rikishi

In popular use, the term {{translit|ja|rikishi}} refers to professional sumo wrestlers only and is an alternative term to {{Nihongo|sumotori|相撲取り|sumōtori|{{lit|sumo practitioner}}}} or the more colloquial {{Nihongo|osumosan|御相撲さん or お相撲さん|osumōsan|{{lit|honorable Mr. Sumo}}}}.{{cite encyclopedia |title=御相撲さん |encyclopedia=Shogakukan |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%BE%A1%E7%9B%B8%E6%92%B2%E3%81%95%E3%82%93-452637|language=ja |accessdate=7 December 2023 |via=Kotobank encyclopedia}} It has been noted by authors such as Dorothea Buckingham and Mark Schilling that these terms should be preferred to 'sumo wrestler', because since sumo has little in common with Greco-Roman wrestling but more with judo or aikido, it was pointed out that it was a mistake to use the term 'wrestler' to define the competitors in sumo matches.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=182}}{{sfn|Schilling|1994|p=3}}

The two kanji characters that make up the word {{translit|ja|rikishi}} are that of 'strength' or 'power' ({{lang|ja|力}}) and 'warrior' or 'samurai' ({{lang|ja|士}}); consequently, and more idiomatically, the term can literally be defined as 'strongman' or 'powerful warrior'.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=151}}{{sfn|Newton|Toff|2000|p=135}}

{{translit|ja|Sumotori}} is often defined as the more appropriate collective name for the wrestlers as a group or as individuals.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=41}} The term itself comes from an abbreviation of the word {{nihongo|sumo no toride|相撲の取手}}, used in the early Edo period to define sumo wrestlers.{{cite encyclopedia |title=力士りきし |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%8A%9B%E5%A3%AB-148448|language=ja |accessdate=4 December 2023 |via=Kotobank encyclopedia}} There is no implication of hierarchy between {{translit|ja|rikishi}} and {{translit|ja|sumōtori}}, the two terms being interchangeable.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=151}} However, some wrestlers prefer to be referred to as {{translit|ja|osumōsan}}.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=41}}

A more prestigious term referring to wrestlers who have risen to the two highest divisions ({{translit|ja|jūryō}} and {{translit|ja|makuuchi}}) also exists.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=41}} The word {{translit|ja|sekitori}} refers to senior {{translit|ja|rikishi}} who have significantly more status, privilege and salary than their lower-division counterparts and excludes the lower-rankers.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=41}} Wrestlers who qualify as {{translit|ja|sekitori}} are also given the suffix {{nihongo||{{lang|ja|関}}【ぜき】|-zeki|{{lit|barrier}}}} at the end of their name.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=41}} That term, found also in the sumo terms {{nihongo|sekitori|関取}}, {{nihongo|ōzeki|大関}} and {{nihongo|sekiwake|関脇}}, comes from {{nihongo|sekisho|関所}}, a road barrier which was used to control the movement of people from place to place within Japan.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=41}} In feudal Japan, many wrestlers were recruited from the big, strong guards who manned the {{translit|ja|sekisho}}. Later "{{translit|ja|-zeki}}" came to mean an unbeaten performance.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=41}}

File:舟塚古墳 (小美玉市) 出土 埴輪 力士.JPG}} of a sumo wrestler]]

{{See also|Shinto origins of sumo}}

Mention of wrestlers can be found in traditions predating the emergence of sumo in Japan, in traditions on the mainland of the Asian continent.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=17}} In Korea, in the tombs of the T'ung-kou valley, murals depict wrestlers in loincloths seemingly performing wrestling duels for the pleasure of court nobles.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=17}} Traces of wrestling activities have been demonstrated by the exhumation of {{translit|ja|haniwa}} pottery depicting wrestlers in Korean wrestling attire dating from the Kofun period.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=21}} As sumo became embedded in Japanese myths and legends, stories of powerful wrestlers began to appear in the {{translit|ja|Nihon Shoki}} (one of the first historical record of Japan), and with them the first accounts of matches held during the Yamato kingship period.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|pp=22-23}} At the same time the function of sumo wrestler began to appear under the term {{Nihongo|sumai-bito|相撲人||{{lit|sumo person}}}}.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=34}} The latter were conscripts from the provinces sent to the Heian court as tribute organized by local governors who, in order to supply the court's festivities with participants, ordered the communities to send to the capital any man gifted in wrestling, horse-racing or archery.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=34}} Although at the time wrestlers enjoyed a certain degree of recognition, with some being recruited into the palace guard; sending wrestlers was compulsory throughout the territory, and any delay was punishable by imprisonment.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|pp=34-35}} In 821, codes resembling the beginnings of etiquette were introduced at the court to organize the tournaments held during banquets.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=36}} With the Minamoto clan's rise to power, sumo and its wrestlers began to shift their practice from a court entertainment to a real military training.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=45}}{{sfn|Kakuma|1993|p=14}} During the Sengoku period, Oda Nobunaga made sumo a popular sport, aided by the emergence of large cities (like Edo, Osaka, Sendai and Nagoya), which soon began to compete with Kyoto's cultural monopoly, as it had been Japan's only metropolis.{{sfn|Kakuma|1993|p=14}}{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=52}} These new cultural centres saw the emergence of wrestling groups, from both the commoners and the warrior classes, who took part in festivities at shrines.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=52}}

During the period of peace established under the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan experienced an unprecedented period of vagrancy for many samurai who had lost their social standing with their previous masters, who had been deposed or killed so that the shogunate could assert itself.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=57}}{{sfn|Kakuma|1993|p=16}} These masterless samurai, called {{translit|ja|rōnins}}, could not engage in any activity under their social category under threat of punishment, and with the period of peace, it had become almost impossible to be recruited by local lords who no longer needed to build up a sizeable military retinue.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=57}} During the same period, sumo was gradually establishing itself as a popular sport, and two extremes coexisted side by side. On one side, certain powerful clans (such as the Kishū Tokugawa, Maeda, Ikeda, Matsudaira, Sakai and Hosokawa) formed suites of wrestlers organized into royal households called {{Nihongo|geisha-gumi|芸者組||{{lit|geisha troupe}}}}, and elevated them to the status of vassals.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|pp=57-58}} On the other, a number of {{translit|ja|rōnin}} had no choice but to put their martial art skills to good use in street sumo tournaments, called {{Nihongo|tsuji-zumō|辻相撲|tsuji-sumo|{{lit|street-corner wrestling}}}}, for the entertainment of passers-by.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=58}} Similarly, a number of street entertainment wrestling groups formed and began touring, sometimes with the support of shrines that occasionally recruited them as part of religious festivities and to help priests raising money for the construction of buildings.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|pp=58-59}}

File:97-Sumo-Wrestlers-Edo-period-Utagawa-Kuniteru-1867.png

Eventually, this mix of professional wrestlers and disgraced {{translit|ja|rōnins}}, along with the commoners who took part in the contests of strength of the street tournaments, came into conflict over money.{{sfn|Kakuma|1993|p=14}}{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=59}} Tense brawls, even deaths, sometimes occurred.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=59}} Public order became so disturbed by 1648 that Edo authorities issued an edict banning street sumo and matches organized to raise funds during festivities.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=60}} The edicts did not stop there, however, and also had an impact on wrestlers for some thirty years, with the publication of an order banning the use of {{translit|ja|shikona}}, or ring name, a tradition observed since the Muromachi period.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=60}} At the same time, instructions sent out to local lords advised drastic savings on suite costs, and the maintenance and recruitment of vassalized wrestlers ceased altogether.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=60}} Over the next two decades or so, the wrestlers, now without any income, decided to petition the authorities to lift the bans, forming coalitions of interests to protect themselves from any violent repression of their movement.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=61}}

In 1684, a {{translit|ja|rōnin}} named {{nihongo|Ikazuchi Gondaiyū|雷 権太夫}}, leader of one of these coalitions, obtained permission to hold a tournament after proposing a new etiquette associated with matches organization.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=61}}{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=63}} In fact, the systematization of sumo in Edo (with the introduction of the first {{translit|ja|dohyō}} and the strict use of the forty-eight first {{translit|ja|kimarite}}) went hand in hand with the authorization of sumo tournaments.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=64}} As sumo inevitably became systematized, new wrestler ranking systems were put in place with the development of the use of {{translit|ja|banzuke}} and the introduction of the ranks of {{translit|ja|komusubi}}, {{translit|ja|sekiwake}} and {{translit|ja|ōzeki}}.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=64}}

File:Asashio Tarō I.jpg with his {{translit|ja|keshō-mawashi}} bearing the "sparrows and bamboo" ({{transliteration|ja|take ni suzume}}) crest of the Date clan, as he wrestled under the Uwajima Domain.]]

