Yobidashi
Template:Short description Template:Italic title Template:Good article
A Template:Nihongo, often translated in English as "usher",<ref name="list">Template:Cite web</ref> "ring attendant",Template:Sfn or "ring announcer",<ref name="gunning">Template:Cite web</ref> is an employee of the Japan Sumo Association, responsible for various tasks essential to the traditional running of professional sumo tournaments (Template:Transliteration) in Japan. The Template:Transliteration are involved in building the Template:Transliteration (wrestling ring) or calling wrestlers (Template:Transliteration) to the ring when it is their turn to fight. They are also entrusted with other roles, both administrative and artistic, in the service of the stable to which they are attached.
Established during the Heian period, the role of Template:Transliteration was not codified until the Tenmei era. Nicknamed "sumo's workhorses" by former Template:Transliteration Takamiyama,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the Template:Transliteration are required to wear traditional clothing in public and are subject to a strict hierarchy in their organisation.
History
The status of Template:Transliteration did not appear until 1750.Template:Sfn Before the appearance of this term to specifically designate the staff responsible for announcing the wrestlers, several different terms were used over time to designate the Template:Transliteration. During the Heian period, there was a role known as Template:Nihongo, who was responsible for presenting the wrestlers to the emperor and the nobility who attended the matches.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> During the Edo period, the role became more codified, the staff responsible for calling the wrestlers inherited the name Template:Nihongo, meaning 'preceding referees'.Template:Sfn Later came the terms Template:Nihongo and Template:Nihongo, both of which also mean 'to announce something', to refer more specifically to the personnel announcing the wrestlers.Template:Sfn Since in earlier times the Template:Transliteration would sit down on their heels in the middle of the ring when the wrestlers arrived and call them by name, they inherited another name: Template:Transliteration, meaning 'squatting referees'.Template:Sfn<ref name="Osumosan1">Template:Cite web</ref>
Career and ranking
The maximum number of Template:Transliteration allowed in the Sumo Association is 45.<ref name="NHK">Template:Cite web</ref> As of August 2025, there are 44 Template:Transliteration within the Sumo Association.<ref name="list"/>
Template:Transliteration are employees of the Japan Sumo Association, but like the wrestlers, they are affiliated with the stables.Template:Sfn Like Template:Transliteration, new Template:Transliteration recruits can only begin their career under the age of 19 and must have completed compulsory education.<ref name="NHK"/> Most enter at 15,<ref name="monde">Template:Cite web</ref> and it is not uncommon for most to be wrestlers who have not managed to break through but are keen to stay in professional sumo.<ref name="gunning"/><ref name="monde"/> They then work up a career ladder roughly based on the ranking system for wrestlers until their retirement at 65.<ref name="g101">Template:Cite web</ref> The current ranking system was created in July 1993 and consists of the following nine ranks:<ref name="NHK"/>
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
Promotion through these ranks is based primarily on experience, although ability is also taken into account, particularly in promotions to the top ranks. Junior Template:Transliteration however undergo six months of theoretical training in one of the Kokugikan's training rooms under the tutelage of their seniors.<ref name="monde"/> It takes around 15 years for a Template:Transliteration to be promoted from the bottom of the hierarchy to the rank of Template:Transliteration. The Template:Transliteration are promoted only after 30 years of service.<ref name="NHK"/> Template:Transliteration are not generally promoted until they have 45 to 50 years of experience.<ref name="gunning"/> Most of these ranks clearly follow those for the ranking of Template:Transliteration, or wrestlers, with the exception of the Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration ranks, which stand for chief and deputy chief, respectively. This system is identical to that applied for Template:Transliteration. Prior to July 1993, Template:Transliteration were simply ranked first-class, second-class and so on.<ref name="Osumosan1"/>
While a Template:Transliteration earns between 360,000 and 400,000 yen ($2,513, or €2,313 as of November 2023) a month, the average Japanese salary for a salaryman, a young apprentice earns just 14,000 yen ($97, or €89 in November 2023) a month.<ref name="gunning"/> In the past, Template:Transliteration lived on tips alone.Template:Sfn In the same way that low-ranking wrestlers are deprived of certain freedoms, junior Template:Transliteration are also forbidden to live anywhere other than in their stable and are not allowed to marry while Template:Transliteration-ranked Template:Transliteration are allowed these liberties and have a Template:Transliteration assigned to them.<ref name="monde"/> The tasks that are undue to a Template:Transliteration depend on his rank, although all Template:Transliteration are versatile, with the highest ranks appearing at the end of the day and performing tasks that put them in the public eye.<ref name="monde"/>
