Kimarite
Winning techniques in a sumo bout
決まり手
- Martial arts
- Sumo, Wrestling
- Classified as
- sports technique
Kimarite (Japanese: 決まり手) is the technique used in sumo by a rikishi (wrestler) to win a match. It is officially decided or announced by the gyōji (referee) at the end of the match, though judges can modify this decision. The records of kimarite are then kept for statistical purposes.
The Japan Sumo Association (JSA) have officially recognized 82 such techniques since 2001, with five also recognized as winning non-techniques. However, only about a dozen of these are frequently and regularly used by rikishi.
A sumo match can still be won even without a kimarite, by the virtue of disqualification due to a kinjite (foul), such as striking with closed fist.
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q2004969 (CC0); text quoted from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.