How to use this site
What is this site? This site contains a directory of all members of the Japan Sumo Association (Nihon Sumo Kyokai) in the current yearbook (2026) and previous yearbooks going back to 2000. The data is presented in a number of different views which you select via a list of options across the top of the page. Some of the views have subsidiary choices which are separately listed when that view is selected.

The default view is the heya view in which heya are selected from an alphabetical list. When you click on the heya name, the personnel in that heya are displayed.

There are two rikishi views, "Rikishi by division" shows rikishi listed alphabetically within each of the divisions and across all divisions. "Rikishi by shusshin" shows rikishi listed alphabetically according to their registered place of birth.

The other lists are oyakata, gyoji, yobidashi, tokoyama and "other staff" (wakaimonogashira and sewanin).

Most of the entries have pictures. The exceptions are:
   - rikishi who joined during the previous year but retired before the new directory was produced.
   - non-makuuchi rikishi whose active period concluded before 2000.
Access to previous years etc Access to previous years, kabu, summary data for each year and special categories is via the bottom menu.
Links to Sumo Reference database All rikishi (and staff members who used to be rikishi) have a direct link to the Sumo Reference database entry for the rikishi. You just click on the shikona at the top of the entry in the case of the rikishi, or in the case of an oyakata, wakaimonogashira or sewanin, click on the shikona where it says Former Yokozuna _Chiyonofuji_ for example.
Picture history If you click on the picture of a member who has been active since 2000, you can access a composite picture of that member from each year of his membership back to the later of his debut/the year 2000. This feature is unavailable from the views "Makuuchi rikishi of the modern era" and "Debut".
Printing Views within sub-frames are subdivided so as to make them paginate cleanly for printing. You need to print just the sub-frame. In Firefox this is done by right-clicking within the sub-frame, selecting "This Frame" and then selecting "Print Frame...". In Chrome, you will need to open the sub-frame in a window or tab of its own. e.g. to print the members of Dewanoumi Beya, right-click on the name Dewanoumi in the heya list and select "Open link in new window". The new window can then be printed in the normal way.
Yearbook/
Date of validity 		The special categories pages have miscellaneous reference dates as detailed below. All other pages are valid at the date of the selected yearbook which is largely based on the banzuke of the preceding November.
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Special categories This section is for miscellaneous collections of rikishi and NSK staff not fixed to any particular banzuke date. The categories which are currently represented are:
Family
- Brothers: This section is divided into pairs of brothers at the top of the page and families of more than two brothers at the bottom.
- Sekitori brothers: This section shows a subset of the Brothers page where only brothers who were sekitori are included.
- Sekitori fathers and sons: This section shows families where both father and son(s) were sekitori.
- Twins: This section contains pairs of twins and pairs of probable twins of recent times with pictures available for all those who have been active since 2000.
Prizes etc
- Kinboshi by rikishi: This section contains details of all kinboshi winners, arranged by rikishi. It comprises a list of all kinboshi winners down the left side of the page. Selecting a rikishi brings up details of all the kinboshi won by that rikishi.
- Kinboshi by year: This section contains details of all kinboshi winners since 1910 arranged by year. This category is divided into decades selectable from near the top of the page.
- Kinboshi by yokozuna: This section contains details of all kinboshi arranged by yokozuna. It comprises a list of all kinboshi-losing yokozuna down the left side of the page. Selecting a yokozuna brings up details of all the kinboshi given up by that yokozuna.
- NEW: Lower division yusho: This section contains details of all winners of yusho in divisions other than makuuchi since the start of the yusho system in 1909 arranged by year. This category is divided into decades selectable from near the top of the page. Rikishi details are accurate at the yusho date. Rikishi winning yusho since 2000 have pictures. All rikishi except for those that made their debut in the yusho year have their pictures taken from the current yearbook. Rikishi making their debut in the yusho year have pictures taken from the following yearbook, where available.
- Makuuchi yusho by rikishi: This section contains details of all makuuchi yusho winners arranged by rikishi. It comprises a list of all makuuchi yusho winning rikishi down the left side of the page. Selecting a rikishi brings up details of all the yusho won by that rikishi.
- Makuuchi yusho by year: This section contains details of all yusho winners in makuuchi division since the start of the yusho system in 1909 arranged by year. All available yusho portraits are shown with complete coverage from the 1960s onwards. About half of the basho from the 1950s have portraits available but there are none from before 1950. This category is divided into a single large section encompassing the years up to 1949 and into decades thereafter, selectable from near the top of the page.
- Sansho by rikishi: This section contains details of all tournament prize winners, arranged by rikishi. It comprises a list of all sansho winners down the left side of the page. Selecting a rikishi brings up details of all the sansho won by that rikishi.
- Sansho by year: This section contains details of all tournament prize winners since inception in November 1947 arranged by year. This category is divided into decades selectable from near the top of the page.
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Special categories continued Ranks (Modern era rikishi)
- Yokozuna: this section contains all yokozuna since the 19th Yokozuna Hitachiyama Taniemon. Entries are sorted on the date of yokozuna promotion with the most recent yokozuna shown first.
- Ozeki: This section contains all ozeki since Kunimiyama Etsukichi. It does not include ozeki who went on to become Yokozuna, whether or not they were listed on the banzuke as such.
- Sekiwake: This section contains all sekiwake since Sakahoko Yojiro. It does not include sekiwake who went on to become ozeki.
- Komusubi: This section contains all komusubi since Ryogoku Kajinosuke. It does not include komusubi who went on to become sekiwake.
- Makuuchi rikishi: This section contains all rikishi who have competed in makuuchi division since Yokozuna Umegatani Totaro who made his makuuchi debut in January 1898. Entries are sorted on the date of makuuchi debut with the most recent entrant shown first. Kesho-mawashi pictures are available for most of these rikishi, with colour pictures available for those who made their debut from January 2000 onwards. This section is divided into decades, selectable from near the top of the page.