Around 1717, local lords, who had ceased to maintain suites of wrestlers, revived the practice. The term {{translit|ja|rikishi}} also appeared at the same time, along with the more specific term {{Nihongo|kakae-rikishi|抱え力士||{{lit|embraced wrestler' or 'retained wrestler}}}}, which referred to wrestlers attached to the patronage of local lords.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=67}}{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=98}} With the emergence of etiquette, notable differences began to emerge to differentiate retainers of local lords from wrestlers who were not under the protection of a patron. {{translit|ja|Kakae-rikishi}} were allowed to carry two swords, while wrestlers without patrons carried only one, or even a dagger.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=67}} Wrestlers who took part in tournaments without the patronage of lords did not yet have samurai status or a salary and their finances depended largely on donations they could receive from the organizers of charity tournaments or admirers.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=76}}{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=97}} Their participation was motivated in particular by the fact that they could be scouted by the lords' households, if their results or popularity were worthwhile, and by the fact that they were fed and housed for the duration of the tournament.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=76}}{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|pp=75-76}} In those days the promotion system was decided by the tournament organizers who then distributed the profits to the elders who then redistributed funds to their wrestlers, with the wrestlers under the protection of the lords receiving bonuses and having financial security and the others being kept in poverty.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=97}}

The lords' wrestlers were given samurai status and a salary.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=76}} They were allowed to participate as special guests in official tournaments organized with the approval of shrine authorities.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=67}} During these tournaments, they represented the power of the domain in whose name they wrestled, and wore the lords' symbols on large aprons called {{translit|ja|keshō-mawashi}}.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=67}} As representatives of their domains, wrestlers attended tournament matches at the foot of the ring, and made a point of contesting decisions unfavorable to their lords, as part of rivalries between clans.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=76}} To avoid confrontations, it became customary to declare draws or postpone the decision on the outcome of a match.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=76}}

Since professional sumo was intrinsically linked to the domains of the local lords, the sport also reflected their health and the political situation in Japan.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=90}} During the Tenpō era, the feudal system was shaken by famine and rebellions, and the wrestlers who took part in the tournaments gradually withdrew to perform their duties at the households of the {{translit|ja|daimyo}} who maintained them.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=90}} With this lack of the most popular figures, the public gradually deserted the tournaments, leading to a recession within the sumo associations.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=90}} During the {{translit|ja|bakumatsu}} period, the feudal system collapsed, leading to a period of uncertainty about the future of the sport and therefore of wrestlers.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=93}} Nevertheless, sumo had succeeded in establishing itself as a popular sport, recognized as the national sport, leading to the survival of the wrestlers' status.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=94}}

With the Meiji Restoration and the abolition of the han system, wrestlers lost the patronage of the lords, who could no longer maintain households of their own.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|pp=95-96}} With the loss of income security and social status came a period of semi-censorship of sumo, with the adoption of Western ideology leading to the perception of sumo as unworthy of the new era, as the matches were seen as barbaric and the semi-nudity of the wrestlers shocking.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=96}} With the disappearance of government protection, some wrestlers organized themselves into fire brigades.{{sfn|Kakuma|1993|p=17}} At the same time, political circles were organized to preserve some of Japan's indigenous traditions, saving the privilege of wrestlers to wear samurai {{translit|ja|chonmage}} (topknot) in 1871.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=96}} With the absence of patronage on the part of the lords, a social crisis was also revealed among wrestlers, who now openly criticized the distribution of winnings from charity tournaments.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=97}} When Emperor Meiji ordered a match to be held in front of him in 1884, wrestlers Umegatani I and Ōdate made such an impact on him that his attitude towards the sport was changed, and with it the attitude of imperialist groups calling for the abolition of sumo, restoring a semblance of popularity to the sport.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=100}}

Although sumo itself continued, the Meiji period was also marked by the first social movements in the history of professional sumo. In the 1870s, the first wrestlers' revolt was organized by Takasago Uragorō (then still called Takamiyama) asking for better treatment (without initial success) and breaking away from the Tokyo-based association before merging again.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=98}} After that initial movement, a number of reforms were introduced to adapt the competitions to Japan's new political and financial context, notably by distributing better salaries to wrestlers and basing the latter on results.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=100}} Social movements in sumo did not cease, however, and in 1911 a strike by low-ranking wrestlers called for a new wage reform, securing a bonus (made up of payment in cash and a deposit in a pension fund) distributed to all wrestlers who were not {{translit|ja|ōzeki}} or {{translit|ja|yokozuna}} (professional sumo's top two ranks).{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=108}} In 1923, another strike known as the Mikawajima Incident demanded better pensions for wrestlers and was led by {{translit|ja|Yokozuna}} Ōnishiki, without success.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=110}} Finally, in 1932 (Taishō era), the last major wrestlers' strike broke out with the Shunjuen Incident, calling for fundamental reform of the newly created Japan Sumo Association and leading to a mass resignation of wrestlers the likes of which professional sumo had never seen before.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|pp=112-113}} Eventually, the situation calmed down and sumo enjoyed a new boom in popularity, notably driven by {{translit|ja|Yokozuna}} Futabayama.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=115}}

File:Futabayama good-luck flag.png signing a Good Luck Flag during the war.]]

During the second Sino-Japanese war, sumo emerged as a sport of pride, driven by strong nationalist sentiment and taking hold where Western sports (such as baseball) were denounced.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=115}} As ambassadors of national sentiment, sumo wrestlers were sent on tour to occupied Manchuria and China to perform in front of soldiers.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=115}} With the turning point of the war in 1943, competitions were disrupted. The Tokyo bombings killed many wrestlers, and those who survived were either drafted into the army or navy, or incorporated into provincial work units.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=116}} Popular figures in the sport were also forced to leave competitions, such as Tochinishiki who left the association to be drafted into the navy at Arai, Shizuoka during the 1944–1945 period; or Yoshibayama, then newly promoted in the {{translit|ja|jūryō}} division, who had been drafted during the 1943–1946 period and was shot in the left thigh.{{cite web|url=https://www.sumo.or.jp/KokugikanSumoMuseumDisplay/wrap20151020/|title=戦後70年「大相撲と戦争」|publisher=Sumo Museum|access-date=3 December 2023|language=ja}}

In the 1960s, sumo wrestlers once again served as emblems of Japan, with the first international tours of professional sumo since the '30s. In the summer of 1965, Taihō, Kashiwado and Sadanoyama were part of a group of eight wrestlers who went to the Soviet Union at the invitation of the Russian government to perform goodwill matches. Since the wrestlers fought in {{translit|ja|mawashi}} (fighting loincloth), the press echoed the diplomatic rapprochement, dubbing the {{translit|ja|rikishi}} delegation the 'naked ambassadors.'{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=126}}

{{clear}}

The life of a {{translit|ja|rikishi}} is first and foremost oriented towards strict rules of absolute obedience and respect for superiors and seniors.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|pp=137-138}} Revolving around a strict hierarchy that may seem "outdated" or "feudal", the sumo wrestler's life is in reality based above all else on his own personal skills, since only his results–and the guarantee of more victories than defeats at official tournaments (called {{translit|ja|honbasho}})–are the guarantees of his success.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=138}} With success comes progression in the sumo hierarchy, which is not as much about rank as it is about status, the rank determining dress, earnings and treatment from peers.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=138}}

A professional sumo wrestler leads a highly regimented life. The Sumo Association prescribes the behavior of its wrestlers in some detail. For example, the association prohibits wrestlers from driving cars, although this is partly out of necessity as many wrestlers are too big to fit behind a steering wheel.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42178483|title=Inside the scandal-hit world of sumo|last=Seales|first=Rebecca|date=1 December 2017|work=BBC News|access-date=1 October 2018|archive-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925195036/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42178483|url-status=live}}

Recruiting young wrestlers is an essential aspect of perpetuating the sport's wrestling pool.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=148}} Since the 1970s, sumo has developed an intensive scouting system.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=148}} The largest stables have established scouting networks throughout the country, partly supported with the help of their nationwide patron organizations, with retired wrestlers and patron-club members acting as part-time scouts for the stables.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=148}} It is also not rare for acquaintances of the master, or one of the stable wrestlers, to also bring potential apprentices to the stable.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=41}} When on provincial tours, masters always lookout for potential talent.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=41}}{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=148}} Despite all the efforts made by masters to attract new talent, it is often the case that young wrestlers are motivated to join the stable solely by the reputation and achievements of the current master.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=149}}

Since 1973, all new aspirants must have completed at least compulsory education.{{cite web|last=Gunning|first=John|author-link=John Gunning (journalist)|title=Sumo's popularity is booming. The recruitment of new pros is not.|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2024/03/06/sumo/sumo-struggling-recruitment/|work=The Japan Times|url-access=subscription|date=6 March 2024|access-date=6 March 2024|archive-date=6 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240306134109/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2024/03/06/sumo/sumo-struggling-recruitment/|url-status=live}} In the Japanese education system, it means graduating from the six years of primary school and the three years of junior high school.{{sfn|Newton|Toff|2000|p=114}}{{cite web|url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/sports/story/13398/|title=特集 - 大相撲 力士になるには、どうするの？|language=ja|website=NHK|date=14 May 2021|accessdate=11 December 2023}} As of January 2024, recruits are no longer subject to physical standards.{{cite web|url=https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOKC28BDP0Y3A920C2000000/|title=新弟子検査、体格基準を事実上撤廃 力士減少で|language=ja|work=The Nikkei|date=28 September 2023|access-date=14 December 2023|archive-date=29 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929072747/https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOKC28BDP0Y3A920C2000000/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sankei.com/article/20230928-OLAFBZ4J5VK5DPYUMA7UX2IL2A/|title=大相撲新弟子検査の体格基準を事実上撤廃へ 力士減少で門戸開放|language=ja|work=Sankei Shimbun|date=28 September 2023|access-date=14 December 2023|archive-date=29 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929082819/https://www.sankei.com/article/20230928-OLAFBZ4J5VK5DPYUMA7UX2IL2A/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2023/09/28/kiji/20230927s00005000669000c.html|title=【相撲】新弟子検査の体格基準を撤廃へ 来年初場所から 力士数減少の打開が狙い|language=ja|work=Sports Nippon|date=28 September 2023|access-date=14 December 2023|archive-date=30 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930232006/https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2023/09/28/kiji/20230927s00005000669000c.html|url-status=live}} However, these had always been subject to revision, with the introduction of a minimum of {{height|m=1.67}} and {{convert|67|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in 2012, replacing the need for recruits to be a minimum {{height|m=1.73}} tall and weigh {{convert|75|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in the early 2000s.{{sfn|Newton|Toff|2000|pp=114-115}} With the exception of recruitments based on special criteria, all wrestlers must be under 23 years old. Before the abolition of the height and weight prerequisite, young aspirants were subject to a physical examination to confirm that they met the minimum height and weight requirements to compete. To meet the height requirements, some recruits even injected silicone on top of their head to gain a few centimetres - a practice that is now prohibited.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=17}} With the abolition of the height and weight prerequisite system, the Sumo Association now judges new recruits on the basis of an athletics test, reintroduced in April 2024 for the first time in 12 years. The test is based on seven physical tests (back strength, grip strength, repeated horizontal jump, handball throw, handstand, standing long jump and 50-meter run).{{cite web|url=https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2024/04/19/kiji/20240419s00005000398000c.html|title=新弟子検査の体格基準撤廃で運動能力テストが12年ぶり復活「小さくても強くなれる」小兵力士誕生に期待|language=ja|work=Sports Nippon|date=19 April 2024|access-date=19 April 2024|archive-date=19 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419120948/https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2024/04/19/kiji/20240419s00005000398000c.html|url-status=live}}

