Sumo Association

The Japan Sumo Association (日本相撲協会, Nihon Sumō Kyōkai^?) is the body that operates and controls professional sumo wrestling in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Rikishi (active wrestlers), gyōji (referees), tokoyama (hairdressers), and yobidashi (ushers/handymen), are all on the Association's payroll, but the organisation is run entirely by toshiyori (elders). The organization has its headquarters in Yokoami, Sumida, Tokyo.

The precursor to a full-fledged organization began in the Edo period with sumo bouts that were often held to raise funds for new construction or repair of bridges, temples, shrines and other public buildings. Tokugawa Ieyasu specifically, wanted "street" sumo prohibited and determined sumo should only be held for charitable purposes, and it was known as kanjin sumo. The wrestlers were also paid with extra revenue from these events. This is when the first organized competitions with paid wrestlers began. Written rankings, known as banzuke were introduced from 1761 and this is where the committee that organized these rankings began to emerge as an organization. In this time, sumo came to be called "Ōzumō", "the big sumo" or professional sumo.

In the 19th century, the Meiji Restoration leaders abolished the shogunate and the feudal system that supported it. In this restructuring, local rulers, or daimyō lost the control they had over sumo and financing that had previously come from it. To adapt and survive, the association introduced the change to the system of salaries and directors that is known today. In 1884, the Meiji emperor went to see a sumo tournament which helped to give sumo wrestling a reputation as a national event.