Sumo basics · PyxiSUMO

Banzuke (番付)

The banzuke is the ranking sheet that places every rikishi in order on a single page. After each tournament it is redrawn according to the results, and it is published on the Monday about two weeks before the next tournament opens. Sumo has no league table and no playoffs; this one sheet does that work instead.

The banzuke is a single sheet written with a brush. The characters are large at the top and get smaller towards the bottom. The size of the writing is the ranking.

There is almost no fixed arithmetic behind the banzuke. What is written down amounts to the demotion and return of an ozeki and the capacity of each division; the rest of the movement up and down the sheet is custom followed by the judging department. That is why the predictions on this site aim to be a reproducible calculation rather than a correct answer.

Divisions (段) — the broad tiers

Every rikishi belongs to one of six divisions. Only those in the top two, makuuchi and juryo, are called sekitori (関取).

Reading	Kanji	Capacity	Group	Notes
makuuchi	幕内	42	sekitori	The top division. Inside it rikishi are ranked again, from yokozuna down to maegashira
juryo	十両	28	sekitori	14 slots east and west. Salaries start here — this is where a rikishi turns professional in the full sense
makushita	幕下	120	—	60 slots east and west. Just below juryo, and the fiercest promotion race on the banzuke
sandanme	三段目	160	—	80 slots east and west (since January 2025; before that it was 180, and earlier 200)
jonidan	序二段	No fixed capacity	—	The largest division. The headcount changes from basho to basho
jonokuchi	序ノ口	No fixed capacity	—	Where a new recruit's name first appears on the banzuke

Capacities as of September 2026. Makuuchi has held 42 since January 2004, juryo 28 since January 2004, and makushita 120 since May 1967.

sekitori関取: A rikishi in juryo or above. There are only 70 of them in all. They draw a salary, get a room of their own, are assigned tsukebito (付け人) — junior rikishi who attend to them — and wear haori and hakama on formal occasions.
makushita and below幕下以下: No salary. They live on the allowance paid per tournament, sleep together in the heya and wait on the sekitori. This is why promotion to juryo is described as the line that changes a life.

Ranks within makuuchi

The 42 makuuchi rikishi are divided again into five ranks. The top four — yokozuna, ozeki, sekiwake and komusubi — are grouped together as san'yaku (三役). Strictly the word covers only ozeki, sekiwake and komusubi, but it is often used with yokozuna included.

Reading	Kanji	Capacity	Notes
yokozuna	横綱	No fixed capacity	The only rank that is never demoted. A yokozuna who cannot perform answers with retirement
ozeki	大関	2 or more	The only rank whose promotion and demotion are set down in writing (Banzuke Hensei Yoryo, article 8)
sekiwake	関脇	At least one east and one west	The rank from which ozeki promotion is chased
komusubi	小結	At least one east and one west	The entrance to san'yaku
maegashira	前頭	Everyone else	Makuuchi rikishi outside san'yaku. Also called hiramaku (平幕)

There may be no yokozuna at all, or several at once. If there are fewer than two ozeki, the gap is filled from the sekiwake.

maegashira前頭: Makuuchi minus san'yaku. They are numbered from the top — maegashira 1, maegashira 2 and so on — and the lower the number, the higher the rank. Maegashira 1 East, for example, is the fifth position in makuuchi.
mai枚目: The slot number within a rank. Mai 1 is the highest. This is the unit behind a figure such as ▲ 1.5 on this site.

East and west (東・西)

Each numbered slot exists twice, east and west, and east sits half a step above west. On the banzuke sheet the east side is on the right and the west side on the left. So maegashira 3 West is one step below maegashira 3 East, and one step above maegashira 4 East.

This is why the error figures on this site are counted in units of 0.5 mai. One step from east to west is 0.5 mai.

Honbasho (本場所) — six tournaments a year

Official tournaments are held once every odd-numbered month, six times a year. Each runs for 15 days from a Sunday, and the final day is called senshuraku (千秋楽).

