A zensho yusho (zensho = “all wins,” yusho = “championship”) is winning every bout of a tournament to take the Emperor’s Cup with no losses. The yusho alone is the top-division (makuuchi) championship; adding zensho makes it a flawless run — 15-0 in the modern format. Only 11 wrestlers in history have managed three or more. This guide explains what a zensho yusho is, who holds the records, and how rare a perfect championship really is.
Key takeaways
- Zensho yusho = a tournament championship won with a perfect, unbeaten record (15-0 today; 11-0 or 10-0 in shorter past eras).
- Hakuho holds the most with 16, ahead of Futabayama and Taiho on 8 each.
- Across all of sumo, only 11 wrestlers have recorded three or more perfect championships.
- Futabayama leads by rate: 8 of his 12 titles were zensho (66.7%), against Hakuho’s 35.6%.
- The last one was Terunofuji’s in November 2021; 20 tournaments have since passed with none.
What a zensho yusho is
The yusho is the championship of a tournament: the top-division (makuuchi) wrestler who wins it takes the Emperor’s Cup. Most champions drop at least one bout along the way. A zensho yusho is different. The word zensho means “all wins,” so a zensho yusho is a championship taken without a single loss — the wrestler comes through every bout of the tournament unbeaten.
What “all wins” adds up to depends on the era. The modern tournament lasts 15 days, so a perfect run is 15-0. The schedule was shorter in the past, which is why some of the historic perfect championships on this list were 11-0, and a few were 10-0 — that was simply the length of a tournament at the time. It is the most complete way to win, and even wrestlers at the top rank rarely achieve it.
A note on counting: the official championship system
Sumo established the championship (yusho) as an official system in 1926 (Taisho 15). Records before that were partly reconstructed retroactively, which is why Tsunenohana — with 8 championships and 2 zensho yusho — is counted separately and not among the 11.
The wrestlers with three or more zensho yusho
Across the entire history of the official system, just 11 wrestlers have recorded three or more perfect championships. Here they are, with their zensho yusho totals.
| Wrestler | Zensho yusho |
|---|---|
| Hakuho | 16 |
| Futabayama | 8 |
| Taiho | 8 |
| Kitanoumi | 7 |
| Chiyonofuji | 7 |
| Haguroyama | 4 |
| Takanohana | 4 |
| Asashoryu | 4 |
| Kitanofuji | 3 |
| Wajima | 3 |
| Harumafuji | 3 |
Hakuho stands apart at 16. Futabayama and Taiho follow with 8 apiece, then Kitanoumi and Chiyonofuji with 7. Four wrestlers reached the threshold with exactly three.
Futabayama: the only sekiwake to do it
Futabayama is the only wrestler to win a zensho yusho at sekiwake, rather than at the sport’s summit. That perfect run was an 11-0 sweep — the limit of the two-tournaments-a-year era — and he achieved it while in the middle of his 69-bout winning streak.
His career rate is striking. Of Futabayama’s 12 championships, 8 were zensho yusho — a perfect-championship rate of 66.7 percent.
Haguroyama’s wartime perfect runs
Haguroyama has two 10-0 perfect championships. He won them during the disrupted, shortened tournament schedules of the war and postwar years, when a tournament ran fewer than the modern 15 days.
Consecutive zensho yusho as an ozeki
Three wrestlers won consecutive zensho yusho while ranked at ozeki: Futabayama, Takanohana, and Harumafuji.
- Futabayama did it in the two-tournaments-a-year era at 11-0, in his new-ozeki tournament and the next — a 100 percent win rate.
- Takanohana achieved his in his 10th and 11th ozeki tournaments, which were his 6th and 7th career titles.
- Harumafuji did it in his 21st and 22nd ozeki tournaments, his 3rd and 4th career titles.
The great yokozuna: which championship was the perfect one
For the great yokozuna — apart from Takanohana — here is the career-championship number at which each first recorded a zensho yusho.
| Wrestler | Career championship that was a zensho yusho |
|---|---|
| Taiho | 11th |
| Kitanoumi | 8th |
| Chiyonofuji | 8th |
| Asashoryu | 5th |
| Hakuho | 3rd |
Hakuho reached his while still an ozeki. The others did it as yokozuna.
Taiho’s hard road to a perfect championship
Taiho did not arrive at his first zensho yusho easily. In that tournament, his great rival Kashiwado sat out the entire schedule. Taiho also became the wall that stopped others: he repeatedly blocked perfect runs by Kitanofuji and Tamanoumi, who only completed their own zensho yusho after Taiho retired.
Hakuho: most in number, but not in rate
Hakuho holds the record for the most zensho yusho with 16. But of his 45 championships overall, those 16 perfect ones work out to a rate of 35.6 percent.
Set that against Futabayama’s 66.7 percent, and the contrast is clear. Hakuho won the most perfect championships by count, yet by rate he trails Futabayama. Hakuho’s final career championship was itself a zensho yusho. By consecutive runs, Futabayama holds the record at 5 straight; Hakuho’s 4 in a row is the second-best mark.
The current drought
The most recent zensho yusho was Terunofuji‘s, at the November 2021 (Reiwa 3) Fukuoka tournament. He clinched it on the final day (senshuraku) by pushing out Takakeisho (oshidashi) in the concluding bout — his first zensho yusho, and a perfect championship as a new yokozuna. Since then, 20 tournaments have gone by without another. When the next one will come, and who will manage it, is anyone’s guess.
▶ Read next: A zensho yusho is the flawless form of the title — see how the championship itself works in Yusho: the sumo championship explained.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a zensho yusho?
A zensho yusho is a tournament championship won with a perfect, unbeaten record. Zensho means “all wins” and yusho means “championship,” so it is taking the Emperor’s Cup without a single loss. In the modern 15-day format that is 15-0; in older, shorter tournaments it was 11-0 or 10-0.
What is the difference between a yusho and a zensho yusho?
A yusho is the tournament championship, won by the top-division wrestler with the best record — usually with at least one loss along the way. A zensho yusho is a yusho won with zero losses, a flawless run through every bout. It is the most complete form of victory in sumo.
Who has won the most zensho yusho?
Hakuho, with 16. Only 11 wrestlers have recorded three or more. Futabayama and Taiho are next with 8 each, followed by Kitanoumi and Chiyonofuji with 7.
Who has the highest rate of zensho yusho?
Futabayama. 8 of his 12 championships were perfect, a rate of 66.7 percent. Hakuho has the most by count, but his 16 from 45 titles is a rate of 35.6 percent, well behind Futabayama.
How rare is a zensho yusho?
Very rare. In all of sumo history, only 11 wrestlers have managed three or more, and even top-ranked wrestlers seldom achieve one. Futabayama holds the record for most consecutive perfect championships at 5; Hakuho’s 4 straight is second.
When was the last zensho yusho?
Terunofuji’s, at the November 2021 (Reiwa 3) Fukuoka tournament, where he beat Takakeisho on the final day. As of this writing, 20 tournaments have passed without another perfect championship.
Photographs by Michihiro Taguchi, all taken on location at the tournament venue.