From October 2019 to September 2023, the Template:Transliteration position was vacant after the incumbent, Takuro (Kasugano stable), was suspended for two tournaments and announced his retirement for hitting a junior Template:Transliteration over the head after he caught him eating in the customer seating area on Template:Transliteration.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2023, however, it was announced that Jirō (also from Kasugano stable), would be promoted by two ranks to become Template:Transliteration from December 25 of the same year, when the Template:Transliteration for the January 2024 tournament was released.<ref name=ns1223promote>Template:Cite web</ref> On the same date, the Template:Transliteration role–vacant since November 2015–was taken up by Katsuyuki (Shibatayama stable).<ref name=ns1223promote/> After the retirement of Jirō, the role of Template:Translit became vacant again.<ref name=october2025promotions>Template:Cite web</ref> In October 2025, it was announced that Katsuyuki (Shibatayama stable) would be promoted to Template:Translit, and Shirō (Ōtake stable) would be elevated to Template:Translit, effective with the January 2026 tournament.<ref name=october2025promotions/>
Responsibilities
During the tournament, Template:Transliteration are by far the busiest workers, staying for the whole of the fighting days, staying on site from 7:30Template:Nbspam to 6Template:Nbsppm.<ref name="gunning"/> These tasks begin before the official opening of the tournaments (Template:Transliteration) with the construction of the Template:Transliteration (sumo ring).<ref name="g101"/>
Building the ring
Template:See also Construction begins five days before the first day of the tournament (Template:Transliteration). 40 tonnes of a special clay, called Arakida,<ref name="monde"/> collected in the town of Kawagoe (Saitama Prefecture) are needed for its construction and the Template:Transliteration use small trucks to transport the materials.<ref name="NHK"/> As well as building the ring, the Template:Transliteration are also responsible for the facing of the Template:Transliteration (the suspended roof above the Template:Transliteration).<ref name="NHK"/> Supervision of the construction does not necessarily fall to the Template:Transliteration. Depending on their skills, a Template:Transliteration may also supervise the construction of the ring.<ref name="NHK"/> During Template:Transliteration (tours), not all Template:Transliteration are present, and it is not uncommon for local volunteers to help with Template:Transliteration construction.<ref name="keizai">Template:Cite web</ref>
Calling the wrestlers
The Template:Transliteration's most emblematic task is to call the wrestlers into the ring for their match of the day. Dressed traditionally and holding a simple white fan, they call the wrestlers by their Template:Transliteration, or ring-name, in a high-pitched and melodious way.Template:Sfn The use of a fan was originally intended to prevent droplets of saliva from soiling the sacred surface of the Template:Transliteration.<ref name="keizai"/> Because of the large number of wrestlers in the divisions, the Template:Transliteration are known to use cheat sheets to not make any mistakes.<ref name="gunning"/> On odd-numbered days, the call is made from the east, then the west, and on even-numbered days the call is made in the other way round.<ref name="NHK"/>
Other tasks
Another recognisable task of the Template:Transliteration is parading the Template:Transliteration (advertising) banners around the ring before particular match-ups between popular wrestlers, which are often sponsored by companies.Template:Sfn The Template:Transliteration are responsible for banging the Template:Transliteration drum at different times of the day.<ref name="NHK"/> Originally, these different times were used to convey different messages to spectators outside the arena. The first drum sound is the Template:Nihongo, played during the 15 days of the tournaments, for 30 minutes from 8Template:Nbspam to announce the opening of a day of matches. At the end of the day, immediately after the Template:Transliteration (bow-twirling) ceremony, the Template:Nihongo is played to invite spectators leaving the arena to disperse.<ref name="NHK"/> Before the Second World War, the Template:Transliteration took part in the tours separately and by Template:Transliteration (clan), therefore the method used to beat the drum was different and these variations are traditionally preserved today, even if all Template:Transliteration now take part in the tours equally.<ref name="Osumosan1"/> High-ranking Template:Transliteration finally accompany Template:Transliteration-ranked wrestlers in their Template:Transliteration ring-entering ceremonies by sounding their Template:Transliteration, an instrument consisting of two pieces of cherry wood tied together with a cord.<ref name="monde"/>
