Heya (sumo)

Common card · No. 390988

In professional sumo wrestling, a heya or beya (部屋; lit. 'room') is an organization of wrestlers where they train and live in a "quasi-monastic and militaristic lifestyle". It is most commonly and metaphorically translated in English as "stable", but is also translated as "training quarters", or "fraternity". The stable system originated in the Genroku period and flourished in the Edo period. It was called into question during the Meiji Restoration, but it has survived to this day. Closer to a medieval fraternity than a modern sports team, a stable is a group that lives, eats, trains, sleeps, and socializes together, under the authority of one or more elders. There are no player trades in professional sumo, so joining a stable is expected to be a lifetime commitment. Of all the staff at the Japan Sumo Association, only toshiyori can open or inherit a heya and manage it, as part of a system regulated by the association. Each heya is financially supported both by the Association and by groups...

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