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The Six Divisions of Sumo, Explained

Six names, from the bottom of the sport to the top. Learning them takes about a minute — and one of the six gaps between them is worth more than all the others put together.

Ranks  ·  6 min read  ·  Follows "The banzuke explained"

The banzuke is one continuous list, but it is divided into six named bands. Every wrestler in professional sumo is in one of them.

The six, top to bottom

Name

What it is

1

幕内 makuuchi

The top division. These are the bouts most broadcasts show, and the ranks inside it — yokozuna, ozeki, sekiwake, komusubi, maegashira — are the names you will hear most.

2

十両 juryo

The second division. The lowest one whose wrestlers draw a salary.

3

幕下 makushita

The third division, immediately below the salaried line. One promotion away from becoming a 関取.

4

三段目 sandanme

The fourth division.

5

序二段 jonidan

The fifth division.

6

序ノ口 jonokuchi

The bottom division, where most wrestlers start.

Most wrestlers begin at the bottom and work up. A few enter higher: a man with a strong record in student or amateur sumo can be admitted part-way up rather than at the very bottom.

The line that matters

Five gaps separate the six divisions, and they are not equal. The one between juryo and makushita — between the second and third — is the boundary of the paid ranks.

Above it, a wrestler is a 関取 (sekitori): salaried, with the status and the wardrobe that go with it. Below it, he is not.

The six divisions with the number of bouts each fights, showing fifteen bouts above the salaried line and seven below it. DIVISION BOUTS IN A TOURNAMENT SALARY 幕内 MAKUUCHI 15 yes 十両 JURYO 15 yes THE LINE — above it you are a 関取 (sekitori) 幕下 MAKUSHITA 7 no 三段目 SANDANME 7 no 序二段 JONIDAN 7 no 序ノ口 JONOKUCHI 7 no
The same line shows up in three places at once: pay, the number of bouts, and how a wrestler lives inside his stable.

The number of bouts changes too

This is the practical difference most viewers miss. In the top two divisions a wrestler fights fifteen bouts — one on each day of the tournament. In every division below them he normally fights seven, spread across the fifteen days.

That changes what a winning record means. Above the line it is eight wins; below it, four. And with only seven bouts, a single loss weighs a great deal more.

Why makushita is the division to watch

The third division is the last one outside the salaried ranks — and the closest to them. A wrestler at the top of it is a single promotion away from becoming a 関取 (sekitori), with everything that changes about his pay, his duties and his daily life. The bouts near the top of makushita decide who crosses.

What this changes about watching

Broadcasts show the top division, and often some of the second. The four divisions below that are the majority of the sport by number of wrestlers, and you will rarely see them on television.

Knowing they exist changes what the top division looks like. The great majority of the men in makuuchi came up through those four, seven bouts at a time, cooking and cleaning between them. (Not all: a wrestler admitted part-way up on the strength of a student or amateur record may start as high as makushita.)

What to watch for

If a broadcast shows bouts before the top division starts, watch a few of them rather than waiting for the famous names.

You are looking at men for whom this fortnight is seven bouts, not fifteen, and for whom a promotion is not a better seat on the sheet but a different life. That is a good deal of what makes the middle of the banzuke worth following.