The sumo topknot: how a wrestler's hair shows his rank
All wrestlers wear their hair in a topknot called a chonmage, tied by a specialist in-house hairdresser called a tokoyama. Most wrestlers wear a simple, folded-back version. Only sekitori - the ranked, salaried wrestlers of juryo and makuuchi, sumo's top two divisions - wear the more elaborate oicho-mage, fanned out at the back into a shape that resembles a ginkgo leaf, for tournament days and ceremonies.
What you are seeing
- Lower-division wrestlers (makushita and below) wear a plain chonmage: the hair is gathered and folded back on itself in a simple loop.
- Sekitori wear the oicho-mage on tournament days: the same long hair is fanned out at the back into a flat, leaf-like shape.
- A tokoyama styles every wrestler's hair by hand with wax and paper string, no clips or pins; only senior tokoyama are trusted to tie the oicho-mage.
What to watch next
- During a division's ring-entering ceremony, scan the row of topknots - a line of fan-shaped oicho-mage means you are looking at sekitori, not the lower ranks.
- Compare the hair on an early-afternoon lower-division bout with a top-division bout later in the day; the shape changes well before you would recognize a face.
- If a wrestler drops out of the sekitori ranks, his oicho-mage goes with him until, or unless, he earns the rank back.
A common first-timer mistake
Assuming every topknot you see is the same. The shape is one of the fastest rank-checks in the building, well before you could read a name off the bout sheet.
Words you may hear
- Chonmage
- the simple folded topknot worn by most wrestlers
- Oicho-mage
- the fan-shaped 'ginkgo leaf' topknot worn only by sekitori on tournament days and for ceremonies
- Tokoyama
- the specialist hairdresser, attached to a stable, who ties and maintains a wrestler's topknot
Sources and review
Created and photographed in Ryogoku by a Tokyo-based spectator. Facts reviewed against Japan Sumo Association materials on 25 August 2026.