Sumo

A bout is won by forcing the opponent out of the ring or making him touch the ground with any part of his body other than the soles of his feet. There are no weight classes. Bouts start from a crouch at the tachiai, the initial charge, which both wrestlers must begin together, and most bouts last only seconds.

The Japan Sumo Association recognises 82 winning techniques (kimarite), from pushing and thrusting to belt throws, trips and lifts. Striking with a closed fist, pulling hair and kicking above the knee are forbidden. The referee (gyōji) announces the winner by pointing his fan, and judges seated around the ring can overturn the decision after a conference (mono-ii).

Professional sumo is organised in six divisions. The top division, makuuchi, has around forty wrestlers ranked from yokozuna at the top through ōzeki, sekiwake and komusubi to maegashira. Only wrestlers in the top two divisions, called sekitori, receive a salary, wear their hair in the fan-shaped ōichō-mage and have junior wrestlers as attendants.

Ranks are published before each tournament on the banzuke, a ranking sheet written in traditional calligraphy. Promotion and demotion depend on results; the rank of yokozuna is awarded for sustained excellence and dignity, and unlike other ranks a yokozuna cannot be demoted, but is expected to retire when his performance declines.

Six grand tournaments (honbasho) are held each year in odd-numbered months, each lasting fifteen days from a Sunday to a Sunday. Top-division wrestlers fight once a day; the wrestler with the best record wins the championship (yūshō). Between tournaments, wrestlers go on regional tours (jungyō) that bring exhibition sumo to towns across Japan.

Before bouts, wrestlers stamp (shiko) to drive away evil, rinse their mouths with 'power water' (chikara-mizu) and throw salt to purify the ring. Top-division wrestlers parade in embroidered aprons (keshō-mawashi) in the ring-entering ceremony (dohyō-iri), and each yokozuna performs his own ceremony wearing the rope. A roof in the style of a Shinto shrine hangs above the ring. By tradition, women do not step onto the professional ring.

All professional wrestlers belong to a stable (heya) run by a retired wrestler (oyakata), where junior wrestlers live together, train from early morning, cook and serve the communal meal. Chanko-nabe, the protein-rich hot pot of the stables, is also served in restaurants around Ryōgoku. Wrestlers are recruited from the age of fifteen, and each receives a ring name (shikona).

Tournament days run from the morning, when lower-division wrestlers compete in a nearly empty hall, to the top-division bouts in the late afternoon. Seating ranges from traditional box seats on cushions (masu-seki) near the ring to chairs in the upper tiers; tickets for popular days sell out quickly, so booking through the official ticket site in advance is advisable.

Some stables allow visitors to watch morning practice (asageiko) by arrangement, and it is expected that visitors remain silent. Outside tournaments, the Sumo Museum at the Kokugikan and the streets of Ryōgoku offer a glimpse of sumo culture.