Shikona

A is a sumo wrestler's ring name. The tradition of ring names in sumo dates back to the Edo period, where they were used as a means to attract customers and hide the identities of the '' rikishi''.

Like standard Japanese names, a ''shikona'' consists of a surname and a personal, or given name, and the full name is written surname first. However, the personal name is rarely used outside formal or ceremonial occasions. Thus, the former '' yokozuna'' is usually referred to as simply ''Asashōryū''. When addressing a sumo wrestler of the '' makuuchi'' or ''jūryō'' divisions, the suffix is used instead of the usual . The given name is often, but not always, the wrestler's original name, and may be changed at the whim of the individual wrestler. Foreign wrestlers always adopt a new, Japanese given name.

Often, on first joining professional sumo, a wrestler's ''shikona'' is the same as his family name. As a wrestler rises through the ranks of sumo, he is expected to change his ''shikona''. Stables often expect their wrestlers to adopt new ''shikona'' on entering the professional ''jūryō'' division. However, the timing depends on the naming traditions of individual stables. The wrestlers at Kokonoe stable for example, often adopt a new ''shikona'' upon entering the lower '' sandanme'' division, while wrestlers at Sadogatake stable generally adopt a new ''shikona'' on joining as trainees, even if those ''shikona'' are simply the character attached to the beginning of their original family names.

Ring names vary widely, depending on the individual stable's tradition and somewhat less on the preferences of the wrestler. Wrestlers from the Oguruma stable traditionally adopt a ''shikona'' ending in the character , which derives from the name of the stable's founder, Kotokaze. Many wrestlers from the long established Dewanoumi stable adopt a ''shikona'' beginning with the characters , derived from the name of the stable. Wrestlers may choose ''shikona'' associated with their birthplace. For example, wrestlers from Hokkaido often use the first character of ''Hokkaidō'', in their ''shikona'', producing names such as Hokutoumi and Kitanoumi.

Wrestlers that show promise may also take the ''shikona'' of a well-respected wrestler of the past to whom they have some sort of connection, such as being from the same stable or being a close relative. An historic example of wrestlers from the same stable are the two '' yokozuna'', while is a time-honoured name at Dewanoumi stable. The Hawaiian Saleva'a Atisano'e was given the prestigious ''shikona'' of when he joined Takasago stable. An example of a wrestler taking the ''shikona'' of a close relative is the former ''ōzeki'' , who adopted the Tochiazuma name from his father, former '' sekiwake'' .

Wrestlers occasionally change their ring names in an effort to improve their luck, reinvigorate themselves, or for other personal reasons. For example , whose performance had been disappointing since promotion to ''ōzeki'' made a subtle change to the last character of his name, with becoming , in a bid for better results. was originally read as Kaikō when he adopted the name, but he later switched to Kaiō, which he felt was stronger-sounding. The low-ranker Hattorizakura, known for his extreme lack of success with just three career wins to 209 losses, changed his ''shikona'' in January 2021 to Shōnanzakura, a reference to the Shōnan region of Kanagawa Prefecture where he is from, but also using the kanji for "victory."

A few wrestlers, such as , have kept their real family names as their ''shikona''.

Foreign wrestlers usually take a ''shikona'' at the outset of their careers. Much more often than Japanese wrestlers, they are often ''shikona'' that give a clue as to their origin: the names of Russian brothers and both include the character , which is an abbreviation for . contains the characters , and is the ''shikona'' of Karoyan Andō, a Bulgarian and the first European to reach the ''makuuchi'' (top) division. American Henry Armstrong Miller wrestled under the ''shikona'' , which is also homophonous with St. Louis, his city of origin. Mongolian wrestlers are often identifiable by their use of the characters , , , or , which are all venerated in Mongolia.

See also

*Glossary of sumo terms

References

{{Personal names

Sumo terminology
Pseudonyms