In professional sumo wrestling, an is a grouping of stables. Because of their specific nature, clans are also sometimes referred to as the sports equivalent of a traditional family or a commonwealth. Every stable must be affiliated to one of the five existing clans.
In the past, the clans were close-knit, but this bond has weakened with time and the reforms of professional sumo. Nowadays clans serve primarily as political factions. Elders' ambition has also caused some clans to splinter, turning a cohesive landscape into a fragmented one. Of the clans founded during the Edo period, none remain today. Of the five current clans, not all enjoy the same aura or influence within the association. For example, the Dewanoumi and Nishonoseki clans each have more influence than the three smallest clans (Tokitsukaze, Isegahama and Takasago) combined. The powers of the various clans have also evolved with the association itself.
Origin and evolutions As in other traditional disciplines such as Noh or Shogi, where players belong to schools which in turn belong to larger groups of traditions, belong to groups formed throughout the history of sumo.
Although the term did not appear until the Shōwa era, the system itself dates back to the Edo period. Originally, were called , with the meaning of an "itinerant group". Before the Shōwa era, the operation of professional sumo revolved around these independent groups under the patronage of the sumo association. Without earned wages, wrestlers belonging to the stables of a particular union were largely dependent on the income from tours organized by the said union. These tours were organized by the unions themselves, and there was no association-wide tour system. In those days, the clan chief distributed the winnings from the tours to the stables according to their contribution. At the start of the Meiji era, professional sumo went through a period of disfavor and many stables continued to exist without having the means to invest in training grounds. The system of grouping into clans allowed these stables to mutualize training possibilities. In 1909, out of forty-seven stables, only eleven had a training ground.
The clan system became even more important at the end of the Taishō era. At the time, professional sumo was shaken by social movements and the tournament system, where wrestlers competed according to (sumo ranking sheet) divisions (east or west) and were forbidden to face wrestlers from the same division, offered little diversity in the matches. In 1932, the last major wrestlers' strike in history broke out with the Shunjuen Incident. That movement called for fundamental reform within the newly created Japan Sumo Association. Following the resignation of a significant number of wrestlers, the association acceded to a number of their demands and created the clan competition system, allowing more wrestlers to compete against each other in matches, the only restriction being that wrestlers from the same clan couldn't compete against each other. However, this system favoured the largest clans. Following political pressure to reform the association in 1957, the clan competition system was abolished to introduce a round-robin tournament system then replaced by the current system, based on stables, that was adopted in 1965. Because of the traditional construction of professional sumo, the clan system was able to survive because the modern factions had been built on the basis of personal relationships between the masters and the students.
Following the Takanoiwa affair and the dissolution of the Takanohana in 2018, the total number of clans in the Sumo Association was fixed to five and it was made mandatory for all stables to choose which clan to join, putting an end to the loose system and the autonomy of stables in their choice of alignments.
Current Dewanoumi
The , known as a conservative movement in professional sumo, also enjoys a reputation as a pillar of the association's history. The clan is the second oldest in professional sumo. In its history, six of the twelve chairmen from the wrestlers' ranks came from this clan.
Led by prominent figures in the sport such as former Hitachiyama, this clan had a policy of centralization, not allowing any to become independent of the stable until Tochigiyama's independence in 1925. This policy came to an end in 1981, when the former Mienoumi established Musashigawa stable. He became the first to become independent of Dewanoumi stable in 14 years, the first since the expulsion of Kokonoe (former Chiyonoyama) in 1967 and the first to do so in a friendly manner in 56 years since Tochigiyama. At its peak in 1931, an entire section of the was occupied by wrestlers of the clan during the spring and summer tournaments.
Nishonoseki The , also sometimes called the Nishonoseki-Futagoyama clan, was founded just before World War II by Tamanishiki. Initially, the Nishonoseki stable was part of the larger Tomozuna clan led by the . The Nishonoseki stable was led by former , who recruited Tamanishiki. The former Kaizan died in 1931, and Tamanishiki took over his name and rebuilt his stable in 1935. When the clan was created, its unofficial aim was to challenge the supremacy of the Dewanoumi . In the immediate post-war period, his successor, the former , launched a policy of clan expansion by encouraging independence. This had the direct consequence of the independence of Kotonishiki (Sadogatake stable) and Ōnoumi (Hanakago stable). Since this policy was continued by subsequent generations of Nishonoseki, the Nishonoseki is today the clan with the largest number of stables.
