Yobidashi—the attendants whose calls introduce wrestlers—are named on the printed banzuke. The role heading there is written 呼出し, with a final hiragana し. You may also see the shorter 呼出 on the Japan Sumo Association website and in formal documents. Neither form is a random typo. The printed word has disappeared, returned and changed spelling across the modern history of the banzuke. Find it once and an unseen arena voice becomes a named person.
For a visitor who does not read Japanese fluently, a banzuke can look like a beautiful wall of black strokes. Most guides direct you to the broad names of the yokozuna and ozeki first. That is useful, but the sheet contains more than wrestlers. Among the supporting professions are the yobidashi. Their small section lets you connect sound, calligraphy and a career that has its own grades.
Why the website says 呼出 but the print says 呼出し
The Association’s official directory is titled 呼出一覧, literally the “yobidashi directory,” using the shorter form. Its organisation page and governing language also use 呼出. By contrast, an official Association explainer says the printed banzuke and the bout sheet distributed at the venue use 呼出し.
English removes that visible distinction because both forms are romanised as *yobidashi*. You do not need to choose a winning spelling. In this guide, “yobidashi” names the profession; 呼出し identifies the heading a reader should look for on the print.
The extra character matters because it preserves an editorial history. Instead of treating the banzuke as an unchanged relic, we can see that the document has been revised, with choices about whose names appear and how a role is labelled.
The names first appeared in May 1949
According to Japan Sumo Association Sumo Quiz No. 931, the first banzuke to print 呼出し was the May 1949 edition. Yobidashi remained listed through the November 1959 tournament. Beginning with the January 1960 edition, the names of yobidashi, wakaimonogashira and sewanin disappeared from the banzuke.
That statement concerns the printed roster. It does not mean the yobidashi profession vanished for more than three decades. A person can remain essential to the tournament while being absent from a particular document. Keeping “not printed” separate from “did not exist” prevents a neat but false story.
The role itself is a separate question from its appearance on the sheet. Current Association materials define calling, drums and dohyo work as yobidashi duties; our broader yobidashi guide covers those roles. Here, the paper trail is the subject.
They returned in July 1994
Yobidashi names reappeared on the banzuke for the July 1994 tournament. The heading at that point was the shorter 呼出, a form connected in the Association explainer to the wording used in its foundational rules.
The printed heading changed again in September 2008. The Association says that the earlier banzuke had used 呼出し and that yobidashi themselves commonly used that form. The print therefore returned to 呼出し, which remains the label described by the official page.
The story is tiny—one hiragana character—but wonderfully tangible. A word enters the sheet, leaves it, returns without its final character, then regains it. The thick sumo calligraphy suddenly has version history.
Yobidashi have nine grades of their own
The Association’s FY2025 activity report lists nine levels: tate-yobidashi, deputy tate-yobidashi, sanyaku, makuuchi, juryo, makushita, sandanme, jonidan and jonokuchi yobidashi. The report also says that their ranking is, in principle, decided by the board after the September tournament for the following year.
The familiar division names can be misleading. A “makuuchi yobidashi” is not a wrestler competing in makuuchi; it is a professional grade within the yobidashi ranks. Nor should you assume their grade changes after every basho like a wrestler’s position. The official annual report describes a yearly decision cycle.
The live directory provides each person’s professional name, real name, grade and stable affiliation. These fields can change, so this evergreen article does not preserve a current top-to-bottom roster. When you want to identify someone, the latest official list is the safer source.
A careful way to connect the print to the arena
Begin with the four-character heading 呼出し. Choose one name beneath it rather than trying to decode the entire column. Then use the online directory to confirm the reading, grade and affiliation. The banzuke alone does not tell you which bout that person will call or what their voice sounds like, so do not make that leap without an official assignment or broadcast identification.
During a tournament, watch for the person standing at the dohyo with an open white fan. Listen as the two shikona are stretched across the arena. If the name is identified in the broadcast or official material, connect it back to the one on paper. The voice has not become more important because you know the name; you have simply learned how to notice the person already doing the work.
The easiest affection in sumo often begins like this. First there is a sound you recognise. Then there is a name you can read. On the next day, you start waiting for that voice before either wrestler has stepped fully into view. A printed heading has turned the interval between bouts into part of the event.
Where the Evidence Stops
A name, form or procedure confirmed by an official source is a fact; it does not automatically establish a person’s intention or a religious meaning. What the source does not state remains unknown. If an observation suggests a hypothesis, we label the inference, show what could contradict it and name the source that would resolve it.
Sources
- Japan Sumo Association, Sumo Quiz No. 931 (published 27 July 2024; checked 3 September 2026)
- Japan Sumo Association, yobidashi directory (checked 3 September 2026)
- Japan Sumo Association, FY2025 activity report (checked 3 September 2026)
- Japan Sumo Association, mission and organisation (checked 3 September 2026)
Source links used for verification
Each link was used for the corresponding claim in this article; inclusion is not a blanket endorsement of the whole page.
Article verified:
- Japan Sumo Association Sumo Quiz No. 931 on the printed label yobidashiHistorical primary source (record from that period)
- Japan Sumo Association yobidashi directoryPrimary source (as checked for this article)
- Japan Sumo Association FY2025 activity reportPrimary source (as checked for this article)
- Japan Sumo Association mission and organisationPrimary source (as checked for this article)