Yokozuna
, or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the only division that is featured on NHK's standard live coverage of sumo tournaments. The lower divisions are shown on their satellite coverage, with only the ''makuuchi'' broadcast having bilingual English commentary. ''Makuuchi'' literally means "inside the curtain", a reference to the early period of professional sumo, when there was a curtained-off area reserved for the top ranked wrestlers, to sit before appearing for their bouts. Wrestlers are considered for promotion or demotion in rank before each grand tournament according to their performance in the one previous. Generally, a greater number of wins than losses ('' kachi-koshi'') results in a promotion, and the reverse ('' make-koshi'') results in demotion. There are stricter crite ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Japan Sumo Association
The , officially the ; sometimes abbreviated JSA or NSK, and more usually called Sumo Kyōkai, is the governing body that operates and controls Professional sports, professional sumo wrestling, called , in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). Concretely, the association maintains and develops sumo traditions and integrity by holding honbasho, tournaments and . The purposes of the association are also to develop the means dedicated to the sport and maintain, manage and operate the facilities necessary for these activities. Therefore, the JSA operates subsidiaries such as the Kokugikan Service Company to organize its economic aspects, the Sumo School to organize training and instruction or the Sumo Museum to preserve and utilize sumo wrestling records and artefacts. Though professionals, such as rikishi, active wrestlers, gyōji, referees, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kisenosato
is a Japanese sumo elder from Ibaraki Prefecture, Ibaraki. As a wrestler, he made his professional debut in 2002 and reached the top ''makuuchi'' division in 2004 at the age of just 18. After many years in the junior ''san'yaku'' ranks, he reached the second highest rank of ''Makuuchi#Ōzeki, ōzeki'' in January 2012. He earned three ''kinboshi'' or gold stars by defeating ''yokozuna'' in his career leading up to ''ōzeki'' and nine Sanshō (sumo), special prizes. He scored more than 20 double-digit kachi-koshi, winning records at the ''ōzeki'' rank. In 2016, he secured the most wins in the calendar year, the first wrestler to do so without winning a tournament in that year. After being a runner-up in a tournament on twelve occasions, he broke through at the January 2017 tournament, winning his first top division championship or ''yūshō'' with a record and subsequently was promoted to ''yokozuna'', the first Japanese-born wrestler to reach sumo's highest rank since Wakanohan ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sumo
is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by throwing, shoving or pushing him down). Sumo originated in Japan, the only country where it is practised professionally and where it is considered the national sport. It is considered a ''gendai budō'', which refers to modern Japanese martial arts, but the sport has a history spanning many centuries. Many ancient traditions have been preserved in sumo, and even today the sport includes many ritual elements, such as the use of salt purification, from Shinto. Life as a wrestler is highly regimented, with rules regulated by the Japan Sumo Association. Most sumo wrestlers are required to live in communal sumo training stables, known in Japanese as ''Heya (sumo), heya'', where all aspects of their daily livesfrom meals to their manner of dressa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Yokozuna Deliberation Council
The , sometimes called Promotion Council, and usually abbreviated in Japanese as , is an advisory board, advisory body to the Japan Sumo Association. The council considers candidates for promotion to sumo's top rank of , before passing its recommendations to the Sumo Association. It also gives comments about ranked wrestlers anticipating their potential promotions. Creation The reason the council was created is because of a scandal at the beginning of 1950. All of the three of the time (Azumafuji Kin'ichi, Azumafuji, Terukuni Manzō, Terukuni and Haguroyama Masaji, Haguroyama) were absent for most of the January tournament, driving intense criticism. The Sumo Association even began to think about a demotion system applied to but the idea was later dropped under pressure from sumo purists and traditionalists. To maintain the dignity of the rank, it was instead decided that should be recommended by experts with a deep knowledge of sumo, like the House of Yoshida Tsukasa (who c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rikishi
