Do not replace every former measurement with the latest profile value. Preserve retrieval date, the source’s stated measurement reference, old value, new value, units and reason. An observed page change, a real body change and our transcription error are not interchangeable.
When a profile number changes, the official display may not state why. It could reflect a new measurement, publication timing, rounding or correction. Unless the source explains the reason, record only the observable fact that the displayed value changed.
Snapshot and history tables
The snapshot stores wrestler ID, display name, height, weight, units, retrieval time, official URL and profile version. The history table stores old value, new value, difference, detection date, change class, evidence and every affected analysis release.
Zero, blank and retrieval failure remain different states. Keep the original unit before conversion. A pounds value for an English display is derived from the stored kilograms rather than becoming a second source measurement. If only weight changes, do not create a fictitious height update. Freeze the population by banzuke, division and extraction date; distinguish blank, retrieval failure and one-field publication as missing states. Values before the next capture are simply unobserved, not right-censored measurements. Only a separate time-to-change study may right-censor follow-up at its cutoff; never linearly interpolate the profile fields.
Classify change without inventing a cause
Separate official display update, official correction, retrieval or transcription repair, unit-conversion repair and analytical definition change. Even a ten-kilogram difference must not automatically become “gained weight” or “lost weight” in a profile story when the official page provides no timing or explanation.
Recalculate every affected median, weight band, correlation and wrestler list. If the conclusion remains the same, disclose the value change. If it moves, preserve a route to the former release and explain the difference.
Current public baseline
- 3 September 2026, v1.0: current snapshot and historical values are separate, with retrieval time mandatory.
- 3 September 2026, v1.0: a display change is not automatically labelled with a physiological cause.
- Next checkpoint: after the next banzuke announcement, capture active profiles again and send only differences to a human review queue.
Copyediting or design changes do not advance the data version or public modified date. A new release is required only when a value, unit, cohort or interpretation of measurement timing changes.
Return a changed row to technique
After finding a weight difference, resist finishing the story in the spreadsheet. Watch the next tachiai height, footwork and management of distance. A visible history lets body change remain a new observation question instead of becoming an unsupported verdict.
Missing and Excluded Records Are Not Ordinary Results
Absences, defaults, no record, unclassified outcomes and incomplete observation are not converted into zero or a standard bout. Count them as missing data or exclusions, and state whether each entered the denominator. An unverified value stays in a review row rather than being imputed from a convenient pattern.
A Different Denominator Produces a Different Answer
Keep the population and denominator fixed to the stated period, rank, division and treatment of participation. Do not generalise the rate or average to another period or division. When an update changes the denominator, show the old and new conditions and counts instead of silently overwriting one as if they were identical. Recalculate old and new snapshots with the same code and remove changed rows in a sensitivity run as a falsification check. When the source gives no reason, the alternative conclusion is only that the displayed value changed; the physiological cause remains unknown.
Sources
- Japan Sumo Association wrestler profiles, banzuke and tournament scorecard (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 wrestler searchPrimary source (as checked for this article)
- Japan Sumo Association banzuke tablePrimary source (as checked for this article)
- Japan Sumo Association tournament scorecardPrimary source (as checked for this article)