Month	Reading	Name	City
January	Hatsu basho	初場所	Tokyo (Ryogoku Kokugikan)
March	Haru basho	春場所	Osaka
May	Natsu basho	夏場所	Tokyo (Ryogoku Kokugikan)
July	Nagoya basho	名古屋場所	Nagoya
September	Aki basho	秋場所	Tokyo (Ryogoku Kokugikan)
November	Kyushu basho	九州場所	Fukuoka

Sekitori fight once a day for all 15 days, 15 bouts in total. Makushita and below fight only 7 times across the 15 days.

Records — kachikoshi and make-koshi

kachikoshi勝ち越し: A winning record: more wins than losses. For sekitori that means 8 wins out of 15; for makushita and below, 4 out of 7. A kachikoshi normally means a rise in rank.
make-koshi負け越し: A losing record: more losses than wins. The rank falls. A heavy make-koshi in juryo drops a rikishi into makushita, and the salary stops.
yusho優勝: The tournament championship, awarded separately in each division. If several rikishi finish level, a playoff (tomoe-sen and so on) is held on senshuraku.
kinboshi金星: A maegashira beating a yokozuna. Each one earns an allowance that keeps being added to every tournament until the rikishi retires. Beating an ozeki does not count as a kinboshi.
sansho三賞: The three special prizes given to makuuchi rikishi with a winning record — shukun-sho (殊勲賞, outstanding performance), kanto-sho (敢闘賞, fighting spirit) and gino-sho (技能賞, technique). Yokozuna and ozeki are not eligible.

Promotion and demotion — how much of it is actually a rule

The principle that a good record moves you up is clear enough, but how many slots you move is mostly undefined. The rules that exist in writing amount to this.

Ozeki demotion番付編成要領 8条: An ozeki with a losing record spends the next tournament as kadoban (角番). A second losing record while kadoban sends him down to sekiwake. This is the only part set down in writing.
Ozeki special return大関特例復帰: A demoted ozeki who wins 10 or more bouts as a sekiwake in the very next tournament returns to ozeki.
Juryo promotion rule十両昇進内規: A rikishi ranked within makushita 15 who goes 7-0 becomes a candidate for promotion to juryo (introduced in May 1967). The rule carries the proviso that it depends on how the banzuke works out.
Ozeki promotion大関昇進: Not a regulation but a rule of thumb. Roughly 33 wins across three tournaments at sekiwake or above is the figure usually quoted. The judging department puts the case to an extraordinary board meeting, which decides.
Yokozuna promotion横綱昇進: Considered when an ozeki wins two tournaments in a row, or produces results of equivalent standing, and then decided after deliberation by the Yokozuna Deliberation Council. No record promotes a rikishi automatically.
Yokozuna demotion: There is none. A yokozuna does not go down. Instead, a yokozuna who can no longer produce results retires.

The prediction engine on this site applies the written rules above as they stand, and fills in the rest of the movement with a table learned from ten years of real banzuke: how far the same rank and record actually moved. Makushita down to Jonokuchi are learned the same way, separately (new recruits have no previous record, so they are not predicted). That is also why every row shows whether its basis is a rule or a calculation.

Kimarite (決まり手) — the winning technique

When a bout ends, the judges pick one answer to the question of how it was won. That is the kimarite. The association recognises 82 of them, plus five non-techniques (非技) for bouts that end without one. In practice the top ten cover most bouts — yorikiri and oshidashi alone account for about half of all results.

The word shown next to a result on this site's live basho page is the kimarite.

