PARIS ¨C This weekend Paris is hosting a spectacular demonstration of Japan¡¯s national sport, but an unheralded star of a major two-day sumo tournament will be 100% French: the 200 kilograms of customized Guerande salt ordered by organizers.
¡°It¡¯s an essential part of sumo wrestling. The tournament cannot take place without salt,¡± said David Rothschild, the chief organizer of the Paris event, a rarity outside of Japan.
Salt does indeed play a central role in sumo wrestling, a sport that also has a sacred dimension rooted in the Shinto religion.
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