This is a list of records held by wrestlers of professional sumo. Only performances in official tournaments or honbasho are included here. Since 1958, six honbasho have been held every year, giving wrestlers from the modern era more opportunities to accumulate championships and wins. Before this, tournaments were held less frequently; sometimes only once or twice per year.
Names in bold indicate a still active wrestler. The tables are up to date as of the end of the March 2024 tournament.
+Raiden is said to have had the best record in 28 tournaments between 1790 and 1810, Tanikaze 21 between 1772 and 1793, and Kashiwado 16 between 1812 and 1822. Tachiyama won two unofficial championships and nine official, giving him a total of 11.
+ Tournaments have been consistently fifteen days long since May 1949. Before that date there were a number of different lengths, including ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen days. The records of Tachiyama, Tochigiyama and Tsunenohana also include some draws, holds and rest days.
+ Four of these titles were in perfect tournaments (zenshō-yūshō) and were part of Hakuhō's second-place streak of 63 consecutive wins. † Includes a sweep of all six tournaments in 2005. Asashōryū remains the only wrestler to have won all tournaments in a six-tournament calendar year (post-1949). ‡ All of Futabayama's victories in this streak were in perfect tournaments and were part of Futabayama's record setting 69 consecutive wins. ÷Raiden is said to have had the best record in nine consecutive tournaments between 1806 and 1810
The list includes yokozuna and ōzeki (the highest rank before the yokozuna rank was introduced), but excludes so-called kanban or "guest ōzeki" (usually big men drawn from local crowds to promote a tournament who would never appear on the banzuke again) and wrestlers for which insufficient data is available.
In 1927, the Tokyo Sumo Association merged with the Osaka Sumo Association to form the Japan Sumo Association, and most of the sumo systems were changed, so any pre-1927 records are disregarded. The list excludes active wrestlers.[c]
The table for the fastest progress shows wrestlers with the fewest tournaments from their professional debut to their top division debut since the six tournaments a year system was introduced in 1958. It excludes makushita tsukedashi and sandanme tsukedashi entrants who made their debut in the third makushita division and the fourth sandanme division.
Special prizes or sanshō were first awarded in 1947. They can only be given to wrestlers ranked at sekiwake or below. For the current list of active special prize winners, see here.
^The winning streaks of Tanikaze, Umegatani, and Tachiyama were interrupted by draws and rest days. The others listed were all wins only.
^Playoff matches, whether victories or defeats, are not included. Jōkōryū lost a playoff match in September 2011, and Fujiseiun in July 2021. Itai won one in January 1979. Bouts in maezumo are unofficial and also not included.
^Losses by default are excluded, but wins by default are included; as is standard in sumo records.
^ abTamawashi was forced to withdraw from Day 13 of the July 2022 tournament under COVID-19 protocols. The Japan Sumo Association has said his streak should be recognized as continuing.[1]