Basic techniques 基本技

Pushing and driving forward — the most common finishes

yorikiri寄り切り

Gripping the mawashi and staying chest to chest, the attacker drives the opponent straight out of the ring. The most common kimarite of all.

yoritaoshi寄り倒し

The same forward drive as yorikiri, but the opponent goes down before he goes out.

oshidashi押し出し

Pushing the opponent out with the hands, without taking the mawashi. The second most common kimarite.

oshitaoshi押し倒し

Pushing the opponent down, inside the ring or beyond it.

tsukidashi突き出し

Thrusting the opponent out with repeated open-hand strikes (tsuppari).

tsukitaoshi突き倒し

Thrusting the opponent down.

abisetaoshi浴びせ倒し

Putting body weight on the opponent and bearing down on him from above until he falls.

Throws 投げ手

Throwing by the mawashi or by an arm

uwatenage上手投げ

Reaching over the opponent's arm for an outside grip on the mawashi (uwate) and throwing.

shitatenage下手投げ

Reaching under the opponent's arm for an inside grip on the mawashi (shitate) and throwing.

uwatedashinage上手出し投げ

With an uwate grip, pulling the opponent forward and throwing him down onto his hands.

shitatedashinage下手出し投げ

With a shitate grip, pulling the opponent forward and throwing.

kotenage小手投げ

Clamping the opponent's arm under one's armpit and twisting him over.

sukuinage掬い投げ

Without a mawashi grip, slipping an arm under the opponent's armpit and scooping him over.

kubinage首投げ

Wrapping an arm around the opponent's neck and throwing him.

ipponzeoi一本背負い

Hauling the opponent's arm over one's shoulder and throwing him forward. The same shape as the judo throw of the same name.

Leg trips 掛け手

Hooking or kicking a leg to bring the opponent down

uchigake内掛け

Hooking one's leg around the inside of the opponent's leg to bring him down.

sotogake外掛け

Hooking one's leg around the outside of the opponent's leg to bring him down.

kekaeshi蹴返し

Kicking the inside of the opponent's ankle away and toppling him.

ketaguri蹴手繰り

At the tachiai, kicking the opponent's leg out and pulling him down at the same moment.

watashikomi渡し込み

Grabbing one of the opponent's legs with one hand and pushing him over.

ashitori足取り

Lifting the opponent's leg and taking him down.

kawazugake河津掛け

Hooking a leg, wrapping up the opponent's neck and falling backwards together. Very rarely seen.

Twists 捻り手

Twisting the body to break the opponent's balance

tsukiotoshi突き落とし

Thrusting from the side or at an angle to knock the opponent down.

makiotoshi巻き落とし

Twisting the body to roll the opponent down, without a mawashi grip.

katasukashi肩透かし

Pressing down on the opponent's shoulder and steering him sideways until he falls.

tottariとったり

Taking the opponent's arm in both hands and twisting him down.

sakatottari逆とったり

Countering an opponent who has gone for tottari and bringing him down instead.

uchimuso内無双

Sweeping the inside of the opponent's thigh with the hand while twisting the body.

sotomuso外無双

Sweeping the outside of the thigh while twisting.

uwatehineri上手捻り

Twisting the opponent down while keeping an uwate grip.

shitatehineri下手捻り

Twisting the opponent down while keeping a shitate grip.

kirikaeshi切り返し

Placing a knee against the outside of the opponent's knee and arching back to bring him over.

amiuchi網打ち

Taking the opponent's arm in both hands and hauling him down like a thrown fishing net.

sabaori鯖折り

Holding the mawashi and pressing down from above until the opponent's knees give way.