In professional sumo, the majority of new aspirants sign up in March, the end of the school year in Japan.{{sfn|Newton|Toff|2000|p=115}} All new wrestlers are then required to attend the Sumo School, located at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan, where they spend six months learning the basic movements as well as calligraphy, history, {{translit|ja|jinku}} (folk songs) and sports medicine.{{sfn|Newton|Toff|2000|p=115}}{{cite web |url=https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/sumo/20220923-OYT1T50248/|title=［知る国技］教習所|date=24 September 2022|publisher=Yomiuri Shimbun|access-date=12 October 2024|language=ja}}{{cite web |url=https://www.newsgawakaru.com/knowledge/32416/|title=相撲教習所っていったい何なの？【大相撲中継キッズ】 |date=31 October 2023|work=News Ga Wakaru|publisher=Mainichi Shimbun|access-date=14 October 2024|language=ja}} If a new recruit experiences a record rise and already reaches the status of {{translit|ja|sekitori}} before completing his course at the Sumo School, it is accepted that he may not take part in lessons, although all the wrestlers who have found themselves in this situation have decided not to make use of this right (such as Endō and Ichinojō).{{cite web |url=https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2013/05/31/kiji/K20130531005911460.html|title=新十両・遠藤 初の関取＆相撲教習所生|date=31 May 2013|publisher=Sports Nippon|access-date=14 October 2024|language=ja}}{{cite web |url=https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2014/04/18/kiji/K20140418007993770.html|title="モンゴルの新怪物"逸ノ城 特権辞退「教習所通う」|date=18 April 2014|publisher=Sports Nippon|access-date=14 October 2024|language=ja}} In 2023, Hakuōhō became the first wrestler in sumo's recorded history to earn his promotion to {{translit|ja|sekitori}} before attending any of the school's classes, nonetheless also deciding to participate in the lessons.{{cite web |url=https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/202301260001198.html|title=新十両昇進の落合が相撲教習所入所式に出席 関取として入所するのは過去に例なく|date=26 January 2023|publisher=Nikkan Sports|access-date=14 October 2024|language=ja}}

{{See also|Professional sumo divisions}}

Professional sumo classifies its wrestlers into six divisions, in addition to {{translit|ja|maezumō}} status, under which newcomers without {{translit|ja|tsukedachi}} status must first develop.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|pp=138-139}} In the highest division, the {{translit|ja|makuuchi}}, there are five different ranks.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=138}} A parallel status to the traditional hierarchy also exists with the status of {{translit|ja|tsukedachi}}. This allows wrestlers who have competed and succeeded on the national amateur scene to begin their career at a more advantageous rank in the {{translit|ja|sandanme}} and {{translit|ja|makushita}} divisions.{{cite web |url=https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/sumo/20220912-OYT1T50250/|title=［知る国技］付け出し |date=13 September 2022|publisher=Yomiuri Shimbun|access-date=12 October 2024|language=ja}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/202309280001067.html|title=幕下10枚目格と15枚目格の付け出し廃止を発表 スピード出世の最速記録更新は事実上不可能に|date=28 September 2023|publisher=Nikkan Sports|access-date=28 September 2023|language=ja}}

Statistics shows that only one wrestler in fifty makes it to the {{translit|ja|jūryō}} division, just one in a hundred becomes a {{translit|ja|makuuchi}} wrestler, and only one in four hundred makes the {{translit|ja|yokozuna}} rank.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=148}} Hence, most wrestlers retire from professional sumo without ever having reached the salaried levels.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=148}}

File:Carrying a Bag (3936147485).jpg entrance in 2009)]]

The lowest ranked wrestlers are expected to obey and act as assistants to their coaches and to the wrestlers ranked as {{translit|ja|sekitori}}, meaning every wrestler ranked in {{translit|ja|jūryō}} or above.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=140}} In the lower divisions, however, the question of seniority and rank brings some nuances to the way wrestlers are treated. In {{translit|ja|sandanme}}, the wrestlers no longer have to perform the most thankless tasks and have a few extra freedoms within the stable.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=140}} In the division above, in {{translit|ja|makushita}}, the wrestlers have even more rights and are considered experienced enough to teach the basics to young wrestlers.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=140}} When they retire, wrestlers who have reached {{translit|ja|makushita}} and spent enough time in {{translit|ja|sandanme}} are eligible for a job offered by the Sumo Association and a retirement gratuity.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=140}}

In the stable, the senior wrestlers (even lower-ranked ones) have authority over their juniors and win the title of {{Nihongo|anideshi|兄弟子||{{lit|big brother}}}}, allowing them to exercise authority, notably during training, over their {{Nihongo|ototodeshi|弟弟子|otōtodeshi|{{lit|little brother}}}}; meaning every wrestler with less seniority than them.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=41}} However, {{translit|ja|anideshi}} exercise their authority in a brutal manner, and many of the violent scandals in professional sumo are their fault.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=41}}

When a wrestler reaches the {{translit|ja|jūryō}} ranks, he becomes a {{translit|ja|sekitori}} and his daily life changes completely, with his daily needs taken care of for him.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=140}} The difference in treatment between wrestlers classified as {{translit|ja|sekitori}} and those who are not is such that an expression says that the two statuses are 'like heaven and hell.'{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=34}} A {{translit|ja|sekitori}}-ranked wrestler has many privileges. He is assigned a minimum of one {{translit|ja|tsukebito}} (assistant) who will act as his personal servant, helping him dress and prepare, carrying his belongings, helping him bathe, acting as a secretary or running specific errands on behalf of his superior.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=140}}{{sfn|Schilling|1994|p=23}}{{cite web|last=Gunning|first=John|author-link=John Gunning (journalist)|title=Sumo 101: Tsukebito|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/07/18/sumo/sumo-101-tsukebito/|work=The Japan Times|url-access=subscription|date=18 July 2019|access-date=12 October 2024}} The higher a {{translit|ja|sekitori}} climbs in the hierarchy, the more assistants he is entitled to.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=140}} Wrestlers who qualify as {{translit|ja|sekitori}} have the additional privileges. These include having their name hand-painted with that of their sponsor on {{translit|ja|nobori}} (tall banners), which are then erected at the entrance to tournament arenas during {{translit|ja|honbasho}}.{{cite web|last=Gunning|first=John|author-link=John Gunning (journalist)|title=Sumo 101: Nobori|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2018/11/13/sumo/sumo-101-nobori/|work=The Japan Times|url-access=subscription|date=13 November 2018|access-date=2 September 2024|archive-date=12 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412202453/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2018/11/13/sumo/sumo-101-nobori/|url-status=live}} Around the ring, {{translit|ja|sekitori}} are entitled to a number of small perks, such as personalized towels during pre-bout preparations.{{cite web |url=https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/sumo/20230720-OYT1T50330/|title=［知る国技］タオル|date=21 July 2023|publisher=Yomiuri Shimbun|access-date=12 October 2024|language=ja}} While waiting for their match, wrestlers ranked in the {{translit|ja|makuuchi}} division are entitled to their own personalized waiting {{translit|ja|zabuton}} (cushion). These, often donated by sponsors, are made of silk with about 20 cm of padding and bear the wrestler's name.{{cite web |url=https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/sumo/20220915-OYT1T50346/|title=［知る国技］座布団 |date=16 September 2022|publisher=Yomiuri Shimbun|access-date=12 October 2024|language=ja}} Backstage, the wrestlers are distributed in the preparation rooms according to their rank, the higher ranked a wrestler is, the further away from the door he is. At the top of the hierarchy, a {{translit|ja|yokozuna}} is installed at the end of the room.{{cite web |url=https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/sumo/20230718-OYT1T50327/|title=［知る国技］支度部屋|date=19 July 2023|publisher=Yomiuri Shimbun|access-date=12 October 2024|language=ja}} To transport their personal belongings, {{translit|ja|sekitori}} use an {{nihongo|akeni|明荷}}, a bamboo and {{translit|ja|washi}} luggage box dating back to the Edo period.{{cite web|last=Gunning|first=John|author-link=John Gunning (journalist)|title=Sumo 101: Akeni|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/01/20/sumo/sumo-101-akeni/|work=The Japan Times|url-access=subscription|date=20 January 2019|access-date=12 October 2024}} Each wrestler has an {{translit|ja|akeni}} bearing his name. At the top of the hierarchy, a {{translit|ja|yokozuna}} is allowed to use three, as he has more regalia.

{{See also|Heya (sumo)|label 1=Sumo stables}}

File:Sumoworkout.JPG in 1998.]]

