Venerated as the one truly Japanese sport, but elitist by nature and cloaked in ancient rituals, professional sumo is struggling to preserve traditions and yet adapt to changing times. The sumo community consists of about 800 athletes called rikishi, living and training in 52 stables. The top-ranking wrestlers can earn a lot and have a status of celebrities, but the rest of them live a very similar austere existence in a sort of monastic collective. Each wrestler, however, is an individual, and very few of them fit the stereotype of an overweight giant.