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The Japan Sumo Association, sometimes abbreviated JSA or NSK, is the body that operates and controls professional sumo wrestling in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). This means concretely that the Association maintains and develops sumo traditions and integrity by holding tournaments and tours. The purposes of the Association are also to develop the means dedicated to the sport and maintain, manage and operate the facilities necessary for these activities. Therefore, the JSA operates subsidiaries such as the Kokugikan Service Company to organize its economic aspects, the Sumo School to organize training and instruction or the Sumo Museum to preserve and utilize sumo wrestling records and artefacts.
A toshiyori (年寄) is a sumo elder of the Japan Sumo Association (JSA). Also known as oyakata (親方), former wrestlers who reached a sufficiently high rank are the only people eligible. The benefits are considerable, as only toshiyori are allowed to run and coach in sumo stables, known as heya, and they are also the only former wrestlers given retirement pay.
In sumo wrestling, a heya is an organization of sumo wrestlers where they train and live. It can also be termed sumo-beya. All wrestlers in professional sumo must belong to one. As of 2022 there were 43 heya, each belonging to one of five ichimon. They vary in size, with the largest heya having over thirty wrestlers and smallest just one wrestler. Most heya are based in and around the Ryōgoku district of Tokyo, sumo's traditional heartland, although the high price of land has led to some newer heya being built in other parts of Tokyo or its suburbs.
Asahifuji Seiya is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Aomori. He joined professional sumo in 1981, reaching the top makuuchi division just two years later. He reached the second highest rank of ōzeki in 1987 and became the 63rd yokozuna in the history of the sport in 1990 at the age of 30. He won four tournaments and was a runner-up on nine other occasions. He retired in 1992 and is now the head coach of Isegahama stable. As a coach he has produced two yokozuna Harumafuji and Terunofuji.
Isegahama stable, formerly known as Ajigawa stable from 1979 to 2007, is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Isegahama ichimon or group of stables. Its current head coach is former yokozuna Asahifuji.
Miyagino stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Isegahama ichimon or group of stables. It was founded by the 43rd yokozuna Yoshibayama as Yoshibayama dōjō while he was still an active wrestler, before changing to its current name in 1960. As of January 2023, the stable had 20 wrestlers, with two of them ranked in the second highest professional division.
Kasugano stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Dewanoumi ichimon or group of stables. As of January 2023 it had 17 wrestlers. It has been led by former sekiwake Tochinowaka Kiyotaka since 2003. It was one of the most successful stables in 2013, with six sekitori wrestlers, including now retired Georgian Tochinoshin and Japanese born Tochinowaka Michihiro, who used the current head coach's old ring name.
Isenoumi stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Tokitsukaze ichimon or group of stables. Its current head coach is former maegashira Kitakachidoki. As of January 2023 it had 12 wrestlers.
The Michinoku stable was a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Tokitsukaze ichimon or group of stables. It was established in 1974 by former maegashira Hoshikabuto, who branched off from Izutsu stable, and closed in April 2024, at the time of the retirement of former ōzeki Kirishima, who became the stable head coach in December 1997.
Kasugayama stable was a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Isegahama ichimon or group of stables. In its modern form it dates from 1954 when it was re-established by former ōzeki Nayoroiwa who led it until his death in 1971. It went out of existence in 1990 when the stablemaster, former maegashira Ōnobori, reached the mandatory retirement age of sixty-five, and was absorbed by Ajigawa stable, but it was revived by Kasugafuji after his retirement as an active wrestler in 1996. As of January 2016 it had 23 wrestlers. Its only wrestler to reach the top division was the Korean born Kasugaō who retired in 2011.
Takamisugi Takakatsu is a former sumo wrestler from Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. His highest rank was komusubi. He is now the head coach of Tokiwayama stable, renamed from Chiganoura stable.
Kōbōyama Daizō is a former sumo wrestler from Tsukidate, Kurihara, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. He made his professional debut in 1973 and reached the top makuuchi division in 1981. His highest rank was sekiwake. He earned two special prizes for Technique and was a runner-up in one tournament. He retired in 1990. He is now a sumo coach and ran the Takashima stable from 1993 until 2011. He was elected to the Japan Sumo Association's board of directors in 2018.
Kasugafuji Akihiro, born as Shoki Iwanaga, was a Japanese sumo wrestler and coach from Oshika, Miyagi. He was an active wrestler in professional sumo from 1981 until 1996, reaching a highest rank of maegashira 1. After his retirement he re-established the Kasugayama stable in 1997 and trained his own wrestlers. He left the Japan Sumo Association in 2012 after an expenses scandal, and was involved with a legal dispute in 2013 with his successor as head of Kasugayama stable which was not resolved until shortly before his death in 2017.
Takanotsuru Shinichi is a former sumo wrestler from Izumi, Kagoshima, Japan. He made his professional debut in March 1992, and reached the top division in January 2003. His highest rank was maegashira 8. He retired in May 2006 and became an elder in the Japan Sumo Association coaching at Naruto stable.
Kitaseumi Hiromitsu is a former sumo wrestler from Kitahiyama, Hokkaidō, Japan. He made his professional debut in July 1964, and reached the top division in March 1972. His highest rank was sekiwake. He retired in May 1979 and was active elder in the Japan Sumo Association under the name Kimigahama. As Kimigahama-oyakata he first coached at Kokonoe stable, but moved to Hakkaku stable when it was started up by former Kokonoe wrestler Hokutoumi in 1993. He reached the Sumo Association's mandatory retirement age of 65 in July 2013. The Kimigahama toshiyori-kabu was acquired by Hakkaku wrestler Okinoumi in October 2013.
Daihi Susumu is a former sumo wrestler from Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.
Kanechika Kazunori is a former sumo wrestler and coach from Tsurumi, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
Shikishima Katsumori is a former sumo wrestler from Funabashi, Chiba, Japan. He made his professional debut in January 1989, and reached the top division in November 1994. His highest rank was maegashira 1. He defeated Takanohana twice in 1998 to earn his only two kinboshi for a yokozuna upset. His stablemaster, former sekiwake Aonosato retired in November 2000 and he moved from Tatsutagawa stable to Michinoku stable. He retired in May 2001 after being diagnosed with a heart ailment, and has remained in sumo as an elder of the Japan Sumo Association and coach at Michinoku. He has borrowed a succession of elder names since his retirement. Since 2013 he has been known as Urakaze.
Asahisato Kenji is a former sumo wrestler from Ikeda, Osaka, Japan. His active career spanned 17 years and 102 tournaments from 1981 until 1998, and his highest rank was maegashira 14. Upon his retirement he became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association. He took charge of Nakagawa stable in January 2017, but the stable was closed in July 2020 and he was demoted two rungs in the Sumo Association's hierarchy after he was found to have mistreated wrestlers in the stable.
The following are the events in professional sumo during 2021.