After the initial post-war period, the clan continued to gain influence, while being led by then-young figures like Taihō, Tamanoumi, Wakanohana I, Wajima and Kotozakura I. Due to the clan's expansion policy, their unity is considered weak and this situation created many problems, notably in 1975 when Oshiogawa stable was founded following the dissatisfaction of former Daikirin (which led to the retirement of top-ranker Tenryū) and also when Takanohana stable became independent in January 2010. Although still influential on the Sumo Association board of directors, the clan stagnated in recent years. One of the reasons given was that no main household stablemaster had previously held the rank of since Tamanishiki's retirement in 1938. This lack of clan leader sporting influence came to an end when Kisenosato assumed the Nishonoseki elder name in December 2021.
Tokitsukaze The is also an influential clan, thanks in part to former Futabayama. The latter was a wrestler for Tatsunami stable and decided to become independent by launching his own dojo in 1941. Thanks to Futabayama's good relations with other wrestlers, his stable grew in numbers by merging other smaller stables (notably the Kumegawa stable of former Kagamiiwa). The clan was later strengthened by the incorporation of the Izutsu stable, which had a long tradition, and Isenoumi stable, which until its integration into the Tokitsukaze led its own clan. Thanks to their growing number, the Tokitsukaze faction was soon able to become independent of the Tatsunami to which the main stable belonged. After Futabayama, the clan continued to grow in influence, thanks in particular to Yutakayama Katsuo. He maintained strong links with his alma mater, the Tokyo University of Agriculture, and many of the clan's recruits still come from this university.
In recent years, the clan's fortunes have been changing. In particular, the clan was publicly criticized after the Tokitsukaze stable hazing scandal. In December 2016, based on persistent disagreements between the masters of the two stables, the Oitekaze stable switched clans and left the Isegahama to join the Tokitsukaze clan. This decision was based on the long-standing ties between the Tatsunami (the former name of the Isegahama clan) and the Tokitsukaze , whose founder Futabayama himself came from Tatsunami stable.
Because of its size, the clan frequently collaborates with the Takasago to form alliances of interest.
Takasago Although the , sometimes referred as the Takasago-Kokonoe clan, is the oldest of all the existing clans, it is also the smallest. The clan's origins lie in the discontent of wrestlers in the early Meiji period. One of them, Takasago Uragorō, launched protest movements before leading his own troupe independent of the Tokyo-based sumo association: the . In the 1880s, the group reattached to Tokyo and Takasago emerged as a major figure in the association, being elected director in 1883.
The clan seems to be losing momentum with the lack of iconic wrestlers in recent years, despite a large part of the clan's influence being due to Kokonoe stable and to the emblematic wrestler Chiyonofuji and the wrestlers he raised. Chiyonofuji himself, however, never rose to the rank of chairman of the Sumo Association despite his sporting achievements, one of the reasons given being his membership of a weak clan and a certain arrogance in his dealings with the other elders. Because of its size, the clan frequently collaborates with the Tokitsukaze to form alliances of interest.
In 2020, the former Asasekiryū took charge of Takasago stable and became the first foreign-born wrestler to head an in professional sumo history.
Isegahama The is one of the smallest and lacks influence, notably because its stables had few links with each other before the clan was founded. The clan's complex history is reflected in its name, which has changed as the balance of influence within the shifted. The clan's history dates back to the Taishō era when former founded the Tatsunami stable in 1915. This stable was part of the Tomozuna , from which the Nishonoseki also descended. As more stables were incorporated into the Tatsunami stable and through its alliance with the Isegahama stable, the clan was able to expand under the name of . When the original Isegahama stable closed in February 2007, the clan was renamed for the first time as . In May 2012, the Tatsunami stable left its own clan to join the newly created Takanohana . As a result, the clan decided to change its name to . Finally, in November of the same year, the clan changed its name to Isegahama after the affair and resignation of the former Kasugayama stablemaster (the former Kasugafuji).
The owed the basis of its influence to the golden age of the Dewanoumi , when the latter dominated competitions with both Tsunenohana and Tochigiyama. The Isegahama managed to stand out under the impetus of former and .
The Isegahama clan is the only one to have never acceded to the association's chairmanship. Because of his sporting achievements, former Hakuhō was long considered by public opinion to be a prime candidate for the association's highest office, but following Hokuseihō's scandal and retirement his position was considered compromised.
Historical There was a multitude of clans in the past, some of them having been dismantled. Before 2018, it was possible for stables to form loose coalitions or not to align themselves with a particular clan and remain independent.
The was the major clan of the mid-Meiji era. The Tomozuna clan has its origins in the decline of the , that clan having raised important wrestlers, such as Umegatani I. At the heart of the clan was the eponymous stable, founded by former when the latter became independent of the . The clan could count on the support of Itagaki Taisuke, who became a major patron of the stable. The clan quickly gained influence, thanks in particular to the trio Tachiyama, Kunimiyama and Yahatayama. From this clan came the of Nishonoseki and Isegahama (then founded by Tatsunami stable). Tatsunami was founded by Midorishima in 1915 and Nishonoseki was founded by Tamanishiki in 1935.