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Yūshō

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This article is about the sports award. For the 1968 mass poisoning, seeYushō disease.

Yūshō(Ưu thắng,victory, championship[1])is the term for achampionshipin Japanese. This article focuses on championships in the sport of professionalsumo.

Kotoōshū,winner of the May 2008yūshō,receives theEmperor's Cup

It is awarded in each of the six annualhonbashoor official tournaments, to the wrestler who wins the most bouts.Yūshōare awarded in all sixprofessional sumo divisions.The prize money for a topmakuuchidivision championship is currently 10 millionyen,while for the lowestjonokuchidivision the prize is 100,000 yen. A runner-up is referred to as ajun-yūshō.

Perhaps surprisingly, considering that most of the interest in tournaments today revolves around who will win theyūshō,the concept of a prize for a wrestler's individual performance is a relatively recent one. Legendary wrestlers such asTanikazeandRaidenare credited today with winning many championships, but they are all unofficial and are really nothing more than a "best tournament record."

The individualyūshōidea evolved gradually, from wrestlers simply picking up cash thrown into the ring by spectators after winning exciting matches (common in theEdo period), to wrestlers being giventrophies and prizesfrom private sponsors for performances over an entire tournament (beginning in theMeiji period).[2]Trophies were at first given only for undefeated records, but since draws, no decisions and absences were all possible outcomes, several wrestlers could be eligible and it did not necessarily go to the man with the most wins.[2]

In January 1900, the system recognised today began to take shape when theOsakaMainichi Shinbunnewspaper announced it would give a prize of akeshō-mawashidecorative apron for either an undefeated record or for the fewest losses, and in the event of a tie, the wrestler who had defeated the most high-ranking opponents would win the prize.[2]Thus the principle of an individual champion was established.Takamiyama Torinosuke's victory in June 1909 was the first to be declared ayūshō,and the system was formally recognised by theJapan Sumo Associationin 1926 when theTokyoandOsakaorganisations merged.

From June 1909 to October 1931 and from January 1940 to July 1947, there was also a group competition calledTōzai-sei(Đông tây chế).The wrestlers were divided into two teams, East and West,[3]and it was the team with the better overall score that was awarded a prize.[4]

Though as noted, all six divisions award a championship, the top division championship receives by far the most attention. Consequently, in addition to their prize money, top divisionyūshōwinners receive the Emperor's Cup(Thiên hoàng tứ bôi,Tennō shihai).[5]It was first donated byHirohito,an avid sumo fan, in 1925 as the Prince Regent's cup(Nhiếp chính cung tứ bôi,Sesshō-no-miya shihai).[5]It was changed to its current name upon Hirohito's accession to the emperor's throne in December 1926.[5]There is also a banner with the names of past winners. Both are presented by the chairman of the Sumo Association.[6]There are also many prizes and trophies given by prefectural and foreign governments, as well as businesses.[6]For several years theFrench PresidentJacques Chirac,a noted sumo fan, donated a trophy. The wrestler is given replicas of all the trophies to keep. In July 2010, and again in May 2011, neither the Emperor's Cup nor any other prizes were handed out, because of controversies over illegal betting and match-fixing respectively. However, in both cases theyūshōwere still official and counted on the wrestlers' records.

An unbeaten 15-0 score is known aszenshō-yūshōand is fairly rare; mostyūshōwinning scores are either 14-1 or 13-2. The wrestler who has won the most top divisionyūshōisHakuhōwith 45, followed byTaihōwith 32, andChiyonofujiwith 31.Futabayamawon 12yūshōin an era when only two tournaments were held each year.

The first foreign wrestler to win themakuuchidivisionyūshōwas theHawaiianbornTakamiyama Daigorōin June 1972. There were no others untilKonishiki Yasokichiwon his first championship in November 1989. However, due to the unprecedented dominance of foreign wrestlers in recent years, led by theMongolianyokozunaAsashōryūand Hakuhō, there were no Japanese-born winners betweenTochiazuma Daisukein January 2006 andKotoshōgikuin January 2016.[7]This drought of Japanese Yusho winners was broken by Kisenosato, who won in January 2017, securing his Yokozuna promotion, and again in March of the same year. The past few years have also brought multiple other Japanese champions.

Playoffs[edit]

  • Any playoffs are indicated on individual wrestler articles' tournament records as one P for every other playoff challenger the wrestler faced in that tournament.

Since 1947 a playoff system (kettei-sen) has been in place to determine the winner of theyūshōif two or more wrestlers finish with an identical score. Until then, theyūshōwould go to whoever was the higher in rank, as it was presumed they had faced better quality opposition, but this caused controversy in 1928, whenōzekiHitachiiwawas chosen overmaegashiraMisugiiso[ja]despite the fact that one of his wins had come by default. There was similar criticism when newmaegashiraChiyonoyamawas denied a championship in November 1945, despite winning all his matches.[6]

Playoffs with more than two wrestlers involved are fairly common in lower divisions, but have only happened a handful of times in the top division. A three way playoff occurred three times in the 1990s, with a four way playoff in March 1997 and a unique five way playoff in November 1996. In such cases lots are drawn to decide who fights first, and the first wrestler to win two consecutive bouts takes theyūshō.A playoff is the only occasion in which wrestlers from the same stable (orheya) and relatives can meet in tournament competition. The wrestlers who have taken part inthe most top division playoffsareTakanohana IIwith ten (won five, lost five) andHakuhōwith ten (won six, lost four).[8]Chiyonofujihas the highest percentage of victories, with a perfect 6-0 playoff record.[8]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary,Kenkyusha Limited,ISBN978-4-7674-2025-7
  2. ^abcVlastos, Stephen, ed. (1998).Mirror of Modernity:Invented Traditions in Modern Japan.University of California Press.ISBN0-520-20637-1.
  3. ^There is still East and West designation today, but this is simply for convenience when ranking the wrestlers, and there is no group competition.
  4. ^Schilling, Mark (1994).Sumo: A Fan's Guide.Japan Times.p. 21.ISBN4-7890-0725-1.
  5. ^abc"Sumo Emperor Cup".Japan Times.September 12, 2018. Archived fromthe originalon September 24, 2020.
  6. ^abcSharnoff, Lora (1993).Grand Sumo.Weatherhill.ISBN0-8348-0283-X.
  7. ^Krieger, Daniel (24 January 2013)."In Japan, Sumo Is Dominated by Foreigners".New York Times.Retrieved20 January2016.
  8. ^ab"Query Result".Sumo Reference.Retrieved2009-02-05.
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