60 Fun Facts About Sumo

In sumo, a wrestler loses if any part of his body other than what touches the ground inside the ring?

The other route to victory is simply forcing the opponent out of the circle, which is why so many bouts end in a few seconds of shoving.

What is a sumo wrestler called in Japanese?

The word is often translated as 'strong man'; the top two divisions are more specifically known as sekitori.

Which country is the only one where sumo is practised professionally?

It is regarded as Japan's national sport and classified as a gendai budō, a modern martial art, despite roots going back many centuries.

What do wrestlers throw into the ring before a bout as a symbolic purification?

The ritual comes from Shinto; wrestlers also rinse their mouths with 'power water' before fighting.

What is the training stable that most sumo wrestlers must live in called?

Everything from meals to dress is dictated by tradition inside the stable, and each is run by an elder who is himself a former wrestler.

Which 8th-century chronicle contains the first mention of sumo, in a wrestling match between two gods?

The bout between Takemikazuchi and Takeminakata supposedly decided possession of the Japanese islands.

Which warlord held a tournament of 1,500 wrestlers in 1578, an event credited with inventing the ring?

Because several bouts ran at once inside his castle, circular arenas were marked out for speed and spectator safety.

Which American naval commander was shown sumo during his 1853 expedition and found it distasteful?

He responded by arranging a military showcase to demonstrate what he saw as the merits of Western organisation.

How many kimarite has the Japan Sumo Association recognised since its 2001 revision?

Only about a dozen are used regularly, and a bout can also be won without one if the opponent commits a foul.

What is the diameter of the sumo ring?

That is 15 shaku, up from 13 shaku before 1931; the circle is marked with partially buried rice-straw bales.

What is a mono-ii?

The five shimpan can uphold the referee, overturn him, or order a rematch called a torinaoshi.

When was the last drawn bout, or hikiwake, called in top-level sumo?

A draw only comes after two four-minute periods with water breaks, and bouts almost never last that long.

Which of these is NOT among sumo's illegal moves, or kinjite?

Open-hand slaps and thrusts are perfectly legal; the ban list also covers eye-poking, kicking and striking both ears at once.

How many weight divisions does professional sumo use?

A wrestler can face an opponent twice his own weight, which is why bulk became so prized in the 20th century.

What is a wrestler's ring name called?

Names are often assigned by the stablemaster rather than chosen, especially for foreign recruits, and can change several times in a career.

How many official grand tournaments, or honbasho, are held each year?

Three are in Tokyo and one each in Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka; the schedule has been fixed since 1958.

What is the ranking sheet published two weeks before each tournament called?

The document dates back in form to the Edo period and is drafted by the referees, the gyōji.

What is the lowest of sumo's six divisions, where every wrestler starts?

From there the climb runs through jonidan, sandanme, makushita and jūryō to the top division, makuuchi.

Which rank sits directly below yokozuna?

The four titled ranks together are called san'yaku, and an ōzeki normally needs two straight championships to be promoted.

What are the two sides of the ranking sheet called?

Two wrestlers share each numbered rank, with the east side considered slightly higher than the west.

Which Japanese wrestler's 2017 promotion ended a 19-year wait for a home-grown yokozuna?

Foreign-born wrestlers, mostly Mongolian, had dominated the top ranks since Musashimaru and Asashōryū.

What is the maximum number of foreign-born wrestlers a stable may have?

The cap was the Sumo Association's response to foreigners filling the top ranks in the 2000s.

What is the last day of a tournament, senshūraku, said to mean?

The name echoes the words of the playwright Zeami and captures the drama of the deciding bouts.

Which trophy goes to the winner of the top-division championship?

Sponsored extras alongside it have included a trophy shaped like a giant Coca-Cola bottle.

What score is a kachi-koshi over a 15-day tournament?

A winning record nearly guarantees promotion; its opposite, make-koshi, brings demotion.

What does the referee point his war-fan, or gunbai, towards at the end of a bout?

Kimura-lineage referees point with the back of the fist up, Shikimori referees with the palm up.

What do fans traditionally hurl into the ring when a lower-ranked wrestler beats a yokozuna?

The practice is technically prohibited but remains a beloved sign of an upset.

Which everyday activity does the Sumo Association forbid wrestlers from doing?

The rule is partly practical: many wrestlers are simply too big to fit behind a steering wheel.

What samurai-style hairstyle must wrestlers grow?

On formal occasions top-ranked wrestlers wear a fancier version called the ōichō, or big ginkgo leaf.

Which meal are sumo wrestlers normally not allowed to eat?

The regimen of a huge lunch followed by a long nap is designed to pile on weight.

What is the traditional hot-pot stew of sumo stables called?

The first restaurant to specialise in it, Kawasaki Chanko, opened in Tokyo's Ryōgoku district in 1937.

During tournaments the sumo stew is made only with which meat, and why?

A wrestler on all fours has lost, so four-legged animals are avoided from the pot while the tournament is on.

Roughly what is the life expectancy of a sumo wrestler?

