[sumo] Fwd: [Sumo news] - The Yobidashi

[Jeff A]

Moti

Gaijingai

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Moti Dichne <niramiai at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Aug 8, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Subject: [Sumo news] - The Yobidashi
To: Sumo Newsletter2 <sumo-newsletter2 at googlegroups.com>


More from ex- Tenkaihou, this time explaining the roles  of a yobidashi on
his YouTube channel, "Minami no Gotchan Channel.""Before a rikishi steps
onto the dohyo, they call out the his shikona. On the dohyo, they open a
fan and call out, 'East, something (ring name),' 'West, something,' and
then the rikishi steps onto the dohyo." He continued, "These people don't
just call out the shikonae. They also build the dohyo. Not just in Ryogoku
(Kokugikan), but all sumo heyas have their dohyos built by yobidashi." He
then added, "When they step onto the dohyo, they have to raise their voice
quite a bit, and must take good care of their throat. Maybe because they're
always using their voices (probably..), I have the impression that many of
them are good singers (well...). They're incredibly good singers (a few,
sure..). They have amazing voices that carry well." He then revealed a
surprising "special talent" of theirs. "When I was working at the Kyokai, I
once did a project where I would ask the yobidashi, 'Which rikishi have
names that are difficult to pronounce?'" he asked "Some said that
Wakatakakage was difficult to pronounce. I had a classmate named
Tochinowaka, whose initial shikona was just one character. His real name
was Ri. A yobidashi said it was difficult to pronounce. Like, 'Riiiiiiii.'
You have to use intonation. And then there's Nishikigi. All of his
syllables end with the vowel 'i'."

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