Mawashi

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title: "Mawashi" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["japanese-lower-body-garments", "sumo-terminology"] description: "Loincloth worn by sumo wrestlers" topic_path: "geography/japan" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mawashi" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Loincloth worn by sumo wrestlers ::

In sumo, a is the loincloth that ja (sumo wrestlers) wear during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a ja as part of the ring entry ceremony or ja.

''Mawashi''

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Hakuho_May07.jpg" caption="sekitori}} during tournaments. Colour matching ''sagari'' strings hang from the ''mawashi'' across his legs."] ::

''Sekitori''

During competition

For top ranked professional ja (known as ja), the mawashi is made of silk and comes in a variety of colours. It is approximately 30 ft in length when unwrapped, about 2 ft wide and weighs about 8 to. It is wrapped several times around the ja and fastened in the back by a large knot. A series of stiffened silk fronds of matching colour called sagari are inserted into the front of the ja. Their number varies from 13 to 25, and is always an odd number. They mark out the only part of the ja that it is illegal to grab on to: the vertical part covering the ja's groin, and if the sagari fall out during competition the ja (referee) will throw them from the ring at the first opportunity.

Many ja are superstitious and will change the color of their ja to change their luck. Sometimes a poor performance will cause them to change colors for the next tournament, or even during a tournament, in an attempt to change their luck for the better. An example of this was done by Ōnoshō during the 2020 July tournament, when, after several losses in a row, he decided to change from crimson to dark gray.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/横綱審議委員会ー３.JPG" caption="mawashi}}."] ::

During training

ja only wear the silk ja during competitive bouts either during ranking tournaments or touring displays. During training, a heavy white cotton ja is worn. For senior ja in the top two divisions, this belt is coloured white, and it is worn with one end distinctively looped at the front. ja are not worn during training.

Lower-division ''rikishi''

ja ranked in the lower professional divisions wear a black cotton ja both for training and in competition. In competition, cotton ja are inserted into the belt, but these are not stiffened.

Amateur sumo

Amateur sumo wrestlers wear a cotton ja of any color without the looping accorded to the senior professional's training garb. Additionally, they may wear a tag on the front of their ja that identifies them individually or the nation they are competing for, depending on the competition. Amateur sumo wrestlers are also allowed (or required, in the case of women wrestlers) to wear shorts or leotards under their ja while professional ja are not.

Techniques and rules

Sometimes a ja may wear his ja in such a way as to give him some advantage over his opponent. He may wear it loosely to make it more difficult to be thrown, or he may wrap it tightly and splash a little water on it to help prevent his opponent from getting a good grip on it. His choice will depend on the type of techniques he prefers to employ in his bouts. Thus a wrestler preferring belt sumo will usually wear it more loosely, while those preferring pushing techniques will tend to wear the ja more tightly.

If a wrestler's ja comes off during a tournament bout, he is automatically disqualified. This is extremely rare, but did occur in May 2000, when ja wrestler Asanokiri's ja came off during a match with Chiyohakuhō. However, for most of sumo's history, whether or not a wrestler's ja came off during a bout was considered irrelevant, and the policy of disqualification only came into place when Japan began adopting European attitudes towards nudity.

{{Transliteration|ja|Keshō-mawashi}}

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Kuniyoshi_Utagawa,_The_sumo_wrestler_2.jpg" caption="keshō-mawashi}}"] ::

Wrestlers in the two upper divisions, ja and ja, are allowed to wear a second ceremonial ja during their ring entering ceremony. The silk 'belt' opens out at one end into a large apron which is usually heavily embroidered and with thick tassels at the bottom. The fringe and tassels of the ja are usually gold but may be any color except purple, which is reserved for use by ja and ja only.

The ja may advertise the produce of a sponsor of the ja (for example Bulgarian ja Kotoōshū was sponsored by a Japanese brand of yogurt, "Bulgaria", which was prominently displayed on the front of his ja) or be a gift from one of the ja's support groups. Alternatively, some foreign-born ja (such as Czech-born Takanoyama) bear their national flag on their ja. Popular ja may be given many of these ja.

ja have matching sets of three ja, with two being worn by his wrestler "assistants" (his ja and ja) during his ring entrance ceremony.

In the Edo period, the ja also served as the wrestler's fighting ja. However, as the aprons become more ornate, eventually the two functions were split apart. In this period wrestlers were normally sponsored by feudal ja or overlords, whose clan crest would therefore appear on the ja.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Aki_basho_dohyō-iri_on_Sept._28_2014.jpg" caption="keshō-mawashi}}"] ::

References

References

1. "Success for Japan - The Secrets of Sumo". British Chamber of Commerce in Japan.
2. (April 2006). "The Amateur Game – Global and Going Places".
3. Sharnoff, Lora. (1993). "Grand Sumo: The Living Sport and Tradition". Weatherhill.
4. Kattoulas, Velisarios. (20 May 2000). "Exposed: Sumo Wrestler Who Lost It All". [[International Herald Tribune]].
5. Gunning, John. (January 22, 2019). "Sumo 101: Keshō-mawashi". The Japan Times.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::