59 Fun Facts About Sumo

During a sumo bout, which part of a wrestler's body alone may touch the ground?

The soles of his feet. One rare exception is the 'dead body' rule: a wrestler who touches down first can still win if his opponent was already falling with no hope of recovery.

What is a sumo wrestler called in Japanese?

Rikishi combines the characters for 'strength' and 'warrior', but most of them earn no salary: only the senior ones, called sekitori, are paid, and the rest get by on an allowance.

Most professional sumo bouts are over within what span of time?

A few seconds. A bout is a single burst that ends the moment someone steps out or touches down, yet top-division wrestlers get four minutes of ritual warm-up before it.

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

Salt. The toss is a symbolic cleansing borrowed from Shinto, and wrestlers also rinse their mouths with 'power water', much as worshippers wash before entering a shrine.

What must both sumo wrestlers do just before they charge at the start of a bout?

Touch both fists to the ground. The two men must then charge at the same instant, and the rule was so widely ignored by the 1970s that the Sumo Association had to crack down in 1984.

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

The Kojiki, completed in 712, has the god Takemikazuchi crush his rival's hand like a reed to win control of the land.

Which warlord staged a great sumo tournament at his castle in 1578?

Oda Nobunaga. A keen fan, he staged great tournaments at Azuchi Castle and took the best wrestlers into his own service as paid retainers.

Which American naval commander was shown sumo during his 1853-54 expedition and found it distasteful?

Matthew C. Perry. His expedition's official account called the bouts a 'disgusting exhibition', and the Americans 'turned with pride' to showing off their telegraph and miniature railway.

In sumo, what is a kimarite?

A winning technique. The Sumo Association lists 82 of them, plus five ways to lose without one, such as stepping out of the ring by accident.

What marks the edge of the ring in sumo?

Straw bales. They are mostly buried in the clay of a ring about 4.55 metres across, and a wrestler who puts a single toe or heel over them loses the bout.

In sumo, what is a mono-ii?

A conference of the ring judges to review a decision. The five judges climb into the ring to confer, and they can overrule the referee or order the bout fought again.

What is a mizu-iri, which halts a very long sumo bout?

Water break. The referee studies the wrestlers' grips and foot positions, then puts them back in exactly the same hold; as of 2025 the top division had not seen a drawn bout since 1974.

Which strike is perfectly legal in a professional sumo bout?

An open-hand slap to the face, known as harite, is legal; a closed fist, a kick to the chest or a jab at the eyes means instant disqualification.

Which feature of boxing is absent from professional sumo?

Weight classes. With none in the professional sport, a wrestler can be matched against a man twice his weight, which is why sheer bulk became so prized.

What is a sumo wrestler's ring name called?

Shikona. Many wrestlers borrow part of their stablemaster's old ring name or honour their birthplace, and a big promotion is a common moment to take a new one.

Which city hosts sumo's March grand tournament, one of six held each year?

Osaka. Its 2011 tournament was called off over a match-fixing scandal, one of the very few times a grand tournament has been cancelled.

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

Banzuke. Senior referees write the original out by hand in a special brush script, with names shrinking from bold at the top to tiny for the lowest ranks.

What is the lowest of sumo's six divisions, where most new recruits begin?

Jonokuchi. In everyday speech the same word means 'only the beginning', and only top amateur champions are allowed to skip it and start higher up.

Which rank sits directly below yokozuna?

Ōzeki. It was once the highest rank of all, and a wrestler who holds it normally needs two straight championships to be considered for promotion.

What are the two sides of sumo's ranking sheet called?

East and West. The sides are not teams, since a wrestler can be drawn against a man from his own side, but east counts as slightly senior to west at every rank.

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

Kisenosato. He won his very next tournament but injured a chest muscle doing it, missed a record eight tournaments in a row and retired two years later.

Each sumo stable has been allowed just one of which since 2002?

Foreign wrestler. The cap was cut from two per stable in 2002, yet overseas wrestlers, most of them Mongolian, still came to dominate the top ranks.

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

The pleasure of a thousand autumns. The word is an old stage term for a closing day, and sumo's ends with the newest recruits tossing a referee into the air.

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

The Emperor's Cup. It is named for Hirohito, a keen fan who donated the silver trophy in the 1920s while he was still prince regent.

What does a sumo wrestler secure with a kachi-koshi in a 15-day tournament?

More wins than losses. For a top-division wrestler that means at least eight wins from 15, which lifts him up the rankings, while the opposite, make-koshi, sends him down.

What does a sumo referee point towards the winner's side when a bout ends?

A war fan. Called a gunbai, it must be pointed at one side or the other even when both men seem to hit the ground at the same instant.

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

Seat cushions. Arena announcements ask fans not to throw them because people have been hurt, yet a shower of cushions still greets almost every big upset.

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

Driving cars. The ban followed traffic accidents involving wrestlers, and in 2018 the Egyptian Ōsunaarashi was told to retire after a crash while driving without a licence.

What samurai-style hairstyle must sumo wrestlers grow?

The chonmage topknot. Pulling it is one of sumo's few fouls, and a wrestler who yanks an opponent's topknot loses the bout on the spot.

What do sumo wrestlers traditionally do straight after their huge midday meal?

Take a long nap. Wrestlers skip breakfast, train all morning on an empty stomach, then eat a huge lunch and sleep on it, a routine designed to pile on weight.

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

Chankonabe. Junior wrestlers cook it in giant pots, and many put the skill to use after retiring by opening chanko restaurants.

