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{{Short description|Loincloth worn by sumo wrestlers}}
{{Italic title|reason=[[:Category:Japanese words and phrases]]}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2012}}
In [[sumo]], a {{nihongo||廻し|'''mawashi'''}} is the [[loincloth]] that {{Transliteration|ja|[[rikishi]]}} (sumo wrestlers) wear during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a {{Transliteration|ja|'''keshō-mawashi'''}} as part of the ring entry ceremony or {{Transliteration|ja|[[dohyō-iri]]}}.

==''Mawashi''==
[[Image:Hakuho May07.jpg|150px|thumb|right|[[Hakuhō Shō]] in a silk {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}}, worn by {{Transliteration|ja|sekitori}} during tournaments. Colour matching ''sagari'' strings hang from the ''mawashi'' across his legs.]]

===''Sekitori''===
====During competition====
For top ranked professional {{Transliteration|ja|[[rikishi]]}} (known as {{Transliteration|ja|[[sekitori]]}}), the ''mawashi'' is made of [[silk]] and comes in a variety of colours. It is approximately {{convert|30|ft|m|sigfig=1}} in length when unwrapped, about {{cvt|2|ft|sigfig=1}} wide and weighs about {{convert|8|to|11|lb|kg|abbr=on|sigfig=1}}. It is wrapped several times around the {{Transliteration|ja|rikishi}} and fastened in the back by a large knot. A series of stiffened silk fronds of matching colour called {{nihongo|''sagari''|下がり}} are inserted into the front of the {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Success for Japan - The Secrets of Sumo |url=https://www.bccjapan.com/news/2016/01/short-guide-sumo/ |publisher=British Chamber of Commerce in Japan |access-date=28 October 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028132756/https://www.bccjapan.com/news/2016/01/short-guide-sumo/ }}</ref> Their number varies from 13 to 25, and is always an odd number. They mark out the only part of the {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}} that it is illegal to grab on to: the vertical part covering the {{Transliteration|ja|sumotori}}'s groin, and if the ''sagari'' fall out during competition the {{Transliteration|ja|[[gyōji]]}} (referee) will throw them from the ring at the first opportunity.

Many {{Transliteration|ja|rikishi}} are superstitious and will change the color of their {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}} to change their luck. Sometimes a poor performance will cause them to change colors for the next tournament, or even during a tournament, in an attempt to change their luck for the better. An example of this was done by [[Ōnoshō Fumiya|Ōnoshō]] during the 2020 July tournament, when, after several losses in a row, he decided to change from crimson to dark gray.

[[File:横綱審議委員会ー３.JPG|thumb|left|{{Transliteration|ja|Sekitori}} in white cotton training {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}}.]]

====During training====
{{Transliteration|ja|Sekitori}} only wear the silk {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}} during competitive bouts either during ranking tournaments or touring displays. During training, a heavy white [[cotton]] {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}} is worn. For senior {{Transliteration|ja|sekitori}} in the top two divisions, this belt is coloured white, and it is worn with one end distinctively looped at the front. {{Transliteration|ja|Sagari}} are not worn during training.

===Lower-division ''rikishi''===
{{Transliteration|ja|Rikishi}} ranked in the lower professional divisions wear a black cotton {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}} both for training and in competition. In competition, cotton {{Transliteration|ja|sagari}} are inserted into the belt, but these are not stiffened.

===Amateur sumo===
Amateur sumo wrestlers wear a cotton {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}} of any color without the looping accorded to the senior professional's training garb. Additionally, they may wear a tag on the front of their {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}} that identifies them individually or the nation they are competing for, depending on the competition. Amateur sumo wrestlers are also allowed (or required, in the case of women wrestlers) to wear shorts or [[leotard]]s under their {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}} while professional {{Transliteration|ja|rikishi}} are not.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.sumofanmag.com/content/Issue_6/Amateur2.htm|title=The Amateur Game – Global and Going Places|issue=6|date=April 2006|access-date=August 5, 2023|magazine=Sumo Fan Magazine}}</ref>

===Techniques and rules===
Sometimes a {{Transliteration|ja|rikishi}} may wear his {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}} in such a way as to give him some advantage over his opponent. He may wear it loosely to make it more difficult to be thrown, or he may wrap it tightly and splash a little water on it to help prevent his opponent from getting a good grip on it. His choice will depend on the type of techniques he prefers to employ in his bouts. Thus a wrestler preferring belt sumo will usually wear it more loosely, while those preferring pushing techniques will tend to wear the {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}} more tightly.

