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Stoned Sumo and Hemp Haiku: 21 Facts About Ganja in Japan

By:: Dana Larsen

August 26, 2021

Stoned Sumo and Hemp Haiku: 21 Facts About Ganja in Japan

These days Japan is known for having harsh anti-marijuana laws. But the truth is that cannabis played a crucial role in Japanese culture for many centuries, and is currently making a comeback. Let’s take a toking trip together through Japan’s hempy history.

21

CRACKED According to Japan Times, the biggest sports drug scandal in Japanese history had nothing to do with steroids or cheating. It was when some sumo wrestlers got caught smoking weed. Rx — Source: Japan Times

20

CRACKED Sumo wrestling is deeply entwined in Japanese culture and the indigenous Shinto faith. So is cannabis! Cannabis was an integral part of Japanese society until the end of WWII, when occupying Amer- ican forces imposed the first anti-cannabis laws in 1948. Rx — Sources: The International Journal of the History of Sport & Herb.co

Continue Reading Below

19

CRACKED.COM Cannabis is an important plant in Shintoism. It is burned as part of purification rituals. Priest's clothes and ceremonial bell ropes were made from hemp. Rx — Source: Health Europa

18

CRACKED.COM Medieval Japanese travellers seeking protection would leave bundles of hemp leaves and rice as offerings at Shinto shrines — Source: JapanHemp

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CRACKED.COM Japan's champion Sumo wrestlers wear a ceremonial belt made from thick hemp rope, emblazoned with lightning bolts. It's called a tsuna. # — Source: tachiai.org

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CRACKED.COM COM the Japan's ancient Zen archers traditionally used a bowstring made of hemp fiber. Rx — Source: International Hemp Association

15

CRACKED COM Legend has it that ninjas gained supernatural leaping abilities by jumping daily over newly- planted hemp. By season's end the ninja-in-training would be soaring over 15 foot plants! Rx — Source: Princeton University

14

CRACKED.COM Cannabis use in Japan stretches into prehistory. Japan's neolithic era is called the Jomon Period. Jomon refers to patterns of hemp rope embedded onto ancient pottery TR — Source: Heritage of Japan

13

CRACKED COM F + + = Hand+Cannabis : = To Rub Cannabis cultivation shaped the Japanese language. The symbols to make the Japanese character for to rub are a hand and a cannabis plant. This refers to rubbing cannabis to make hashish! — Sources: Tangorin.com and Japan Hemp

12

CRACKED.COM Hemp seeds are a key ingredient in Japan's famous seven-flavored shichimi spice. They were also used in marriage ceremonies. Rx — Source: Japan Times

11

CRACKED.COM The traditional asa no ha pattern seen on Japanese quilts and kimono is based on the shape of a cannabis leaf. Rx — Sources: Project Japan & Affordable Kind Craft

10

CRACKED.COM Hemp fiber strands were promi- nently displayed during wedding ceremonies to symbolize the obedience of Japanese wives to their husbands. The saying went that just as hemp can be dyed to any color, SO must wives be willing to be dyed in any color their husbands may choose. Rx — Source: Marijuana the first 12,000 years

9

CRACKED.COM In 1912, the USDA found that Japanese hemp varieties grew taller and produced more fiber than both Russian and Italian strains. *** — Source: Global Hemp

8

CRACKED HEMP HAIKU Three fields of cannabis. Five houses. Eight or nine children. Poem written by Japanese Haiku-master shiki Masaoka in the late 1800s, describing his ideal life. Rx — Source: Cannabis Haikus

7

CRACKEDG COM n-11- DAKES When popular Japanese actress Saya Takagi began speaking out in favour of flegalization, she was soon arrested and jailed over a year for minor pot possession. Then all reruns of TV episodes she had appeared in were taken off the air. Another TV show changed their theme song to replace one she had helped write. Rx — Sources: Tabula Rasa & Open Democracy

6

CRACKED COM proold At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Canadian snow- boarder Ross Rebagliati won the gold medal. Then he was put in a cell, interrogated and charged with importing a controlled substance, all because he tested positive for cannabis. Rx — Source: CBC News

5

CRACKEDGO Paul McCartney got caught with a f-pound of weed when he landed in Tokyo for a Japanese tour with Wings. Instead of an 11-city tour, he spent nine days in jail before being deported. Why did Paul bring SO much bud? I wouldn't be able to get anything to smoke over there. — Source: History.com

4

CRACKED.COM In 2015, the wife of Japan's Prime Minister was photographed posing in a field of legal cannabis plants. The photo became famous. Then the farmer was charged with marijuana possession and all hemp licenses in the area were revoked. TR — Source: Hawaii Cannabis

3

CRACKED.COM DAY K its the PRESH-GRO Despite harsh laws and official disapproval, cannabis use is steadily increasing in Japan. One major Japanese magazine said the country has Cannabis Fever. — Source: DW.com

2

CRACKED.CO COM Millions of cannabis plants still grow wild in Japan. Police sometimes arrest people for gathering wild cannabis buds. Rx — Source: soranews24

1

CRACKED.COM X Liste A museum dedicated to Japanese cannabis culture is located in Tochigi Prefecture- an area with a long history of cannabis farming. TR — Source: Taima Museum

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