Sumo, explained from Japan.
Wrestlers, rankings, techniques and the customs around the ring. Written and edited in Japan from the Japan Sumo Association’s own announcements, ranking sheets and tournament records — and put into plain English.
Next tournament
- First day
- Final day
- Banzuke announced
- Countdown
Latest articles
All articles ≫
Watching SumoHow to Watch Sumo Live: NHK World, ABEMA and Start TimesThe simplest way to watch live sumo from outside Japan is NHK World-Japan, which is free and in English. It sh…15 September 2026
Sumo BasicsSumo Rules: How Bouts Are Won, the 8 Fouls and Who DecidesSumo rules fit in a single sentence. A wrestler loses the moment any part of his body other than the soles of…11 September 2026
RikishiSumo Wrestlers: The Full Directory, Current and HistoricSumo wrestlers are called rikishi, and on the September 2026 ranking sheet there are exactly 593 of them. Only…7 September 2026
What do you want to know?
Start from what you came for
Sumo BasicsWhat sumo is, how a bout is won, and how a fifteen-day tournament runs.
RikishiThe wrestlers themselves: how they live, how they train, and who is worth watching.
RankingsThe banzuke ranking sheet, the six divisions, and what promotion actually takes.
Watching SumoTickets, venues, seats, and what a day at the Kokugikan is really like.
Sumo CultureThe salt, the belt, the stables, and the rules that are not in the rulebook.
Records & DataWhere results, rankings and historical records are published, and by whom.
The current banzuke
How ranking works ≫September 2026 Tournament — Autumn Basho, held in TokyoThis is the current banzuke.
East
Rank
West
OnosatoNishonoseki stable / Ishikawa
Yokozuna
HoshoryuTatsunami stable / Mongolia
KirishimaOtowayama stable / Mongolia
Ozeki
KotozakuraSadogatake stable / Chiba
AonishikiAjigawa stable / Ukraine
Ozeki
AtamifujiIsegahama stable / Shizuoka
Sekiwake
FujinokawaIsenoumi stable / Kyoto
HakunofujiIsegahama stable / Tottori
Komusubi
DaieishoOitekaze stable / Saitama
KotoshohoSadogatake stable / Chiba
Maegashira 1
KotoeihoSadogatake stable / Chiba
East
Rank
West
TakayasuTagonoura stable / Ibaraki
Maegashira 2
YoshinofujiIsegahama stable / Kumamoto
GonoyamaTakekuma stable / Osaka
Maegashira 3
ChuranoumiKise stable / Okinawa
TakanoshoMinatogawa stable / Chiba
Maegashira 4
FujiryogaFujishima stable / Aichi
RogaFutagoyama stable / Russia
Maegashira 5
OshomaNaruto stable / Mongolia
AsanoyamaTakasago stable / Toyama
Maegashira 6
IchiyamamotoHanaregoma stable / Hokkaido
FujiseiunFujishima stable / Kumamoto
Maegashira 7
NishikifujiIsegahama stable / Aomori
TakerufujiIsegahama stable / Aomori
Maegashira 8
HiradoumiSakaigawa stable / Nagasaki
UraKise stable / Osaka
Maegashira 9
ShishiIkazuchi stable / Ukraine
OhoOtake stable / Tokyo
Maegashira 10
KinbozanKise stable / Kazakhstan
WakamotoharuArashio stable / Fukushima
Maegashira 11
ShodaiTokitsukaze stable / Kumamoto
WakatakakageArashio stable / Fukushima
Maegashira 12
AsahakuryuTakasago stable / Mongolia
AsakoryuTakasago stable / Osaka
Maegashira 13
AbiShikoroyama stable / Saitama
TobizaruOitekaze stable / Tokyo
Maegashira 14
ChiyoshomaKokonoe stable / Mongolia
AsasuiryuTakasago stable / Osaka
Maegashira 15
TokihayateTokitsukaze stable / Miyagi
WakanoshoMinatogawa stable / Tochigi
Maegashira 16
ToshinofujiIsegahama stable / Mongolia
ShonannoumiTakadagawa stable / Kanagawa
Maegashira 17
East
Rank
West
DewanoryuDewanoumi stable / Mongolia
Juryo 1
KyokukaiyuOshima stable / Mongolia
DaiseizanArashio stable / China
Juryo 2
KazumaKise stable / Osaka
TamawashiKataonami stable / Mongolia
Juryo 3
OnokatsuOnomatsu stable / Mongolia
KazekenoOshiogawa stable / Ehime
Juryo 4
MitakeumiDewanoumi stable / Nagano
SadanoumiSakaigawa stable / Kumamoto
Juryo 5
ArashifujiIsegahama stable / Fukuoka
KitanowakaHakkaku stable / Yamagata
Juryo 6
ShirokumaNishonoseki stable / Fukushima
MidorifujiIsegahama stable / Shizuoka
Juryo 7
TomokazeNakamura stable / Kanagawa
RyudenTakadagawa stable / Yamanashi
Juryo 8
HatsuyamaTamanoi stable / Tokyo
EnhoIsegahama stable / Ishikawa
Juryo 9
TohakuryuTamanoi stable / Tokyo
NabatameFutagoyama stable / Tochigi
Juryo 10
TanjiArashio stable / Fukushima
KagayakiTakadagawa stable / Ishikawa
Juryo 11
HitoshiOitekaze stable / Tokyo
TamashohoKataonami stable / Mongolia
Juryo 12
KayoNakamura stable / Okinawa
MeiseiTatsunami stable / Kagoshima
Juryo 13
TokifudoTokitsukaze stable / Shizuoka
TochitaikaiKasugano stable / Saitama
Juryo 14
NishikigiIsenoumi stable / Iwate
YokozunaOnosatoNishonoseki stableThe 75th yokozuna, from Ishikawa, and the fastest climb to the top rank the modern sport has seen.
OzekiAonishikiAjigawa stableFrom Ukraine, and the quickest riser on the sheet. Three championships already, the last of them in Nagoya.
MaegashiraWakatakakageArashio stableA technician among giants. Two championships, and a long climb back after a knee injury dropped him out of the top division.
KomusubiHakunofujiIsegahama stableFrom Tottori, and the most talked-about young wrestler on the sheet. Five kinboshi already.
East outranks West at the same rank. The whole sheet is redrawn and reissued before every tournament, and the names above are the two salaried divisions — the sekitori.
Start here
The questions people ask firstHow a bout is won
The six finishes you will see most
Oshidashi押し出し · frontal push outThe most common finish of all. Hands on the chest, no grip on the belt, and he walks him straight out.
Yorikiri寄り切り · frontal force outThe textbook win. Take a grip on the belt, get your hips under his, and carry him over the bales.
Tsukidashi突き出し · frontal thrust outA volley of open-handed thrusts to the chest and throat that never lets him settle. Pushing, not gripping.
Oshitaoshi押し倒し · frontal push downThe same push as oshidashi, carried on until he goes down rather than out.
Yoritaoshi寄り倒し · frontal crush outA belt grip driven through to the end, so that he falls at the edge instead of stepping over it.
Tsukitaoshi突き倒し · frontal thrust downThrusting hard enough that he is knocked down where he stands.
A bout ends the moment a wrestler steps out of the ring or touches the clay. The Sumo Association names 82 ways of making that happen; the six above cover most of a tournament.
Watching sumo in Japan
All guides ≫
Go and see it for yourself.
Tickets go on sale about a month before each tournament and the good seats go first. How to buy them from outside Japan, which seat is worth the money, when to arrive, and what the day looks like from the first bout to the last.