Judge (sumo)

Shimpan (審判) or Shinpan are the ring-side judges of a professional sumo bout. In a sumo honbasho tournament, five shimpan sit around the ring to observe which wrestler wins the matchup, with two additional shimpan serving as video review officials in another room. When judging tournament bouts, they wear formal Japanese dress of otokomono, haori with mon, and hakama. At the end of each bout, an initial decision is given by the gyōji (the ring referee), which is usually correct and no action is taken by the shimpan.