What is the significance of Ya (Arrow) ?

[Guest omus]

Did a search at the sumo glossary :

ya, arrow of which kind two are given to the winner of third from last torikumi at senshuraku, see yumi, tsuru, kore yori san-yaku (ni gozari-masuru), yaku-zumo ni kano

tsuru, string of bow given to winning rikishi of penultimate torikumi on senshuraku, see ya, yumi, kore yori san-yaku (ni gozari-masuru), yaku-zumo ni kano

yumi, bow used by rikishi performing yumitori-shiki; also the winner of last torikumi on senshuraku gets one, see ya, tsuru, kore yori san-yaku (ni gozari-masuru), yaku-zumo ni kano

yaku-zumo ni kano, awards given to the winners of the last three torikumi after sanyaku soroibumi; also used as a term for winner of those bouts; the winner of komusubi torikumi gets two arrows (ya), the winner of sekiwake torikumi gets string of a bow (tsuru) and the winner of ozeki torikumi (last torikumi of honbasho) gets a bow (yumi), see kore yori san-yaku (ni gozari-masuru), komusubi ni kano, sekiwake ni kano, ozeki ni kano

Other than the ya, I did not seem to see the tsuru and yumi given out at the just concluded basho. The tsuru (string of bow) may not be so noticeable, but the only

yumi I saw was the one used at the yumitori-shiki (bow twirling ceremony performed at the end of every tournament day).

Hoping one of you can give some history behind the ya, tsuru and yumi given out on senshuraku.

[Jonosuke 28]

I guess they don't exactly tell you what you want to know - like the origin of them.

I think the reason is that no one knows precisely how it got started other than it started back in the Edo Era when they gave an arrow, a bowstring and a bow to winning komusubi, sekiwake and ozeki rikishi respectively.

Actually if you recall "Tegatana/Kensho" discussion a while back, this is where it originally came from as they were the original Kensho.

Now getting back to the Senshuraku, the last three bouts. Traditionally a yokozuna is considered to be just an Ozeki who was licensed to wear a "Tsuna" with no other special priviledges, so the last bout always had Ozekis competing. The second last was for sekiwake and their third last was for Komusubi - calling it Sanyaku (we no longer include Ozeki as a part of Sanyaku now).

The winner of the Ozeki bout (meaning the last bout) won't get the bow anymore as this role was replaced by the Yumitori rikishi. The way a rikishi receives a Kensho from the gyoji ("Tegatana") actually originated from how the Yumi (bow) was picked up from the gyoji.

The next time you see a Yumitori rikishi, you will see him doing something very similar to what a Maku and higher rikishi does before he picks up the Kensho envelope or when he simply is announced as the winner of the bout - the winning rikishi will bring his "right arm" (normally) down to his side from around his chest position - kind of smooth cutting or chopping action. This action is exactly the same as what the yumitori rikishi does with his bow when he finishes his ceremony.

So in sumo all the little things they do on the dohyo (and off-dohyo) has some meaning and significance even though some are pretty obscure. Sumo is very simple to look at on the surface but it gets deeper as you learn more and more so it can be enjoyed at any level which is one of the attractions at least for me.

[Ryukaze 0]

Yeah I beleive it goes back to the "Tokugawa era" or Shogun (Tokugawa Ieyasu) he was a huge fan of sumo and it was the reward given to certain RIkishi who did well, guess it has stayed with sumo till now.