 2011. The March of the earthquake and tsunami that rekt Japan. But guess what? The tournament was cancelled a month before. Because of some match-fixing scandal. Yep, that's right. And the earthquake happened 2 days before the tournament was scheduled.

The earthquake happened because the sumo ritual wasn't performed. Because the kami weren't appeased. They were pissed and caused the earthquake as a warning.