Judge (sumo)

When judging tournament bouts, they wear formal Japanese dress of otokomono, haori with mon, and hakama.

The South East shimpan also acts as the timekeeper and gives a signal to the gyōji (referee) when preparation time is up and the wrestlers should fight.

A mono-ii (of the shimpan only) can in principle also be called by any of the four sumo wrestlers awaiting their bout around the ring, although this is an extremely rare occurrence.

)[1] Overturning a call can be a serious matter for a gyōji, as he has to file a report and it can hinder his promotion, lead to suspension for a number of days, or in very rare cases resignation.

Video replays confirmed that the foot did not touch the ground outside of the straw bales at the time the hand was raised, and the judges decided to order a rematch.

A special advisory body of external members is responsible for initial recommendations of promotion to the top rank of yokozuna.

[4] An oyakata is normally expected to have reached at least a high maegashira rank as an active wrestler and must usually wait at least five years after retirement to become a shimpan.