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Mongolian-born Tomozuna Oyakata attends his wrestlers' training session in Nagoya, Japan on July 18, 2017. But the tough training and tradition-bound ways have put off many local youth from the sport, leaving sumo to be dominated by foreign – mainly Mongolian – wrestlers, who face a gruelling path to assimilation. “Language was the biggest source of stress”, said Tomozuna Oyakata, better known by his fighting name Kyokutenho, the first Mongolian-born wrestler to lead a sumo stable. “I couldn't understand anything when I was being scolded, or even when I was being praised”, said the master, one of the first six Mongolians to be inducted into the sport in 1992. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)
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