One of professional sumo’s most interesting facets is its banzuke — a ranking list of all wrestlers in the sport’s six divisions, produced in a unique calligraphy style on a single large sheet of paper.
Updated after each tournament, the banzuke is a snapshot of the state of sumo at a moment in time, with top-division wrestlers’ names writ large and those in the lowest tiers barely legible.
With 600 or so names all grouped so closely together it’s easy to see how far away any particular rikishi is to the top of the pyramid. Lay out several consecutive banzuke side by side and the progress of the best wrestlers is quickly identified.