User:OtharLuin/sandbox6

Sources

  • Kotobank
  • Japanese wiki (stables)
  • Japanese wiki (ichimon)
  • Sumo 101: Ichimon[1]
  • NHK on ichimon
  • Sumo 101: Heya[2]
  • Yomiuri Shimbun on dormitory renting during tours
  • dormitories by patrons
  • training with horses
  • Gonoyama training
  • Yakuza relations on dormitory renting
  • dormitory games
  • Tokai TV
  • Tabagism in the stables
  • COVID problems 1
  • COVID problems 2
  • choosing its stable
  • Nikkan Gendai on stable management
  • Number on stales
  • partnership agreements
  • How does Takasago stable work?
  • developing ichimon chairman stats with this sanspo article
  • February 2024 stats via Nikkan Sports
  • Nippon article














Sumo wrestlers training in a heya

In sumo wrestling, a heya or beya (部屋, lit. 'room'),[a] often translated in English as "stable",[3][4] "training quarters",[4] or "fraternity",[5] is an organization of sumo wrestlers where they train and live.

All wrestlers in professional sumo must belong to one. There are currently 43 heya (as of April 2024), each of which belongs to one of five ichimon (groupings of heya or clans). Heya vary in size, with the largest stables having over thirty wrestlers and smallest just one wrestler. Most heya are based in and around the Ryōgoku district of Tokyo, sumo's traditional heartland, although the high price of land has led to some newer heya being built in other parts of Tokyo or its suburbs.[6]

History

Flourishing Activity at the Practice Ground of Hidenoyama's Stable by Utagawa Kuniteru II [ja] (c. 1860)

During the Genroku period various sumo groups concentrated from the countryside to the major cities of Edo, Osaka and Kyoto.[7] These groups were self-organised under the leadership of elders, who welcomed the wrestlers into their homes, which took the name of heya (meaning "fraternity house") in reference to the rooms in which these elders met to organise matches during tournaments.[7] During the Hōreki era, masters began to inherit the names of their predecessors, and heya were gradually referred to by the name borne by the master.[7] Nearly all of the sumo stables founded by the Edo-based sumo association were founded between 1751 and 1781.[3] During this same period, Edo established itself as a major sumo sports center, and wrestlers from other major metropolises emigrated to train with the heya of the Edo-based sumo association.[8]

During the Edo period, all wrestlers were officially attached to a stable, but a formal exception existed for wrestlers who benefited from the patronage of local lords, The latter were considered "borrowed" from the lords rather than officially attached to the stables, thus giving the name kakae-rikishi (抱え力士, lit. 'embraced wrestler' or 'retained wrestler') to the wrestlers and to the system.[9]



Although mostly founded by former wrestlers, some stables dating back to the 17th century were founded by gyōji.[8]






The entrance of Tokitsukaze stable still bears the Futabayama Sumo Dojo (双葉山相撲道場) sign in honor of the stable's founder (written from right to left)

Some stables like Tokitsukaze stable or Miyagino stable were founded by active wrestlers that did not yet secured the possession of an elder share and hence first created a training dojo instead of a proper stable.

Organization

Running of the stable

Finance

The Japan Sumo Association helps existing heya by providing their stablemasters with at least ¥55,000 ($550) in training payments monthly for each wrestler in the stable that is not in the sekitori ranks. Extra payments are given every two months for high-ranked wrestlers. The financial help for having a yokozuna in its stable yield ¥300,000 ($3,000). In addition, stablemasters receive "support payments", "maintenance payments" and "training operations payments" based largely on the rank and number of the stable's wrestlers. Therefore, large stables receive around ¥100 million ($1 million) per year. This system provides incentives for elders to recruit and train winning wrestlers.[10]

Continue with Cuyler p.147

Women in the heya

Buckingham p. 145

Naming the stable

Heya may only be set up by an oyakata, or elder of the Japan Sumo Association. A heya is always named after the toshiyori kabu (the name of the elder share) owned by its head coach. An elder is obligated to retire and pass on ownership of a heya at age 65. When a new oyakata who has not inherited the retiree's elder name takes over a heya, the name of the heya is generally changed to the new owner's elder name to reflect this. Further oyakata may be attached to the stable.[11] In September 2006 the Sumo Association tightened the rules on opening up new stables. Now only oyakata who spent at least 25 tournaments ranked in san'yaku or 60 tournaments in the top makuuchi division may do so. The criteria for inheriting an existing heya are much less strict – the former Kanechika, for example was able to take over Miyagino stable despite having never fought in the top division at all, as only 12 makuuchi-ranked tournaments or 20 jūryō-ranked tournaments are needed.

Stablemates

Recruitment and wrestlers

Most heya have a network of scouts, who may be former wrestlers themselves, friends of the head coach, or supporters of the heya, who keep a look out for any powerful or athletic young men and follow the results of local sumo (and judo) competitions. Most new recruits join at the age of 15 or 16, straight from junior high school.

A wrestler is expected to stay with the heya he joins until the end of his career. There is no transfer system in sumo. The only exceptions are if the coach who originally scouted him leaves to found a new heya, in which case he might be permitted to follow him, or if a heya shuts down due to retirement or death of the stablemaster, mismanagement or financial reasons, the remaining wrestlers are often permitted to transfer to another heya, usually within the same ichimon. Just as with wrestlers, all tokoyama (hairdressers), gyōji (referees), and yobidashi (ushers) are attached to a specific heya where they normally begin and end their careers.

Stables are mainly ran by family because a stablemaster is more likely to give his stable to a relative if the latter achieve sekitori status.[12]

Foreign recruits

Stablemates matches

The genkan of Dewanoumi stable

A special rule dictates that wrestlers from the same heya never fight each other in a main tournament, except in playoffs for a yūshō or divisional championship. This notably worked to the advantages of brothers Takanohana and Wakanohana in recent years, as although they both achieved the top rank of yokozuna, they never had to fight each other (excepting one playoff bout in 1995) as they both belonged to the Futagoyama stable.

