There is no single denominator for every question. Show bouts contested on the dohyo, official decisions including defaults and tournaments spent absent as separate measures. Do not switch definitions because one makes a preferred wrestler look stronger.
The official scorecard is primary evidence for recorded results. The researcher’s denominator is an analytical choice. A competed-bout win rate can describe observed wins and losses, but it does not answer the separate question of how absence affected a ranked career.
Changing the denominator can change the order
Contested bouts only, official wins and losses including fusen, and the maximum scheduled exposure at a rank produce different values. Do not label all three simply “win rate.” Publish the formula, wins, losses, defaults and absence states together. A day without a scheduled bout is not automatically a loss.
Avoid removing losing tournaments, the end of a career or lower-rank appearances after seeing the outcome. Set interval, rank scope and minimum bout count in advance. Alternative definitions belong in a sensitivity table rather than silently replacing the main result.
Opponents, rank and survival remain visible
Sixty per cent at yokozuna, ozeki and lower maegashira occurs in different rank and opponent contexts. Retain opponent rank, tournament, era, promotion and demotion. Publish raw rates separately from matched or stratified estimates.
Looking backwards only from wrestlers with long current careers removes shorter paths. Active wrestlers, retired wrestlers and a newly promoted wrestler with few bouts do not have equal precision. Show counts and intervals; a decimal-place difference is not permission to issue a definitive strength verdict.
What the table must disclose
- formula and treatment of contested bouts, defaults and absence;
- rank, interval, opponents and minimum bout count;
- wins, losses, missing states, active censoring and exclusions;
- extraction version, official check date and sensitivity definitions.
A win rate does not diagnose injury or measure effort, courage or character. Incompatible questions should not be forced into one league table.
Find one bout behind the percentage
After reading the rate, choose one win. Follow the opponent, first step and official result. Two wins can contain very different sumo, just as two identical percentages can come from different paths. The rate is not the conclusion; it is an index for deciding which bout to excavate next.
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.
Counterevidence and the Update Trigger
The result is limited to the stated period, population and missing-data treatment. An official correction, a newly completed tournament, a changed exclusion rule or a failed recalculation is an update trigger. Preserve the previous value, reason for change and recalculation date; do not strengthen a conclusion using only convenient new records.
Sources
- Japan Sumo Association tournament scorecard, daily bouts/results and absence information (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 tournament scorecardPrimary source (as checked for this article)
- Japan Sumo Association daily bouts and resultsPrimary source (as checked for this article)
- Japan Sumo Association absence informationPrimary source (as checked for this article)