Yobidashi

Hideo, tate-yobidashi at the May 2008 tournament

A yobidashi (呼出 or 呼び出し, lit. 'call'), often translated in English as "usher",[1] "ring attendant",[2] or "ring announcer",[3] is an employee of the Japan Sumo Association, responsible for various tasks essential to the traditional running of professional sumo tournaments (honbasho) in Japan. The yobidashi are involved in building the dohyō (wrestling ring) or calling wrestlers (rikishi) to the ring when it is their turn to fight. They are also entrusted with other roles, both administrative and artistic, in the service of the stable to which they are attached.

Established during the Heian period, the role of yobidashi was not codified until the Tenmei era. Nicknamed "sumo's workhorses" by former sekiwake Takamiyama,[4] the yobidashi are required to wear traditional clothing in public and are subject to a strict hierarchy in their organisation.

  1. ^ "Yobidashi (Ushers) List". Japan Sumo Association. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  2. ^ Hall 1997, p. 52.
  3. ^ Gunning, John (29 August 2018). "Unsung yobidashi keep sumo running smoothly". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  4. ^ Kuhaulua, Jesse. Takamiyama: the world of sumo (PDF) (in French). New York: Weatherhill. p. 96. ISBN 0870111957. Retrieved 23 June 2023 – via Dosukoi Sumo Magazine.