Most heya allow visitors to watch early morning training (keiko) free of charge, although rules vary from stable to stable as to the size of the group and whether advance notice or a Japanese speaker are required.[13][14]

Life in the stable

Training session in Tomozuma stable in 1998.

Most wrestlers, and all junior ones, live in their stable in a dormitory style: training, cleaning, eating, sleeping and socializing together.[15] Since stable members live in a brotherhood similar to a family, they are forbidden to fight another member of their stable during tournaments.[16]

The treatment a wrestler receives in his stable is based exclusively on his ranking.[17] Wrestlers ranked in the lower divisions get up at dawn (usually around four or five) to do morning chores around the building and stretch in preparation for the usual empty stomach morning training.[18][19] Just before the training session, the day's lunch team begin their preparations.[18] The morning exercises done by the wrestlers are designed to exhaust wrestlers and strengthen their fighting spirit, and are repeated every morning without exception.[20] Gradually by rank, the wrestlers join in the training and the stablemaster only appears once the sandanme wrestlers have started training.[18] Sekitori-ranked wrestlers always turn up last at training sessions, often around eight o'clock, and their assistants have to temporarily leave the training to help them put on their mawashi.[19][20] On arrival at the training hall, sekitori are systematically greeted by wrestlers of lower rank than themselves.[20]

Around eleven, the wrestlers all head for the baths-in descending order of rank, so that the sekitori always benefit from a clean bathroom.[21] When the sekitori practice is at its height, the stable cooks begin to prepare the first and major meal of the day(usually chankonabe).[21] In most stables the cooking brigade is supervised by one of the oldest and most experienced of the low-ranking wrestler, affectionately referred to as ojii-chan (おじいちゃん, lit. 'grandpa').[21] Wrestlers eat by turns according to rank.[22] The sekitori are served by makushita wrestlers, who are in turn served by sandamme wrestlers, and so on down to the youngest apprentices.[22] The lowest ranks, who were up and working before anyone else, must patiently and hungrily wait until all of the others have finished and gone upstairs to have a siesta-like nap.[22]

The ichimon

Each heya belongs to an ichimon (一門, lit. 'clan' or 'family'), a grouping of stables that are affiliated.[23] These groups are encouraged to support each other.[23]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ When coming second in a compound word, heya is pronounced "-beya" due to a Japanese phonological tendency called rendaku. For example, Kokonoe stable is called "Kokonoe-beya" and a sumo stable is referred to as "sumo-beya".[3]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Gunning, John (12 May 2019). "Sumo 101: Ichimon". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  2. ^ Gunning, John (18 September 2018). "Sumo 101: Heya (Stables)". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on 16 April 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Cuyler 1979, p. 72.
  4. ^ a b "Sumo stable". Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary (4th ed.). Kenkyusha Limited. 1990. ISBN 4-7674-2015-6.
  5. ^ Buckingham 1994, p. 82.
  6. ^ Cuyler 1979, p. 137.
  7. ^ a b c Ikeda, Masao (1998). "相撲部屋". The Revised New Edition of the World Encyclopaedia (in Japanese). Heibonsha. ISBN 4582040012. Retrieved 23 February 2024 – via Kotobank.
  8. ^ a b Cuyler 1979, p. 73.
  9. ^ Cuyler 1979, p. 76.
  10. ^ West 1997, p. 99999.
  11. ^ Gunning, John (2018-09-18). "Sumo 101: Heya (Stables)". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  12. ^ Buckingham 1994, p. 130.
  13. ^ Gilhooly, Rob (15 April 2001). "Free sumo stable visits available". Japan Times. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  14. ^ Gunning, John (21 February 2024). "Texan newcomer helps dispel the myth that sumo is a closed world". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  15. ^ Schilling 1994, p. 25.
  16. ^ Kenrick 1969, p. 58.
  17. ^ Cuyler 1979, p. 139.
  18. ^ a b c Cuyler 1979, p. 140.
  19. ^ a b Newton & Toff 2000, p. 112.
  20. ^ a b c Cuyler 1979, p. 141.
  21. ^ a b c Cuyler 1979, p. 142.
  22. ^ a b c Cuyler 1979, p. 143.
  23. ^ a b Hall 1997, p. 97.

Bibliography

  • Buckingham, Dorothea M. (1994). The Essential Guide to Sumo. Bess Press. ISBN 1880188805.
  • Cuyler, Patricia Lee (1979). Sumo: From rite to sport. New York: Weatherhill. ISBN 9780834801455.
  • Hall, Mina (1997). The Big Book of Sumo: History, Practice, Ritual, Fight. Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1-880656-28-0.
  • Kakuma, Tsutomu (1993). Sumo watching. Yohan Publications. ISBN 4896842367.
  • Kenrick, Douglas M. (1969). The Book of Sumo: Sport, Spectacle, and Ritual. New York: Weatherhill. ISBN 083480039X.
  • Newton, Clyde; Toff, Gerald J. (2000). Dynamic sumo. Kodansha International. ISBN 4770025084.
  • Schilling, Mark (1994). Sumo: a fan's guide. Japan Times. ISBN 4789007251.
  • West, Mark D. (1997). "Legal Rules and Social Norms in Japan's Secret World of Sumo". The Journal of Legal Studies. 26 (1). The University of Chicago Press: 165–201. doi:10.1086/467992. JSTOR 10.1086/467992.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sumo stables.

* Category:Japanese martial arts terminology Category:Sport in Japan Category:Sumo terminology

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