Editing Sumo (section)

==Professional sumo==
[[File:Aki_basho_dohyō-iri_on_Sept._28_2014.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Sumo wrestlers gather in a circle around the ''[[gyōji]]'' (referee) in the ''[[dohyō-iri]]'' (ring-entering ceremony) (2014)]]

Professional sumo is organized by the [[Japan Sumo Association]].<ref name="Sharnoff"/> The members of the association, called ''[[Glossary of sumo terms#O|oyakata]]'', are all former wrestlers, and are the only people entitled to train new wrestlers. All professional wrestlers must be a member of a training stable (or ''[[Heya (sumo)|heya]]'') run by one of the ''oyakata'', who is the stablemaster for the wrestlers under him. In 2007, 43 training stables hosted 660 wrestlers.<ref>{{cite web| title=Sumo Beya Guide| publisher=[[Japan Sumo Association]]| url=http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/ozumo_meikan/sumo_beya/index.html| access-date=July 8, 2007| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715230032/http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/ozumo_meikan/sumo_beya/index.html| archive-date=July 15, 2007| df=mdy-all}}</ref>

To turn professional, wrestlers must have completed at least nine years of [[compulsory education]] and meet minimum height and weight requirements.<ref name="NHKQA"/> In 1994, the Japanese Sumo Association required that all sumo wrestlers be a minimum {{convert|173|cm|ftin|sp=us|abbr=on}} in height. This prompted 16-year-old Takeji Harada of Japan (who had failed six previous eligibility tests) to have four separate cosmetic surgeries over a period of 12 months to add an extra {{convert|15|cm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} of silicone to his scalp, which created a large, protruding bulge on his head.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19940707/1919134/wrestlers-go-great-lengths-to-qualify|title=Wrestlers Go Great Lengths To Qualify|last=Ashmun|first=Chuck|year=1994|newspaper=Seattle Times|access-date=15 October 2018|archive-date=October 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015192452/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19940707&slug=1919134|url-status=live}}</ref> In response to this, the JSA stated that they would no longer accept aspiring wrestlers who surgically enhanced their height, citing health concerns.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-07-mn-13018-story.html|title=Silicone Raises Sumo Hopeful to New Heights|date=July 7, 1994|via=LA Times|access-date=February 20, 2020|archive-date=March 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190318082845/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-07-07/news/mn-13018_1_minimum-height|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, ''[[The Japan Times]]'' reported that the height requirement was {{convert|167|cm|ftin|abbr=on}}, and the weight requirement was {{Convert|67|kg|abbr=on}}, although they also claimed that a "blind eye" is turned for those "just shy" of the minimums.<ref>{{cite news|author=Gunning, John|author-link=John Gunning (journalist)|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/01/13/sumo/barriers-exist-wishing-join-sumo-ranks/#.XzYFo357nIU|title=Sumo 101: Becoming a rikishi|newspaper=[[The Japan Times]]|date=January 13, 2019|access-date=August 13, 2020|archive-date=November 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107234344/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/01/13/sumo/barriers-exist-wishing-join-sumo-ranks/#.XzYFo357nIU|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2023 the Sumo Association loosened the height and weight requirements, announcing that prospective recruits not meeting the minimums could still enter sumo by passing a [[Exam#Physical fitness tests|physical fitness exam]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15017197 |title=Want to be a sumo wrestler? Weight, height no longer matter|date=29 September 2023|publisher=[[The Asahi Shimbun]]|access-date=27 October 2023}}</ref>

All sumo wrestlers take wrestling names called {{nihongo|''[[shikona]]''|四股名}}, which may or may not be related to their real names. Often, wrestlers have little choice in their names, which are given to them by their stablemasters, or by a supporter or family member who encouraged them into the sport. This is particularly true of foreign-born wrestlers. A wrestler may change his wrestling name during his career, with some changing theirs several times.<ref name="Sharnoff"/>

