There are still dozens of uncatalogued 1930s R-Series sumo wrestling menko sets waiting to be discovered.  During the 1930s and early 1940s, the paper sumo (kami zumo) boom was in full force in Japan and these R-series menko were extremely popular.  In the latter half of the 1930s Japan was at war with China and many sumo wrestlers had their ceremonial aprons adorned with war-themed images: planes, tanks, ships, and artillery.  This R3712: 1937 Rikishi Double Arch 4 set that I recently stumbled across exemplifies this turbulent time in world history.  Previously uncatalogued, the checklist now stands at 3 with #7207 - Maegashira Katsuragawa, #6713 - Maegashira Tsurugamine, & #5431 - Maegashira Dewanohana.  These might be some of the only ones of this set in existence.

These kami zumo (paper sumo) games are quite interesting.  The playing pieces for the game are not technically cards, but they are ephemera and can be quite collectible.  This 1953 kami zumo game falls into one of those categories of things I like to collect along with my menko and cards.  Kami zumo is quite simple to play; take these paper game pieces/figures, fold them so that they stand, and then lean them against each other on the paper sumo ring (see ring below).  Once they are leaning against each other, tap the table or board that the ring is sitting on in order to vibrate the game pieces and make one of them fall over on top of the other or push the other piece out of the ring.  It can be quite fun and provides that indoor entertainment we all need during COVID.

Menko have always been viewed as toys rather than collectibles by most Japanese.  They were meant to be played with, destroyed, and thrown away with very little concern for value, longevity, and collectability.  As such, a good amount of the 1930s menko that I run across have been well used and loved.  That is okay with me as the stories the menko could tell/do tell are what helps drive me in the menko hobby.  One very popular game that kids would play with menko is called kami-zumo, or paper sumo.  In a nutshell, paper sumo wrestlers are placed on a board and then that board is tapped which vibrates the wrestlers moving them around the ring.  The paper wrestlers eventually tangle themselves and knock each other over.  Last one standing wins.  Check out this 15-second video to give you a quick idea:




In the 1930s, this game seemed to be all the rage as I have dozens and dozens of R-series menko that were cut along the bottom and along their arms to allow them to stand and engage in paper sumo.  Here are three such examples from the R392-2: 1939 Rikishi 4-5-6 set.


You can see all the cut marks (two rikishi lost their left arm in battle, yikes).  Here is what they look like stood up:



Good luck to all the wrestlers that are competing this tournament.  It'll be an exciting 15 days for sure.  Sayonara!!

Here is a fun set from 1957 called Kami Zumo or "Paper Sumo" in English.  Paper figures of sumo wresters, as seen in the photos below, at placed standing facing each other in a ring made of cardboard....the wrestlers are made to stand by bending their legs or folding their arms.  Players then make the wrestlers move by tapping the outside of the ring with their fingers and the winner is the one who forces their opponent out of the ring or to fall over.  This 1957 Kami Zumo Set came with two wrestlers and a cardboard sword...I am assuming for the losing paper wrestler to commit ritualistic suicide if he lost.   Each of the wrestlers in this set are about 2 1/4" tall and they each have an actual photo of the wrestler's head superimposed on the paper body.  Pretty cool.  I also did a review on the 1961 Ito Kami Zumo Set.  Here is a YouTube video of two people playing kami zumo.

This is a fun set printed at the very end of 1961 presumably in preparation for the January 1962 tournament.  Up until recently I thought it was printed later in 1962, but I discovered the Maegashira Matsunobori card and could narrowed it down to late 1961 since he retired following the November 1961 tournament.  I was fortunate to pick up a partial taba pack of these (9 packs) and realized it was printed by Ito which made various paper products in the 1950s and 1960s.  For cataloging purposes that is important because it will hopefully help fill in holes and help identify other sets with similar printing styles.

Kami Zumo (Paper Sumo) games are really easy to play as kids would stand up their cards on a paper ring on top of a card board box or something that vibrated.  With this set, these cards were meant to be rolled and secured on the ends by tabs.  Then each kid would tap the cardboard box which in turn caused the paper wrestlers to move and push against each other.  The one that fell over or was pushed out of the ring was the loser.  For those that grew up in the 1980s, do you remember the vibrating football games?  Same concept.  The 1961 Ito Kami Zumo set is interesting because it has actual photographs of the wrestler's head superimposed on the paper to give it a more realistic feel.

This G621 set came in taba packs (see photo below) that were hung up from the ceilings by a string. In this case a kid would pay 5 yen (about 2 cents in 1961) and pull a cellophane pack down....each taba pack contained 30 individual packs.  Inside each cellophane pack were a paper ring, 3 cards and as well as trophy and referee fan.  The trophy and fan cards could come in any of these three colors: purple, pink, or red.  Each of the wrestler cards, however, came in only one of those three colors, although I am not 100% certain on that.






Here is a good YouTube video of how it's played.

Here is the latest checklist at 19 cards.






















There are two key cards missing from this checklist - Ozeki Kotogahama and Sekiwake Sadanoyama so I am thinking there are probably closer to 25 in the complete set.