Yobidashi

A **yobidashi** (呼出 or 呼び出し, announcer or beckoner) is an announcer who calls a professional sumo wrestler, or rikishi, to the dohyo (wrestling ring) immediately prior to his bout. He does this by calling the name of each wrestler fighting in turn whilst holding a traditional folding fan.

## **Uniform**

The outfit worn by the yobidashi is loosely based on an old style Japanese workman's outfit, with leggings and split-toed tabi-like boots.

## **Responsibilities**

In keeping with their workman outfits, the yobidashi are actually the Japan Sumo Association's handymen, or odd-job men, and have a wide variety of tasks. These include on match days: sweeping the ring, providing purification salt, displaying banners showing that a match has been decided by default (usually due to a competitor's withdrawal), declared a draw, or subject to a rematch after the next two bouts, and ensuring that, during a bout, no wrestler injures himself on the bucket of chikara-mizu (power water) situated at one corner of the ring. They also can be seen displaying the advertising banners of companies who sponsor particular match-ups between popular wrestlers. They also are responsible for playing japanese drums (taiko) outside the arena (traditionally to attract customers) at the beginning of match days, called fure-daiko, and also play the drums at the end of the proceedings a tournament day, inviting the spectators to come back the next day, this is called hane-daiko.

The yobidashi also build the clay wrestling ring (or dohyo) for tournaments and display competitions, and rings for the training stables. There is also a tradition of the yobidashi writing songs, called jinku, based on sumo life.

## **Career and Ranking**

There are 45 yobidashi as of July 2023. Like gyoji, yobidashi typically enter the sumo world as teenagers and work up a career ladder roughly based on the ranking system for wrestlers, as described until their retirement at 65. The current ranking system was created in July 1993 and consists of the following nine ranks:

* tate-yobidashi (立呼出)
* fuku-tate-yobidashi (副立呼出)
* san'yaku-yobidashi (三役呼出)
* makuuchi-yobidashi (幕内呼出)
* juryo-yobidashi (十両呼出)
* makushita-yobidashi (幕下呼出)
* sandanme-yobidashi (三段目呼出)
* jonidan-yobidashi (序二段呼出)
* jonokuchi-yobidashi (序ノ口呼出)

Most of these ranks clearly follow those for the rikishi, or wrestlers, with the exception of the tate and fuku-tate ranks, which stand for chief and deputy chief, respectively. This system is identical to that applied for gyoji. Prior to July 1993, yobidashi were simply ranked first-class, second-class and so on. As of October 2019 the tate-yobidashi position is vacant after the incumbent, Takuro from the Kasugano stable, was suspended for two tournaments and announced his retirement for hitting a junior yobidashi over the head after he caught him eating in the customer seating area on jungyo.

Promotion through these ranks is based primarily on experience, although ability is also taken into account, particularly in promotions to the top ranks.

## **Ring Names**

Yobidashi take a single name as their ring name, unlike both the wrestlers (rikishi) and gyoji who have both a surname and given name. This may be related to the practice of the Edo period in Japan whereby only samurai class persons could hold a surname. The wrestlers (involved in a martial activity) and gyoji (who were lettered) could be construed as having positions consistent with a samurai status, whilst the yobidashi did not.

As from July 1993 the upper ranked yobidashi also had their names included on the banzuke, the ranking sheet produced prior to each honbasho. Apart from a brief period previously, only the gyoji had traditionally been included on the banzuke in addition to the wrestlers and their training stablemasters, or oyakata, again indicating the difference in status of the two jobs.