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A thread about shikona 四股名, aka rikishi ring names, for sumo newbies (or anyone else lol)! While pronunciations and sometimes spellings are recycled through history, no two rikishi can have the same kanji spelling for their shikona at the same time. 1/?
Firstly, the word shikona is broken down as follows:
shiko 四股・na 名
Shiko means to stamp your feet, which you will see rikishi doing in their corner before their bouts. Na means name. So literally it means the name they use when stamping their feet on the dohyo.
shiko 四股・na 名
Shiko means to stamp your feet, which you will see rikishi doing in their corner before their bouts. Na means name. So literally it means the name they use when stamping their feet on the dohyo.
Shikona are most commonly made up of two or three kanji characters. Occasionally, however, you will see rikishi using only one kanji, such as Ikioi 勢 and Kagayaki 輝. Sometimes four (!) eg Okinoumi 隠岐の海.
As illustrated above, kanji can have more than one syllable.
As illustrated above, kanji can have more than one syllable.
Before we get into naming traditions themselves, some rikishi use their own family name and do not adopt a shikona (i) until they achieve a certain rank; or (ii) at all.
Notable cases of real name usage are Ura 宇良, Ishiura 石浦, Takayasu 高安, Endo 遠藤 and Shodai 正代. There had been speculation that Takayasu might take a new shikona with his ascension to ozeki, but he didn't after all.
Sometimes shikona incorporate a surname. Takanohana 貴乃花 and Wakanohana 若乃花 are brothers with the surname Hanada 花田. Their initial shikona were Takahanada 貴花田 and Wakahanada 若花田.
Sasayama 笹山 used his real surname, which meant his younger brother had to take Sasanoyama 笹ノ山 when he debuted later (now known as Daiseido 大成道) in order to distinguish them.
Many of those who take a shikona at the beginning of their careers will change later, to mark a new level of rank or other circumstances. Most commonly a new shikona will be chosen on accession to sekitori rank, to mark their 'new life'.
Harumafuji 日馬富士 was known as Ama 安馬 at the start of his career, and levelled up to Harumafuji when he became ozeki.
Takayoshitoshi 貴公俊 changed his shikona to Takanofuji 貴ノ富士 to refresh his shikona after his first scandal (though some might say the unfortunate new combination was prophetic/cursed...appropriate?).
Naming traditions are a complicated business. Usually a stable will have certain traditional kanji that their rikishi will adopt, as a sign of deference to their oyakata or other important stable predecessor or mentor.
Many from Kokonoe Beya have chiyo 千代 in their name, from late coach ex-Chiyonofuji 千代の富士 (who himself inherited chiyo from someone else). Takanohana's 貴乃花 deshi took taka 貴 in their names, such as Takakeisho 貴景勝.
Kanji can be derived not just from an oyakata, but also a more senior rikishi who acts as mentor. The 'ho' 鵬 (phoenix) in Enho's 炎鵬 shikona nods to Hakuho 白鵬. The 'kaze' 風 (wind) in Tomokaze 友風 nods to his senpai ex-Yoshikaze 嘉風. And so on.
Sometimes a shikona will refer to a rikishi's birthplace or local culture. Ai's 藍 shikona means indigo. His hometown of Aizumi is in Tokushima prefecture (formerly called Awa) which makes the sukumo base used to make Awa-ai 阿波藍 indigo dye. (SO COOL! THIS IS MY FAVOURITE!!)
Both of Harumafuji's 日馬富士 shikona both used the kanji for horse, uma 馬, to refer to his Mongolian ethnicity, where horses are an important part of culture.
Churanoumi's 美ノ海 shikona means sea of beauty/beautiful sea and invokes his Okinawan heritage. Though the kanji 美 means beautiful in Japanese, he chose the Okinawan dialect pronunciation 'chura'. It describes the sea surrounding his home island.
Looking at the kanji themselves, they are often allusions to nature, or desirable qualities such as victory or shingitai 心技体 (the three qualities of a good rikishi - heart, technique, body).
Common kanji include umi 海 (sea), yama/zan 山 (mountain), shou 勝 (victory) ryuu 竜 (dragon), shin 心 (heart), kaze 風 (wind), asa 朝 (morning), dai 大 (large or great), fuji 富士 (as in Mt Fuji), chiyo 千代 (1000 yrs)...
I'm not sure who picked Chiyomaru's shikona or if this was deliberate, but breaking it down, chiyo 千代 means 1000 years (or 'forever'). Maru 丸 means circle, or...round! Very fitting for our favourite round boi.
Often the kanji will use rare pronunciations, even if they are fairly common characters. Ex-Takekaze's 豪風 wife once said that when she first met him, she had no idea how to pronounce his shikona!
Takanohana and Wakanohana used two different written versions of the same pronunciation. Takanohana 貴ノ花 became 貴乃花 and Wakanohana 若ノ花 became 若乃花 (note the different middle kanji for 'no').
Lastly shikona are given up on retirement. If a rikishi becomes a coach, they take the name attached to their kabu.There are, however, exceptions and special permission can be given for exceptional rikishi to keep the name they used when active, such as former yokozuna Takanohana
Now you understand shikona, you will understand this joke!
Akua re-enacts *that* scene from Your Name. In Japanese it's called Kimi no Na Wa (lit. Your Name). His caption is Kimi no Shikona Wa (lit. Your Ring-Name). https://twitter.com/aquashoma/status/959389025457946625
Akua re-enacts *that* scene from Your Name. In Japanese it's called Kimi no Na Wa (lit. Your Name). His caption is Kimi no Shikona Wa (lit. Your Ring-Name). https://twitter.com/aquashoma/status/959389025457946625
The shikona is not just a mononym. Rikishi will often adopt a new first name too. For foreign born rikishi this basically helps assimilate them into sumo culture.
Sometimes Japanese born rikishi will retain their birth name. Someone who didn't was Enho, who chose the first name Akira to honour a close childhood friend (and sumo mentor) who passed away in a motorcycle accident. 
I forgot another charming example. The recently retired Wakaichiro is of dual Japanese-African American heritage. His full name is Ichiro Kendrick Young. But what to do when you’re Japanese with an English surname? He took Ken as a first name + waka 若 which means...young! 
