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Professional sumo divisions
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Professional sumo divisions
Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. For more information, see kachi-koshi and make-koshi. Wrestlers are also ranked within each division. The higher a wrestler's rank within a division is, the general level of opponents he will have to face becomes stronger. According to tradition, each rank is further subdivided into East and West, with East being slightly more prestigious, and ranked slightly higher than its West counterpart. The divisions, ranked in order of hierarchy from highest to lowest, are as follows:
Makuuchi (幕内, "inside the curtain"), or makunouchi (幕の内), is the top division. It is fixed at 42 wrestlers who are ranked according to their performance in previous tournaments. At the top of the division are the four ranks of "titleholders", or "champions" called the san'yaku, comprising yokozuna, ōzeki, sekiwake and komusubi. There are typically 8–12 wrestlers in these ranks with the remainder, called maegashira, ranked in numerical order from 1 downwards. This is the only division that is featured on standard NHK's live coverage of sumo tournaments; daily highlights and selected live Sunday matches are broadcast internationally in English on NHK World-Japan. The lower divisions are covered only on streaming services like Abema.
The name makuuchi, literally "inside the curtain", is in reference to the early period of professional sumo, when the top ranked wrestlers were able to sit in a curtained off area prior to appearing for their bouts. Members of the top two divisions makuuchi and jūryō, considered fully salaried professionals as opposed to "in training", are collectively referred to as sekitori.
Jūryō (十両, "ten ryō (coins)") is the second highest division, and is fixed at 28 wrestlers. The name literally means "ten ryō (coins)", which was at one time the income a wrestler ranked in this division could expect to receive. The official name of the second division is actually jūmaime (十枚目, "tenth placing") and can be heard in official announcements and seen in some publications, but within and outside the sumo world it is almost universally known as jūryō. Wrestlers in the jūryō and the makuuchi division above are known as sekitori. Jūryō wrestlers, like those in the top makuuchi division, receive a regular monthly salary as well as other perks associated with having become a sekitori, or a member of the two upper divisions in sumo. Sumo wrestlers ranked in the divisions below jūryō are considered to be in training and receive a small allowance instead of a salary.
Jūryō wrestlers, along with their makuuchi counterparts, are the only professional sumo wrestlers who compete in a full fifteen bouts per official tournament. In the case of injuries with makuuchi wrestlers pulling out, jūryō wrestlers near the top of the division may find themselves in the occasional matchup with a top-division wrestler. Such jūryō–makuuchi matchups are also not uncommon towards the end of a sumo tournament, in order to better establish promotion and relegation of individuals between the two divisions.
Once a wrestler is promoted to jūryō, he is considered a professional with significant salary and privileges. As such, promotions to jūryō are announced just a few days after a preceding tournament, whereas other rankings are not announced for several weeks.
Makushita (幕下, "below the curtain") is the third highest division. Prior to the creation of the jūryō division, this division was directly below the topmost makuuchi division (translating to "inside the curtain"), and historically the term makushita would even refer to all wrestlers ranked below makuuchi.
In the current system, there are 120 wrestlers in the division (60 ranked on the East and 60 on the West side of the banzuke). Unlike the sekitori ranks above them, wrestlers compete only seven times during a tournament.
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Professional sumo divisions
Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. For more information, see kachi-koshi and make-koshi. Wrestlers are also ranked within each division. The higher a wrestler's rank within a division is, the general level of opponents he will have to face becomes stronger. According to tradition, each rank is further subdivided into East and West, with East being slightly more prestigious, and ranked slightly higher than its West counterpart. The divisions, ranked in order of hierarchy from highest to lowest, are as follows:
Makuuchi (幕内, "inside the curtain"), or makunouchi (幕の内), is the top division. It is fixed at 42 wrestlers who are ranked according to their performance in previous tournaments. At the top of the division are the four ranks of "titleholders", or "champions" called the san'yaku, comprising yokozuna, ōzeki, sekiwake and komusubi. There are typically 8–12 wrestlers in these ranks with the remainder, called maegashira, ranked in numerical order from 1 downwards. This is the only division that is featured on standard NHK's live coverage of sumo tournaments; daily highlights and selected live Sunday matches are broadcast internationally in English on NHK World-Japan. The lower divisions are covered only on streaming services like Abema.
The name makuuchi, literally "inside the curtain", is in reference to the early period of professional sumo, when the top ranked wrestlers were able to sit in a curtained off area prior to appearing for their bouts. Members of the top two divisions makuuchi and jūryō, considered fully salaried professionals as opposed to "in training", are collectively referred to as sekitori.
Jūryō (十両, "ten ryō (coins)") is the second highest division, and is fixed at 28 wrestlers. The name literally means "ten ryō (coins)", which was at one time the income a wrestler ranked in this division could expect to receive. The official name of the second division is actually jūmaime (十枚目, "tenth placing") and can be heard in official announcements and seen in some publications, but within and outside the sumo world it is almost universally known as jūryō. Wrestlers in the jūryō and the makuuchi division above are known as sekitori. Jūryō wrestlers, like those in the top makuuchi division, receive a regular monthly salary as well as other perks associated with having become a sekitori, or a member of the two upper divisions in sumo. Sumo wrestlers ranked in the divisions below jūryō are considered to be in training and receive a small allowance instead of a salary.
Jūryō wrestlers, along with their makuuchi counterparts, are the only professional sumo wrestlers who compete in a full fifteen bouts per official tournament. In the case of injuries with makuuchi wrestlers pulling out, jūryō wrestlers near the top of the division may find themselves in the occasional matchup with a top-division wrestler. Such jūryō–makuuchi matchups are also not uncommon towards the end of a sumo tournament, in order to better establish promotion and relegation of individuals between the two divisions.
Once a wrestler is promoted to jūryō, he is considered a professional with significant salary and privileges. As such, promotions to jūryō are announced just a few days after a preceding tournament, whereas other rankings are not announced for several weeks.
Makushita (幕下, "below the curtain") is the third highest division. Prior to the creation of the jūryō division, this division was directly below the topmost makuuchi division (translating to "inside the curtain"), and historically the term makushita would even refer to all wrestlers ranked below makuuchi.
In the current system, there are 120 wrestlers in the division (60 ranked on the East and 60 on the West side of the banzuke). Unlike the sekitori ranks above them, wrestlers compete only seven times during a tournament.