[sumo] Fwd: [Sumo news] - Behind the scenes the height of the dohyo has been lowered for Tokyo

[Jeff A]

Moti


Best regards,
Gaijingai just landed

For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these:
It might have been.
- John Greenleaf Whittier

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Moti Dichne <niramiai at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, May 17, 2026 at 6:33 AM
Subject: [Sumo news] - Behind the scenes the height of the dohyo has been
lowered for Tokyo
To: Sumo Newsletter2 <sumo-newsletter2 at googlegroups.com>


The height of the dohyo has been lowered by 1 sun (approximately 3.03
centimeters) for Natsu Basho. There is no obligation to publicize the
change in height, so it is not widely known. It appears that neither the
Oyakata on the judging committee nor the rikishi have noticed. There are
five "supervisors" who oversee the construction of the dohyo. One of the
supervisors, Daikichi (54, Hakkaku beya), said, "If any Oyakata notice, I
intend to go and explain, but so far there haven't been any." The
regulations for the height of the dohyo have a range of 34 to 60
centimeters. For this tournament, the height was changed from 1 shaku 9 sun
(approximately 57.57 centimeters) to 1 shaku 8 sun (approximately 54.54
centimeters). The fact that it is measured in sun and shaku is also a
tradition that is characteristic of Ozumo. Why was it lowered by 1 sun? The
dohyo at Ryogoku Kokugikan has been designed to be electrically stored
under the floor since its opening in 1985. First, the dohyo is lowered
straight down, and then it is slid sideways from the front to the opposite
side under the floor. However, when storing the dohyo that was made for the
previous tournament in Tokyo, the protective bales got stuck and it
couldn't slide. A strange noise was heard, the bales came off, and the
yobidashi had to repair it. The cause is unclear. It is thought that the
motor used to store the dohyo was replaced with one from a different
manufacturer last year, but the truth remains unknown. Gorou (62, Ootake),
one of the supervisors for the construction of the dohyo and a yobidashi,
explained, "We decided to lower it because it would be a big problem if it
got stuck in the machinery again." The height remains 1 shaku 9 sun for
regional tournaments, but it has been changed to 1 shaku 8 sun for the
honbasho in Tokyo. When the dohyo was built before this Natsu Basho, the
yobidashi used a metal rod as a reference and adjusted it by hand. However,
lowering it by only 1 sun (approximately 3.03 centimeters) is not
noticeable to anyone. Even Sadanoumi, the veteran rikishi who made his
debut in Haru of 2003, did not notice. "If I noticed that, I'd be scolded
for being too neurotic," he said with a wry smile. It's still unclear
whether underfloor storage will work at this height. Yoshiaki Tomiyasu
(former Juryo Yamanishiki), section chief of the Kyokai's Facility
Management and Utilization Promotion Office, said, "There's a Kyokai
workshop on June 3rd, so we'll try putting it away on the 2nd. We won't
know if it works until we try..." [Ichiro Sasaki]

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