Every day of a sumo tournament contains hundreds of bouts. From early in the morning until late in the evening, a virtually non-stop parade of wrestlers arrives at the arena. They change, warm up, stand in line in the hanamichi (aisle leading to the ring), ...
Sumo 101: Yobidashi (ring announcers)
The busiest men in sumo are the yobidashi (ring announcers). Named after their most conspicuous duty, yobidashi do far more than just call rikishi up to fight. In fact, pretty much every behind-the- scenes task in Japan's national sport is taken care of by sumo's unsung ...
Unsung yobidashi keep sumo running smoothly
Who spends the most time in a sumo ring? Wrestlers? Nope. Referees? Uh-uh. As any veteran fan can tell you, it is of course the yobidashi. Sumo's 'ring announcers' not only maintain the dohyo but also build the thing in the first place. Over the course of three days ...
