Sumo is the national sport of Japan. Despite what someone who has never really seen much of it and has very little knowledge about it might hastily think, it's a highly technical form of wrestling that requires enormous amounts of strength and highly polished technique. It doesn't matter how big, heavy and strong you are, if you don't have the technique you will be on the ground very quickly.
Professional sumo wrestlers in Japan, ie. rikishi, go through grueling training, usually 5 to 6 hours of hard training every single day, to build up strength, stamina and technique. All professional rikishi in Japan belong to an official sumo stable (a "sumo school" or "private sumo club" of sorts). Professional sumo is divided into six divisions, and all rikishi from division 6 to division 3 are mandated by their stable to live within the premises of the stable, where they get accommodation, food and a small allowance for daily expenses, and where they have to train every day, five to six hours a day minimum. It is, actually a very hard and grueling life. And it's pretty much their entire life, if they want to continue being professional sumo wrestlers.
The good
So why go through all this? What motivates people to enlist in these sumo stables?
For starters, sumo in Japan is extremely prestigious. Its history goes back literally centuries and it's extremely rich in culture, customs and traditions, both secular and practical, as well as religious (the entire sport being deeply rooted in Shintoism, and full of Shintoist beliefs, practices and traditions.)
All rikishi are considered celebrities of sorts in Japan. Obviously the higher-ranked you are, the more of a celebrity. There is great prestige in the job. Sumo tournaments are watched by thousands in the arena itself and millions through TV, and rikishi are admired and respected, and they often get all kinds of side gigs in all kinds of events.
Of course the job itself is a very stable form of livelihood: The professional rikishi are provided with accommodation and food at no expense of their own, plus a small allowance for daily expenses if in divisions 6-to-3. If a rikishi manages to climb to division 2 or better, it comes with a big amount of perks, including an actual sizeable salary and freedom to live wherever he wants (ie. he can either keep living at the stable, at no extra expense, or choose to move to live somewhere else, as long as he is available for daily training of course.) Needless to say, rikishi in division 2 and especially the highest division, division 1, are the most famous national celebrities and get the most admiration and most gigs.
This actually causes for bouts in divisions 3 and 2 to be extraordinarily fierce: Everybody in division 3 is trying to climb to division 2 and get all the perks that come with it, while everybody in division 2 is desperately trying to avoid dropping back to division 3. While quite obviously division 1 bouts are the most prestigious, it's the two next divisions that tend to have the most fierce, brutal and spectacular fights, with everybody desperately trying to avoid division 3.
There's also a strong sense of camaraderie within a stable: All the rikishi living in a stable have a strong common culture, and they usually are very close friends with each other, and have a lot of trust in each other, and everybody is there to support everybody else.
From the point of view of the wider public, rikishi are generally seen as "gentle giants" of sorts. While in the ring the fights can be absolutely brutal, outside the ring they are known for being very friendly, calm, polite, and role models to look up to, and they are often called to events, TV shows, schools, and other places, where they are usually treated like celebrities (especially if they are in the highest divisions.) In fact, rikishi are officially forbidden from participating in any fights or altercations outside the ring (such as for example a bar fight). Breaking this rule may result in sanctions and even expulsion.
The bad
Sumo wrestlers tend to be morbidly obese. It's not a requirement for them to gain weight, but you'll have a very hard time having any success if you don't, because the weight is an obvious advantage in wrestling. There have only been a handful of rikishi during the last 50 or so years that have weighed under 120 kg and have reached the salary divisions (ie. division 2 or 1.) It's not impossible, and there are examples (most notoriously Enhō Yūya, who is very short and weighed less than 100 kg when he reached division 1), but it requires extreme strength and skill to pull off, so much so that extremely few people have ever succeeded.
Even though rikishi tend to be very trained and very strong, morbid obesity tends to cause all kinds of problems regardless. No matter how well trained and how strong you are, no matter how strong your muscles and tendons are, the enormous weight puts a lot of strain on joints and ligaments. Not only do rikishi often have mobility problems (eg. good luck trying to run a 100m sprint, or even climbing a set of stairs), but injuries are extremely common.
