Banzuke

This article is about the banzuke document, for a list of wrestlers as ranked on an actual banzuke see List of active sumo wrestlers

A banzuke (番付^?), officially called banzuke-hyō (番付表^?) is a document listing the rankings of professional sumo wrestlers published before each official tournament or honbasho. The term can also refer to the rankings themselves. The document is normally released about two weeks before the tournament begins. On the banzuke wrestlers are divided into East, which is printed on the right, and West, which is printed on the left. Each wrestler's full shikona (ring name), hometown and rank is also listed. The top of the page starts with the highest ranked makuuchi wrestlers printed in the largest characters, down to the wrestlers in the lowest divisions which are written in much smaller characters. The names of gyōji (sumo referees), yobidashi (ushers/handymen), shimpan (judges), oyakata (elders of the Japan Sumo Association), and occasionally tokoyama (hairdressers) are also listed.

While not as old as sumo itself, the form and production of this document can be traced as far back as 1761, and has been a defining component of sumo for centuries. As is the traditional Japanese style, a banzuke is meant to be read right to left, top to bottom. It is considered a collector's item by sumo fans.

The rankings on the banzuke are decided by an assembly composed of 20 sumo judges and three supervisors who gather a few days after each official tournament. The assembly assigns ranks to over 600 wrestlers in six divisions based on their performance in the previous tournament. There are no precise rules for assigning rank, but the general rule is that a wrestler who achieved kachi-koshi (a majority of wins) will be raised in the rankings and a wrestler with a make-koshi (a majority of losses) will be lowered in the rankings. The degree of a wrestler's success or failure will help give the assembly a benchmark for figuring how far he rises or falls in the rankings.

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