Prizefighter

Bullfighting is a centuries old tradition in southern Japan featuring pampered prizefighters, called "yokozuna" like sumo wrestlers, in a bloodless combat with no matador or sword. Tongues hanging out and foam dripping from their mouths, the sweat-soaked beasts lock horns as barefooted handlers slap them on the backside and scream encouragement, risking life and limb beside the bovine battering rams, many of which weigh well over a ton. A bloodless spectator sport dating back hundreds of years also known as bull sumo. Bullfighting in Japan can be traced back almost 800 years, when it was held as entertainment for the deposed Emperor Gotoba following his exile to the western Oki islands, where it is still practiced today. It also takes place in the Iwate and Niigata regions of northern Japan as well as remote areas stretching down to Okinawa. Similar styles of bullfighting are also found in South Korea, Turkey, the Balkans, the Persian Gulf and South America.