Yobidashi

Hideo, tate-yobidashi at the May 2008 tournament

The maximum number of yobidashi allowed in the Sumo Association is 45.[4] As of April 2023, there are 45 yobidashi within the Sumo Association.[1]
Like gyōji, new yobidashi recruits can only begin their career under the age of 19 and must have completed compulsory education.[4] Most of them enter at 15[5] and it's not uncommon for most of the newcomers to be amateur wrestlers who haven't managed to break through but are keen to stay in the world of sumo, which fascinates them.[5][2] They then work up a career ladder roughly based on the ranking system for wrestlers, as described, until their retirement at 65.[6] The current ranking system was created in July 1993 and consists of the following nine ranks:[4]

• tate-yobidashi (立呼出)
• fuku-tate-yobidashi (副立呼出)
• san'yaku-yobidashi (三役呼出)
• makuuchi-yobidashi (幕内呼出)
• jūryō-yobidashi (十両呼出)
• makushita-yobidashi (幕下呼出)
• sandanme-yobidashi (三段目呼出)
• jonidan-yobidashi (序二段呼出)
• jonokuchi-yobidashi (序ノ口呼出)

Promotion through these ranks is based primarily on experience, although ability is also taken into account, particularly in promotions to the top ranks. Junior yobidashi however undergo six months of theoretical training in one of the Kokugikan's training rooms under the tutelage of their seniors.[5] It takes around 15 years for a yobidashi to be promoted from the bottom of the hierarchy to the rank of jūryō-yobidashi. The makuuchi-yobidashi are promoted only after 30 years of service.[4] Tate-yobidashi are not generally promoted until they have 45 to 50 years of experience.[2] Most of these ranks clearly follow those for the ranking of rikishi, or wrestlers, with the exception of the tate and fuku-tate ranks, which stand for chief and deputy chief, respectively. This system is identical to that applied for gyōji. Prior to July 1993, yobidashi were simply ranked first-class, second-class and so on. While a tate-yobidashi earns between 360,000 and 400,000 yen (~$2513/€2313), the average Japanese salary for a salaryman, a young apprentice earns just 14,000 yen (~$97/€89) a month.[2] In the same way that low-ranking wrestlers are deprived of certain freedoms, junior yobidashi are also forbidden to live anywhere other than in their stable and are not allowed to marry while sekitori-ranked yobidashi are allowed these liberties and have a tsukebito assigned to them.[5] The tasks that are undue to a yobidashi depend on his rank, although all yobidashi are versatile, with the highest ranks appearing at the end of the day and performing tasks that put them in the public eye.[5]

From October 2019 to December 2023, the tate-yobidashi position was vacant after the incumbent, Takuro, from Kasugano stable, was suspended for two tournaments and announced his retirement for hitting a junior yobidashi over the head after he caught him eating in the customer seating area on jungyō.[7] In September 2023, however, it was announced that Jirō, from Kasugano stable, would be promoted by two ranks to become tate-yobidashi from December 25 of the same year.[8]

After a tournament day is over, the yobidashi cover the dohyō

In keeping with their workman outfits, the yobidashi are actually the Japan Sumo Association's handymen, or odd-job men, and have a wide variety of tasks. Theses begin before the official opening of the tournaments (honbasho) with the construction of the dohyō (sumo ring). Construction begins five days before the first day of the tournament (shonichi). 40 tonnes of a special clay called Arakida[5] collected in the town of Kawagoe (Saitama Prefecture) are needed for its construction and the yobidashi use small trucks to transport the materials.[4] As well as building the ring, the yobidashi are also responsible for building the tsuriyane (the suspended roof above the dohyō). Supervision of the construction does not necessarily fall to the tate-yobidashi. Depending on their skills, a san'yaku-yobidashi may also supervise the construction of the ring.[4] During jungyō (tours), not all yobidashi are present, and it's not uncommon for local volunteers to help with dohyō construction.[9]

