About Sumo, Simply

Who writes it

My name is Yamachan (やまちゃん). I am Japanese, born and raised in Japan, and I have followed sumo tournament by tournament for years. I am not a former wrestler, not an academic, and not a news outlet. What I can offer is the view from the stands and the living room in the country where the sport happens — and that is exactly the view that is missing in English.

That is also the site's limit, and it is stated here on purpose: this is explanation, not reporting. There are no results tables, no injury news and no interviews.

How the pages are written

Every page starts from one question a beginner actually asks, and answers it in plain English. Japanese terms appear where they are genuinely used in commentary, always with a reading and a meaning, and every one of them is collected in the glossary.

One thing you should know about the English itself: I am Japanese, and English is not a language I command easily. The facts on this site are the part I am confident about — the phrasing may sometimes be clumsy or imprecise. If a sentence reads oddly to you, it is far more likely to be my English than a strange fact about sumo.

Pages are revised when they turn out to be wrong or unclear, in the facts or in the wording. Corrections of either kind are welcome.

Where the diagrams come from

All diagrams on this site are original drawings, made for the page they appear on.

Where material made by someone else is genuinely needed to explain a point, it may be quoted — within the limits of fair quotation, kept to what the explanation requires, and always with its source named. Nothing is presented as if it were mine.

How it is funded

The site carries advertising, and some links are affiliate links — if you book or buy through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Nothing is recommended because it pays. If a page suggests a way to watch a tournament or a place to sit, it is because it is the answer to the question, and it would say the same thing with no commission attached.

Video

The same explanations are being made as short videos, narrated in Japanese with English subtitles. When that channel is live it will be linked from here.