用語
Glossary
Banzuke, basho, kachi-koshi, kadoban, and the rest — in plain English, grouped the way a basho works.
English first. Japanese as a subtitle. These are the words that show up on the desk, the board, and a live card. Rank codes and kimarite also explain themselves where they appear — hover or tap any underlined mono value.
New to the sport? Start with the guide and come back when a word lands on a bout. If you only remember three, remember rikishi, kachi-koshi, and kinboshi.
Ranks and the sheet 番付
- Banzuke 番付
- The official ranking sheet, redrawn before every tournament. East and West are two columns on one ladder — not two teams.
- 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 drop to sekiwake — never below.
- Sanyaku 三役
- The named ranks above the numbered maegashira: yokozuna, ozeki, sekiwake, and komusubi. Yokozuna and ozeki are the top of the card.
- 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
- Numbered ranks in the top division, below sanyaku. Lower number is higher rank — M1 sits above M16. How far the numbers run depends on how many yokozuna and ozeki there are.
- Makuuchi 幕内
- The top division: typically 42 wrestlers, from yokozuna down through maegashira.
- Juryo 十両
- The second division, typically 28 salaried wrestlers. A strong juryo basho can mean promotion to the top division.
- Sekitori 関取
- Salaried wrestlers: everyone in makuuchi and juryo. Below that you are still unpaid.
- 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.
- Sandanme 三段目
- The division below makushita. Seven bouts a basho. A long climb from here to a salary.
- Jonidan 序二段
- The second-lowest division. Most new recruits spend time here after jonokuchi.
- Jonokuchi 序ノ口
- The bottom of the published ladder. New men usually start here after maezumo.
- Banzuke-gai 番付外
- Off the published ranking. Active rikishi who did not sit this basho’s ladder — often injured or between appearances. Not a Kyokai east/west slot.
- Maezumo 前相撲
- Pre-sumo. New recruits fight a few bouts before they appear on the next banzuke, usually in jonokuchi.
- East / West 東 / 西
- The two sides of the ranking sheet. East of a rank is listed slightly above West. They are not conferences. A printed banzuke puts East on the right.
The tournament 本場所
- Basho 本場所
- A 15-day grand tournament. Six a year, always in odd months: Hatsu (Jan), Haru (Mar), Natsu (May), Nagoya (Jul), Aki (Sep), Kyushu (Nov).
- Senshuraku 千秋楽
- Day 15 — the closing day. Yusho playoffs, if needed, happen that afternoon.
- Musubi 結び
- The last bouts of the day, usually sanyaku. On Tachiai, last musubi means the card from the basho that just finished.
- Torikumi 取組
- The day’s pairings. Posted the afternoon before. Records and heya both shape who meets whom.
- Hoshitori 星取表
- The win-loss grid for a basho. One row per rikishi, one mark per day.
- Kachi-koshi 勝ち越し
- A winning record. In the salaried divisions that means 8 wins out of 15. In the 7-bout divisions it means 4–3. It usually means you stay put or move up.
- Make-koshi 負け越し
- A losing record (7–8 or worse for sekitori; 3–4 for a 7-bout card). It usually means a drop on the next banzuke.
- Kyujo 休場
- Withdrawal. Injured wrestlers sit out. Missed days print as absences (W–L–A), not extra losses, and they almost always cost rank.
- Fusen 不戦勝
- A walkover. If someone pulls out, their opponent is awarded the win (fusen-sho) without mounting the dohyo.
- Yusho 優勝
- The tournament championship. One per division. In makuuchi it is the Emperor’s Cup.
- Kinboshi 金星
- A gold star: a maegashira defeating a yokozuna. Prize money, and a day the crowd remembers. Komusubi and above do not receive one.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Jungyo 巡業
- The regional exhibition tour between honbasho. Real bouts, no ranking consequence. A chance to see the men outside Tokyo.
- Kyokai 日本相撲協会
- The Japan Sumo Association. They publish the banzuke and the official results.
- Intai 引退
- Retirement. Yokozuna are not demoted — consecutive poor basho is how intai conversations start.
On the dohyo 土俵
- Dohyo 土俵
- The clay ring. 4.55 m across, with rice-straw bales (tawara) marking the edge.
- Tawara 俵
- The rice-straw bales that mark the ring. Four sit slightly outside the circle. A foot beyond, or any body part but the soles down, and the bout is over.
- 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.
- Shiko 四股
- The stomping ritual before a bout — one leg high, then the other. It is also everyday training.
- Chikara-mizu 力水
- Power water, offered by the last winner on that side. The rikishi rinses, then wipes with paper.
- Shikiri 仕切り
- The repeated crouch before the tachiai. Salt, stare, stand up, again. Makuuchi gets about four minutes.
- Kinjite 禁じ手
- Illegal moves. Hair pull, closed-fist punch, grabbing the front of the mawashi. The other man is awarded the bout.
- Kimarite 決まり手
- The official winning technique — oshidashi (frontal push-out), yorikiri (frontal force-out), and eighty-odd others.
- Yotsu-zumo 四つ相撲
- Belt wrestling. A hand on the mawashi, then walk or throw. Yorikiri is the everyday finish.
- Oshi-zumo 押し相撲
- Push-and-thrust wrestling. Open hands, no belt. Oshidashi and tsukidashi live here.
- Henka 変化
- A sidestep at the tachiai. Legal. The other man often hits the clay. Crowds boo it when it looks cheap.
- Gyoji 行司
- The referee in the ring. The gunbai (war fan) points at the man he thinks won.
- Gunbai 軍配
- The gyoji’s war fan. It points to the winner. Judges can overrule it after a mono-ii.
- Shimpan 審判
- The five ringside judges. They can call a mono-ii if they disagree with the gyoji.
- Mono-ii 物言い
- A judges’ conference. The shimpan huddle on the dohyo, then confirm, reverse, or order a rematch (torinaoshi).
- Torinaoshi 取り直し
- A rematch, usually after a mono-ii the judges cannot call. Same two men, same day, start over.
- Yobidashi 呼出
- The caller. He sings the shikona, tends the dohyo, and keeps the card moving.
- Dohyo-iri 土俵入り
- The ring-entering ceremony. Juryo and makuuchi men in kesho-mawashi; each yokozuna has a longer form of his own.
- Kesho-mawashi 化粧廻し
- The embroidered apron worn for dohyo-iri, not for the bout. The fighting belt is a different mawashi.
- Yumitori-shiki 弓取り式
- The bow-twirling ceremony after the last makuuchi bout. The broadcast’s full stop.
Houses and life 部屋
- Rikishi 力士
- A sumo wrestler. The men on the sheet, from yokozuna down through jonokuchi.
- Heya 部屋
- A stable — the training house a wrestler belongs to. Heya are not teams. Same-house men do not meet in regular bouts; they can meet in a playoff.
- Ichimon 一門
- A clan of stables. Related houses share an ichimon; they are still not teams, and they do fight each other.
- Oyakata 親方
- The stablemaster. Usually a former wrestler who holds a Kyokai elder stock (kabu).
- Shikona 四股名
- The ring name. What Tachiai prints in English and Japanese — not the legal name.
- Chonmage 丁髷
- The topknot. Sekitori wear the more elaborate oicho-mage on the dohyo; everyone else wears a simpler knot.
- Tokoyama 床山
- The hairdresser who builds the topknot. Each heya shares one, or borrows from the ichimon.
- Asageiko 朝稽古
- Morning practice. The real work of the six weeks between basho happens here, not on jungyo.
- Danpatsu-shiki 断髪式
- The retirement hair-cutting ceremony. Guests take turns snipping the topknot. The oyakata cuts last.