A , or, more colloquially, , is a sumo wrestler. Although used to define all wrestlers participating in sumo wrestling matches, the term is more commonly used to refer to professional wrestlers, employed by the Japan Sumo Association, who participate in professional sumo tournaments (called ) in Japan, the only country where sumo is practiced professionally. Professional follow traditions dating back to the Edo period, and therefore follow a number of codes and customs in their daily lives that distinguish them from other martial artists. Their life as professionals revolves around the observance of traditional rules that apply both to their life in the community and to the way they dress, the latter rules evolving according to the rank a wrestler has reached during his career. Coming from many different nationalities, are the only employees of the Japan Sumo Association who can run the organization once they have chosen to retire. However, only a tiny fraction of wrestl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kachi-koshi
The following words are terms used in sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ... wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H I J K M N O R S T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Makekoshi
The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H I J K M N O R S T W Y Z References External links Glossary of Sumo TermsSumopediaat NHK World-Japan {{Glossaries of s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tanikaze Kajinosuke
was a Japanese sumo wrestler from the Edo period. Officially recognized as the fourth ''yokozuna'', he was however effectively the first, as he was the first (along with Onogawa) to be awarded the title during his lifetime. He achieved great fame and, though championships from this period are unofficial, he achieved the equivalent of 21 tournament championships. He was also the coach of Raiden Tameemon. Early career Tanikaze was born in Miyagi District, Mutsu Province (now Wakabayashi, Sendai). He was known for having an outstanding physique from an early age and became an apprentice of a wrestler named Sekinoto in 1768. Later Sekinoto inherited the name Isenoumi. With a height of 189 cm and a weight of 169 kg, Tanikaze was extremely large in comparison with most Japanese men of his era. In April of the following year, he went to Edo-sumo and was given the ''shikona'', or ring name, by the Date clan. He briefly held the title of , 'guest ōzeki'. ''Kanban-ōzeki ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Umegatani Tōtarō I
was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from the town of Haki, Chikuzen Province, now Shiwa, Fukuoka Prefecture. He was the sport's 15th ''yokozuna''. He was generally regarded as the strongest wrestler to emerge since the era of Tanikaze and Raiden. Career His real name was . A myth attributes to him the great consumption of sake instead of mother's milk. From around the age of 12, he attended a temple school and began to wrestle, and by the time he was 16, he was known as "Chikuzen Muteki" (筑前無敵, 'invincible'). At 16, he was taken in by the Osaka Sumo Association and took the ''shikona'', or ring name, . After some time, he joined Minato stable and changed his ring name to in honor of his hometown, Umegaya in Shiwa Village. After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, he entered the Osaka Sumo Tournament in March 1869 and was promoted to ''komusubi''. Umegatani was not a particularly large wrestler but was remarkably strong and reached the rank of ''ōzeki'' in Osaka-s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hitachiyama Taniemon
was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. He was the sport's 19th ''yokozuna'' from 1903 till 1914. His great rivalry with Umegatani Tōtarō II created the "Ume-Hitachi Era" and did much to popularise sumo. He is remembered as much for his exploits in promoting the sport as for his strength on the ''dohyō.'' In his later years as head coach of Dewanoumi stable he trained hundreds of wrestlers, including three ''yokozuna''. Many consider him the most honorable ''yokozuna'' in sumo history, which earned him the nickname , or "sumo saint". Early career Hitachiyama was born as , on January 19, 1874, to a samurai family which belonged to the Mito Domain. His family was dismissed by the Meiji restoration authorities and was ruined financially. He moved to Tokyo and became dependent on his uncle. He attempted to enter Waseda University where his uncle was employed. At around this time, however, his uncle observed that he was able to lift a rock weigh ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Konishiki
Saleva'a Fuauli Atisano'e (born December 31, 1963), better known by his stage name, , is an American-born Japanese former professional sumo wrestler. Franz LidzMeat Bomb, 05.18.92 - ''Sports Illustrated'' He was the first non-Japanese-born wrestler to reach '' ōzeki'', the second-highest possible rank in the sport. During his career, he won the top division championship on three occasions and came very close to becoming the first foreign-born grand champion, or ''yokozuna'', prompting a social debate in Japan as to whether a foreigner could have the necessary cultural understanding to be deemed acceptable in sumo's ultimate rank. At a peak weight of he was also at the time the heaviest wrestler ever in sumo, earning him the nicknames "Meat Bomb" and, most famously, "The Dump Truck". Franz LidzMeat Bomb, 05.18.92 - ''Sports Illustrated'' Born in 1963 in Hawai'i to Vaa Atisanoe and Fala of Tula, American Sāmoa, Yasokichi became the first foreigner to earn the prestigious titl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |