Gyōji

A Gyōji (行司) is a referee in professional sumo wrestling in Japan.

Gyōji usually enter the sumo world as teenagers and remain employees of the Sumo Association until they retire aged 65. There are currently a little over 40 active gyōji with an average of one in each sumo stable, though some stables have more than one and some have no gyōji.

Responsibilities

The gyōji's principle and most obvious task is to referee bouts between sumo wrestlers. After the yobidashi has called them into the ring it is his responsibility to watch over the wrestlers as they go through the initial prebout staring contests, and then coordinate the initial charge (or tachi-ai) between the wrestlers. He will indicate that the preparation time (four minutes for the top division) is up by saying "jikan desu, ryote wo tsuite"("it's time, both hands down") and signal with his fan that the bout is to begin (although it is the wrestlers that ultimately determine the exact point at which the tachi-ai is initiated). He will sometimes add, "kamaete mattanashi" ("on your marks, no false starts!") During the bout he is supposed to keep the wrestlers informed that the bout is still live (it is possible for a wrestler to brush his foot outside the ring without realising it). He does this by shouting "nokotta nokotta!" (残った、残った！), which in English is roughly, "You're still in it! You're still in it!" The gyōji also has the responsibility to encourage the wrestlers to get a move on when action between them has completely stopped, for instance, when both of them are locked up on each other's mawashi in the middle of the ring. He will do this by shouting "hakkeyoi, eh! hakkeyoi, eh!" (発気揚々, 発気揚々!). Furthermore, when a wrestler has apparently fallen to the clay, the gyōji is expected to determine the winner of the bout. His most obvious accessory is a solid wooden war-fan, called a gunbai which he uses in the prebout ritual and in pointing to the winner's side at the end of each bout.