White packages given to winners of sumo bouts

I've been watching the highlights of the current grand sumo championship in Nagoya. I'm enjoying it, and am trying to understand a little about the sport. I've read a few articles on the sport, but couldn't find the answer to these queries and am hoping someone can help:

At the end of a bout, the winner remains in the ring and the referee faces him. The winner makes some hand gestures, and then as far as I can see the referee gives the winner a small package. The package looks like an envelope, or several envelopes, but the TV coverage never focuses on it so I can't really see what it is.

In a bout between lower-ranking wrestlers, it seems that the package is small, but if, for example, it's Hakuho, then he seems to get a huge package.

I'm guessing this is some sort of prize. Am I correct? Are they envelopes? Do they contain money? If I've got it right and yokozunas win more, does a wrestler who beats a yokozuna get the same big package that the yokozuna would have got if he won? Or is it something entirely different, and I've misunderstood?

Thanks in advance for anyone who can put me right on this.

You got it, they're envelopes filled with prize money. Bigger/more important bouts warrant bigger stacks of cash!

Thanks, yllwsmrf.

I was watching again yesterday, and noticed some additional things about the envelopes:

- in some bouts (I only noticed it in the earlier bouts - i.e. the lower-ranked wrestlers), the winner didn't get an envelope at all

- one yokozuna who won, got a stack of envelopes that was a bit bigger than the stack an ozeki got for winning an earlier bout, but still that stack was a lot smaller than the one that Hakuho got when he won

Is anyone able to help me with the logic behind this, please?

I've read that there are prizes for winning a tournament (which, I assume are given by the tournament organisers), and also that sponsor companies come forward and give prizes for individual bouts on each day. I'm assuming that the envelopes are sponsor prizes for individual bouts. Is that correct?

And when I see, for example, Hakuho, getting a stack of several envelopes, does that mean that there are several sponsors for that single bout (I'm guessing so, as of course they could just give him one envelope with all the money in, rather than a stack of separate envelopes)?

When I see the highlights of the final day, will I expect to see bigger stacks for everyone?

When I see Hakuho getting big stacks all the time, is that because he's more of a "star" than the other yokozuna?

If a lower-ranked wrestler beats, say, Hakuho, does that mean he gets the big stack of envelopes?

Any help with any of these questions would be greatly appreciated, thanks. (Also, please don't think I'm getting obsessed with the envelope thing. I'm really enjoying the sport. It's just that the envelopes have piqued my curiosity...)

Companies can sponsor a bout for 60,000 yen and this gets them the right to have a banner paraded round the ring before that bout, you may have seen them. Each company may sponsor a bout more than once & multiple companies can sponsor the same bout. The winning wrestler will be handed envelopes containing 30,000 yen per banner so the more famous & popular wrestlers can get a lot of envelopes each day & lower ranked rikishi often get none. I hope this helps.

Thanks a lot, Stan. That's a huge help. I think I understand now.

I've been watching the NHK World highlights programme, which only shows the actual bouts, so I had no idea about what happens before (or after) a bout. Your explanation about the sponsors and banners now makes sense of my questions.

In fact, we were wondering last night how long the gap between bouts is (as the highlights programmes are quite short, and I know that a competition day is several hours).

So when I see Hakuho winning a huge stack of envelopes, that means that there are multiple sponsors for that bout, and a lot of sponsors' banners being paraded before the bout starts. And sometimes there might be several banners from the same sponsor(s).

I guess this is the original commercial break ;0) "And now, a word from our sponsors."

We've never been in Japan at the same time as a sumo tournament, unfortunately, so I've never had chance to see it in the flesh. Maybe one day....

There is about a 2-3 minute gap between bouts and maybe a 5-6 minute gap halfway through the top-tier category (the one that begins about 4pm). There is quite a bit of ceremony before the bout, when the participants are introduced, each of them throw the salt for purification, their stretching and intimidating poses, etc. So a 20 second bout can take about 8 minutes from initiation to completion.

Ah, thanks John B.

On the NHK highlights programme you get a second or two of salt-throwing, and then it pretty much cuts to the bout (which it shows in full, and then replays two or three times).

Given the number of envelopes that Hakuho was picking up on the last couple of days, I imagined several minutes of sponsors' banners being paraded. It's becoming a firm favourite sport in our house at the moment, so it's good to learn a few things about it.

The banners are about 2ft (w)x 3ft(h) and are held at head level by those that climb onto the dohyou and circle the rind showing the sponsor's symbol or whatever the sponsor wishes to show. The people holding them walk very close to each other, so the time spent doing this isn't too much (maybe 20-30 seconds for Hakuho, who garners the most sponsors).

The rikishi also spend some time flexing, a ring assistant spends some time sweeping the ring. All these things take up about 90% of the bout.