That is about 15 years below the average Japanese man; the health toll usually arrives after retirement, when training stops but eating habits do not.

What was a yokozuna's monthly salary as of 2018?

Wrestlers below the top two divisions get only a small allowance; the big money comes from bonuses and sponsors.

What is a kinboshi, or gold star?

It raises the wrestler's bonus pay for the rest of his career, which is why the upsets are celebrated so wildly.

Which London venue hosted a sumo exhibition in 1991?

Hokutoumi won the event, and a return appearance to the same hall was scheduled for October 2025.

Roughly how long is a top wrestler's silk mawashi when unwrapped?

It weighs 4 to 5 kilograms and is fastened at the back with a large knot; lower divisions make do with black cotton.

The stiffened silk fronds, or sagari, hanging from the front of a mawashi follow which rule?

They mark the one part of the belt that is illegal to grab, and if they fall out the referee tosses them from the ring.

Who builds a fresh dohyō before every tournament?

It takes three days with traditional tools, and in Nagoya fans take pieces of the dismantled ring home as souvenirs.

What does the word yokozuna literally mean?

The name comes from the heavy white rope worn during the ring-entering ceremony, which resembles the Shinto shimenawa.

Roughly how many wrestlers had been named yokozuna in the sport's history as of May 2025?

Records began with Tanikaze and Onogawa in 1789, which works out to about one new grand champion every three years.

The two styles of yokozuna ring-entering ceremony, Unryū and Shiranui, differ visibly in what?

Unryū has one loop at the back, Shiranui two, though there is no proof the two Edo-era yokozuna actually performed the dances named after them.

What colour rope does a former yokozuna wear for the special ceremony marking his 60th birthday?

The kanreki dohyō-iri was first performed by the former yokozuna Tachiyama in 1937.

Which yokozuna is the only one ever to retire without winning a single top-division championship?

Promoted in 1986 despite doubts about his maturity, he stormed out of his stable after a row and lasted only a year and a half at the top rank.

Which Mongolian-born wrestler holds the record of 45 top-division championships?

He arrived in Japan at 15 weighing just 62 kilograms and was turned away by every stable until the last day of his stay.

Which pre-war wrestler set the all-time winning streak of 69 bouts?

Hakuhō got to 63 in a row in 2010 and admitted that falling short of the record shook him badly.

Which yokozuna, born Ivan Boryshko on Sakhalin, won 32 championships?

His father was a Ukrainian who had fled the Bolshevik Revolution; he was promoted to yokozuna at 21, the youngest ever at the time.

Which 1980s champion nicknamed 'The Wolf' won 31 titles at a comparatively light 120 kilograms?

He weighed just 71 kilograms on his debut and relied on muscle and technique rather than bulk.

Which Hawaiian-born wrestler became the first non-Japanese yokozuna in 1993?

Born Chad Rowan, he later fought in K-1 against Bob Sapp and became a two-time Triple Crown champion in Japanese pro wrestling.

Which Hawaiian-born ōzeki, at a peak of 287 kilograms, was nicknamed 'The Dump Truck'?

He was the first foreign-born wrestler to reach ōzeki, and the debate over whether he could become yokozuna divided Japan.

Which yokozuna became the first to win all six tournaments in a single year, in 2005?

The first Mongolian grand champion, he was also the first yokozuna ever suspended, for playing charity football while supposedly injured.

Which yokozuna fell to sumo's second-lowest division after knee injuries, then won the top division in 2020?

No wrestler had ever returned to the top division from so low; commentator John Gunning called it a comeback unparalleled in sumo history.

Which former college star became the 75th yokozuna in 2025 after a record-fast rise?

He trained at Nishonoseki stable and entered the professional ranks partway up the ladder via the makushita tsukedashi system.

What is the most common winning technique in sumo, accounting for nearly a third of all bouts?

The winner keeps a grip on the belt and marches the opponent out; only about a dozen of the 82 techniques are seen regularly.

In which year were tournaments lengthened from 10 days to 15?

The six-tournament calendar followed in 1958, and a playoff system for tied records had arrived in 1947.

Sumo's Tokyo home, the Ryōgoku Kokugikan, opened its current building in which year?

It replaced the Kuramae Kokugikan; the original 1909 hall stood on the grounds of the Ekōin temple.

What was the first Ryōgoku Kokugikan turned into by the military in 1944?

The hall had already burned down in 1917 and been wrecked by the 1923 earthquake before the war finished it off as a sumo venue.

What is the seating capacity of the current Ryōgoku Kokugikan?

The ring and floor seats are removable so the hall can host boxing, concerts and other events outside its 45 sumo days a year.

What did 16-year-old sumo hopeful Takeji Harada do in 1994 to meet the minimum height rule?

Four surgeries added 15 centimetres to his head, after which the association banned surgically enhanced height.

What was the average weight of a top-division wrestler by January 2019?

It was 125 kilograms in 1969; the drive for bulk began in the early 1900s when Dewanoumi stable switched to communal hot pots.