Special techniques 特殊技

Anything that fits none of the groups above

hatakikomi叩き込み

Slapping down the shoulder, back or arm of an opponent coming forward so that he falls on his face. It is used while retreating, so a failed attempt leaves the attacker pushed straight out.

hikiotoshi引き落とし

Pulling the opponent's arm or body forward until he goes down.

hikkake引っ掛け

Grabbing the opponent's arm and dragging him sideways until he falls.

okuridashi送り出し

Getting behind the opponent and pushing him out by the back.

okuritaoshi送り倒し

Pushing the opponent down from behind.

tsuridashi吊り出し

Taking the mawashi, lifting the opponent off the clay and setting him down outside the ring. A technique that takes real strength.

kimedashi極め出し

Locking both of the opponent's arms under one's own and squeezing him out of the ring.

kimetaoshi極め倒し

The same arm lock as kimedashi, but the opponent is forced down rather than out.

utchariうっちゃり

Backed up to the edge of the ring, the defender twists his body and throws the opponent out over the straw bales. It turns a bout around at the last possible moment, which is why the crowd reacts to it more than to anything else.

sokubiotoshi素首落とし

Chopping down on the back of the opponent's neck from above to collapse him.

waridashi割り出し

Holding the opponent's arm and pushing him sideways until he goes down.

Non-techniques 非技

The opponent breaks down on his own, or a foul is called

isamiashi勇み足

Carried by his own attack, the attacker steps out of the ring first and loses. Winning the bout and losing it in the same motion.

fumidashi踏み出し

Stepping out of the ring without any contact from the opponent, and losing.

tsukite突き手

Losing balance so that a hand touches down first.

tsukihiza突き膝

A knee touches down first.

koshikudake腰砕け

The rikishi's own hips collapse, with nothing from the opponent to cause it.

hansoku反則

Losing by a forbidden act — a closed-fist punch, hair pulling, a strike to the groin and so on.

fusen不戦

The bout never took place, usually because one rikishi is kyujo. Not a technique.

Techniques not listed here appear by name only. Rather than write out all 82, we described the ones you will actually see — the rule against inventing an explanation applies here as everywhere else.

Heya and ichimon (部屋・一門)

Every rikishi belongs to a heya (部屋), or stable. A heya is both training hall and living quarters, and it is run by a retired rikishi known as an oyakata (親方). There are about 46 of them at present.

Those stables are grouped again into ichimon (一門). Following the lines along which stables split off from one another, there are five — Nishonoseki, Dewanoumi, Tokitsukaze, Isegahama and Takasago. Regional tours, association elections and oyakata appointments all move along these lines.

heya部屋: The stable a rikishi belongs to. Rikishi from the same heya do not meet in a honbasho (a championship playoff is the exception).
ichimon一門: A group of stables linked by lineage. As a rule, rikishi from the same ichimon also avoid each other in a honbasho.
oyakata親方: The retired rikishi who runs a heya. Only holders of a toshiyori (年寄) share in the association are eligible.
tsukebito付け人: A lower-division rikishi who attends to a sekitori. Tsukebito come from the same heya.

The ichimon buttons on the stables page filter the list down to one ichimon at a time. The association does not publish an official ichimon table. We therefore compared two separate sources and kept only the entries where both agree (see the sources below). A stable we could not confirm is left as ichimon unknown — we do not assign one by guesswork.

Terms used on this site

Today's bouts取組: The card drawn up for that day. East is on the left and west on the right, and a bout with no result yet is marked as scheduled.
Head-to-head: The career record between two rikishi. The number on the left is the east rikishi's wins, and it counts only the bouts held in this site's own records.
Predicted rank: The rank the prediction engine calculates for the next tournament.
Actual rank: The rank the association actually published. Before publication this column does not appear.
Difference: ▲ means the actual rank is above the prediction (the prediction was too low), ▼ means it is below (the prediction was too high). If the two match, the row reads as a hit.
Within ±1 mai: The share of rikishi whose prediction was within one rank slot of the actual result. This is closer to accuracy as you experience it than an exact-match rate is.
Mean error: The average difference across all rikishi, measured in mai. Lower is better.
Confidence: How far the engine trusts the prediction on that row. Positions fixed by a written rule score high; positions filled in by calculation score low. Below Juryo it is the share of the same rank and record over ten years that landed within ±1 mai.

Sources

Capacities and internal rules were taken from the sources below. Capacities change, so the text says since when.