Heya (sumo)

In professional sumo wrestling, a heya or beya (部屋, lit. 'room'),^[a] most commonly and metaphorically translated in English as "stable",^[1][3][4] but also known as "training quarters",^[4] or "fraternity",^[5] is an organization of wrestlers where they train and live in a "quasi-monastic and militaristic lifestyle".^[3]

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.^[5] Additionally to wrestlers, all the traditional sports professionals (such as gyōji, yobidashi and tokoyama) must belong to a heya. Heya vary in size, with the largest and most successful stables having a completely different training environment from the smaller stables that have a dimension described as being more family-oriented.^[6] Most heya are based in and around the Ryōgoku district of Tokyo, sumo's traditional heartland, although the high price of land has led to some newer heya being built in other parts of Tokyo or its suburbs.^[7]

In 2004, the Japan Sumo Association recorded a record number of 55 active stables.^[8] There are currently 45 active sumo stables (as of October 2024), each of which belongs to one of five ichimon (factions or clans).^[b] These groupings of heya, each with their own history, traditionally serve to maintain the cohesion of stables linked by family ties, but also have a role to play in the struggle for influence within the Japan Sumo Association.

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