danpatsu-shiki 断髪式
The retirement ceremony where a wrestler's topknot is cut off.
The danpatsu-shiki is the ceremony where a retiring wrestler's topknot is cut off. Guests take a snip in turn, and more than 300 were scheduled to cut at yokozuna Akebono's in 2001. A wrestler with 30 or more tournaments as a sekitori can hold it at the Kokugikan as part of a retirement exhibition, while others usually hold a smaller one. Cutting the topknot doesn't end a career on its own, since that takes a formal retirement notice.
Related words
- intai-zumō 引退相撲
- A one-day exhibition held to mark a sekitori's retirement.
- chonmage 丁髷
- The topknot. Lower-ranked wrestlers wear a plain one.
- ōichō-mage 大銀杏髷
- The ginkgo-leaf topknot sekitori wear in tournaments.