Only honbasho results matter in determining promotion and relegation for rikishi (sumo wrestlers) on the banzuke ranking.

In 1928, they introduced rules such as marking uncontested bouts as forfeitures (fusenshō) to help guarantee tournaments end with a clear winner.

[2] The newspaper Jiji Shinpō began offering the first award for performances in 1889, giving it to any wrestler who finished a tournament undefeated.

Wanting a way to decide a definite winner each tournament, by 1900 daily newspapers such as the Osaka Mainichi Shimbun had begun bestowing awards on the wrestler with the best record of a honbasho.

The winner of the top makuuchi division's honbasho receives a plethora of trophies and prizes from various organizations, regions and countries, but most notable is the 30kg sterling silver Emperor's Cup.

[3][4] Since 1947, three special prizes called sanshō may be awarded to wrestlers in the makuuchi division for exceptional performances during a honbasho.

The schedule for the second half of the tournament will have mainly san'yaku fighting each other, with the remainder of the ranks determined by their win–loss records up to that point.

If a wrestler has withdrawn due to injury or retirement from a scheduled bout, his opponent wins by default (fusenshō).

[10] The March 2011 tournament was cancelled due to the Japan Sumo Association launching an investigation into allegations of match-fixing involving several sekitori-ranked wrestlers.

This was the first cancellation of a honbasho since 1946, when the May tournament was not held because of renovations to the Ryōgoku Kokugikan following damage sustained in World War II.

[12] The move followed a request from the Japanese Government that major public events be cancelled, postponed or scaled down in order to control the spread of the virus.