Makuuchi (幕内), or makunouchi (幕の内), is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Since 2004 its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (rikishi), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments.
This is the only division that is featured on NHK's standard live coverage of sumo tournaments. The lower divisions are shown on their satellite coverage, with only the makuuchi broadcast having bilingual English commentary.
Makuuchi literally means "inside the curtain", a reference to the early period of professional sumo, when there was a curtained-off area reserved for the top ranked wrestlers, to sit before appearing for their bouts.
Wrestlers are considered for promotion or demotion in rank before each grand tournament according to their performance in the previous one. Generally, a greater number of wins than losses (kachi-koshi) results in a promotion, and the reverse (make-koshi) results in demotion. There are stricter criteria for promotion to the top two ranks, which are also privileged when considered for demotion.
At the top fixed positions of the division are the "titleholder" or san'yaku ranks of yokozuna, ōzeki, sekiwake and komusubi. There are typically 8–12 san'yaku wrestlers, with the remainder, called maegashira, ranked in numerical order from 1 downwards.
San'yaku (三役) literally means "the three ranks", even though it has actually comprised of four ranks since 1909. The discrepancy arose because the yokozuna was traditionally regarded as an ōzeki with a special license to wear a particular rope around his waist and perform a distinctive ring-entry ceremony. In modern use san'yaku has a somewhat flexible definition. This is largely because the top two ranks of yokozuna and ōzeki have significant differences from the lower two ranks and from each other. Therefore, a reference to san'yaku can sometimes mean only the bottom three ranks, or in other cases only sekiwake and komusubi.
For each banzuke, there must be at least one sekiwake and komusubi on each side, east and west, normally two of each rank, but there may be more. Although there is usually a yokozuna there is no requirement for one, and it has sometimes happened that no active yokozuna or no ōzeki were listed in the ranks. If there is more than one yokozuna but only one ōzeki, the lower rank will be filled out by designating one of the yokozuna as yokozuna-ōzeki. There is no recorded instance of there being fewer than two yokozuna and ōzeki in total.
There are a number of privileges and responsibilities associated with the san'yaku ranks. Any wrestler who reaches one of them is entitled to purchase one of the membership shares in the Japan Sumo Association, regardless of the total number of tournaments they have spent in the top makuuchi division. They may be called on to represent all sumo wrestlers on certain occasions. For example, when the president of the Sumo Association makes a formal speech on the opening and closing days of a tournament, he is flanked by all the san'yaku wrestlers in their mawashi. Similarly they may be called to assist in welcoming a VIP, such as members of the Imperial Family, to the arena.
The san'yaku can be split into two groups: the senior yokozuna and ōzeki, and the junior sekiwake and komusubi.
The former group have special promotion criteria and higher salaries, and have additional perks such as a higher number of junior wrestlers to assist them, an entitlement to park in the Sumo Association compound and voting rights in the election for Association directors. Senior yokozuna and ōzeki also have added responsibilities. They are expected to represent wrestler views to the Association, assist in advertising events and meet event sponsors.
The latter group, sekiwake and komusubi, have lesser responsibilities and just like maegashira are still eligible for one of the three special prizes (sanshō), that are awarded for exceptional performance of lower ranking wrestlers at the end of each tournament.
Yokozuna (横綱; IPA: [jo̞ko̞d͡zɯᵝna]) is the highest rank in sumo. The name literally means 'horizontal rope' and comes from the most visible symbol of their rank, the rope (綱, tsuna) worn around the waist. The rope is similar to the shimenawa used to mark off sacred areas in Shinto, and like the shimenawa it serves to purify and mark off its content. The rope, which may weigh up to 20 kilograms (44 lb), is not used during the matches themselves, but is worn during the yokozuna's dohyō-iri ring entrance ceremony.
As of May 2025, a total of 75 sumo wrestlers are officially recognized by the Japan Sumo Association to have earned the rank of yokozuna; considering that formal record-keeping only began with Tanikaze Kajinosuke and Onogawa Kisaburō in 1789, this roughly averages out to one every three years.
There are two competing legends regarding the origin of the yokozuna rank. According to one, a 9th-century wrestler named Hajikami tied a shimenawa around his waist as a handicap and dared anyone to touch it, creating sumo as it is now known in the process. According to the other, legendary wrestler Akashi Shiganosuke tied the shimenawa around his waist in 1630 as a sign of respect when visiting the Emperor and was posthumously awarded the title for the first time. There is little supporting evidence for either theory—in fact, it is not even certain that Akashi actually existed—but it is known that by November 1789, yokozuna starting from the fourth yokozuna, Tanikaze Kajinosuke, and the fifth yokozuna, Onogawa Kisaburō, were depicted in ukiyo-e prints as wearing the shimenawa. These two wrestlers were both awarded yokozuna licences by the prominent Yoshida family.
Before the Meiji era, the title yokozuna was conferred on ōzeki who performed sumo in front of the shōgun. This privilege was more often determined by a wrestler's patron having sufficient influence rather than purely on the ability and dignity of the wrestler. Thus, there are a number of early wrestlers who were, by modern standards, yokozuna in name only. In these early days, yokozuna was also not regarded as a separate rank in the listings, but as an ōzeki with special dispensation to perform his own ring entering ceremony.
At first, the Yoshida family and the rival Gōjō family fought for the right to award a wrestler a yokozuna license. The Yoshida family won this dispute, because the 15th yokozuna Umegatani Tōtarō I, one of the strongest wrestlers of his time, expressed his wish that he be awarded a license by the Yoshida family in February 1884, and consequently Gōjō family licenses were no longer officially recognized.
In May 1890, the name yokozuna was written on the banzuke for the first time due to the 16th yokozuna Nishinoumi Kajirō I's insistence that his yokozuna status be recorded. In February 1909, during the reigns of the 19th yokozuna, Hitachiyama Taniemon, and the 20th, Umegatani Tōtarō II, it was officially recognized as the highest rank. Since the establishment of the Yokozuna Deliberation Council (横綱審議委員会, Yokozuna-shingi-iinkai) on 21 April 1950, wrestlers have been promoted to yokozuna by the Japan Sumo Association. The first yokozuna promoted by the Sumo Association was the 41st yokozuna Chiyonoyama Masanobu.
In modern sumo, the qualifications that an ōzeki must satisfy to be promoted are that he has enough power, skill and dignity/grace (品格 hinkaku) to qualify. There are no absolute criteria, nor is there a set quota: there have been periods with no wrestlers at yokozuna rank, and there have been periods with as many as four simultaneously.