is the term for a

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

in Japanese. This article focuses on championships in the sport of professional

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

. It is awarded in each of the six annual '' honbasho'' or official tournaments, to the wrestler who wins the most bouts. ''Yūshō'' are awarded in all six professional sumo divisions. The prize money for a top ''

makuuchi , or , is the top division of Professional sumo divisions, the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous ...

'' division championship is currently 10 million yen, while for the lowest '' jonokuchi'' division the prize is 100,000 yen. A runner-up is referred to as a ''jun-yūshō.'' Perhaps surprisingly, considering that most of the interest in tournaments today revolves around who will win the ''yūshō'', the concept of a prize for a wrestler's individual performance is a relatively recent one. Legendary wrestlers such as Tanikaze and Raiden are credited today with winning many championships, but they are all unofficial and are really nothing more than a "best tournament record." The individual ''yūshō'' idea evolved gradually, from wrestlers simply picking up cash thrown into the ring by spectators after winning exciting matches (common in the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

), to wrestlers being given trophies and prizes from private sponsors for performances over an entire tournament (beginning in the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

). Trophies were at first given only for undefeated records, but since draws, no decisions and absences were all possible outcomes, several wrestlers could be eligible and it did not necessarily go to the man with the most wins. In January 1900, the system recognised today began to take shape when the

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

'' Mainichi Shinbun'' newspaper announced it would give a prize of a '' keshō-mawashi'' decorative apron for either an undefeated record or for the fewest losses, and in the event of a tie, the wrestler who had defeated the most high-ranking opponents would win the prize. Thus the principle of an individual champion was established. Takamiyama Torinosuke's victory in June 1909 was the first to be declared a ''yūshō'', and the system was formally recognised by the

Japan Sumo Association The , officially the ; sometimes abbreviated JSA or NSK, and more usually called Sumo Kyōkai, is the governing body that operates and controls Professional sports, professional sumo wrestling, called , in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Min ...

in 1926 when the

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and

organisations merged. From June 1909 to October 1931 and from January 1940 to July 1947, there was also a group competition called . The wrestlers were divided into two teams, East and West, and it was the team with the better overall score that was awarded a prize. Though as noted, all six divisions award a championship, the top division championship receives by far the most attention. Consequently, in addition to their prize money, top division ''yūshō'' winners receive the . It was first donated by

Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

, an avid sumo fan, in 1925 as the . It was changed to its current name upon Hirohito's accession to the emperor's throne in December 1926. There is also a banner with the names of past winners. Both are presented by the chairman of the Sumo Association. There are also many prizes and trophies given by prefectural and foreign governments, as well as businesses. For several years the French President

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

, a noted sumo fan, donated a trophy. The wrestler is given replicas of all the trophies to keep. In July 2010, and again in May 2011, neither the Emperor's Cup nor any other prizes were handed out, because of controversies over illegal betting and match-fixing respectively. However, in both cases the ''yūshō'' were still official and counted on the wrestlers' records. An unbeaten 15-0 score is known as ''zenshō-yūshō'' and is fairly rare; most ''yūshō'' winning scores are either 14-1 or 13-2. The wrestler who has won the most top division ''yūshō'' is Hakuhō with 45, followed by Taihō with 32, and Chiyonofuji with 31. Futabayama won 12 ''yūshō'' in an era when only two tournaments were held each year. The first foreign wrestler to win the ''makuuchi'' division ''yūshō'' was the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

an born Takamiyama Daigorō in June 1972. There were no others until Konishiki Yasokichi won his first championship in November 1989. However, due to the unprecedented dominance of foreign wrestlers in recent years, led by the

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n ''yokozuna'' Asashōryū and Hakuhō, there were no Japanese-born winners between Tochiazuma Daisuke in January 2006 and Kotoshōgiku in January 2016. The past few years have also brought multiple other Japanese champions.

Playoffs

*''Any playoffs are indicated on individual wrestler articles' tournament records as one P for every other playoff challenger the wrestler faced in that tournament. Since 1947 a playoff system (''kettei-sen'') has been in place to determine the winner of the ''yūshō'' if two or more wrestlers finish with an identical score. Until then, the ''yūshō'' would go to whoever was the higher in rank, as it was presumed they had faced better quality opposition, but this caused controversy in 1928, when '' ōzeki'' Hitachiiwa was chosen over '' maegashira'' despite the fact that one of his wins had come by default. There was similar criticism when new ''maegashira'' Chiyonoyama was denied a championship in November 1945, despite winning all his matches. Playoffs with more than two wrestlers involved are fairly common in lower divisions, but have only happened a handful of times in the top division. A three way playoff occurred three times in the 1990s and recently in January 2025, with Hōshōryū, Kinbōzan, and Ohō fighting against each other (with Hōshōryū subsequently winning the ''yūshō''), with a four way playoff in March 1997 and a unique five way playoff in November 1996. In such cases lots are drawn to decide who fights first, and the first wrestler to win two consecutive bouts takes the ''yūshō''. A playoff is the only occasion in which wrestlers from the same stable (or '' heya'') and relatives can meet in tournament competition. The wrestlers who have taken part in the most top division playoffs are Takanohana II with ten (won five, lost five) and Hakuhō with ten (won six, lost four). Chiyonofuji has the highest percentage of victories, with a perfect 6-0 playoff record.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yusho Sumo terminology Sport in Japan

Playoffs

See also

References