Essential Links for a new Sumo Fan.

The below links should give you a good start towards understanding this wonderful sport. I  will be adding more links as I find them.

1. Japanese Sumo Association (in English).

2, NHK Sumo Highlights of the Haru (Spring Tournament). Highlights of all days at one address. Also has links (at top) to info on Rikishi (wrestlers), techniques and finishing moves (with videos), Sumopedia (56 short < 5 mins) videos on all aspects of the sport; and basics (history, rankings etc.) Probably the best single 1 stop for basic information about the the current Tournament. (It will be easy for you to get ahead of me. Please, no spoilers. In future, I will have a setup where I don't fall behind. :)  Grand Sumo Bouts of the Day (15 March Basho bouts). Playlist is kept until the next Basho begins. Playlist also archives 5 minute highlights of each complete Basho (scroll down to find).

3. Sumo Reference: Easily the best sports reference and statistics site I have seen. Keeps you current, and also allows you to sort anything by anything. Key terms--see the links across the top of the page:

A. Banzuke: Rankings.

Yokozuna (must win 2 consecutive tournaments at Ozeki level (see below) to advance to this level--Ys are never demoted, they retire instead). For the complexities see the link.

List of Yokozuna (Wikipedia), also links to lists of O, S, and K below. There have been 72 Yokozunas since around 1750.

Ozeki (33 cumulative wins in 3 consecutive Tournaments is the requisite to get to this level. Ozeki must have a winning record (kachi-koshi) in each tournament in order to keep the rank. See the link for the complex demotion process. They can be demoted only 1 level.

Sekiwaki: (11-4 Tournament record as a Komasubi (see below) will get a promotion to S. A losing record 7-8 or worse (make-koshi) in a tournament will usually cause a drop in rank. For the complexities see the link.

Komusubi: I could find no standard rule for promotion to Komusubi. One needs to be a high ranking Maegashira and have one (or more) winning records (kachi-koshi) in tournaments. For the complexities see the link

Maegashira (18=lowest; 1=highest): Movement up or down depends on record in the previous tournament. For the complexities see the link. A high ranking M who wins a tournament can be promoted to K.

Before each Tournament a Banzuke is produced that gives the participants and their ranking. This document has been used for this purpose since the mid-18th Century and is the basis for the historical rankings available today. Each one is a work of art. For more on the Banzuke (in English) see Le Monde de Sumo (No. 6, October 2004).

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B. Torikumi: Bouts; C. Yusho: Championships; D. Sancho: Awards given at the end of tournaments: Gino-sho (technique prize); Shukun-sho (outstanding performance); Kanto-sho (figthing spirit); E. Rikishi (wrestlers); F. Kabu; Coaching licenses. A list of finishing moves by Rikishi is also also provided, but a little more difficult to find. See if you can.

Play with the database and you can see that the different variable sorts are endless. For many of the entries there are links to videos. The database has a large library of videos, especially from about 20?? to 2015.

Sumo Reference is also a great place to follow the current tournament while it is going on.

Chris Sumo Youtube Commentaries (essential English commentaries about various aspects of Sumo).
Glossary of Sumo Terms: (Wikipedia)
Glossary of finishing moves (Kimarite): (Wikimedia)
Kimarite (Wikipedia)
Five different types of errors that lose a match (Hiwaza) (Wikipedia)
A History of Sumo (in graphics), by Matthew Conlen (538.com). 6 graphs including an interactive graph.
Archives of Sumo Fan Magazine This was a magazine that was in print from 2005 to 2012. Available in 3 languages (English, Spanish, and German), it is a compact history of that time. It featured Basho (Tournament) reviews from the time, and articles on all other aspects of Sumo. Especially interesting is a series of "Rikishi of Old," 36 articles, mostly biographies of old Yokozunas. Also of interest is the section on Sumo 101, and Kamarite (finishing moves) Focus. This is a treasure chest. (added March 29, 2020)

Sumo (Wikipedia)
Sumo (McGill University Wikispeedia) An excellent English Language introduction to the sport. (added March 24, 2020).
Tachai: Sumo, Sumo, Sumo, blog .A fascinating blog that covers all aspects of the sport, with links to it's Youtube channel) (added March 26, 2020).
Japan Times: Basho Reports Section: One of the best ways to follow Bashos as they happen. Results, match articles, standings, Basho schedules, rankings, etc. (Added April 28, 2020)
Sumo 101: Japan Times: A series of nearly 100 short English language articles that ran in 2018-19 that cover every imaginable aspect of the sport. Indispensable for the new fan. (Added March 30, 2020).
Sumo: A Pocket Guide: by David Shapiro (Google Books Preview). (Added April 28, 2020). Available in print or e-book.
Sumo: The Sport and the Tradition, by J.A. Sargeant (Google Books Preview). Reprint of classic early (1959) English language book about the sport. (Added May 1, 2020). Available in print or e-book.
Stable (Beya) Guide (Japanese Sumo Association (in English) (Added July 22, 2020).

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