Yobidashi

A yobidashi (呼出 or 呼び出し; lit. 'call'), often translated in English as "usher", "ring attendant", or "ring announcer", is an employee of the Japan Sumo Association, responsible for various tasks essential to the traditional running of professional sumo tournaments (honbasho) in Japan. The yobidashi are involved in building the dohyō (wrestling ring) or calling wrestlers (rikishi) to the ring when it is their turn to fight. They are also entrusted with other roles, both administrative and artistic, in the service of the stable to which they are attached. Established during the Heian period, the role of yobidashi was not codified until the Tenmei era. Nicknamed "sumo's workhorses" by former sekiwake Takamiyama, the yobidashi are required to wear traditional clothing in public and are subject to a strict hierarchy in their organisation.