Sumo life centers around the training stables, to which all active wrestlers must belong.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=143}}{{sfn|Newton|Toff|2000|p=17}} Most wrestlers, and all junior ones, live in their stable in a dormitory style: training, cleaning, eating, sleeping and socializing together.{{sfn|Schilling|1994|p=25}} Since stable members live in a brotherhood similar to a family, they are forbidden to fight another member of their stable during tournaments.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=58}}

How a wrestler is treated in his stable is based on his ranking.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=139}} Wrestlers ranked in the lower divisions get up at dawn (usually around four or five) to do morning chores around the building and stretch in preparation for the usual empty stomach morning training.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=140}}{{sfn|Newton|Toff|2000|p=112}} Just before the training session, the day's lunch team begin their preparations.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=140}} The morning exercises done by the wrestlers are designed to exhaust wrestlers and strengthen their "fighting spirit", and are repeated every morning without exception.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=141}} Gradually by rank, the wrestlers join in the training and the stablemaster only appears once the {{translit|ja|sandanme}} wrestlers have joined.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=140}} {{translit|ja|Sekitori}}-ranked wrestlers always turn up last, often around eight o'clock, and their assistants have to temporarily leave the training to help them put on their {{translit|ja|mawashi}}.{{sfn|Newton|Toff|2000|p=112}}{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=141}} On arrival at the training hall, {{translit|ja|sekitori}} are systematically greeted by wrestlers of lower rank than themselves.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=141}}

Around eleven, the wrestlers head for the baths-in descending order of rank, so that the {{translit|ja|sekitori}} always benefit from a clean bathroom.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=142}} When the {{translit|ja|sekitori}} practice is at its peak, the stable cooks begin to prepare the first and major meal of the day.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=142}} Wrestlers eat only two meals a day and spend at least one of those sitting around a bubbling pot of chankonabe.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=142}} In most stables the cooking brigade is supervised by one of the oldest and most experienced of the low-ranking wrestler, affectionately referred to as {{Nihongo|ojii-chan|おじいちゃん ||{{lit|grandpa}}}}.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=142}} Wrestlers eat by turns according to rank.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=143}} Each wrestler is served by another wrestler belonging to a rank lower than his own, the {{translit|ja|sekitori}} eating first and the youngest apprentices last.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=143}} The lowest ranks must patiently and hungrily wait until all of the others have finished and gone to have a nap.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=143}} This regimen of no breakfast and a large lunch followed by a sleep is intended to help wrestlers put on a lot of weight so as to compete more effectively.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=143}} Sumo wrestlers also drink large amounts of beer.{{cite web | title=Becoming a Sumo Wrestler | work=Sumo East and West | publisher=Discovery Channel | url=http://www.discoverychannelasia.com/sumo/become_a_sumo_wrestler/index.shtml | access-date=18 November 2005| url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050831220303/http://discoverychannelasia.com/sumo/become_a_sumo_wrestler/index.shtml | archive-date=31 August 2005| df=mdy-all }}

{{See also|List of items traditionally worn in Japan|Mawashi}}

{{translit|ja|Rikishi}} are bound by strict traditional dress codes. As they advance in their careers, wrestlers earn the right to wear certain clothing and accessories, meaning a wrestler's appearance generally indicates his rank.{{cite web|last=Gunning|first=John|author-link=John Gunning (journalist)|title=Sumo 101: Wrestlers' clothing and footwear|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2018/11/23/sumo/sumo-101-wrestlers-clothing-footwear/|work=The Japan Times|url-access=subscription|date=23 November 2018|access-date=5 December 2023|archive-date=15 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415002435/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2018/11/23/sumo/sumo-101-wrestlers-clothing-footwear/|url-status=live}} Wrestlers' dress codes have changed over the years. Before the Heian period, the wrestlers came to the ring with distinctive flower crowns to distinguish wrestlers from the eastern team (alcea flowers) and those on the western team (calabash flowers).{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=37}} This practice later gave its name to the {{Nihongo|hanamichi|花道||{{lit|Flower path}}}}, the two corridors through which wrestlers enter the ring.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=77}} Wrestlers also wore loose-fitting front loincloths similar to {{translit|ja|fundoshi}} but called {{translit|ja|tosagi}}.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=37}}

Today's wrestlers are expected to wear the {{translit|ja|chonmage}} and traditional Japanese dress at all times when in public. It is common for wrestlers to receive their clothes as gifts.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=218}}

The {{translit|ja|jūryō}}-ranked wrestlers and above have the right to wear formal costumes.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=110}} It includes the right to wear {{translit|ja|hakama}} pants and crested kimono and jacket (respectively called {{translit|ja|montsuki kimono}} and {{translit|ja|haori montsuki}}) fastened by a {{translit|ja|himo}}, a braided cord.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=110}}{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|pp=75-76}}{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=119}}

In {{translit|ja|makuuchi}}, wrestlers can wear "{{translit|ja|somenuki yukata}}".{{cite web|url=https://www.sumo.or.jp/IrohaKnowledge/glossary_rikishi_kimono|title=相撲用語集 - 着物|publisher=Japan Sumo Association|access-date=11 December 2023|language=ja}} {{Nihongo|Somenuki|染抜き or 染め抜き||{{lit|without dyeing}}}} is a technique for removing the dye colour that can be adapted to any shape and considered to be of a higher-rank than simply sewing or embroidering the symbols a posteriori.{{cite encyclopedia |title=染抜き |encyclopedia=The Japanese Dictionary |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%9F%93%E6%8A%9C-2047724|language=ja |accessdate=5 December 2023 |via=Kotobank encyclopedia}} The technique later gave its name to the clothing because the name of the wrestlers always appear in a different colour than that of the textile.

During their bouts, wrestlers also wear distinctive loincloths (called {{translit|ja|mawashi}}) which are also subject to rules depending on the said wrestler's rank.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=129}}{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=104}} Since colors fade over time, it is also easy to recognize a wrestler who is more senior than another of equivalent rank by the color of their loincloth, the most senior wrestlers having yellowed (for {{translit|ja|sekitori}}) and faded (for {{translit|ja|makushita}} and below) loincloths over the years.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=104}}

In Tokyo, the districts hosting wrestling stables have made a specialty of selling large kimonos adapted to the {{translit|ja|rikishi}}'s physique.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=110}}

Wrestlers are entitled to clothing rights. These accumulate as follows (from their beginnings to the highest ranks):{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=152}}{{sfn|Hall|1997|pp=31-37}}{{cite web |url=http://www.takadagawa.com/blog/?p=6672|title=処遇についての違いを説明したいと思います|date=22 November 2014|publisher=Takadagawa stable|access-date=11 December 2023|lang=ja}}

The Japan Sumo Association is also able to regulate the physical appearance of its wrestlers. {{translit|ja|Rikishi}} are expected to grow their hair long, in order to be worn in a style of {{translit|ja|chonmage}}, a topknot similar to the samurai hairstyles of the Edo period.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=139}} Young wrestlers wear a simplified version, while wrestlers ranked in the two highest divisions ({{translit|ja|jūryō}} and {{translit|ja|makuuchi}}) wear a more elaborate version called {{Nihongo|ōichōmage|大銀杏髷||{{lit|ginkgo-leaf topknot}}}} because it resembles the leaf of the ginkgo tree.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=139}}

The association's statutes stipulate that wrestlers "must keep their bodies clean".{{Cite news|url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13054606|title=Wrestlers must shave beards to prevent audience discomfort|date=27 February 2019|work=The Asahi Shimbun|access-date=17 May 2024|archive-date=9 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209155759/https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13054606|url-status=dead}} For this reason, the Sumo Association has banned the wearing of beards since 2019, judging that it made wrestlers' appearance too dirty. It was common at the time for wrestlers to allow themselves to grow a designer stubble during tournaments out of superstition, fearing that shaving during a winning streak would attract bad luck and put an end to it. The wearing of sideburns was however preserved.{{Cite news|url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13054606|title=相撲協会、験担ぎのひげ禁止に 「汚い」「見苦しい」|date=26 February 2019|work=The Asahi Shimbun|language=Japanese|access-date=17 May 2024|archive-date=2 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302053524/https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASM2V4TZ4M2VUTQP01C.html|url-status=dead}} Similarly, wrestlers are expected to cut their fingernails short and tattoos are prohibited.

{{See also|Mochikyūkin}}

Professional sumo wrestlers only began to be paid according to a wage system in May 1957.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=157}} Only wrestlers ranked {{translit|ja|jūryō}} and above receive a monthly salary.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=157}} All wrestlers ranked below are given no monthly wages but receive a more modest allowance during the tournaments.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=157}} Compensation paid to lower-ranked wrestlers varies according to their rank.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=157}} In addition, the salary received by {{translit|ja|sekitori}} also depends on the division in which they wrestle and their rank.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=157}} In addition, sumo wrestlers benefit from favourable tax treatment.{{cite web|last1=Brasor |first1=Philip |last2=Tsubuku |first2=Masako |title=Who pays for sumo? |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2010/06/20/business/who-pays-for-sumo/ |work=The Japan Times|url-access=subscription |date=20 June 2010|access-date=13 December 2023|archive-date=9 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509135223/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2010/06/20/business/who-pays-for-sumo/|url-status=live}} For example, they are exempt from paying taxes on cash gifts received from individual supporters, although the gifts they receive from corporate supporters are taxed. They are also subject to more advantageous income tax laws, which means that wrestlers are taxed less for the same salary than someone who is not involved in professional sumo.

However, compared to other popular sports in Japan, particularly baseball, professional sumo seems to pay its athletes poorly, with the maximum annual salaries and bonuses capped at around 36 million yen, while in other sports athletes easily reach a hundred million yen a year.{{cite web|author=Kitade Koichi|url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/sports/story/4900/|title=特集 - 力士の給与っていくらなの？|language=ja|website=NHK|date=24 June 2020|accessdate=12 December 2023}} According to former Gagamaru and Tochinoshin, {{translit|ja|Yokozuna}} Hakuhō (sumo's most successful wrestler) earned around ¥100 million a year (about US$646,840 and €607,200 as of April 2024) during his active years, all bonuses included.{{cite web |title=【大相撲】力士の給料は少なすぎる？ 臥牙丸氏＆栃ノ心氏が力説「もっと高くてもいい」|date=16 April 2024 |language=ja |url=https://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp/articles/-/299185 |work=Tokyo Sports |access-date=17 April 2024}} In addition, there is no pension fund as such in professional sumo.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=122}} Wrestlers depend almost exclusively on the earnings generated by their success in the ring.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=122}}

Wrestlers who are not {{translit|ja|sekitori}} earn allowance at tournaments as follows:

• {{translit|ja|Makushita}}: ¥165,000 (about US$1135 and €994)
• {{translit|ja|Sandanme}}: ¥110,000 (about US$756 and €701)
• {{translit|ja|Jonidan}}: ¥88,000 (about US$605 and €561)
• {{translit|ja|Jonokuchi}}: ¥77,000 (about US$529 and €491)

Since the January 2019 tournament, the monthly salary figures for the top two divisions are:{{cite web |title=１８年ぶりに関取の給与を増額 日本相撲協会理事会 |date=29 November 2018 |language=ja |url=https://www.sankei.com/sports/news/181129/spo1811290026-n1.html |work=Sankei Shimbun |access-date=3 December 2018 |archive-date=28 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528091702/https://www.sankei.com/sports/news/181129/spo1811290026-n1.html |url-status=live }}