It's fun to watch. I've had the opportunity to see Day 3 of the Spring Tournament in Osaka in March 2013 and I watched the Summer Tournament in Ryogoku in May 2016. I had a good time. I wasn't able to get a radio in Osaka, but I did get one in Tokyo, though the translation has a 2 second delay. It was odd to hear the names of the rikishi at the stadium live and 2 seconds later hear it on the radio.

Thanks a lot John, that gives a lot of colour to what I see when I watch the highlights.
Best regards and thanks again.

This is from some time ago (2007) & shows the most banners I have ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO2U-DQ4Dys

Sorry to double post but if you watch that video again & ignore the banners you can see the wrestlers going through the pre fight routine. They face off three or four times before the actual fight.

I had no idea about what happens before (or after) a bout.

Here is a link to a YouTube page for a video (with sounds) of scenes before the action of a Grand Sumo Makunouchi division's bout; the two sumo wrestlers seem to be Kisenosato and Hakuho.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CosZTixmDsY
You see
a caller call the name of each sumo wrestler (though it almost cannot be heard),
the referee introduce the bout (, turning his "gumbai" in two directions successively),
sponsor banners go around the ring (in two groups, from around 1' 45'' in the video)
and also a part of the preparatory ceremony performed by the two sumo wrestlers.

A banner is 70 centimeters in width and 120 centimeters in height.
The reward money is set for a bout only of the Makunouchi division.
The amount which a sponsor pays is now 62,000 yen (with consumption taxes included) per banner.
A winning wrestler gets 56,700 yen, the half of which goes to his stable.
The rest (= 5,300 yen) is paid as a handling fee.

one yokozuna who won, got a stack of envelopes that was a bit bigger than the stack an ozeki got for winning an earlier bout, but still that stack was a lot smaller than the one that Hakuho got when he won
Is anyone able to help me with the logic behind this, please?

Well, the reward money is set for a bout itself, and the winning wrestler takes the money regardless of which wrestler wins the bout.
So, when a popular yokozuna or ozeki in his good conditions happens to be defeated, there may be a case, in contrast to your examples, where a winning lower-ranked wrestler receives the money in a bunch of envelopes.

When a scheduled bout is not practically made because one wrester has withdrawn, the reward money is paid back to the sponsor.

A sponsor can have one short commercial message (which includes its name or brand) per banner printed on a sheet of the list of daily bouts (which is handed to each spectator) and announced in the stadium.
(Trivia: In NHK real-time TV and radio programs, NHK turns off microphones set to catch the sounds inside the stadium during the announcement, so that commercial messages are not heard clearly in the broadcast).

Oh, I just got reminded of a ceremony called "yumi-tori-shiki" which is performed after the last bout.
Traditionally a sumo wrestler who has finally won a competition performed this ceremony on the last day, using a bow ("yumi") given to him a prize.
Nowadays this ceremony is performed daily by a sumo wrestler who has learned the manners, instead of a wrestler who wins the last bout on the day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88FrG_PKl6g

NOT: the list of daily bouts
BUT: the list of bouts on the day

Thanks a lot, everyone.
I'm learning a lot. Those videos were great.

Whilst in Japan I like to browse bookshops and I picked up a very informative book on Sumo wrestling:

Grand Sumo Fully Illustrated
Edited by PHP Institute, Inc.
Supervising Editor: Seigoro Kitade
Translator: Deborah Iwabuchi
ISBN4-89684-251-0

My understanding is that banner sponsorship is currently 100,000. A mix of personal and company sponsors. Giving money in envelopes is common in other areas of life too (there is a special name for money envelopes, but I forget.)

Time between bouts depends on rank. At the top division they also manage the time to go with the TV schedule.

One of the more interesting points is that the envelopes only have half the sponsorship money in them these days. After a top ranking wrestler won several million yen one year he spent it (food, drink, entertainment) and at the end of the year he had a huge tax bill. This was embarrassing to the Sumo Federation so they "reserve" half of the winnings to cover tax.

This is all great stuff, thanks a lot.

I've also found the NHK short programme "Sumopedia" which gives some interesting snippets of info.

Our young daughter was asking the other day why they wear different colour belts when competing. She has just started judo, and so her expectation is that different colours translate into different skill levels/rankings.

As far as I could find out, this is not the case in sumo, and a wiki article I found said that wrestlers might change belt colour part way through a tournament if they are superstitious (i.e. to shake off bad luck and start again).

Thanks a lot, everyone.
I'm learning a lot. Those videos were great.

Sorry for the double post. Phone issues, I think.

At the lower ranks they all wear basically the same colour mawashi. On elevation to Juro division they have the option to choose a colour - personal preference afaik, not rank.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mawashi