Jūryō

The Jūryō ( Japanese 十 両 ) is the second division in Japanese sumo . It comes after the Makuuchi Division, in which 42 sumotori fight and before the Makushita division, in which 120 sumo wrestlers fight. The juryo division itself always consists of 28 rikishi. The Makuuchi Division and the Juryo Division together make up the Sekitori ranks. Fighters in the sekitori ranks receive a fixed monthly salary from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai (Japanese Sumo Association), lower-ranking sumo wrestlers only receive a kind of pocket money, which is many times lower. If a high-ranking juryo (fighter in the juryo division) achieves a kachi-koshi (more wins than losses in a tournament), he can be promoted to the makuuchi division, a lower-ranking juryo only achieves a make-koshi (more losses than wins in a tournament) he runs the risk of relegation to the Makushita division.

The further privileges of a fighter from the juryo division include, among other things, that from now on a tsukebito ("helper") will be placed at his side, who does many important tasks in everyday life or supports him. In addition, sekitori ("rikishi from the juryo division") can wear a white linen mawashi during training and appear later. They are allowed to eat earlier than all lower-rated fighters, are given their own room if they do not have their own apartment and are allowed to carry an umbrella in rainy weather and take part in the dohyo-iri, the ring entry ceremony. They are allowed to wear a so-called Kesho-Mawashi ("decorative belt"). If his hair has reached a sufficient length, he can now wear an o-icho-mage instead of the previous chonmage . With the O-icho-mage, the hair is styled like a ginkgo leaf. The chonmage is made a lot simpler and not that artful.