I figured I’d start with the following group of questions from Kim since they are all related and will give some basic information on sumo tournaments:

How often are the sumo tournaments? How long do they last, usually? Do they have sumo tournaments outside of Japan? What does/do the winner/winners of the tournament win?

These questions are a great opportunity to get into some of the basics of sumo. First of all, the sumo that we usually watch is professional sumo. Just like in hockey or football, there are amateur and pro level associations and they each run things a little differently. The only country that has pro sumo is Japan. Their National Sumo Association has 6 tournaments (basho) per year, in alternating months of the year. So they always fall in January, March, May, July, September, and November. The tournaments last for 15 days and always start on a Sunday (though if you watch live coverage and live in Canada, it starts on Saturday for us).

Outside Japan the Sumo Association will hold exhibition tournaments. But there are also amateur sumo associations in other countries that will hold tournaments as well. In fact, sometimes foreign amateur wrestlers get scouted by pro sumo stables in Japan.

As for winnings and compensation (just on the pro level) that gets a bit complicated. First of all, it depends on which division you fight in. The top two divisions receive a monthly salary while the lower “trainee” divisions only receive a small allowance. The amount of monthly salary varies depending on the wrestlers rank, but goes up to about $30,000 for the Yokozuna, which is the top rank.

In addition to the basic salary there are bonuses available for each tournament depending on how well they wrestle. The level of bonus goes up as their winning record does. If a wrestler finishes top in their division or has a perfect tournament record there is also a special bonus. (I couldn’t find any approximate figures for this.)

Finally, there are also sponsorships. Companies will often sponsor certain matches during the tournament offering up cash or other gifts. The average sponsorship is approximately $600, of which about half goes to taxes. A given match can have multiple sponsors or a company can buy multiple sponsorships. The most common matches that get sponsored are division championship matches, though sometimes a company will sponsor every match that a particular wrestler fights. Even when a particular wrestler is sponsored, the money/gifts are awarded to whomever wins that match.

The winner of the top division also receives other sponsored gifts such as trophies, plates, statues, etc.

Got more questions about some aspect of sumo? Ask in the comments and I’ll do what I can to research the answer for you!

Related posts:

  1. Sumo Culture Topics
  2. Sumo Culture: Stables
  3. Featured Sumo Wrestler – Hakuho
  4. Featured Sumo Wrestler – Amuru