List of sumo trophies

Grand Sumo (Ōzumō) is considered the national sport of Japan. Therefore, the winner of the top division championship receives a lot of trophies as tokens of recognition from the highest public figures of Japan but also from foreign States as diplomatic gifts. Companies also offer trophies as a show of goodwill in support of the national sport and as part of partnerships. The reward ceremony is however on the decline. In recent years, several controversies have led some companies to withdraw their support by withdrawing a trophy that had previously been awarded. Notably, the 2010 baseball betting scandal brought an end to the collaboration of a number of companies. However, the recent scandals are not entirely responsible for the decline of the award ceremony. The ceremony itself is held after NHK's live broadcast of sumo matches and therefore does not attract much attention. Even though prefectural governors and chairpersons of organisations appears, only about 30% of the audience remains for the awards ceremony. The arena is often deserted and applause are sparse.

However, the awards ceremony retains a strong symbolic value. In sumo, a promising wrestler who is the center of the stable is called a yome-bitsu (米びつ), meaning "breadwinner", because if he wins one of the tournaments, he receives enough extra prizes to keep the stable fed for a year or more.

Trophies are usually exhibited in the entrance hall of the tournament venues.

Sumo award ceremony

Makuuchi's prizes are presented to the wrestler who achieved a championship win on the last day of one of the six main tournaments. Trophies are presented with handwritten victory certificates and supplementary cash prizes. With the increased number of prizes, the reward ceremony takes around 40 minutes to complete. Trophies may vary slightly by location, such as from the host municipality. In addition, since women are not allowed on the dohyō, only men can give the rewards.
The Emperor's Cup and the Japan Sumo Association championship flag are returned by the winning wrestler himself at the return ceremony held after the ring-entering ceremonies on the first day of the next tournament. In addition, as a general rule, the master of the stable in which the winning wrestler belongs will act on his behalf if the wrestler cannot return it due to being kyūjō or retiring before the next tournament is held.
If a wrestler in injured during the tournament but still manages to win, there is an example in which an oyakata or wakaimonogashira accompanies the winner because there are worries whether the wrestler can receive the trophy alone. This was the case for Chiyonofuji in the March 1989 tournament.
In July 2010, following the baseball gambling scandal, the Sumo Association refused to award any prizes with the exception of the winner's flag and special prizes, in the form of taking responsibility for the turmoil and in 2011, the March tournament was cancelled and reclassified as a "Technical Examination Tournament", and no awards ceremony was organized.

Order of the reward ceremony

The presentation of the Grand Sumo trophies follows a meticulous protocol. After the last match on the last day of a tournament (senshūraku), the winning wrestler returns from the shitaku-beya in mawashi, a commentator then announced to the audience that the awards ceremony would begin with the Japanese national anthem. The national anthem is often played by military bands (Ground Self-Defense Force, Maritime Self-Defense Force, Air Self-Defense Force) or by the municipalities hosting the tournament (Tokyo Band, Osaka Shion Wind Orchestra).
At the end of the anthem, the commentator finally announces the wrestler's full shikona name and proclaims him the winner of the tournament. As a first step, three prizes are then awarded to the winner. The first trophy awarded is the Emperor's Cup by the JSA chairman. This particular trophy is presented on the theme of Act 3 of George Frideric Handel's Judas Maccabaeus ('See the Conquering Hero Comes!'). Then, the JSA championship flag is awarded by the chairman of the JSA judging department and the Prime Minister's Cup is also awarded. The champion is then interviewed at ringside by an NHK commentator. After the interview, the main part of the awards ceremony takes place in the following order: diplomatic, municipal and corporate trophies and, for special tournaments such as the first or last of the year, special trophies such as the trophy rewarding the wrestler with the most wins in the year or the best makuuchi newcommer.
After the main trophies have been awarded, the chairman of the JSA judging department awards the sanshō prizes to the wrestlers who stood out during the tournament that has just ended.

After the awards ceremony is over, it is customary for the tournament to end definitively with a god-sending ceremony (Kami okuri no gi, 神送りの儀). In this brief Shinto ceremony, a sanbon jime is performed to announce the tournament definitively closes. A low-ranking gyōji holding a gohei is then thrown into the air by low-ranking and maezumō wrestlers.

Main prizes

Diplomatic trophies

Some states directly sponsors trophies in professional sumo. Usually those trophies serves to mark a diplomatic anniversary and are awarded once or a few time before disappearing. However some states have a long tradition to award trophies.

Governments trophies

Press and businesses trophies

Once a year trophies

With the last tournament of the year, the Japan Sumo Association have a tradition of awarding special prizes for the wrestlers who have the most victories in the year. Trophies are also awarded by sports magazines as part of a sponsorship and to show the value of sumo as a sporting competition in its own right.

Charity events

International tour

Particular trophies and prizes

See also

• Glossary of sumo terms
• Sanshō special prizes
• List of sumo tournament top division champions
• List of sumo record holders

Notes

1.^ Only six prime ministers have awarded the Prime Minister's Cup.

• Junichiro Koizumi to Takanohana in May 2001 and Asashōryū in November 2005
• Tarō Asō to Asashōryū in January 2009 and Harumafuji in May 2009
• Yukio Hatoyama to Asashōryū in September 2009
• Naoto Kan to Hakuhō in September 2010
• Yoshihiko Noda to Hakuhō in September 2011 and Harumafuji in September 2012
• Shinzo Abe to Harumafuji in January 2013, Hakuhō in May 2014 and Asanoyama in May 2019

References