Sagari

[Asameshimae 220]

The yobidashi thread that touched on what they use fans for got me thinking again; what are the sagari that rikishi wear for?

I honestly never thought about it until a new fan asked me recently and I could tell her a few things about sagari but not why they wear them.

Forgot about the question until now, but I just went to see what I could google.

The simple explanation is that they are used to hide their "lower half" (for a bit more modesty?), which they don't do much of a job of. Added to this is the fact that they used to wear their kesho-mawashi during bouts (and I suppose kesho-mawashi were also to hide one's "lower half"?).  I found some added speculation that sagari began to be used in place of wearing expensive kesho-mawashi.

Anyone heard, read or can surmise any other origin?

Edited April 29, 2017 by Asameshimae

[Asameshimae 220]

I mean there's nothing like that triumphant quick pull of the sagari out of the mawashi when a rikishi wins his bout - again the ritual and symbolism of it transcends whatever it might have been originally for, but I'm still curious.

[inhashi 2,363]

A clip from NHK World's Sumopedia briefly explains sagari and how it replaced mawashi for the purpose of better mobility.  As a simplified mawashi, it maintains as a symbol of how they dressed pre-sagari days.  At the end of the clip, Itadaki demonstrates how it's made from the silk threads.

Edited April 30, 2017 by inhashi

[Asameshimae 220]

There we go! Thanks for that. And I liked how it was Itadaki holding up the sagari at the end. Nice.

I never thought about how much kesho-mawashi would limit mobility. They probably weren't so expensively made until after they became more ornamental.

Edited April 30, 2017 by Asameshimae

[Kuroyama 715]

My personal theory was that they were derived from the fringe at the bottom of the kesho mawashi. If you look at old prints, kesho mawashi all have much simpler designs than we see these days, and seem to be lighter weight based on how they move. The designs may have been simply painted or printed onto the silk, rather than applied and embroidered as now.

In prints depicting bouts in the same era, rather than the long sagari we see now there is a short fringe protruding from under the front of the mawashi. My guess, which may or may not hold water, is that the fringe was the fringe from the "apron" of the mawashi, which was folded up and tucked beneath the outer waist wrappings. Then the kesho mawashi became more elaborate, developing into a separate garment. The protruding fringe was then replaced with the sagari.

This doesn't actually contradict the video's explanation, but it relies on my guess about how the decorated front was done in the old days, which may or may not be right.