• {{translit|ja|Yokozuna}}: ¥3 million (about US$26,500 and €19,000)
• {{translit|ja|Ōzeki}}: ¥2.5 million (about US$22,000 and €16,000)
• {{translit|ja|Sekiwake}} and {{translit|ja|Komusubi}}: ¥1.8 million (about US$16,000 and €11,500)
• {{translit|ja|Maegashira}}: ¥1.4 million (US$12,500 and €9,000)
• {{translit|ja|Jūryō}}: ¥1.1 million (about US$9,500 and €7,000)

In addition to the basic salary, {{translit|ja|sekitori}}-ranked wrestlers also receive additional bonus income, called {{translit|ja|mochikyūkin}}, six times a year (once every tournament, or {{translit|ja|basho}}) based on the cumulative performance in their career to date.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=158}} Prior to the establishment of the salary, wrestlers were exclusively paid according to this system.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=158}} Wrestlers in the lower divisions earned three yen for each victory and fifty yen for each {{translit|ja|kachi-koshi}} score, with the amount increasing as they moved up the hierarchy.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=158}} Various bonuses added at the time of promotions, championships and {{translit|ja|kinboshi}} were also added.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=158}} Today, the {{translit|ja|mochikyūkin}} continues to be registered and paid, but as a complement to the salary, and the amounts have been recalculated.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=158}}

{{translit|ja|Yokozuna}} receive an additional allowance every two tournaments, associated with the making of a new {{translit|ja|tsuna}} belt worn in their ring entering ceremony.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=157}} Wrestlers who place in the {{translit|ja|san'yaku}} category also receive bonuses.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=157}} Also, prize money is given to the winner of each divisional championship, which increases from ¥100,000 for a {{translit|ja|jonokuchi}} victory up to ¥10 million for winning the top division. In addition to prizes for a championship, wrestlers in the top division giving an exceptional performance in the eyes of a judging panel can also receive one or more of three special prizes ({{translit|ja|sanshō}}), which are worth ¥2 million each.

Individual top division matches can also be sponsored by companies, with the resulting prize money called {{translit|ja|kenshōkin}}. For bouts involving {{translit|ja|yokozuna}} and {{translit|ja|ōzeki}}, the number of sponsors can be quite large, whereas for lower-ranked matchups, no bout sponsors may be active at all unless one of the wrestlers is particularly popular, or unless a company has a policy of sponsoring all his matchups. {{as of|2019}}, a single sponsorship cost ¥70,000, with ¥60,000 going to the winner of the bout and ¥10,000 deducted by the Japan Sumo Association for costs and fees.{{cite web|url=https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/201905300000442.html|title=秋場所から懸賞金額アップ、手取り変わらず積立金↑|language=ja|work=Nikkan Sports|date=30 May 2019|access-date=22 July 2020|archive-date=7 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807214122/https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/201905300000442.html|url-status=live}} Immediately after the match, the winner receives an envelope from the referee with half of his share of the sponsorship, while the other half is put in a fund for his retirement.

The question of wages for professional wrestlers led to the creation, after the Shunjuen Incident, of a wrestlers' club called {{Nihongo|rikishi-kai|力士会||{{lit|sumo wrestlers association}}}}.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=120}} Only salaried wrestlers belong to this group.{{cite book|last=Kuhaulua |first=Jesse |author-link=Takamiyama Daigorō |title=Takamiyama: the world of sumo |publisher=Kodansha America, Inc |year=1973 |page=41 |isbn=0870111957}} Traditionally, wrestlers have used a representative to informally pass requests, particularly in relation to wages, to the elders sitting on the Board of Directors.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=120}} The association does not recognize the {{translit|ja|rikishi-kai}} as a union in the strict sense of the term.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=120}} Relations between the {{translit|ja|rikishi-kai}} and the association's directors are therefore often compared to those between a child asking his parents for pocket money.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=120}} It is common for wrestlers' demands to be ignored, and for them not to push the issue any further.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|pp=120-121}} In his memoirs, former {{translit|ja|sekiwake}} Takamiyama wrote that in the {{translit|ja|rikishi-kai}} meetings, the {{translit|ja|sekitori}} sometimes joked about a collective strike, but the action was rarely, if ever, considered.

Traditionally, the {{translit|ja|rikishi-kai}} is represented by top-ranked wrestlers, notably {{translit|ja|yokozuna}}, although in the past several intermediaries between the association and the {{translit|ja|rikishi-kai}} have been lower-ranked wrestlers (such as Fujinishiki or Aonosato).{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=120}} Since {{translit|ja|Yokozuna}} Kakuryū's retirement in 2021, the presidency of the {{translit|ja|rikishi-kai}} is currently vacant.{{cite web|url=https://www.sankei.com/article/20211225-BTA3RI2X7ZL4LCSNUTTEYX3NRI/|title=１年ぶりに力士会開催 尾車事業部長の講話も|language=ja|publisher=Sankei Shimbun|date=25 December 2021|access-date=14 December 2023|archive-date=25 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225145150/https://www.sankei.com/article/20211225-BTA3RI2X7ZL4LCSNUTTEYX3NRI/|url-status=live}}

The Japan Sumo Association's statutes set out disciplinary measures for its wrestlers. These have been subject to change over time, mainly in the 2010s, after match-fixing and gambling scandals. Until 2014, punishments consisted of five levels, to which was added a so-called "extraordinary" level. The wrestlers were subject to (from lightest to heaviest punishment): reprimand, salary reduction, suspension, demotion and dismissal.{{cite web|url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20240222/k10014367091000.html|title=北青鵬 "暴力"で引退勧告 宮城野親方は降格の処分案まとめる|date=22 February 2024|work=NHK|access-date=12 June 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASFK2802P_Y0A620C1000000/|title=日本相撲協会の処分とは|date=28 June 2010|work=Nikkei Shimbun|access-date=12 June 2024}} An extraordinary sanction (the expulsion) was then eventually added to the dismissal that allowed the association to dismiss a wrestler without retirement pay. The expulsion was the most severe sanction in the disciplinary statutes. This required a three-quarters vote in favor from the board of directors, composed at the time of the directors, {{translit|ja|tate-gyōji}} as well as {{translit|ja|yokozuna}} and {{translit|ja|ōzeki}}. Since the founding of the All Japan Sumo Association in 1925, no wrestler had ever been expelled from the association. The only cases of expulsion was in 1873, with Koyanagi and Takasago.{{cite web|url=https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/sumo/news/f-sp-tp3-20100622-644522.html|title=日本相撲協会の除名とはどんな処分？|date=22 June 2010|work=Nikkan Sports|access-date=12 June 2024}} Following the 2011 match-fixing scandal, 23 wrestlers were however expelled from the association. Although marking a historic milestone, the disciplinary decision also embroiled the association in a legal battle with Sōkokurai, the latter setting a precedent in the association's history by attacking and winning in court against the association in order to be reinstated.{{cite web|last=Gunning|first=John|author-link=John Gunning (journalist)|title=Naturalized Sokokurai fought for JSA return|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/10/02/sumo/naturalized-sokokurai-fought-jsa-return/|work=The Japan Times|url-access=subscription|date=2 October 2019|access-date=12 June 2024|archive-date=24 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024094722/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/10/02/sumo/naturalized-sokokurai-fought-jsa-return/|url-status=live}}

In January 2014, the association shifted to a {{Interlanguage link|Public Interest Incorporated Foundation|ja|3=公益法人|lt=Public Interest Incorporated Foundation}} and the disciplinary statutes were amended, removing the sanction of expulsion and adding a recommendation to retire before the ultimate sanction of dismissal.{{cite web|url=https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/201904240000892.html|title=日本相撲協会の処分は７項目 厳重注意は該当せず|date=24 April 2019|work=Nikkan Sports|access-date=12 June 2024}} In 2018, the sumo association also clarified its disciplinary rules, establishing a system for increasing penalties according to the rank of the concerned wrestler.{{cite web|url=https://hochi.news/articles/20181219-OHT1T50140.html?page=1|title=日本相撲協会、暴力に対する規定と処分を発表 番付に応じて処分が重く|date=19 December 2018|work=Sports Hochi|access-date=12 June 2024}} On the subject of violence, a {{translit|ja|yokozuna}} involved will therefore be subject to a sanction at least equal to a recommendation to retire due to their "social responsibility", a {{translit|ja|sekitori}} will not have sanctions lower than a suspension when {{translit|ja|makushita}} wrestlers or lower normally risk a suspension at the most, although there have been cases of wrestlers ranked as {{translit|ja|sandanme}} that have already been recommended for retirement.

File:Retirement ceremony from Haguroyama Scan10050.JPG's retirement ceremony ({{translit|ja|danpatsu shiki}}) in 1954.]]

When a {{translit|ja|rikishi}} retires as an active wrestler, he symbolically marks the end of his career by cutting his {{translit|ja|chonmage}} topknot, symbolizing his traditional samurai rank and his career as a wrestler.{{cite web|last=Gunning|first=John|author-link=John Gunning (journalist)|title=Retirement ceremonies often full of emotion|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/06/19/sumo/retirement-ceremonies-often-full-emotion/|work=The Japan Times|url-access=subscription|date=19 June 2019|access-date=14 December 2023|archive-date=20 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620140832/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/06/19/sumo/retirement-ceremonies-often-full-emotion/#.XQuTb1N_r2c|url-status=live}} The cutting of the topknot takes place in a dedicated ceremony called {{Nihongo|danpatsu-shiki|断髪式||{{lit|hair-cutting ceremony}}}}, even if the {{translit|ja|rikishi}} actually retire several months before the ceremony takes place.

