rikishi

A rikishi is a professional sumo wrestler in Japan. The term, written 力士, refers to a competitor who trains and performs under the Japan Sumo Association and is based in a training stable, or heya. Most aspiring rikishi enter professional sumo as teenagers and advance through a system of weight divisions, climbing from the lowest ranks toward the top division, makuuchi, through wins in official tournaments known as honbasho. The contemporary schedule features six honbasho each year, typically held in January, March, May, July, September, and November.

Rikishi in makuuchi may attain the titled sanyaku ranks—yokozuna, ozeki, sekiwake, and komusubi—with maegashira filling the remaining top-division slots. Promotions and demotions on the banzuke, the official ranking list, depend on performance in the previous tournaments. The top division is contested on the dohyō, the ring, where matches follow traditional techniques and etiquette; rikishi compete wearing a mawashi, a belt-like loincloth. Special achievements include a kinboshi, a maegashira’s victory over a yokozuna, and a tournament yusho, or championship.

Training is rigorous and conducted in a stable under a stablemaster, or oyakata. Rikishi live, eat, and train together, follow strict routines, and practice with fellow wrestlers. Many adopt a shikona, or ring name, which may differ from their birth name and can change upon promotion.

After retirement, rikishi may remain in the sport as elders or coaches, often becoming stablemasters or assuming other roles within the association. The life of a rikishi is closely tied to tradition, rankings, and the ongoing cycle of competition that defines professional sumo.