Sekitori
Encyclopedia
A sekitori is a sumo
wrestler who is ranked in one of the top two professional divisions: makuuchi
and juryo.
Currently there are 70 rikishi in these divisions. The benefits of being a sekitori compared to lower ranked wrestlers include:
The name literally translates to having taken the barrier, as only a relatively small fraction of those who enter professional sumo achieve sekitori status.
Sumo
is a competitive full-contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally...
wrestler who is ranked in one of the top two professional divisions: makuuchi
Makuuchi
or is the top division of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers , ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments....
and juryo.
Currently there are 70 rikishi in these divisions. The benefits of being a sekitori compared to lower ranked wrestlers include:
- to receive a salary and bonus (others merely receive an allowance)
- to have one's own supporters' club
- to wear high quality men's kimonoKimonoThe is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...
and other items of attire - to have a private room in the training stable
- to be able to get married and live away from the training stable
- to have junior rikishi to effectively act as their personal servants
- to wear a silk mawashiMawashiIn sumo, a mawashi is the belt that the rikishi wears during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a keshō-mawashi as part of the ring entry ceremony or dohyo-iri.-Mawashi:...
with stiffened cords (called sagari) in tournament bouts - to participate in the ring entrance ceremony and wear keshō-mawashi
- to wear the more elaborate oicho chonmageChonmageThe chonmage is a form of Japanese traditional haircut worn by men. It is most commonly associated with the Edo Period and samurai, and in recent times with sumo wrestlers...
hairstyle on formal occasions - to become an elder in the Sumo Association if one is sekitori for long enough
The name literally translates to having taken the barrier, as only a relatively small fraction of those who enter professional sumo achieve sekitori status.