The core of Hobsbawm's argument lies in recognizing that most "traditions" are not actual practices of the past that have survived into the present (providing a "glimpse into the past"), but that they are instead newly fabricated tropes, that, through repetition and strictly administered rules, come to be seen as "normative links" to the past that serve the purpose of enforcing "social cohesion" (1983:9). Hobsbawm, however, do!.
es not clearly express how, by whom and for what purpose traditions are invented; he only highlights the role of elites and state institutions. In one of the first applications of Hobsbawm's approach (in the same volume with Hobsbawm's essay), British historian Trevor-Roper argues that the Scottish national tradition was invented only after the 17th century, and was initially the result of the planned efforts of several individuals, who ultimately had very little control over "accidental" adoption of elements of Scottish Highland culture into national culture (1983:15-19). This is an important point, because it illustrates how once a certain practice or trope is created (even without any express intention of making it a "tradition"), it often gains a "life of its own" and through repetition may evolve into an "invented tradition." .
My argument about sumo tradition in Japan is going to focus on three themes. First, I will seek to show that most of the "traditional" features of sumo, supposedly pointing to its legacy from the "time of Kojiki" are invented practices, by considering two instances of such invention. One was during the Tokugawa period when sumo was first institutionalized into a spectator sport and adopted Shinto ritual practices; the other one was during the 20th century, when the demands for more precise differentiation of rank led to the creation of the modern championship system and of the separate rank of yokozuna.