The ceremony is regularly held to mark a wrestler's retirement, with lower-ranked wrestlers having a more discreet ceremony often held at the usual end-of-tournament parties.{{cite web|last=Gunning|first=John|author-link=John Gunning (journalist)|title=Sumo 101: Retirement ceremonies|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/01/17/sumo/sumo-101-retirement-ceremonies/|work=The Japan Times|url-access=subscription|date=17 January 2019|access-date=14 December 2023|archive-date=3 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203045359/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/01/17/sumo/sumo-101-retirement-ceremonies/|url-status=live}} For the top-ranked wrestlers, however, the ceremony takes the form of charity tournaments, with non-stake matches, presentations of traditional sumo-related arts and performances by prestigious guests.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=94}} The ceremony closes with the actual cutting of the topknot, where the wrestler's guests— all having to pay a symbolic participation fee —follow in succession to cut only a few strands of his hair with gold-plated scissors. Traditionally, the last hairs holding the topknot together are cut by the retiring wrestler's master. It is also customary for a retired wrestler to keep his severed topknot in a box or glass case after the ceremony.{{cite interview |last=Nagao |first=Shūhei |subject-link=Mainoumi Shūhei |title=お相撲さんが断髪式で切った髪はどうするのですか？ |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/kodomotel/sports/0052.html |work=TBS Sport series |publisher=Tokyo Broadcasting System |language=ja |interviewer-first= |interviewer-link= |access-date=25 January 2025}}{{cite web|url=https://amamishimbun.co.jp/2023/11/04/47003/|title=「第46代横綱朝潮太郎記念館」落成式 徳之島町井之川|language=ja|work=Amami Shimbun|date=4 November 2023|access-date=25 January 2025}}

The {{translit|ja|danpatsu-shiki}} ceremony can take place anywhere (and is often held in hotels), but a wrestler must have served at least thirty tournaments as a {{translit|ja|sekitori}} to perform his ceremony at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan.{{cite web|url=https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/202205270001705.html|title=「引退相撲」と「断髪式」はどう違う？ 力士は全員、国技館で引退相撲ができる？ Ｑ＆Ａで回答|language=ja|work=Nikkan Sports|date=28 May 2022|access-date=14 December 2023|archive-date=27 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527214214/https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/202205270001705.html|url-status=live}}

{{See also|Toshiyori}}

File:Kitanoumi and Takanohana in Sumiyoshi Taisha IMG 1433-2 20130302.JPG (left) and Kitanoumi as {{translit|ja|toshiyori}}, or elders (2013).]]

Sumo wrestlers who retire can take on responsibilities within the Japan Sumo Association.{{cite web|author=Kitade Koichi |url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/sports/story/16748/ |title=特集 - 大相撲の力士をやめたらどうなるの？ |language=ja |website=NHK |date=6 July 2021 |accessdate=16 December 2023}} Wrestlers who become managers are called {{translit|ja|toshiyori}}, more commonly known as {{translit|ja|oyakata}} and translated into English as 'elder' or 'master.' Becoming an elder ensures that the retired wrestler will become one of the 105 coaches of the association, responsible for training the wrestlers and for running the association.

Qualifications for becoming a master are determined by regulations: {{translit|ja|yokozuna}}, {{translit|ja|ōzeki}}, and {{translit|ja|san'yaku}} only need one tournament at this rank to be considered for elder status. Wrestlers who have reached the rank of {{translit|ja|maegashira}} must have maintained it for twenty tournaments, while {{translit|ja|jūryō}} wrestlers must have maintained their rank for thirty tournaments. {{translit|ja|Yokozuna}} and {{translit|ja|ōzeki}} receive preferential treatment and can remain in the association without acquiring elder status for five years ({{translit|ja|yokozuna}}) and three years ({{translit|ja|ōzeki}}).

Wrestlers who have attained the rank of {{translit|ja|makushita}} and who have not been sufficiently active in {{translit|ja|jūryō}} may carry out subordinate functions within the association as {{nihongo|wakamonogashira|若者頭}} or {{nihongo|sewanin|世話人}}.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=26}} These retired wrestlers serves as functionaries of the association, typically working at their former stables or within the associated {{translit|ja|ichimon}} (clan). {{translit|ja|Wakamonogashira}} are tasked to arrange {{translit|ja|maezumō}} matches and supervising young sumo wrestlers from {{translit|ja|makushita}} and below.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=101}}{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=208}} {{translit|ja|Sewanin}} are the transportation and storage managers of the association's equipments.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=161}}

File:Bono Yoshie.jpg (left) after his retirement and Yutaka Yoshie in Hustle (2008).]]

However, the vast majority of retiring wrestlers do not remain in positions within the Sumo Association.{{cite web|author=Katsuhiro Nishio|title=相撲界のセカンドキャリア整備を。 学生力士たちが公務員と迷う現状。|url=https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/830940|work=Number|date=4 June 2018|access-date=18 December 2023|archive-date=7 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507081355/https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/830940|url-status=live|language=ja}} The luckiest manage to maintain their public profile by becoming TV personalities, sports commentators or actors.{{cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220429-life-after-sumo-retired-wrestlers-fight-for-new-careers|title=Life after sumo: retired wrestlers fight for new careers|work=France 24|date=29 April 2022|access-date=20 December 2023|archive-date=29 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429014952/https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220429-life-after-sumo-retired-wrestlers-fight-for-new-careers|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14520537|title=SUMO/ Agency helps retired wrestlers 'except lucky few' plan next career |work=The Asahi Shimbun|date=1 February 2022|access-date=20 December 2023|archive-date=5 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205080425/https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14520537|url-status=live}} Most of them find themselves in activities unrelated to sumo and with no professional experience, having become wrestlers before their twenties and having had no other activities. This makes their situation complex, as when they enter the job market they find themselves competing with other employees of the same age group who do, however, have much more professional experience. Most of the time, retirees have no savings because they have not been able to secure a salary by reaching one of the two {{translit|ja|sekitori}} divisions. If they retire after an injury, it is all the more difficult to find work.{{cite web|author=Fusako Taneichi |title=ＦＰになった元力士「引退後のキャリア」の作り方 |url=https://mainichi.jp/premier/business/articles/20220113/biz/00m/070/005000d|work=Mainichi Shimbun |language=ja |url-access=subscription |date=21 January 2022 |access-date=19 December 2023 |archive-date=24 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124031845/https://mainichi.jp/premier/business/articles/20220113/biz/00m/070/005000d |url-status=live}} Because they have no experience, most former wrestlers who find work also usually earn less than others in the same occupation. Most retirees find work in activities related to either cooking or physical labor, such as foodservices, care for the elderly and sports coaching. The majority find work in chankonabe restaurants, putting to good use the techniques they had learned while preparing meals in the stables.

Some former sumo wrestlers tried their luck competing in mixed martial arts or professional wrestling, with limited achievements.{{cite web|url=https://metropolisjapan.com/from-chonmage-to-chokeholds/|title=From Chonmage to Chokeholds: Baruto Kaito talks life after sumo |author=Cezary Jan Strusiewicz |work=Metropolis|date=4 July 2017|access-date=20 December 2023|archive-date=10 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710040644/https://metropolisjapan.com/from-chonmage-to-chokeholds/|url-status=live}} Sumo wrestlers who have fought in mixed martial arts include Akebono Tarō, Alan Karaev, Baruto Kaito, Henry Armstrong Miller, Kōji Kitao, Ōsunaarashi Kintarō, Tadao Yasuda, Takanofuji Sanzō, Teila Tuli and Wakashoyo Shunichi.

Professional sumo has always had more wrestlers during periods of great rivalry between champions, with the record number of new apprentices taking the entrance exam set in 1958, at the height of the {{Nihongo|HakuHō era|柏鵬時代}}, with 250 successful candidates. At the peak of the {{Nihongo|WakaTaka boom|若貴ブーム}}, in 1992, 160 people were recruited in March alone.{{cite web|url=https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/202304180001226.html|title=「大相撲は続いていかない」新弟子の減少に歯止めかからず 30年前の若貴ブーム時代の４分の１|language=ja|work=Nikkan Sports|date=19 April 2023|access-date=14 December 2023|archive-date=21 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421215155/https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/202304180001226.html|url-status=live}} At the beginning of the 90s, professional sumo divisions numbered around 900 {{translit|ja|rikishi}}, hitting a record-high of 943 wrestlers in the 1994 May tournament.{{cite web|url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14522029|author=Kensuke Suzuki |title=SUMO/ Sport banks on family ties, new stablemasters to wrestle decline |date=26 January 2022 |work=The Asahi Shimbun |access-date=14 December 2023 |archive-date=27 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127034711/https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14522029 |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/202312240001527.html|title=【初場所新番付】少子化の影響？力士数が約45年ぶりに500人台 最盛期から４割落ち込み|language=ja|work=Nikkan Sports|date=25 December 2023|access-date=25 December 2023|archive-date=25 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231225003850/https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/202312240001527.html|url-status=live}}

In the 2020s, however, professional sumo is struggling to recruit. The number of newcomers to the sport has never been so low since the introduction of the six-tournament-a-year system.{{cite web|url=https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/sumo/20231106-OYT1T50161/|title=大相撲の新弟子、八百長問題が発覚後の１２年の５６人を下回り過去最少 |language=ja|work=Yomiuri Shimbun|date=6 November 2023|access-date=14 December 2023|archive-date=7 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107014236/https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/sumo/20231106-OYT1T50161/|url-status=live}} In the early 2020s, professional sumo recorded a decline of more than thirty percent in the number of wrestlers, reaching only 665 competitors in 2022. In November 2023 it was revealed that the total number of young recruits who had taken the professional exams during the whole year was 53, beating the record low of 56 new recruits having turned professional after the revelations of the 2012 match-fixing scandal. At the first tournament in 2024, the number of wrestlers even fell to 599, dropping below 600 active wrestlers for the first time in 45 years (at the March 1979 tournament).

The decline in the number of wrestlers is due in part to the number of scandals that have come to light in the 2010s, discouraging young aspirants from leading a life now known to be marked by hazing and violence. This drop in the number of wrestlers can also be explained by the dwindling number of amateur wrestlers who normally turn to professional sumo, whose numbers have been falling sharply over the last ten years.{{cite web|url=https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/sumo/20231119-150305/|author=Kuniyuki Kamimura |title=Sumo in Crisis as Dwindling Number of Wrestlers Forces Body to Knock Over Tradition |work=Yomiuri Shimbun |date=19 November 2023 |access-date=14 December 2023 |archive-date=27 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127094531/https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/sumo/20231119-150305/ |url-status=live}} Japan's declining birth rate has also been cited as the reason for the drop in the number of new recruits.