Professional sumo wrestling has a strict hierarchy based on sporting merit. The wrestlers are ranked according to a system that dates back to the Edo period. They are promoted or demoted according to their performance in six official tournaments held throughout the year, which are called ''[[honbasho]]''. A carefully prepared ''[[banzuke]]'' listing the full hierarchy is published two weeks prior to each sumo tournament.<ref>{{cite news|author=Kamiya, Setsuko|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2010/02/16/reference/steeped-in-tradition-shinto-sumo-is-also-scandal-stained/|title=Steeped in tradition, Shinto, sumo is also scandal-stained|newspaper=[[Japan Times]]|date=February 19, 2010|access-date=August 16, 2017|archive-date=August 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825101448/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2010/02/16/reference/steeped-in-tradition-shinto-sumo-is-also-scandal-stained/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In addition to the professional tournaments, exhibition competitions are held at regular intervals every year in Japan, and roughly once every two years, the top-ranked wrestlers visit a foreign country for such exhibitions. None of these displays are taken into account in determining a wrestler's future rank. Rank is determined only by performance in grand sumo tournaments.<ref name=BBOS/>

===Sumo divisions===
{{Main|Professional sumo divisions}}
[[File:Yokohama-Sumo-Wrestler-Defeating-a-Foreigner-1961-Ipposai-Yoshifuji.png|thumb|upright|Foreigner and sumo wrestler, 1861]]

The six divisions in sumo, in descending order of prestige, are:

* {{nihongo|''[[makuuchi]]''|幕内}} or {{nihongo|''makunouchi''|幕の内}}.<ref name="NHKQA"/> Maximum 42 wrestlers; Further divided into five ranks
* {{nihongo|''[[Professional sumo divisions#Jūryō|jūryō]]''|十両}}. Fixed at 28 wrestlers
* {{nihongo|''[[Professional sumo divisions#Makushita|makushita]]''|幕下}}. Fixed at 120 wrestlers
* {{nihongo|''[[Professional sumo divisions#Sandanme|sandanme]]''|三段目}}. Fixed at 180 wrestlers
* {{nihongo|''[[Professional sumo divisions#Jonidan|jonidan]]''|序二段}}. About 200 wrestlers
* {{nihongo|''[[Professional sumo divisions#Jonokuchi|jonokuchi]]''|序ノ口 or 序の口}}. Around 50 wrestlers

Wrestlers enter sumo in the lowest ''jonokuchi'' division and, ability permitting, work their way up to the top division. A broad demarcation in the sumo world can be seen between the wrestlers in the top two divisions known as {{nihongo|''[[sekitori]]''|関取}} and those in the four lower divisions, known commonly by the more generic term {{nihongo|''[[rikishi]]''|力士}}. The ranks receive different levels of compensation, privileges, and status.<ref name="banzuke">{{cite web |title=Banzuke |work=Beginner's Guide of Sumo |publisher=[[Japan Sumo Association]] |url=http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/ozumo_joho_kyoku/shiru/kiso_chishiki/beginners_guide/banzuke.html |access-date=June 27, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630033048/http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/ozumo_joho_kyoku/shiru/kiso_chishiki/beginners_guide/banzuke.html |archive-date=June 30, 2007 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

The topmost ''makuuchi'' division receives the most attention from fans and has the most complex hierarchy. The majority of wrestlers are {{nihongo|''[[Makuuchi#Maegashira|maegashira]]''|前頭}} and are ranked from the highest level 1 down to about 16 or 17. In each rank are two wrestlers; the higher rank is designated as "east" and the lower as "west", so the list goes #1 east, #1 west, #2 east, #2 west, etc.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scgroup.com/sumo/faq/faq4.html|title=Sumo FAQ - Professional rankings: The Banzuke|work=scgroup.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001032019/http://www.scgroup.com/sumo/faq/faq4.html|archive-date=October 1, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Above the ''maegashira'' are the three champion or titleholder ranks, called the ''[[Makuuchi#Overview|san'yaku]]'', which are only numbered if the number of wrestlers in each rank exceeds two. These are, in ascending order, {{nihongo|''[[Makuuchi#Komusubi|komusubi]]''|小結}}, {{nihongo|''[[Makuuchi#Sekiwake|sekiwake]]''|関脇}}, and {{nihongo|''[[Makuuchi#Ōzeki|ōzeki]]''|大関}}. At the pinnacle of the ranking system is the rank of {{nihongo|''[[Makuuchi#Yokozuna|yokozuna]]''|横綱}}.<ref name=banzuke />

