Shimpan

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This article about an umpire in sumo. For a kind of a feudal domain in the Edo period, see Shinpan (daimyo).

Shimpan (審判, Shimpan^?) are the umpires of a professional sumo bout. In a sumo honbasho tournament five shimpan sit around the ring to observe which wrestler wins the matchup. When judging tournament bouts they wear formal Japanese dress of otokomono, haori with mon, and hakama. At the end of each bout an initial decision is given by the gyoji, which is usually correct and no action is taken by the shimpan.

If one of the shimpan disagrees or is unsure about the decision then he raises his hand and the five of them climb into the ring, or dohyo to hold a mono-ii. 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 it is an extremely rare occurrence.

During the mono-ii the five shimpan give their views on what happened. The gyoji is usually able to listen in but is not expected to take part unless invited to do so. The deliberations are further advised by two further shimpan in a video room, in communication with the chief shimpan (who is always one of the three senior members of the judging committee) via an audio link in his ear.

The use of video was brought in at a result of a famous bout in which the yokozuna Taihō was adjudged to have lost the bout despite subsequent replays and photographs indicating otherwise. The loss of this bout broke an extremely unusual forty five bout winning streak by the yokozuna and consequently the decision received much adverse publicity. One of the two shimpan in the video booth must now also be one the three most senior judges. This rule was brought in as a result of judging controversies in the 1990s.

The result of the mono-ii can be to uphold the gyoji's decision (so-called gunbai-dori), reverse his decision (gunbai-sashichigai), or call a rematch (torinaoshi). The chief shimpan is responsible to make the announcement and a brief explanation to the wrestlers and spectators.

All the shimpan are oyakata, or members, of the Japan Sumo Association and are members of its judging committee. At the end of each honbasho tournament the judging committee members also have the responsibility to decide the ranking of the wrestlers for the following tournament, which includes making the initial formal recommendation for the promotion of a wrestler to the rank of ozeki to the Sumo Association board of directors. (A special advisory body of external members is responsible for initial recommendations of promotion to the top rank of yokozuna.)