Since the Sumo Association's bylaws include having "a path to sumo [...] that maintains a level of tradition and discipline that must grow," many see the difficulties in recruiting and maintaining the number of wrestlers as an attack on the perpetuation of the traditional history of sumo.

{{see also|List of non-Japanese sumo wrestlers}}

Professional sumo is practiced exclusively in Japan, but wrestlers of other nationalities participate. Any young man meeting the Japan Sumo Association's recruitment criteria can apply to become a {{translit|ja|rikishi}}.{{sfn|Newton|Toff|2000|p=114}} However, foreigners must have the support of two guarantors and a work visa.{{sfn|Newton|Toff|2000|p=114}} When officially registered on the Sumo Association's list of professional {{translit|ja|rikishi}}, foreign wrestlers are registered by country and not by territorial subdivision, such as prefecture of origin.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=116}} It is difficult for young foreign recruits to integrate into professional sumo. No translation is provided when young recruits take part in courses at the Sumo School.{{cite web |url=https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO78669980R21C14A0000000/|title=鍛え・学び・食べる…教習所体験、肌で知った大相撲|date=27 October 2014|publisher=The Nikkei|access-date=14 October 2024|language=ja}} To give newcomers the tools they need to integrate, the association requires a year's training at the Sumo School, instead of the 6 months normally required for Japanese recruits, so that foreigners learn Japanese cultural codes and know how to speak, read and write Japanese. Many foreigners give up out of homesickness.{{sfn|Schilling|1994|p=22}} Those who persist generally find it very difficult to integrate into stable life, and more particularly to get used to the diet.{{sfn|Schilling|1994|p=72}} Akebono commented that he had to forget all the codes of life he had learnt over eighteen years and relearn everything in order to adapt effectively to his way of life.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=10}}

Historically, professional sumo gradually opened up to foreigners from the 1960s onwards.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=126}} Before this date, foreigners had historically tried to join professional sumo.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=126}} The earliest recorded attempt by a foreigner to enroll in professional sumo happened in 1885, when stablemaster Urakaze was approached by an American wrestler who wanted to join his stable, but without success because the association's statutes at the time did not clearly state that foreigners were allowed to compete as {{translit|ja|rikishi}}.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=126}} Prior to this date, professional sumo had already recruited non-Japanese wrestlers, notably Ainus and Koreans.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=131}} The latter were not considered to be fully Japanese, but were referred to as coming from Japan because Hokkaido is the northernmost prefecture of Japan and Korea was part of the Japanese territory at the time.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=131}}{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=16}} The first openly Ainu wrestler to reach the {{translit|ja|makuuchi}} division was {{Interlanguage link|Misogidori Yūji|ja|3=禊鳳英二|lt=Misogidori Yūji}} in 1966.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=131}}

In the 1930s, American-Japanese Shōji Hiraga became the first foreigner to be recognized as such in the {{translit|ja|banzuke}}.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=16}} In the 1940s, a Japanese-American, Toyonishiki, and the Korean-born Rikidōzan achieved {{translit|ja|sekitori}} status prior to World War II, but neither were officially listed as foreigners.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=126}}{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|pp=130-131}} In the 1970s, around thirty foreign wrestlers joined. Most of them were Koreans born in Japan.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=127}} The figurehead of these wrestlers was Maenoyama, who, despite being born in Osaka and having spent his whole life in Japan, was always referred to as "the Korean" by the Japanese media.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=131}} In addition, foreigners have also been the subject of debate as to whether they can attain the supreme rank of {{translit|ja|yokozuna}}.{{sfn|Schilling|1994|p=38}}{{cite web|author=Mark Buckton|title=Numbers break records, character creates legends |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ss20070123a1.html |work=The Japan Times |url-access=subscription|date=23 January 2007|access-date=5 December 2023 |archive-date=4 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080204184209/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ss20070123a1.html |url-status=dead}} The most conservative commentators criticize them for their lack of typical Japanese {{nihongo|hinkaku|品格}}; loosely translated as 'dignity' but meaning a balance of self-confidence, self-knowledge and self-control.{{sfn|Schilling|1994|p=38}}

File:YokozunaAkebonoPuttingOnRopeBelt.jpg was the first foreign-born {{translit|ja|rikishi}} to reach sumo's highest rank of Makuuchi.]]

The first non-Asian to achieve a significant success in sumo was Hawaii-born Takamiyama. He reached the top division in 1968 and in 1972 became the first foreigner to win the top division championship, becoming the first foreign wrestler to be truly popular in Japan.{{sfn|Schilling|1994|p=114}}{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|pp=127-128}} Takamiyama was followed by a fellow Hawaii-born Konishiki, of ethnic Samoan descent, the first foreigner to reach the rank of {{translit|ja|ōzeki}} in 1987;{{sfn|Schilling|1994|p=52}}{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=15}}{{cite news|url=https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220622/p2a/00m/0sp/026000c|title=Pioneering sumo great Konishiki marks 40 years in Japan|work=Mainichi Shimbun|date=23 June 2022|access-date=20 December 2023|archive-date=2 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602063059/https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220622/p2a/00m/0sp/026000c|url-status=live}} and the Native Hawaiian Akebono, who became the first foreign-born {{translit|ja|yokozuna}} in 1993.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=15}}{{sfn|Schilling|1994|p=115}}{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/01/26/US-sumo-wrestler-Akebono-promoted-to-grand-champion/2425728024400/|title=U.S. sumo wrestler Akebono promoted to grand champion|work=United Press International|date=26 January 1993|access-date=20 December 2023}} Musashimaru, born in American Samoa and raised in Hawaii, became the second foreigner to reach sumo's top rank in 1999.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=15}}{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUST299080/|title=Mongolians running amok in sumo|work=Reuters|date=9 August 2007|access-date=20 December 2023}} This generation of foreign wrestlers was nicknamed {{Nihongo|kurofune|黒船||{{lit|Black Ships}}}}, to draw a parallel with the Americans who had conquered the country during the 19th century.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=119}}

Between 2003 and 2014, all four wrestlers reaching the {{translit|ja|yokozuna}} rank were Mongolian: Asashōryū, Hakuhō, Harumafuji and Kakuryū.{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3160022/last-man-standing-how-mongolians-came-dominate|title=Last man standing: how Mongolians came to dominate sumo, Japan's national sport|work=South China Morning Post|date=18 December 2021|access-date=20 December 2023|archive-date=9 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109021901/https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3160022/last-man-standing-how-mongolians-came-dominate|url-status=live}} In 2012, the Mongolian Kyokutenhō became the oldest wrestler in modern history to win a top division championship.{{cite web|title=Kyokutenho beats Tochiozan for title|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/ss20120521b1.html|work=Kyodo News|via=The Japan Times|url-access=subscription|date=21 May 2012|access-date=20 December 2023|archive-date=25 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025062602/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/ss20120521b1.html|url-status=dead}}

Wrestlers from Eastern European countries such as Georgia and Russia have also found success in the upper levels of sumo. In 2005, Kotoōshū from Bulgaria became the first wrestler of European birth to attain the {{translit|ja|ōzeki}} ranking and the first to win a top division championship.{{cite web|title=Bulgarian ozeki Kotooshu first European to win Emperor's Cup|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ss20080525b1.html|work=Kyodo News|via=The Japan Times|url-access=subscription|date=25 May 2008|access-date=20 December 2023|archive-date=27 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527185932/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ss20080525b1.html|url-status=dead}}

Restrictions on the number of foreigners allowed in professional sumo began in May 1992, shortly after Ōshima stable had recruited six Mongolians at the same time.{{cite web|author=Hironobu Murakoso|title=ハワイからモンゴルへ 多様なルーツ持つ外国出身力士の軌跡 |language=ja |url=https://mainichi.jp/articles/20220628/k00/00m/050/173000c |work=Mainichi Shimbun |url-access=subscription |date=29 June 2022 |access-date=5 December 2023 |archive-date=29 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629013619/https://mainichi.jp/articles/20220628/k00/00m/050/173000c |url-status=live}} The Sumo Association's new director Dewanoumi, announced that he was considering limiting the number of overseas recruits per stable and in sumo overall. There was no official ruling at the time, but no stable recruited any foreigners for the next six years.{{cite web|author=Hiroyuki Tai|title=Foreign sumo aspirants' numbers kept in check by stable quota policy |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20051125f2.html |work=The Japan Times |url-access=subscription|date=25 November 2005|access-date=5 December 2023 |archive-date=14 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014182552/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20051125f2.html |url-status=dead}} This unofficial ban was then relaxed, but only two new foreigners per stable were allowed, until the total number reached 40. Then in 2002, a one foreigner per stable policy was officially adopted, though the ban was not retroactive, so foreigners recruited before the changes were unaffected. The move has been met with criticism, not least because Japanese society, with its centuries-old and xenophobic culture, is accustomed to treating foreign wrestlers as {{Nihongo|gaijin|外人||{{lit|outsiders' or 'aliens}}}}, regardless of their place of birth, reinforcing the difference that the public and the media make between foreign and Japanese wrestlers.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=16}}{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=66}} Paradoxically, all wrestlers involved in professional sumo are formally treated the same once they have joined the stables, and no distinction is clearly made as to any special treatment for foreigners.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=16}} John Gunning also proposed another interpretation of the decision, claiming that this rule was not based on racist sentiment but to ensure that foreign {{translit|ja|rikishi}} assimilate into sumo culture.{{cite news|author=Josh K. |url=https://tachiai.org/2018/03/10/its-not-a-sport-its-a-lifestyle-a-conversation-with-john-gunning-part-3/|title="It's not a sport. It's a lifestyle." A Conversation with John Gunning – Part 3|work=Tachiai|date=10 March 2018|access-date=28 December 2020}} He explained, there would be ten Hawaiian wrestlers in the same stable living in their own "little clique", not learning Japanese, so the rule "protects the culture of stables."

