Makuuchi (幕内), or makunouchi (幕の内), is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (rikishi), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments.
A makuuchi match with the 69th yokozuna Hakuhō beating Dejima as the 68th yokozuna Asashōryū watches in the background
Yokozuna Kakuryū Rikisaburō (center) performing the ring-entering ceremony while flanked by a sword bearer on the left and dew sweeper on the right
A tsuna belonging to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
68th yokozuna Asashoryū's Unryū-style Yokozuna Dohyō-iri
Professional sumo divisions
Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. For more information see kachi-koshi and make-koshi. Wrestlers are also ranked within each division. The higher a wrestler's rank within a division is, the stronger the general level of opponents he will have to face becomes. According to tradition, each rank is further subdivided into East and West, with East being slightly more prestigious, and ranked slightly higher than its West counterpart. The divisions, ranked in order of hierarchy from highest to lowest, are as follows:
Makuuchi dohyō-iri
Jūryō dohyō-iri
Makushita bout
Sandanme bout
