Talk:Judge (sumo)/GA1

GA review

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Nominator: OtharLuin (talk · contribs) 08:52, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

Reviewer: RandomEditsForWhenIRemember (talk · contribs) 21:34, 1 June 2026 (UTC)

Hi , I'll be reviewing this over the next few days as part of the June 2026 GAN Backlog Drive :) RandomEditsForWhenIRemember (talk) 21:34, 1 June 2026 (UTC)

Hi Random, thanks for taking this on! I'll be available to answer your questions and make the requested changes :) -OtharLuin (talk) 07:37, 2 June 2026 (UTC)

Hi Othar, I'm afraid there needs to be some expansion on this article before it can be promoted as it's not comprehensive enough. There were several points where I wanted to know more but had to either start clicking on wikilinks or searching elsewhere. Here's my thoughts from my first go-through.

Thanks for your feedback. I don't really have time to focus on my GA process right now because I have a busy week, but I'll get started on your comments and the changes as early as next week. :S - OtharLuin (talk) 07:49, 11 June 2026 (UTC)

No problem Othar! There's no rush my end for this, so just let me know when you're ready to return to this. RandomEditsForWhenIRemember (talk) 13:38, 11 June 2026 (UTC)

Prose and content

> The role of referees is not limited to matches. Behind the scenes, they are also responsible for establishing the banzuke, the ranking system that serves as the cornerstone of professional sumo. When wrestlers are eligible for promotion to the two highest ranks in the hierarchy (yokozuna and ōzeki), it is also their responsibility to ask the Sumo Association's board of directors to promote those selected, with their opinion serving as the basis for the promotion process and their recommendations never being ignored. Is this meant to be "The role of judges"? If not I'm not quite following how judges factor into this or why we need an explanation of wrestlers' promotion process.

> The fairness of the decisions handed down by the gyōji was increasingly called into question, because lords sponsored wrestlers. Over what time period? Who was calling this into question, other lords?

> Three judges were led by a head judge, who had total authority and whose personal decision could not be questioned. Do we know why this format was chosen? (Four judges for the four sides maybe?)

> Both Uragoro and the TSA need more context. While I can assume Tokyo Sumo Association is a local overseeing body, there's no way for me know who Uragoro is, why he left/return, and why it's a big deal that he did. A date is also needed, because we're jumping roughly a hundred years from the last given date.

> You don't need to reintroduce gyoji as a term again.

> You mention the office evolves, but jump straight to the final reform in 1968. It would better to list as many reforms as possible here.

> The system for electing judges that had been in place until then was also abolished in favor of the system that remains in place today What was the old system? Why was it abolished?

> I guess one concern I have for the History section is all the sources are from the 1960s-90s. Has anything happened in the last 30 series?

> Initially, this difference between clans explained why judges interacted little with each other after matches, simply going home immediately after finishing their duties. Today, however, it is accepted that judges from the same team chat amiably and go out together to forge bonds. I'm not sure the sources back this up in its current form. Both sources are personal anecdotes from the person involved, so we can't make sweeping statements of what was accepted and what wasn't then and now. We should definitely include these interviews somewhere, but a rewrite of this is required.

> Far from complying with ethical rules designed to avoid conflict of interest, it is not frowned upon for a judge to be involved in the matches of his own students. On the contrary, sports commentators are relatively fond of such situations, trying to guess whether the teacher was frustrated or happy with the outcome of a match involving a student. This pops up a few times in the article, but I'm afraid the tone is too informal for an encyclopaedia. It's a good note to bring up though.

> since the 1969 May tournament. Is there no wikilink to either the en or ja wikis we can add here>

> I would like a sentence or two saying why Taiho was wrongly declared the loser. What did the judges do wrong? It's not at all obvious the result happened because the judges overturned the referee.

> Top division Ura was known to be a nightmare wrestler for the judges responsible for defining kimarite, as he was known for winning with rare techniques

Again, "nightmare wrestler" is too informal.

> The quality of the techniques used in the ring is recognized as an important criterion in the eyes of the Judging Department.[1] It is customary for the board of directors to follow the recommendations of the judges.[2]

Could this be integrated more into the above paragraphs, to avoid the shorter paragraph?

> The fourteenth and fifteenth days are exempt from this practice, and their matches are decided in the evening, after all matches have been completed Why are they exempt?

Ref handling

I'll be doing the source check tomorrow. However, I'm afraid there's a fair few issues with the refs' formatting that needs to be addressed. Let me know if you need a hand with any of these

• A few of the sources I checked had authors attached to them that weren't shown in the citation. Kuniyuki Kamimura wrote both the "Sumo Scene" articles for example.
• Ideally every Japanese title needs to use "Script-title=ja" instead of "title". Likewise a trans-title so non-Japanese speaking readers can get an idea of the source (you have this for some refs, but not all).
• Ideally in your biography you should have publisher locations for all books or none of them for consistency's sake.
• You have a few CS1 warnings popping up, mostly on your publisher locations.
• Likewise, ISBNs need to have the same format, whatever you choose.
• You hyperlink the website/publisher sometimes but not others.

RandomEditsForWhenIRemember (talk) 22:42, 3 June 2026 (UTC)