The words that appear when you hover a rank or a bout — kadoban, sansho, intai, fusen. English first, Japanese beside it.
- Banzuke 番付
- The official ranking sheet, redrawn before every tournament. East and West are two columns on one ladder — not two teams.
- Basho 本場所
- A 15-day grand tournament. There are six a year, always in odd-numbered months.
- Musubi 結び
- The last bouts of the day, usually sanyaku. On Tachiai, last musubi means the card from the basho that just finished.
- Yokozuna 横綱
- Grand champion. The highest rank. Yokozuna are not demoted; they retire if they can no longer perform at the standard.
- Ozeki 大関
- Champion, the rank below yokozuna. An ozeki with a losing record becomes kadoban — one more losing basho and they drop.
- Kadoban 角番
- An ozeki on the brink. One more losing tournament (7–8 or worse) and they are demoted from champion.
- Sanyaku 三役
- The named ranks at the top of the sheet: yokozuna, ozeki, sekiwake, and komusubi.
- Sekiwake 関脇
- Named rank below ozeki. A strong basho here is how an ozeki run starts.
- Komusubi 小結
- The lowest named rank. The schedule is brutal — lots of yokozuna and ozeki.
- Maegashira 前頭
- The numbered ranks that make up most of the top division. Lower number is higher rank — M1 sits above M16.
- Makuuchi 幕内
- The top division: 42 wrestlers, from yokozuna down through maegashira.
- Juryo 十両
- The second division, 28 salaried wrestlers. A strong juryo basho can mean promotion to the top division.
- Kachi-koshi 勝ち越し
- A winning record. In the salaried divisions that means 8 wins out of 15. It usually means you stay put or move up.
- Make-koshi 負け越し
- A losing record (7–8 or worse). It usually means a drop on the next banzuke.
- Kyujo 休場
- Withdrawal. Injured wrestlers sit out; absences count against their record and almost always cost rank.
- Heya 部屋
- A stable — the training house a wrestler belongs to. Stables are not teams; members still fight each other.
- Dohyo 土俵
- The clay ring. 4.55 m across, with rice-straw bales (tawara) marking the edge.
- Mawashi 廻し
- The belt. Yorikiri needs a grip on it; oshidashi does not.
- Tachiai 立合い
- The initial charge. Both wrestlers rise together; most bouts are decided in that first collision.
- Kimarite 決まり手
- The official winning technique — oshidashi (frontal push-out), yorikiri (frontal force-out), and eighty-odd others.
- Yusho 優勝
- The tournament championship. One per division.
- Kyokai 日本相撲協会
- The Japan Sumo Association. They publish the banzuke and the official results.
- East / West 東 / 西
- The two sides of the ranking sheet. East of a rank is listed slightly above West. They are not conferences.
- Sekitori 関取
- Salaried wrestlers: everyone in makuuchi and juryo. Below that you are still unpaid.
- Shikona 四股名
- The ring name. What Tachiai prints in English and Japanese — not the legal name.
- Makushita 幕下
- The upper unsalaried division. The joi (Ms1–Ms15) is the usual promotion pool into juryo.
- Joi 上位
- The upper end of a division. On this board, makushita joi means Ms1–Ms15 — the usual promotion pool into juryo.
- Sansho 三賞
- The three special prizes in makuuchi: outstanding performance (shukun-sho), fighting spirit (kanto-sho), and technique (gino-sho). Marked S, K, and G on the board.
- Jun-yusho 準優勝
- Runner-up. Finished one win off the yusho, or lost a playoff. Not a prize on the board, but it is a basho people remember.
- Intai 引退
- Retirement. Yokozuna are not demoted — consecutive poor basho is how intai conversations start.
- Fusen 不戦勝
- A walkover. If someone pulls out, their opponent is awarded the win (fusen-sho) without mounting the dohyo.
- Playoff 決定戦
- Kettei-sen. If two or more wrestlers share the best record after day 15, they fight that afternoon for the yusho.