If a wrestler's {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}} comes off during a tournament bout, he is automatically disqualified.<ref name="Sharnoff">{{Cite book |last=Sharnoff |first=Lora |year=1993 |title=Grand Sumo: The Living Sport and Tradition |edition=Revised |location=New York |publisher=Weatherhill |isbn=0-8348-0283-X |oclc=28082775}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=May 2021}} This is extremely rare, but did occur in May 2000, when {{Transliteration|ja|[[sandanme]]}} wrestler [[Asanokiri]]'s {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}} came off during a match with [[Chiyohakuhō Daiki|Chiyohakuhō]].<ref name="exposed">{{cite web |last=Kattoulas |first=Velisarios |date=20 May 2000 |title=Exposed: Sumo Wrestler Who Lost It All |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/20/sports/20iht-sumo.2.t_0.html |work=[[International Herald Tribune]] |access-date=2008-05-25}}</ref> However, for most of sumo's history, whether or not a wrestler's {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}} came off during a bout was considered irrelevant, and the policy of disqualification only came into place when Japan began adopting European attitudes towards nudity.<ref name="exposed"/>

=={{Transliteration|ja|Keshō-mawashi}}==
[[File:Kuniyoshi Utagawa, The sumo wrestler 2.jpg|thumb|Edo Period wrestler in {{Transliteration|ja|keshō-mawashi}}]]
Wrestlers in the two upper divisions, {{Transliteration|ja|[[makuuchi]]}} and {{Transliteration|ja|[[jūryō]]}}, are allowed to wear a second ceremonial {{Transliteration|ja|keshō-mawashi}} during their ring entering ceremony. The silk 'belt' opens out at one end into a large apron which is usually heavily embroidered and with thick tassels at the bottom. The fringe and tassels of the {{Transliteration|ja|keshō-mawashi}} are usually gold but may be any color except purple, which is reserved for use by {{Transliteration|ja|[[Yokozuna (sumo)|yokozuna]]}} and {{Transliteration|ja|[[Makuuchi#Ōzeki|ōzeki]]}} only.<ref name=Sumo101kesho>{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/01/22/sumo/sumo-101-kesho-mawashi/|title=Sumo 101: Keshō-mawashi|publisher=The Japan Times|first=John|last=Gunning|date=January 22, 2019}}</ref>

The {{Transliteration|ja|keshō-mawashi}} may advertise the produce of a sponsor of the {{Transliteration|ja|rikishi}} (for example Bulgarian {{Transliteration|ja|ōzeki}} [[Kotoōshū Katsunori|Kotoōshū]] was sponsored by a Japanese brand of yogurt, "Bulgaria", which was prominently displayed on the front of his {{Transliteration|ja|keshō-mawashi}}) or be a gift from one of the {{Transliteration|ja|rikishi}}'s support groups. Alternatively, some foreign-born {{Transliteration|ja|rikishi}} (such as [[Czech Republic|Czech]]-born [[Takanoyama Shuntaro|Takanoyama]]) bear their national flag on their {{Transliteration|ja|keshō-mawashi}}. Popular {{Transliteration|ja|rikishi}} may be given many of these {{Transliteration|ja|keshō-mawashi}}.<ref name=Sumo101kesho />

{{Transliteration|ja|Yokozuna}} have matching sets of three {{Transliteration|ja|keshō-mawashi}}, with two being worn by his wrestler "assistants" (his {{Transliteration|ja|[[tachimochi]]}} and {{Transliteration|ja|[[tsuyuharai]]}}) during his ring entrance ceremony.<ref name=Sumo101kesho />

In the [[Edo period]], the {{Transliteration|ja|keshō-mawashi}} also served as the wrestler's fighting {{Transliteration|ja|mawashi}}. However, as the aprons become more ornate, eventually the two functions were split apart. In this period wrestlers were normally sponsored by feudal {{Transliteration|ja|[[daimyō]]}} or overlords, whose clan crest would therefore appear on the {{Transliteration|ja|keshō-mawashi}}.

[[File:Aki_basho_dohyō-iri_on_Sept._28_2014.jpg|thumb|400px|center|Modern sumo wrestlers in top division ring entrance ceremony, wearing {{Transliteration|ja|keshō-mawashi}}]]

==See also==
* {{Transliteration|ja|[[Fundoshi]]}}
* [[Glossary of sumo terms]]
* [[Kaupinam]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Mawashi}}

{{Japanese clothing}}

[[Category:Japanese lower-body garments]]
[[Category:Sumo terminology]]