Toshiyori

A toshiyori (年寄), also known as an oyakata (親方), is a sumo elder exercising both coaching functions with active wrestlers and responsibilities within the Japan Sumo Association (JSA). All toshiyori are former wrestlers who reached a sufficiently high rank to be eligible to this status. The benefits are considerable, as toshiyori are guaranteed employment until the mandatory retirement age of 65 and are allowed to run and coach in heya (sumo stables), with a comfortable yearly salary averaging around ¥15 million.

Originating from a tradition dating back to the Edo period, the position of toshiyori is founded on a system set up at a time when several sumo associations managed Japan's professional wrestling. To become a toshiyori, a former wrestler have to meet both established and public criteria and be part of a system recognized as opaque. Involving the spending of several million yen to inherit the rights to become a trainer, this system has undergone numerous reforms, firstly limiting the number of people eligible to hold management positions in the Japan Sumo Association, and then more or less partially reforming the system as a whole. Despite this, the position of toshiyori is still highly sought-after by wrestlers, maintaining a high level of speculation over the right to practice.

Distributed within the Sumo Association to occupy specific functions, toshiyori also respond to a clear hierarchy, at the top of which are the elected directors of the Japan Sumo Association.