Indeed, injuries are almost guaranteed in professional sumo. They almost come as an expected job hazard. Not only are the wrestlers severely overweight, putting extra strain on their joints and ligaments, and also making falls all the more dangerous (as bone fractures become more likely), but the wrestling itself tends to be extremely brutal, with very few restrictions on what can and cannot be done, which in itself increases the likelihood of injuries significantly.
If you watch any amount of professional Japanese sumo, you'll notice that at least half of the rikishi will be wearing some kind of bandages, supports and tapes, to either try to protect themselves from injury, or more commonly because of an injury that they are still recovering from.
In fact, by far the most common reason for a rikishi to fall to lower divisions is because of injuries. Professional tournaments do not give any concessions for injuries. If you don't participate, you lose by default, and thus can drop to a lower division if it happens enough times. There have been even cases of rikishi from division 1 dropping all the way to division 5 because of a severe enough injury that kept them from tournaments for a very long time. It's all an uphill battle from there (especially if the injury is of the sort that never really heals fully.)
Dropping from division 2 to division 3 is a major blow to the life of a wrestler. He will be once again obligated to move to live in the stable (if he was living in his own home), and he will not receive a salary anymore, instead just getting the small allowance. There's also numerous other perks of divisions 2 and 1 that are not given to the lower divisions, and thus lost if dropping to division 3 or lower. If a rikishi refuses to move to the stable, it may result in sanctions and even expulsion, ending his career, and potentially causing public shame. Many a rikishi in the two highest divisions has retired early because of injuries, before he drops to the lower divisions. After all, it's better to end in a high than either suffer the loss of perks or reputation by being expelled because of not complying with the rules.
The ugly
One thing I have not mentioned about the limitations of divisions 3-6 and the perks of divisions 1 and 2: That of marriage.
You see, rikishi in divisions 3-6 are not only obligated to live in the premises of the stable, but they are forbidden from getting married, or having any romantic relationships of the sort. One of the huge perks of getting to division 2 is that this restriction is dropped, and the rikishi is freely allowed to marry and move to his own home.
However, if he does that, dropping back to division 3 is even more of a huge blow: While such a rikishi is allowed to remain married (even the stables aren't that cruel), he will essentially stop being able to provide for his family because his salary will stop, and the small allowance of division 3 is not even close to enough. This can cause huge problems for that family, especially in Japan. And, indeed, early retirements due to injuries that put the wrestler in danger of dropping to division 3 are most common when said wrestler is married.
There's also an unhealthy attitude towards injuries. For the longest time, and to a large extent even to this day, if a rikishi gets injured on the ring, especially if it's during a tournament, he is supposed to just "toughen up" and walk out on his own, regardless of how bad the injury is. For the longest time there wasn't even any medical staff present in the vicinity to help him. This no doubt has worsened the severity of injuries many, many times. Only very recently (less than 10 years go) were the rules changed so that medical personnel are present at the events and a wrestler could be carried out in a wheelchair or stretcher if he was unable to walk, or even get direct medical help right there besides the ring if the injury is extreme.
But that's not even the ugliest part of professional sumo culture.
You see, even though there's a strong sense of camaraderie among the members of a sumo stable, there's still likewise a very strong pecking order: Those in higher divisions have more perks than those in lower divisions, and the former can often boss the latter around as they wish. There are all kinds of daily chores and tasks that need to be done in the premises of a stable, and the more disgusting chores (such as cleaning an outhouse) are rather obviously given to the members of the lowest divisions. In fact, part of the in-stable sumo culture is a form of hazing and bullying (the extents of which depends highly in the particular stable and its internal culture.) The members of the highest divisions may come up with disgusting tasks for the members of the lowest divisions just for the sake of it. This is generally considered part of the training itself, a form of "toughening up" the newcomers, and also a sort of perk for raising up in the ranks. Some of the hazing stories at the worst stables are just horrendous.
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