During the tournament, yobidashi are by far the busiest workers, staying for the whole of the fighting days, staying on site from 7.30am to 6pm.[2] The yobidashi's most emblematic task is to call the wrestlers into the ring for their match of the day. Dressed traditionally and holding a simple white fan, they call the wrestlers by their shikona, or ring-name, in a melodious way. The use of a fan was originally intended to prevent droplets of saliva from soiling the sacred surface of the dohyō. Because of the large number of wrestlers in the divisions, the yobidashi who enter the ring are notoriously using cheat sheets so as not to make any mistakes in public.[2] On even-numbered days, the call is made from the east, then the west, and on odd-numbered days the call is made in the other way round.[4]

The kenshō banners before a match

Another recognisable task of the yobidashi is parading the kenshō (advertising) banners around the ring before particular match-ups between popular wrestlers, which are often sponsored by companies. The yobidashi are responsible for banging the taiko drum at different times of the day. Originally, these different times were used to convey different messages to spectators outside the arena. The first drum sound is the ichiban-daiko (一番太鼓), played during the 15 days of the tournaments, for 30 minutes from 8am to announce the opening of a day of matches. At the end of the day, immediately after the yumitori-shiki (bow-twirling) ceremony, the hane-daiko (跳ね太鼓) is played to invite spectators leaving the arena to disperse.[4] High-ranking yobidashi finally accompany sekitori-ranked wrestlers in their dohyō-iri ring-entering ceremonies by sounding their hyōshigi, an instrument consisting of two pieces of cherry wood tied together with a cord.[5]
Other tasks on match days include: sweeping the ring, providing purification salt, handing towels to wrestlers, displaying banners showing that a match has been decided by default (usually due to a competitor's withdrawal), or subject to a rematch after the next two bouts, and ensuring that, during a bout, no wrestler injures himself on the bucket of chikara-mizu (power water) situated at each east and west side of the ring.[9] Junior yobidashi also help senior gyōji during the kaobure gonjō ceremony.[10] Less publicly, yobidashi also take care of many small requests made by the Sumo Association executives on judging duty or guard duty in the corridors, such as fetching drinks or cigarettes.[2]

Nevertheless, the responsibility for yobidashi is not simply confined to tournament days. As yobidashi, like wrestlers, belong to the stables, they are also entrusted with tasks by their stablemasters, such as running errands or keeping track of wrestlers' progress during training sessions.[6] When a stable's keikoba (training area) needs rebuilding, yobidashi from the same ichimon (clan) to which the stable belongs take charge of the construction.[5]

It is also traditional for yobidashi to write folk songs, called jinku, based on sumo life.

Yobidashi take a single name as their ring name, unlike both the wrestlers (rikishi) and gyōji who have both a surname and given name.[2] This may be related to the practice of the Edo period in Japan whereby only samurai class persons could hold a surname. The wrestlers (involved in a martial activity) and gyōji (who were lettered) could be construed as having positions consistent with a samurai status, while the yobidashi did not. As in most traditional Japanese activities, the professional name of the yobidashi is sometimes derived from the name of the master who taught them, borrowing a kanji from the master's name.[5]

As from July 1993 the upper ranked yobidashi also had their names included on the banzuke, the ranking sheet produced prior to each honbasho.[4] Apart from a brief period previously, only the gyōji had traditionally been included on the banzuke in addition to the wrestlers and their training stablemasters, or oyakata, again indicating the difference in status of the two jobs.

Traditional outfit of a yobidashi.

The outfit worn by the yobidashi is loosely based on an old style Japanese workman's outfit, with tatsuki-hakama (裁着袴), working trousers, and tabi socks.[11] The kimono worn by the yobidashi often displays sponsors' names in black characters.[6] As there are currently eight main sponsors of the Sumo Association,[12] each yobidashi has eight different kimono which he wears during all 15 days of each basho. The costume is the same for senior and junior ranked yobidashi and only the kimono worn on the torso varies in color and the names on the back. Yobidashi often decide on the colours and designs within an ichimon, but the kimono are usually given by sponsors. Hakama on the other hand are presented by rikishi who have been promoted to ōzeki or yokozuna as a commemorative gift and the shikona, or ring name, of the said wrestler can be seen at top of the back of the hakama.[5]

• List of sumo stables
• Heya, sumo stable
• Other personnel of the Japan Sumo Association

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yobidashi.

• List of current yobidashi at Japan Sumo Association homepage
• Video on YouTube - Sumo Prime Time yobidashi episode