Originally, it was possible for a place in a stable to open up if a foreign born wrestler acquired Japanese citizenship. This occurred when Hisanoumi changed his nationality from Tongan at the end of 2006, allowing another Tongan to enter his stable. However, on 23 February 2010 the Sumo Association announced that it had changed its definition of "foreign" to "foreign-born" ({{translit|ja|'gaikoku shusshin'}}), meaning that even naturalized Japanese citizens will be considered foreigners if they were born outside of Japan. The restriction on one foreign wrestler per stable was also reconfirmed. As Japanese law does not recognize subcategories of Japanese citizen, this unique treatment of naturalized citizens may be illegal under Japanese law.{{cite web|last=Arudou |first=Debito |title=Sumo body deserves mawashi wedgie for racist wrestler ruling |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2010/03/02/issues/sumo-body-deserves-mawashi-wedgie-for-racist-wrestler-ruling/ |work=The Japan Times|url-access=subscription |date=2 March 2010|access-date=14 December 2023|archive-date=8 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108054844/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2010/03/02/issues/sumo-body-deserves-mawashi-wedgie-for-racist-wrestler-ruling/|url-status=live}} Furthermore, since 1976, if a foreigner wishes to remain in the Sumo Association after his retirement, he must give up his nationality and become a Japanese citizen.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=66}}{{cite web|url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14216692|title=SUMO/ Foreigners wrestle with having to become Japanese citizens |work=The Asahi Shimbun|date=24 February 2021|access-date=20 December 2023|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225084502/https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14216692|url-status=live}}

In July 2007, there were nineteen foreigners in the top two divisions, which was the all-time record of the time with, for the first time, a majority of overseas wrestlers in the top {{translit|ja|san'yaku}} ranks.{{cite news | author=McCurry, Justin | title=Last of the Sumo – Japanese youth turn their backs on gruelling sport of emperors |work=The Guardian |location=UK | url=https://www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,,2117132,00.html |date=3 July 2007| access-date=8 July 2007}} In June 2022 twenty-six foreign-born {{translit|ja|rikishi}} from nine countries were listed on the official {{translit|ja|banzuke}}.

In Japan, wrestlers are perceived as gentle giants, possessing both a gentle character and great physical strength.{{cite web|last=Takada|first=Bunta|title=パワースポット的存在「お相撲さん」が角界危機救う|url=https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/column/sumo/news/201803020000356.html|work=Nikkan Sports|url-access=subscription|date=2 March 2018|access-date=29 December 2024|archive-date=26 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026221127/https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/column/sumo/news/201803020000356.html|url-status=live|language=ja}} During sumo's first golden age in the late Edo period, the Japanese collective imagination first developed an image of larger-than-life wrestlers with excessive appetites and superhuman strength.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|pp=41-42}} Tales of thirteen-year-old Akashi lifting rocks to help his farmer father, Tanikaze separating two fighting bulls by grabbing them by the horns, or Shiranui lifting seven sacks of rice spread over his head and shoulders to impress Matthew C. Perry became popular myths and are credited to the wrestlers as biographical elements in their own right, like the stories of mythological heroes.{{sfn|Kenrick|1969|p=41}}

During the 1780s, wrestlers became veritable icons and card games and dolls depicting them became widespread.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=77}} In order to benefit from the sport's popularity, some physically strong individuals, called {{Nihongo|{{translit|ja|kanban-ōzeki}}|看板大関||{{lit|billboard champions' or 'promotional {{translit|ja|ōzeki}}}}}}, were introduced for the duration of one or two tournaments as wrestlers, serving as an attraction without having any real wrestling ability.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=78}} Production and distribution of {{translit|ja|ukiyo-e}} works depicting the sport's most popular figures also became more widespread, with authors like Utagawa Kunisada and Toyokuni, Hasegawa Sadanobu or Hiroshige who gained popularity thanks to their works.{{sfn|Cuyler|1979|p=77}}{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=205}} {{translit|ja|Kibyōshi}} (picture books) and {{translit|ja|makura-e}} (erotic prints) were also mass-produced, with wrestlers as the central figures.{{sfn|Buckingham|1994|p=205}}

In more contemporary times, sumo's links with ancient rituals for good health and good harvest are still alive and well. For example, it is traditional to ask a wrestler to carry babies, in the belief that the children will grow up healthy and strong.{{cite web |url=https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/local/chubu/feature/CO063976/20230317-OYTAT50039/|title=力士の腕で赤子健やか|date=17 March 2023|publisher=Yomiuri Shimbun|access-date=18 December 2024|language=ja}} It is also traditional for children to be dressed as wrestlers so that the qualities of the latter influence them.{{cite web |url=https://mitosijinja.net/jinjasyoukai/entry26.html|title=赤ちゃん豊年土俵入り とは？|date=3 November 2024|publisher=Mitoshi Shrine|access-date=18 December 2024|language=ja}} It is also common for spectators to take advantage of the proximity of the wrestlers as they move through the {{translit|ja|hanamichi}} (the two paths to the ring) to touch them, in the belief that this brings good luck.

In a Japan still hit by numerous natural disasters, it is still common to see local communities requesting the performance of sumo-related rites performed by wrestlers in the belief that this will lessen the long-term effects of disasters.

{{See also|Controversies in professional sumo#Health effects|label 1=Health problems in professional sumo}}

In contrast to many sports where fat is seen as something to be shed, sumo instead encourages the accumulation of fat as a weapon.{{sfn|Schilling|1994|p=72}} Since the 2000s, the standards of weight gain became less strict to try to improve the health of the wrestlers.{{Cite news |last=Suzuki |first=Takahiro |date=2018 |title=貴乃花問題で誰も触れない横綱のリアル寿命 |trans-title=Yokozuna's real life span that no one touches on the Takanohana issue |work=Toyo Keizai |url=https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/241267}} The Sumo Association ensures the health of its wrestlers by imposing an annual medical check-up.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=93}} Sumo wrestlers have a life expectancy of 65, which is 10 years shorter than that of the average Japanese male, as the diet and sport take a toll on the wrestler's body.{{Cite journal |last1=Hoshi |first1=Akio |last2=Inaba |first2=Yutaka |date=1995 |title=Risk Factors for Mortality and Mortality Rate of Sumo Wrestlers. |url=http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjh1946/50/3/50_3_730/_article/-char/ja/ |journal=Nippon Eiseigaku Zasshi (Japanese Journal of Hygiene) |language=en |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=730–736 |doi=10.1265/jjh.50.730 |issn=0021-5082 |doi-access=free|pmid=7474495 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Kanda |first1=Hideyuki |last2=Hayakawa |first2=Takehito |last3=Tsuboi |first3=Satoshi |last4=Mori |first4=Yayoi |last5=Takahashi |first5=Teruna |last6=Fukushima |first6=Tetsuhito |date=2009 |title=Higher Body Mass Index is a Predictor of Death Among Professional Sumo Wrestlers |journal=Journal of Sports Science & Medicine |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=711–712 |issn=1303-2968 |pmc=3761530 |pmid=24137100}} The main health concern for wrestlers, however, remains the common cold or any other type of viral infection, which are easily transmitted in the {{translit|ja|heya}} (wrestlers' training quarters) environment, where the low-ranking wrestlers' dormitories are conducive to disease transmission.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=93}} This ease of infection was particularly closely monitored in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, giving rise to numerous concerns about the number of wrestlers that could be affected by the virus.{{cite web|author=Takashi Kishimoto |url=https://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/31785 |title=75年前もそうだった…『無観客』でも大相撲の根底は何も揺るがない!［記者の目］|language=ja |work=Chunichi Sports|date=1 March 2020 |accessdate=11 June 2024}}

• Glossary of sumo terms
• Professional sumo divisions
• {{translit|ja|Sekitori}}
• {{translit|ja|Heya}}
• {{translit|ja|Mawashi}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Buckingham |first=Dorothea M. |date=1994 |title=The Essential Guide to Sumo |url=https://archive.org/details/essentialguideto00doro/mode/2up |url-access=registration |publisher=Bess Press |isbn=1880188805}}
• {{cite book|last=Cuyler |first=Patricia Lee |date=1979 |title=Sumo: From rite to sport |url=https://archive.org/details/sumofromritetosp0000cuyl/mode/2up |url-access=registration |publisher=New York: Weatherhill |isbn=9780834801455}}
• {{cite book |last=Hall |first=Mina |title=The Big Book of Sumo: History, Practice, Ritual, Fight |publisher=Stone Bridge Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-880656-28-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bigbookofsumohis00hall}}
• {{cite book|last=Kakuma |first=Tsutomu |date=1993 |title=Sumo watching |url=https://archive.org/details/sumowatching0000kaku/mode/2up |url-access=registration |publisher=Yohan Publications |isbn=4896842367}}
• {{cite book |last=Kenrick |first=Douglas M. |year=1969 |title=The Book of Sumo: Sport, Spectacle, and Ritual |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofsumosports0000kenr/mode/2up |publisher=New York: Weatherhill |url-access=registration |isbn=083480039X}}
• {{cite book |last1=Newton |first1=Clyde |last2=Toff |first2=Gerald J. |year=2000 |title=Dynamic sumo |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9784770025081/page/135/mode/2up |publisher=Kodansha International |url-access=registration |isbn=4770025084}}
• {{cite book|last=Schilling |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Schilling |date=1994 |title=Sumo: a fan's guide |url=https://archive.org/details/sumofansguide0000schi/mode/2up |url-access=registration |publisher=Japan Times |isbn=4789007251}}

{{Commons cat|Professional sumo wrestlers}}

• [http://www.sumo.or.jp/IrohaKnowledge/glossary_rikishi_rikishi Article about the history of sumo wrestlers] on the Japan Sumo Association website
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTQj5KKVv0c The Life of a Retired Sumo Wrestler], a 2018 Vice documentary on the life of former {{translit|ja|rikishi}} [https://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=1377 Iwatefuji] and [https://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=1497 Takamaru]
• {{cite book|last=Panek |first=Mark |date=2006 |title=Gaijin yokozuna: a biography of Chad Rowan |url=https://archive.org/details/gaijinyokozuna00mark/page/n9/mode/2up |url-access=subscription |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |isbn=0824830431}}, biography of {{translit|ja|Yokozuna}} Akebono Tarō via Wayback Machine

{{Authority control}}

Category:Sumo people

Category:Sumo terminology

Category:Sport in Japan

Category:Japanese words and phrases