''Yokozuna'', or grand champions, are generally expected to compete for and to win the top division tournament title on a regular basis, hence the promotion criteria for ''yokozuna'' are very strict. In general, an ''ōzeki'' must win the championship for two consecutive tournaments or an "equivalent performance" to be considered for promotion to ''yokozuna''.<ref name="Sharnoff"/> More than one wrestler can hold the rank of ''yokozuna'' at the same time.

In antiquity, sumo was solely a Japanese sport. Since the 1900s, however, the number of foreign-born sumo wrestlers has gradually increased.  In the beginning of this period, these few foreign wrestlers were listed as Japanese, but particularly since the 1960s, a number of high-profile [[Rikishi#Foreign-born rikishi|foreign-born wrestlers]] became well-known, and in more recent years have even come to dominate in the highest ranks.  In the 10 years since January 2009, five of the nine wrestlers promoted to ''ōzeki'' have been foreign-born,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Query.aspx?show_form=0&sum_range=1&form1_rank=S&form1_m=on&form2_rank=O&offset=150|title=SumoDB Ozeki promotion search|access-date=August 4, 2020|archive-date=April 3, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403235516/http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Query.aspx?show_form=0&sum_range=1&form1_rank=S&form1_m=on&form2_rank=O&offset=150|url-status=live}}</ref> and a Japanese had not been named ''yokozuna'' from 1998 until the promotion of [[Kisenosato Yutaka]] in 2017.  This and other issues eventually led the Sumo Association to limit the number of foreigners allowed to one in each stable.

===Women and sumo===
{{main|Women's sumo}}
Women are not allowed to compete in professional sumo. They are also not allowed to enter the wrestling ring (''[[dohyō]]''), a tradition stemming from Shinto and Buddhist beliefs that [[Culture and menstruation|women are "impure" because of menstrual blood]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yoshida |first1=Reiji |title=Banning women from the sumo ring: centuries-old tradition, straight-up sexism or something more complex? |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/04/30/national/social-issues/banning-women-sumo-ring-sexism-centuries-old-cultural-tradition/ |access-date=11 December 2019 |work=The Japan Times |date=30 April 2018 |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516214756/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/04/30/national/social-issues/banning-women-sumo-ring-sexism-centuries-old-cultural-tradition/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kheliyad.com/2019/10/sumo-wrestling-heavyweight-japan-part-2.html|title=women sumo wrestling restrictions|last=Pathade|first=Mahesh|website=Kheliyad|access-date=2020-03-09}}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/female-medics-rushed-help-man-055747808.html|title=Female Medics Rushed to Help a Man Who Collapsed on a Sumo Ring. They Were Promptly Told to Leave|website=news.yahoo.com|date=April 5, 2018 |access-date=December 1, 2020|archive-date=August 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811185516/https://news.yahoo.com/female-medics-rushed-help-man-055747808.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

A form of {{nihongo|female sumo|女相撲|onnazumo}} existed in some parts of Japan before professional sumo was established.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0004365275|title=SUMO ABC (75) / Banning women from the dohyo is groundless in this day and age - The Japan News|last=Miki|first=Shuji|date=21 April 2018|publisher=Japan News/Yomiuri Shimbun|access-date=23 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423232756/http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0004365275|archive-date=23 April 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> The 2018 film ''[[The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine]]'' depicts female sumo wrestlers at the time of civil unrest following the [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake]].