Other tasks on match days include: sweeping the ring, providing purification salt, handing towels to wrestlers, displaying banners showing that a match has been decided by default (usually due to a competitor's withdrawal), or subject to a rematch after the next two bouts, and ensuring that, during a bout, no wrestler injures himself on the bucket of Template:Transliteration (power water) situated at each east and west side of the ring.<ref name="keizai"/> The Template:Transliteration are also responsible for bringing the thick cushions of the Template:Transliteration-ranked wrestlers to the ring, which are handed to them by the Template:Transliteration (assistant) who come out of the changing rooms.<ref name="monde2">Template:Cite web</ref> Junior Template:Transliteration also help senior Template:Transliteration during the Template:Transliteration ceremony.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Less publicly, Template:Transliteration also take care of many small requests made by the Sumo Association executives on judging duty or guard duty in the corridors, such as fetching drinks or cigarettes.<ref name="gunning"/>
Nevertheless, the responsibility for Template:Transliteration is not simply confined to tournament days. As Template:Transliteration, like wrestlers, belong to the stables, they are also entrusted with tasks by their stablemasters, such as running errands or keeping track of wrestlers' progress during training sessions.<ref name="g101"/> When a stable goes on tour in the odd-numbered months, the Template:Transliteration are also responsible for making the necessary arrangements to reserve accommodation for the masters and wrestlers.Template:Sfn When a stable's Template:Transliteration (training area) needs rebuilding, Template:Transliteration from the same Template:Transliteration, to which the stable belongs, take charge of the construction.<ref name="monde"/>
It is also traditional for Template:Transliteration to write folk songs, called Template:Transliteration, based on sumo life.Template:Sfn
Ring names
Template:Transliteration take a single name as their ring name, unlike both the wrestlers (Template:Transliteration) and Template:Transliteration who have both a surname and given name.<ref name="gunning"/> This may be related to the practice of the Edo period in Japan whereby only samurai-class persons could hold a surname. The wrestlers (involved in a martial activity) and Template:Transliteration (who were lettered) could be construed as having positions consistent with a samurai status, while the Template:Transliteration did not. As in most traditional Japanese activities, the professional name of the Template:Transliteration is sometimes derived from the name of the master who taught them, borrowing a kanji from the master's name.<ref name="monde"/>
As from July 1993 the upper ranked Template:Transliteration also have their names automatically included on the Template:Transliteration, the ranking sheet produced prior to each Template:Transliteration.<ref name="NHK"/> With the exception of a period around the Kansei era to Bunsei era, only the Template:Transliteration had traditionally been included on the Template:Transliteration alongside the wrestlers and their training masters, or Template:Transliteration.<ref name="Osumosan1"/>
Uniform
The outfit worn by the Template:Transliteration is loosely based on an old style Japanese workman's outfit, with Template:Nihongo, working trousers, and Template:Transliteration socks.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The kimono worn by the Template:Transliteration often displays sponsors' names in black characters and logo.<ref name="g101"/> As there are seven sponsors of the Sumo Association referred to as "Template:Translit partners" as of October 2025,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> each Template:Transliteration has seven different kimono which he wears during all 15 days of each Template:Translit.<ref name="monde"/> The costume is the same for senior and junior ranked Template:Transliteration and only the kimono worn on the torso varies in color and the names on the back. Since the kimono display the logos and names of the sponsors, it is often offered by them and the Template:Transliteration rarely choose the colors of their kimono. Their Template:Transliteration colors and designs, on the other hand, are often decided within an Template:Transliteration, but it can also be presented by Template:Transliteration who have been promoted to Template:Transliteration or Template:Transliteration as a commemorative gift and the Template:Transliteration, or ring name, of the said wrestler can be seen at top of the back of the Template:Transliteration, in place of the name of the stable to which the Template:Transliteration belongs, which is normally found there.<ref name="monde"/><ref name="monde2"/>
See also
- List of sumo stables
- Template:Transliteration, sumo stable
- Other personnel of the Japan Sumo Association
References
Notes
Bibliography
Further reading
- Template:Cite web (article on a day of matches)