List of sumo record holders
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Rikishi_Monument_for_Over_50_Consecutive_Wins_Tomioka_Hachiman_2010_September.jpg/220px-Rikishi_Monument_for_Over_50_Consecutive_Wins_Tomioka_Hachiman_2010_September.jpg)
This is a list of records held by wrestlers of professional sumo. Only performances in official tournaments or honbasho are included here. Since 1958, six honbasho have been held every year, giving wrestlers from the modern era more opportunities to accumulate championships and wins. Before this, tournaments were held less frequently; sometimes only once or twice per year.
Names in bold indicate a still active wrestler. The tables are up to date as of the end of the March 2024 tournament.
Most top division championships
Most career championships
+ Raiden is said to have had the best record in 28 tournaments between 1790 and 1810, Tanikaze 21 between 1772 and 1793, and Kashiwado 16 between 1812 and 1822. Tachiyama won two unofficial championships and nine official, giving him a total of 11.
| Most undefeated championships
+ Tournaments have been consistently fifteen days long since May 1949. Before that date there were a number of different lengths, including ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen days. The records of Tachiyama, Tochigiyama and Tsunenohana also include some draws, holds and rest days.
| Most consecutive championships
+ Four of these titles were in perfect tournaments (zenshō-yūshō) and were part of Hakuhō's second-place streak of 63 consecutive wins.
| Most championship playoffs
|
Most wins
Most career wins
| Most top division wins
| Most wins in a calendar year (90 bouts)
|
Most consecutive wins
Name | Wins[a] | Start | End | Duration | Defeated by | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Futabayama | 69 | 7 January 1936 | 3 January 1939 | 2 years, 11 months and 27 days | Akinoumi |
2 | Tanikaze | 63 | 1 October 1778 | 6 February 1782 | 3 years, 4 months and 5 days | Onogawa |
Hakuhō | 63 | 23 January 2010 | 15 November 2010 | 9 months and 19 days | Kisenosato | |
4 | Umegatani I | 58 | 1 April 1876 | 8 January 1881 | 4 years, 9 months and 7 days | Wakashima |
5 | Tachiyama | 56 | 9 January 1912 | 7 May 1916 | 4 years, 3 months and 28 days | Tochigiyama |
6 | Chiyonofuji | 53 | 7 May 1988 | 27 November 1988 | 6 months and 20 days | Ōnokuni |
7 | Taihō | 45 | 2 September 1968 | 2 March 1969 | 6 months | Toda |
Most consecutive wins from entry into sumo
Name | Wins[b] | Start | End | Duration | Defeated by | Highest rank | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jōkōryū | 27 | 11 July 2011 | 20 January 2012 | 6 months and 9 days | Senshō | Komusubi |
2 | Itai | 26 | 12 November 1978 | 16 May 1979 | 6 months and 4 days | Ōnishiki | Komusubi |
Tochiazuma II | 26 | 15 January 1995 | 12 September 1995 | 7 months and 28 days | Dewaarashi | Ōzeki | |
4 | Ōshōryū | 24 | 8 July 2019 | 18 January 2020 | 6 months and 10 days | Kotodaigō | Makushita 7 |
5 | Tokitenkū | 22 | 8 September 2002 | 11 March 2003 | 6 months and 3 days | Furuichi | Komusubi |
6 | Kototenzan | 21 | 12 January 1986 | 20 July 1986 | 6 months and 8 days | retired | Makushita 43 |
Enhō | 21 | 15 May 2017 | 13 November 2017 | 5 months and 29 days | Jōkōryū | Maegashira 4 | |
Hokuseihō | 21 | 19 July 2020 | 15 March 2021 | 7 months and 24 days | Tokisakae | Maegashira 6 | |
Fujiseiun | 21 | 10 May 2021 | 15 November 2021 | 6 months and 5 days | Kamito | Juryo 7 | |
10 | Akiseyama | 20 | 10 March 2008 | 25 July 2008 | 4 months and 15 days | Surugatsukasa | Maegashira 12 |
Tsurugishō | 20 | 9 March 2014 | 25 July 2014 | 4 months and 16 days | Hienriki | Maegashira 7 | |
Aonishiki | 20 | 12 November 2023 | 22 March 2024 | 4 months and 10 days | Nagamura | Sandanme 18 |
Best top division win ratios
All timeThe list includes yokozuna and ōzeki (the highest rank before the yokozuna rank was introduced), but excludes so-called kanban or "guest ōzeki" (usually big men drawn from local crowds to promote a tournament who would never appear on the banzuke again) and wrestlers for which insufficient data is available.
| Modern eraIn 1927, the Tokyo Sumo Association merged with the Osaka Sumo Association to form the Japan Sumo Association, and most of the sumo systems were changed, so any pre-1927 records are disregarded. The list excludes active wrestlers.[c]
|
Most bouts
Losses by default are excluded.