Which meat do sumo stables favour in their tournament stew, for luck, because of how the animal stands?

Chicken. It stands on two legs, as a winning wrestler must, while four-legged animals recall a man sent sprawling.

What does a wrestler twirl in the ceremony that closes each day of a sumo tournament?

A bow. The rite is said to recall a winner who was awarded a bow as his prize and danced with it in delight, and today a lower-ranked wrestler performs it.

What is carried around the ring before a sumo bout to show that sponsors have put up prize money?

Banners. Each one stands for a cash prize, but the winner gets only half of it on the spot: the rest is banked for him until he retires.

In sumo, what is a kinboshi, or gold star?

A maegashira's win over a yokozuna. Each one adds a bonus to his pay at every tournament for the rest of his salaried career, so a single upset keeps paying for years.

Which London venue hosted a five-day sumo tournament in 1991 and again in 2025?

Royal Albert Hall. The 1991 winner, Hokutoumi, came back for the 2025 return as chairman of the Sumo Association, 34 years after lifting the trophy there.

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

About 9 metres. The heavy silk is folded lengthwise and wound several times around the waist, then fastened at the back in a large knot.

What happens if the silk strings on a sumo wrestler's belt fall off in mid-bout?

They are tossed aside. The strings only tuck into the belt, over the one part of it an opponent may not grab, so a loose set is simply flung out of the way, and the count is kept odd for luck.

Who builds the clay ring, or dohyō, before every sumo tournament?

The yobidashi (attendants). Building it takes them several days, and in Nagoya fans storm the ring after the final bout and carry pieces of it home as souvenirs.

What does the word yokozuna literally mean?

Horizontal rope. The name comes from the thick white rope a grand champion wears around his waist for his ring-entering ceremony, like those hung at Shinto shrines.

What is a yokozuna who keeps losing expected to do?

Retire from sumo. A yokozuna can never be demoted, so one who can no longer win is expected to bow out, and only 75 men had ever held the rank by mid-2025.

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

The number of knot loops. Unryū ties one loop at the back and Shiranui two, and Shiranui was long thought unlucky because several champions who chose it had short reigns.

A former yokozuna marks his 60th birthday with a ring ceremony wearing which colour in place of the usual white?

Red. A 60th birthday completes the old calendar cycle and counts as a return to infancy, so it is marked in red, once the colour of baby clothes.

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

Futahaguro. Promoted at 22 before he had won a title, he stormed out after a row with his stablemaster, who simply handed in the young champion's retirement papers for him.

Which Mongolian-born wrestler retired in 2021 with a record 45 top-division championships?

Hakuhō. He arrived as a skinny 15-year-old and was turned away by nearly every stable before one took a chance on him at the very end of his trial stay.

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

Futabayama. With only two tournaments a year, his run meant three full years without a defeat, and he later revealed he had done it while blind in one eye.

Which yokozuna, born on Sakhalin to a Ukrainian father, won 32 championships?

Taihō. As a boy he fled the Soviet invasion of Sakhalin by ship, and he and his mother got off early: the ship was torpedoed and sunk before it reached its destination.

Which 1980s champion nicknamed 'The Wolf' won 31 titles despite being light for a yokozuna?

Chiyonofuji. Shoulder dislocations held him back for years, and he peaked late, winning most of his 31 titles after he turned 30.

Which wrestler became sumo's first foreign-born yokozuna, in 1993?

Akebono. Born Chad Rowan in Hawaii, he was a college basketball recruit whose tall, top-heavy frame looked wrong for sumo, so he used his long reach to thrust opponents out.

Which sumo wrestler, who weighed more than 280 kilograms at his peak, was nicknamed 'The Dump Truck'?

Konishiki. He won three championships yet was never promoted to the very top rank, and after retiring he reinvented himself as an entertainer on children's television.

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

Asashōryū. The first Mongolian grand champion, he was also the first yokozuna ever suspended, for playing in a charity football match while supposedly too injured to tour.

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

Terunofuji. Diabetes and kidney stones, on top of his damaged knees, cost him his salaried rank, yet a year after that title he was promoted to the top rank.

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

Ōnosato. A national amateur champion, he was allowed to start well up the ladder, and he reached the top rank after only 13 professional tournaments.

Which technique has decided more top-division sumo bouts on record than any other?

Yorikiri (frontal force out). On record it has ended nearly twice as many top-division bouts as the runner-up, the frontal push out, yet from 2020 to 2025 the push out won more bouts across all divisions.

On which day of the week does a grand sumo tournament both begin and end?

Sunday. The pattern broke in January 1989: Hirohito died on the eve of the tournament, and opening day was put back to a Monday.

In 1944 the military took over sumo's Tokyo arena to build bombs carried towards America by what?

Balloons. Their paper envelopes were assembled and test-inflated in the vast hall, then released to drift across the Pacific on high-altitude winds.

What does Kokugikan, sumo's Tokyo arena, mean?

National Sport Hall. The name was taken from a line in the 1909 opening announcement that called sumo the national sport, and it passed to today's arena, which opened in 1985.

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

Got a silicone scalp implant. He had failed the height check six times before four operations left a bulge on his head, and the Sumo Association then barred surgically heightened recruits.

What is the dagger worn by sumo's two top-ranked referees said to show?

Readiness to die for a mistake. The dagger is said to stand for ritual suicide over a wrong call; these days a top referee who makes one offers his resignation, which is usually refused.