Dohyo Matsuri

Dohyo Matsuri (土俵祭) or dohyo consecration ceremony is a special ritual done on the morning of the day prior to each of the six tournaments of the year. It is meant to purify the dohyo or clay ring before any bouts are fought. It is also held each time a dohyo is rebuilt at any of the training stables. This ceremony was also known as "Katayakaiki" (方屋開き), as a very important part of this ceremony is a speech by the head priest that opens the tournament, this speech goes back centuries of tradition, estabilished first by the influential clan on sumo, the Yoshida clan in the 1790s.

## **Overview**

As many traditions in sumo, this ceremony harks back to Shintoism, the native religion of Japan. It probably came from ceremonies when sumo was still only done at Shinto Shrines for religious purposes. It also stems from prefectural sumo rituals, which professional sumo once also was. Similar to prefectural sumo, this ritual prays for "the longevity of Heaven and Earth, that the winds and rains are favorable and bountiful harvests of the 5 grains (rice, wheat, proso millet, foxtail millet and beans)" and also praying for the protection of the deities of aspects of sumo: Ame-no-tajikarao, Takemikazuchino and Nomi no Sukune; and the aspects of the seasons: Spring Azure Dragon of the East (青龍), Summer Vermillion Bird of the South (朱雀), Autumn White Tiger of the West (白虎) and the Winter Black Tortoise of the North (玄武).

On the dohyo there is a small altar consisting of seven gohei (御幣) placed around sanbo stands with offerings, called shizumemono (鎮め物), to the kami and a sacred sakaki (japanese evergreen) branch. The shizumemono are small portions of chestnuts, kaya nuts, dried kelp, dried squid, washed rice and salt alongside two ceremonial flasks with sake.

## **Participants**

Three gyoji preside over the ceremony, the position of head priest is filled by the tate-gyoji or the highest ranked gyoji available and he has two assistant priests, always one makuuchi-kaku gyoji and one juryo-kaku gyoji, who are called wakigyoji (脇行司). All three are dressed in shinto priest (kannushi)'s robes, consisting of white robes called ho, eboshi hats, tabi socks and straw sandals and holding ceremonial scepters called shaku. The tate-gyoji is differenciated by the color of the robes he wears and by using a hat called kanmuri instead of the eboshi wore by the wakigyoji.

Sitting outside of the dohyo are all other gyoji, who must accompany the ceremony as they are expected to one day perform it. The oyakata present are either members of the Association's board or are in or related to the judging department and the only wrestlers that may attend are those ranked komusubi and higher, with some yobidashi present as well as they also perform some smaller tasks in the ceremony.

This ceremony is normally open to the public to watch. During the COVID-19 pandemic years between 2020 and 2023 it was closed to just the JSA members, but it was instead livestreamed on Youtube so fans could watch from home.

## **Ceremony**

The ceremony starts with the most senior yobidashi clapping the hyoshigi and the three presiding priests entering the arena.

#### **Purification ceremony**

Firstly, the makuuchi-kaku priest climbs on the dohyo, kneels, claps twice, asks the congregation to rise and bow, before chanting a purification prayer. He then rises with the sakaki branch and uses it as an onusa wand to purify each side of the dohyo by swinging it at shoulder height 3 times, to the left, right and left again, this set of actions is called kiyoharae (清秡). Once all four sides were purified, he returns to a kneeling position, claps twice again and leaves the dohyo.

#### **Purification prayer by the head priest**

The head priest then climbs on the dohyo, sprinkles some salt in the ring, before chanting a prayer he himself wrote, the prayer is for three kami of sumo and the four aspects of the seasons. This prayer generally consists of asking for a good weather for the duration of the tournament, harkoning back to when sumo was held outdoors, protection of the wrestlers by the deities and for a good harvest of the 5 traditional grains of Japan. After finishing the prayer, he remains kneeled.

#### **Libation**

Both wakigyoji climb the dohyo, each one collecting a gohei and placing them on the four corners of the dohyo. After placing the gohei, the wakigyoji receive the sake flasks from the head priest. With the sake, they libate the four dohyo corners with three short pours of sake on the raised age-dawara rice bale of each corner. Finally, after removing most altar objects from the dohyo, the three priests collect the final gohei, which are handed to yobidashi.

#### **Katayakaiko Opening Speech and Offerings**

A san'yaku gyoji, not part of the group of priests presiding the ceremony, will be at the hanamichi and pronounce "katayakaiko" (片屋開口). This is the call for a very traditional "opening speech" called kojitsugonjo (故実言上), by the head priest. Kneeled down, he will wave his lacquered gunbai (war fan) to the left, right and left again. He then recites the opening speech that basically goes: "From the beginning, Heaven and Earth opened up to divide light and darkness, Yin and Yang. That what is pure and clear is yang and rises, this is called victory. That what is heavy and cloudy is yin and sinks, this is called defeat. Winning and losing is determined according to Heaven, Earth and natural law but is to be played out by men. This sacred clay and straw bale ring constitutes our festival for a bountiful harvest, the circle covers all directions and we shall decide all our wins and losses within it."

The head priest then places the shizumemono offerings in a small square hole in the middle of the dohyo between the shikiri-sen before pouring sake into the hole as well. He then gets up and similar to the earlier libations by the wakigyoji, pours sake onto the corner bales (tokudawara) of the inner ring.

#### **Consecration sake**

The final part after the opening speech is the distribution of a sip of sake for the JSA executives and top wrestlers for communing with the deities, also for protection and safety in the ring.

#### **Laps of taiko drumming**

Finally, two taiko sets played and carried by yobidashi will walk around the ring 3 times counter-clockwise while being led by the tate-yobidashi or most senior yobidashi available. After the laps are complete, one of the taiko set will climb the traditional tower built outside of the tournament venue and perform yagura-daiko (櫓太鼓) and the other will walk on the roads around the venue, vising nearby stables and important sumo points to announce the start of the tournament, called fure-daiko (触れ太鼓).

## **Notes**

* The dohyo matsuri, while always performed on the main venues prior to one of the main tournaments, may also be performed on a regional tour dohyo the day before the open training and exhibition matches of the tour for the public during the off-seasons between tournaments. It is also performed each time a dohyo is rebuilt in the training stables, normally by a junior gyoji of the stable itself or, if the stable has no resident gyoji, by a gyoji of the same ichimon (group of stables) with the presence of the stablemaster, all wrestlers of the stable and other stable personnel. These ceremonies at the stable tend to be a bit simpler, without the shizumemono (only the sake libations) and with only one gyoji, who is wearing the normal refereeing robes instead of kannushi robes (junior gyoji makushita-kaku and below performing this ceremony borrow the robes and tassels from a senior gyoji to use).
* There is a meaning for 7 gohei being present and placed on the altar. 4 of those, the ones planted on the corners of the dohyo by the wakigyoji, will be tied to the colored tassels hanging from the dohyo roof, marking the dohyo as a sacred space. The 3 others, given away after the libation, are enshrined at the gyoji's preparation room small shrine.
* The three deities honored in the festival were not fixed in early rituals, with deities such as Ame-no-Minakanushi, Takamimusubi, Kamimusubi and Amaterasu being mentioned. The now honored deities were fixed around November 1945.

## **Sources**

* Religious role section of the Gyoji Wikipedia Article
* Dohyo Matsuri Japanese Wikipedia Article
* NHK Sports Article on Gyoji (in japanese)