Amateur affiliation
- Saitama Sakae Alumni: This section shows rikishi who were pupils at Saitama Sakae School and attended the Sumo club.
- University rikishi (by heya): This section shows rikishi who have been to university grouped by heya and subdivided into sekitori/non-sekitori.
- University rikishi (by university): This section shows rikishi who have been to university grouped by university and subdivided into sekitori/non-sekitori.
(The two preceding sections also show an A-Z list of all the University-educated rikishi divided into sekitori/non-sekitori.)
Urakata
- The Rijicho: This section shows all the rijicho back to the foundation of the Kyokai in 1928.
- The Tate Gyoji: This section shows the Tate Gyoji of the modern era, with Kimura Shonosuke from the 16th generation onwards in a section at the top and Shikimori Inosuke from the ninth generation onwards in a section at the bottom.
Miscellaneous
- Foreigners: This section contains all rikishi from outside Japan, separated into different countries, with pictures available for all those who have been active since 2000. There are also four special categories for rikishi with mixed ancestry or those for whom their shusshin does not match their country of birth.
- Mobile Match-fixing Scandal: This section shows the rikishi who were sacked in the match-fixing scandal of 2011 and the oyakata punished.
- Shunjuen Incident: This section shows rikishi who were involved in the Shunjuen Incident of January 1932
- Statistics: This section shows tables of statistics. It currently includes:
- - kinboshi total per rikishi
- - kinboshi total per yokozuna
- - makuuchi yusho total per rikishi
- - sansho total per rikishi
All tables are sorted in decreasing order. Active rikishi are highlighted. In addition to the usual database links to the rikishi, the number column links to the expanded rikishi data for kinboshi, sansho or yusho.
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Kabu This section shows elders of the Sumo association organised into elder names. Holders of each name during modern times can be displayed by selecting that name from the list down the left-hand side. Access to the kabu page for the selected name at the Sumo Reference database is via the name at the top of the page. Access to the kabu page for an individual is via the member name at the top of his entry.
Summary The summary pages show brief statistics of the heya and major changes since 2000. The links to the pages are arranged in a group for each year. The first two links relate to heya:
- the leftmost link (labelled with the year itself) shows a summary of the personnel in each heya at the start of the year.
- the link "Changes" shows events affecting the heya since the start of the year (heya closures, opening of new heya, heya inheritance and takeover and transfer of personnel between heya). As with the main heya section, all rikishi (and staff members who used to be rikishi) have a direct link to the Sumo Reference database entry for the rikishi.
The third and fourth links relate to rikishi and are directly linked to the Sumo Reference database entry for the rikishi:
- the link "Debut" shows all rikishi who joined during the year. The accompanying picture, where present, is the rikishi's first yearbook picture (and therefore really belongs to the following year).
- the link "Intai" shows all rikishi who retired during the year.
Japanese Member names are now displayed in Japanese as well as Roman characters. Where the Romanised member name is a link to the English-language side of the Sumo Reference database, the Japanese version of the member name is a link to the equivalent page on the Japanese-language side of the database.
Contact To report errors, suggest improvements or otherwise comment on any of the content or presentation, feel free to e-mail me at heya@nagioff.com