Most career bouts
| Most top division bouts
|
Most consecutive bouts
Most consecutive career bouts
* No bouts missed in career/career to date | Most consecutive top division bouts
|
Most tournaments
The March 2011 and May 2020 tournaments were cancelled and are not included in these totals.
Most tournaments ranked in the top division
| Most tournaments ranked at yokozuna
|
Most tournaments ranked at ōzeki
| Most tournaments ranked in junior san'yaku (komusubi and sekiwake ranks)
Most career tournamentsAs of May 2024 tournament. Tournaments in banzuke-gai (out of banzuke) status are not included
|
|
Progress to top division
The table for the fastest progress shows wrestlers with the fewest tournaments from their professional debut to their top division debut since the six tournaments a year system was introduced in 1958. It excludes makushita tsukedashi and sandanme tsukedashi entrants who made their debut in the third makushita division and the fourth sandanme division.
Fastest progress to top division
| Slowest progress to top division
|
Most special prizes
Special prizes or sanshō were first awarded in 1947. They can only be given to wrestlers ranked at sekiwake or below. For the current list of active special prize winners, see here.
Name | Total | Outstanding Performance | Fighting Spirit | Technique | Years | Highest rank | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Akinoshima | 19 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 1988–1999 | Sekiwake |
2 | Kotonishiki | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 1990–1998 | Sekiwake |
3 | Kaiō | 15 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 1994–2000 | Ōzeki |
4 | Tsurugamine | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 1956–1966 | Sekiwake |
Asashio | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1979–1983 | Ōzeki | |
Takatōriki | 14 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 1990–2000 | Sekiwake | |
7 | Musōyama | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1994–2000 | Ōzeki |
Tosanoumi | 13 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1995–2003 | Sekiwake | |
Kotomitsuki | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 2000–2007 | Ōzeki | |
10 | Tochiazuma II | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 1996–2001 | Ōzeki |
Aminishiki | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2000–2017 | Sekiwake | |
Takayasu | 12 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2013–2022 | Ōzeki |
Most gold stars
Gold stars or kinboshi are awarded to maegashira ranked wrestlers who defeat a yokozuna. For a list of current kinboshi earners, see here.
Name | Total | Years | Highest rank | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Akinoshima | 16 | 1988–1999 | Sekiwake |
2 | Takamiyama | 12 | 1968–1978 | Sekiwake |
Tochinonada | 12 | 1998–2008 | Sekiwake | |
4 | Tosanoumi | 11 | 1995–2003 | Sekiwake |
5 | Kitanonada | 10 | 1954–1961 | Sekiwake |
Annenyama | 10 | 1955–1961 | Sekiwake | |
Tsurugamine | 10 | 1955–1961 | Sekiwake | |
Dewanishiki | 10 | 1949–1963 | Sekiwake | |
Ōzutsu | 10 | 1979–1986 | Sekiwake | |
10 | Mitsuneyama | 9 | 1944–1957 | Ōzeki |
Tamanoumi | 9 | 1953–1958 | Sekiwake | |
Hasegawa | 9 | 1965–1974 | Sekiwake | |
Fujizakura | 9 | 1973–1981 | Sekiwake | |
Takatōriki | 9 | 1990–1998 | Sekiwake | |
Ichinojō | 9 | 2014–2022 | Sekiwake |
See also
- List of active gold star earners
- List of active special prize winners
- Glossary of sumo terms
- List of active sumo wrestlers
- List of past sumo wrestlers
- List of sumo tournament top division champions
- List of sumo tournament second division champions
- List of sumo stables
- List of years in sumo
- List of yokozuna
Notes
- ^ The winning streaks of Tanikaze, Umegatani, and Tachiyama were interrupted by draws and rest days. The others listed were all wins only.
- ^ Playoff matches, whether victories or defeats, are not included. Jōkōryū lost a playoff match in September 2011, and Fujiseiun in July 2021. Itai won one in January 1979. Bouts in maezumo are unofficial and also not included.
- ^ Losses by default are excluded, but wins by default are included; as is standard in sumo records.
- ^ a b Tamawashi was forced to withdraw from Day 13 of the July 2022 tournament under COVID-19 protocols. The Japan Sumo Association have said his streak should be recognized as continuing.[1]
References
- Japan Sumo Association
- Sumo Reference
- The Sumo Colosseum
- Grand Sumo, Lora Sharnoff, Weatherhill, 1993. ISBN 0-8348-0283-X