Makekoshi

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Makekoshi (負け越し) means a majority of losses in a professional sumo championship.

In sumo, individual promotion and relegation depends on performance in the previous 15 day tournament, where senior wrestlers (Juryo and above) compete once a day, and junior wrestlers (Makushita and below) seven times over the duration of the championship. The first aim of the majority of wrestlers is to make kachikoshi (a majority of wins or a score of 8-7 of better for a senior wrestler), which usually guarantees a promotion up the ranks.

Makekoshi almost always leads to individual relegation. The size of the relegation will depend how bad the score was. There are exceptions to this rule for Ozeki and Yokozuna:

• For Ozeki a wrestler must make two makekoshi in a row before being relegated.
• Yokozuna can never be relegated regardless of match outcomes. However, it is considered disgraceful for a yokozuna to go makekoshi and he is expected to withdraw from the tournament at an early stage if he is in danger of doing so. Consistent poor performances will lead to his retirement.